Going to be a huge game. I have no doubt the Ducks offense will be able to score, but I have no faith that we will be able to keep the Spartans at bay with our porous secondary. Can't wait till tomorrow when we either learn the Ducks are for real and have a legit shot this year, or our hopes and dreams are flushed down the toilet.
I think it's likely to be a different game defensively for Oregon. Eastern Washington does a lot of 4 wide sets and the Ducks have struggled with that in recent years. The WSU and Cal games last season featured similar attacks and the Ducks gave up lots of points both times. Sending extra rushers at the QB was worthless as the ball was quickly distributed and Cupp dominated in space as the Duck ILBs especially struggle in coverage. Conversely the Spartans primarily try to run the ball and do a lot of play action off of that. They've got a big physical OLine and try to dictate play by physically pounding teams. But thats going against the forte of Oregon's front 7. The Ducks are huge and love to load up the box and take away the run. Because MSU plays typically aren't quick hitters, the extra guys Oregon will send to stop the run end up being extra pass rushers when they go play action. I'd expect to see the Ducks get a lot more pressure on their QB Cook when he tries to set up in the pocket. Will Sparty try to do what they do or will they mix in more of whats worked best? Can't wait for the chess match STOMP
Michigan State barely beat the no-name team they played. In prior years, teams with stout run defenses gave the Ducks problems, but this year we have such a great receiving corp, we're equally adept in both run and pass. I think the Spartans will have a hard time keeping up with the Ducks. And as others have said, I feel a lot better about our run defense than pass.
Two different duck heads on the same uni is kinda odd no? Not my favorite, but glad they are doing something different.
