Truth be told, aside from a plague of locusts or a team-wide case of bubble guts, there’s not a whole heck of a lot that stands in the way of Oregon moving to 2-0 following Saturday’s late morning/early afternoon tilt versus FCS opponent Portland State.
And if you think we’re being crass or insensitive towards Portland State or their chances of pulling off the monumental upset, take it instead from Vikings head coach Bruce Barnum, who had this to say to John Canzano of The Oregonian on Thursday:
Bruce Barnum, Portland State coach on his team’s game vs. Oregon this Saturday: “If we’re close in the fourth quarter, I’m guessing Mr. Knight is going to punch some people in the neck.”
— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) September 6, 2018
Suffice to say, expectations are low for the Vikings as they make the roughly two-hour trek from Portland to Eugene.
However, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing at stake when the two teams clash. Below we take a look at Oregon’s keys to victory, or perhaps more accurately, how success will be defined (beyond earning the “W”) for the Ducks on Saturday.
1. Avoid injuries
Of course, this is easier said than done, but for the Ducks in this game, getting through it without suffering any significant injuries is essential with Pac-12 Conference play looming. Against Bowling Green, the Ducks were somewhat fortunate in avoiding catastrophic injuries to marquee players. Yes, Oregon lost starting tight end Cam McCormick to a season-ended leg injury, but are fortuitous in the sense that the team is particularly deep at tight end, enabling them to absorb the hit to their depth. Junior linebacker La’Mar Winston was also injured against the Falcons last Saturday, though it’s generally believed he will return to action in relatively short order. Maintaining a healthy roster is tantamount to success for any football team. If the Ducks have any designs on competing for a Pac-12 North title and beyond this season, they will need to navigate minor speed bumps like Portland State with some good fortune on the injury front.
2. Get your starters out of the game early in the second half
This kind of goes hand-in-hand with Item No. 1 on this week’s list, but the fact remains that the Ducks would be well-served by getting off to a hot start and throttling the Vikings in the first half before giving way to their second, third, and fourth-stringers beginning early in the second half. Last week’s first half versus Bowling Green wasn’t exactly a model for how to put an inferior team away early, as Oregon fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter before ripping off 37 unanswered points before halftime. The Ducks continued their dominant play early in the second half, but failed to click on offense with backup quarterback Braxton Burmeister behind center. Though Bowling Green never seriously threatened in the second half, the lack of production from the Burmeister-led offense was enough for Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal to re-insert Justin Herbert back into the game. Against an opponent like Portland State – a team with far less talent compared to Bowling Green – that simply won’t fly. The Ducks need to eliminate the slow start and make quick work of the Viks in the first half.
3. Improve tackling
In the first half against Bowling Green last Saturday, the Ducks were gashed as a result of some poor tackling, particularly against the run. Though Portland State doesn’t have a player that is quite on the level of Falcons running back Andrew Clair, the fact still remains that tackling needs to improve if the Oregon defense is to live up to their lofty billing this season. To the Ducks credit, their efforts in the tackling department improved as the game wore on, but the last thing this team needs is for bad habits to start forming with a huge game versus Stanford coming up in two weeks. Getting Portland State off the field in short order begins with getting guys to the ground consistently, and an improvement in this area would speak to this team’s ability to lock-in and focus despite squaring off against a lesser opponent.