Oregon at Washington State
Time: 2 p.m. Saturday at Martin Stadium.
The records: Oregon (1-3, 0-1 Pac-10); WSU (3-1, 1-0).
Last week: Oregon lost to No. 21 Arizona State 28-13; WSU had a bye.
The series: WSU and Oregon are tied with 37 wins apiece, with seven ties thrown in as well. The teams have also split their last eight contests dating back to 1996, but to get there Oregon had a four-game win streak bookended by two two-game win streaks for the Cougars. Last season, WSU made the Sports Illustrated cover jinx look as strong as ever, traveling to Eugene and blowing out the Ducks 55-16. The Cougars held a 38-2 halftime lead in the Pac-10 opener, thanks in part to a defensive and special teams touchdown apiece in the second quarter. It was the Cougars’ biggest win margin ever against Oregon.
The Ducks:
On the sideline, Mike Bellotti is in his 10th year as head coach at Oregon, having compiled a 76-37 record.
On the field, Bellotti has his starting backfield returning from last season with quarterback Kellen Clemons and running back Terrence Whitehead spearheading the offense. But the Ducks’ best player is probably guard Adam Snyder, who could be in the running for a spot on the All-America team by year’s end. Defensively, the Ducks have plenty of talent in the front seven with tackle Haloti Ngata anchoring the line and linebackers Ramone Reed and Jerry Matson doing plenty of damage right behind him. But turnovers have done in the Ducks even with that talent. Oregon is minus-5 in turnover differential, largely due to seven in a season-opening loss to Indiana.
Oregon’s lone win was 48-10 over Idaho.
The stats:
The Ducks have outgained opponents by an average of 100.5 yards a game this year, yet they’re still 1-3.
Forty-five of Oregon’s 92 points this season have come in the third quarter. But just seven have come in the fourth.
In eight combined games this season, WSU and Oregon have fumbled 24 times, losing 15 to the opposition.
Since 2000, WSU is 5-1 after taking a week off. That includes a 1-0 mark under coach Bill Doba, who led the Cougars to a 24-14 win over Stanford in 2003.
– Glenn Kasses, staff writer