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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

The pick: Why No. 9 Oregon will beat Washington State

PULLMAN – These teams’ first meeting under his full-time watch remains fresh in Jake Dickert’s mind. A season ago, his Washington State club couldn’t hold on and let Oregon come back and claim a victory, but it isn’t the result that sticks with Dickert today.

“The last couple games, we haven’t made big enough plays off of those off-script strip plays that Cam (Ward) is capable of doing,” Dickert said. “We did that a ton last year to move the chains, if you remember.”

So much of what makes Ward effective involves his ability to scramble and throw, his sense of when pressure is arriving and how to elude it. Last week, cornerbacks coach Ray Brown called him Houdini. Ward has looked like it more often than not this year.

To beat No. 9 Oregon on Saturday, Ward will need to be at his best.

Except recently, Ward has struggled. He’s tossed three interceptions in his past two games. He’s also coughed up two fumbles.

As defenses realize they can ignore WSU’s nonexistent run game and commit more bodies to coverage, Ward has looked less like the Ward we saw in the first four games of the season.

Here’s guessing Ward will need at least another game to return to that form.

Oregon’s defensive line isn’t just ferocious. It’s deep. The Ducks rotate what feels like 15 players at that position, Dickert said, which keeps their pass-rush fresh and juiced up. That’s a problem for WSU’s offensive line, which has languished in the pass-blocking and run-blocking games across these past two losses.

The Cougars can turn that around at some point. Our guess, though, is that it won’t happen on Saturday.

The pick: No. 9 Oregon 38, Washington State 20.