The Oregon Ducks are starting to garner some serious attention as the best team out west and quite possibly the best team in the nation this year. While they rank second in the nation, the Ducks have made a serious case for the top spot with a blowout victory on the road against the Washington Huskies in week seven.

On the other side of the field, the Washington State Cougars have never really been known for playing great football, but they already have four wins in 2013 after having just three in all of 2012.

Oregon has one of the best offenses in the nation and one of the best in recent memory. The Ducks are led by one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Marcus Mariota who is one of the best underclassmen out there. Mariota could be a top draft pick in 2014 since he is a redshirt freshman, he is eligible for the draft. He has passed for 1,724 yards and 17 touchdowns on the season to go along with 426 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. Josh Huff and Bralon Addison are the team’s top wide out that have helped Mariota see such success with 54 combined catches for 1,054 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Washington State is led by Connor Halliday who happens to have one of the highest passing-yard marks in the nation. Leading the eighth-best passing attack in the country, Halliday has 2,241 yards and 14 touchdowns through seven games for the 4-3 Cougars. His favorite target this season has been Gabe Marks who has 46 catches for 512 yards and four touchdowns on the season. For as good as the pass game is, the run game is the exact opposite — ranking last in college football in rush yards per game.

Defensively, Washington State ranks 69th in the nation in yards allowed per game with 400.3 to go along with a 56th national ranking in points allowed per game with 25.3. The Ducks have allowed the sixth-least amount of points per game in the nation while ranking 18th in yards allowed with just 338.7 per contest.

Washington State will travel to Oregon to take on the Ducks at 10 p.m. EST on Saturday, Oct. 19. The game will be broadcasted on FOX Sports 1.

PREDICTION: Washington State 7, Oregon 51

Related: With Win Over Washington Huskies, Oregon Ducks Deserve No. 1 Ranking

Disastrous Fourth Quarter Buries Washington State Cougars

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Connor Muldowney is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also reach him at .