NFL Tickets
TV Schedule: Saturday, September 12, 8:00 p.m. ET, ABC
Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
Line: Michigan State (-3.5)
The Oregon Ducks travel to East Lansing on Saturday to take on the Michigan State Spartans in the tail end of a home-and-home series that has brought us a top-10 non-conference matchup each of the last two seasons. Both teams are coming off Week 1 victories that showed the need for improvement, particularly on defense, and should provide a nice push for the winner into the top four of the rankings heading into Week 3.
Last season, Oregon used their phenomenal depth and speed on offense to overwhelm Michigan State in Autzen Stadium. Trailing by nine points in the third quarter, then-quarterback Marcus Mariota put the pedal to the metal in Oregon’s fast-paced attack and scored the final 28 points of the game to secure the 46-27 win. The victory helped propel the Ducks into the College Football Playoff and Mariota to a Heisman Trophy. The stakes this season should be pretty similar.
Both teams are still in the process of breaking in new players after losing major talent and leadership this offseason. Oregon turns the offense over to Vernon Adams Jr., a graduate transfer from FCS Eastern Washington, who brings a strong arm and confident playmaking ability to the position in 2015. Against his former team in Week 1, Adams went 19-of-25 for 246 yards and two touchdowns through the air while rushing for 94 yards on 14 carries. Defensively, the Ducks are working on replacing their entire secondary and still have work to do after surrendering 438 yards through the air in the season opener.
Michigan State has the benefit of continuity under center with QB Connor Cook returning for his senior season. Cook looked good against the Ducks last season for nearly three quarters and finished the game 29-of-47 for 343 yards with a pair of touchdowns but threw two interceptions that helped Oregon secure the win. The vaunted Spartan defense is also breaking in a new secondary and a new defensive coordinator and the growing pains were evident in Week 1’s 37-24 win over the Western Michigan Broncos when they allowed 365 yards through the air and sweated out an upset attempt into the fourth quarter.
With the inexperience in the secondary and the struggles to defend the pass last week, you would think that both teams would be looking to air it out on Saturday but that would be a departure from their preferred gameplan for both programs. Balance is a major component of what both teams do offensively with Michigan State posting 196 yards rushing and three scores on the ground last week as a team while the Ducks are powered by Royce Freeman out of the backfield, who went off for 180 yards rushing and three touchdowns in their season-opener as the Ducks rushed for 485 yards as a team last week.
The difference in this game will be which defense has made the most improvement from Week 1 and which offense can control the pace of play. Oregon will look to press the tempo and get the Spartans on their heels as they run up and down the field while Michigan State wants to control time of possession using a balanced, pro-style attack to keep the Ducks’ offense on the sideline. If the Spartans can keep a lid on the scoring, they have an excellent chance of defending their home field and splitting this home-and-home series with Oregon.
Prediction: Oregon 41, Michigan State 24
You can follow Tyler Brett on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.
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