The No. 25-ranked Ducks finish up their non-conference slate Saturday afternoon against the No. 12 BYU Cougars. Fresh off Dan Lanning's first career victory, Oregon is facing a talented team coming off a double overtime victory over then-No. 9 Baylor.
This week will be the real measuring stick, as the first two games ended up on extremes of the talent spectrum. BYU isn't Georgia, but they should definitely be closer to the quality of game one than game two.
Oregon definitely showed improvement in Week 2 against an overmatched Eastern Washington team, but the Ducks still have plenty of room to grow. As I said last week, it is often said that some of the greatest improvement comes in the first few games of the season, so this week will be extremely important heading into Pac-12 play.
Happy with the opening win, Lanning isn't resting on his laurels, making note of the improvements in tackling and other fundamentals, but also mentioning that this is nowhere near a finished product. Lanning doesn't know the average time that coaches spend time breaking down and grading every play from the previous game and looking every opportunity for improvement.
Lanning recognizes that BYU is a talented and well-coached team with a mobile quarterback that will create a greater challenge for his team. He is also looking forward tho his first true Autzen experience, but was also appreciative for how supportive the fans were last week.
Game 3 for the Ducks kicks off shortly after 12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, and if you plan on attending the game in person, be ready for cooler weather and a fly over. We are currently looking at temperatures in the low 60s for kickoff, which while not cold will be around 30 degrees cooler than last weekend. By the end of the game, the temperatures should come close to the 70s. The best news? It doesn't look like we will have another smoke-filled weekend.
Even though BYU isn't on the talent level of Georgia, the Cougars are a solid team, ready to put up a strong challenge in Eugene. As mentioned above, the Cougars are fresh off a 26-20 overtime win against former top-10 Baylor team in which quarterback Jaren Hall threw for only 261 yards and 1 touchdowns on a sub-60% completion rate, bu whilet also catching a touchdown pass and logging 10 carries for 28 yards, at times extending drives with his scrambles. Hall will test the Oregon defense and the coaches better be ready for some trickery (like the Hall TD catch from last week).
On the other side of the ball, BYU did a good job keeping Baylor in check, only allowing 289 yards overall, including only allowing 152 yards on 52 rushing attempts. Baylor seemed content to try and ground-and-pound this game out but also lost the penalty battle badly. I'd expect a bit more of a balanced attack from Oregon, and the ground game should benefit from the big rotation of backs we have seen for the last two weeks.
Uniform reveals have become a big part of the social media releases, and we know that it will be the all nightmare green for Oregon. BYU on the other hand, didn't officially announce its uniforms for the game, but it did release a collection of wallpaper for this week with what will likely be their kits.
GEORGE MILLENER/THE REGISTER-GUARD (GEORGE MILLENER/THE REGISTER-GUARD)
With apologies in advance for bringing this game back up, the uniforms didn't massively change from the last meeting of the Cougars and Ducks at the Vegas Bowl in 2006.The only major shift is the fixing of the awful helmets that will be forever seared into Oregon fans' minds. Oregon lost that last matchup 38-8, a game where some of the players admitted to being out partying all week in Vegas.
The last time BYU played in Eugene? You'd have to go all the way back to 1990, when the then-No. 4 Cougars visited Oregon, led by quarterback Ty Detmer. Oregon was led by Bill Musgrave and a strong offensive effort, but it was the Oregon defense that put a huge dent in the Cougars season, allowing -47 yards rushing (including 5 sacks for -52 yards) and forcing 5 interceptions and a fumble. Oregon won the game 32-16, but Detmer would still go on to win the Heisman.
If Oregon had busted out the retro jerseys with the green-yellow-green, that would have been a massive win for the marketing department.
Oregon continues to take the chances to highlight the work and focus being put into this weekend's matchup. BYU on the other hand has focused on some of the key stats for its players and on the logistics of playing a road game. Oregon used to tweet out video of their truck hitting the road, but I don't remember seeing one for a while.
Last, but not least, Oregon will be honoring the 2010 team and other hall of fame inductees this weekend, so there should be a few familiar faces in Autzen on Saturday. We look forward to seeing everyone there, and if you get a chance, come stop by and say hello at the tailgate.
