Oregon @ Wyoming preview

Oregon at Wyoming

Last Meeting ( Sep 13, 2014 ) Wyoming 14, Oregon 48

After struggling through its first losing season since 2004, Oregon is off to a 2-0 start under new coach Willie Taggart. The Ducks will look to stay perfect Saturday in their first road test – and final non-conference game – when they visit Wyoming.

Oregon also started 2-0 a year ago but then dropped 10 of its final 12 games to finish 4-8 and last in the Pac-12 North Division at 2-7. Enter Taggart, who was 24-25 in four seasons at South Florida but did guide the Bulls to 18 wins and two bowl berths over his final two seasons and is now attempting to orchestrate a similar turnaround in Eugene. “I’m proud of this football team and how the guys are working together and playing for one another,” Taggart told ESPN earlier this week. “That’s what we see more than anything – you see a group of young men having fun and playing for each other – and when you get that, winning comes easy.” Unlike its Saturday opponent, Wyoming did have a winning season and played in a bowl a year ago, but 2017 got off to a rocky start in a 24-3 loss at Iowa before the Cowboys rebounded to blank FCS visitor Gardner-Webb 27-0 last week.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network. LINE: Oregon -14

ABOUT OREGON (2-0): The Ducks rank third nationally in scoring (59.5 points) and second in total offense (634.5 yards) after home wins over Southern Utah (77-21) and Nebraska (42-35). Sophomore quarterback Justin Herbert ranks eighth nationally in passer rating (199.0) after completing 77.8 percent of his attempts and throwing for 646 yards and four touchdowns while stud tailback Royce Freeman has rolled up 303 yards and six TDs on 52 carries. On the other side of the ball, linebacker Troy Dye leads the team with 21 tackles, including 3.5 for losses, while cornerbacks Thomas Graham Jr. and Ugochukwu Amadi each have a pair of interceptions.

ABOUT WYOMING (1-1): As expected, quarterback Josh Allen and the Cowboys bounced back to dominate Gardner-Webb as the first-round NFL draft prospect threw for 328 yards and a pair of TDs after being limited to 174 yards, no scores and two interceptions by the Hawkeyes. Allen also may have found a new favorite target in wideout Austin Conway, who had 11 receptions for 135 yards and a TD last week, but the Wyoming ground game remains a work in progress as the Cowboys managed only 65 yards on 28 carries against the Bulldogs. Meanwhile, safety Andrew Wingard (14 total tackles), the Mountain West Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, and linebacker Logan Wilson (12) lead a defense which has surrendered only 24 points and 458 total yards to date.

EXTRA POINTS

1. This will be the second meeting in the series with Oregon rolling to a 48-14 home win in 2014.

2. Freeman’s six rushing TDs are tops nationally and he needs three more to tie former Oregon RB LaMichael James for second on the Pac-12’s all-time list with 53.

3. Wyoming has won eight of its last nine home games and is 2-4 against visiting Power 5 conference teams in Laramie since 2000.

PREDICTION: Oregon 34, Wyoming 26