Oregon State @ Oregon preview
Autzen Stadium
Last Meeting ( Nov 26, 2016 ) Oregon 24, Oregon State 34
Things are back on track at Oregon, which is now bowl-eligible a year after missing the postseason for the first time in 12 years. The same can’t be said for Oregon State – the lone Pac-12 team without a conference win – which visits Eugene on Saturday for the regular-season-capping Civil War game.
The Ducks entered last Saturday’s contest with Arizona having lost four of their previous five games to fall to 5-5 and put their bowl status in jeopardy. But behind quarterback Justin Herbert – who returned from a five-game absence resulting from a broken collarbone – and running back Royce Freeman’s four touchdowns, Oregon rolled the Wildcats 48-28 to become postseason-eligible in coach Willie Taggart’s first season. Up next on the Ducks’ to-do list is building some postseason momentum, avenging last season’s loss to the rival Beavers and sending the program’s seniors out with a victory in their home finale. “We’ve got the opportunity to finish this out the right way against our rival,” Taggart said Monday at his weekly news conference. “We haven’t played our best yet. I thought last week was close, but we have another opportunity to put it all together and play our best.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: Oregon -25.5
ABOUT OREGON STATE (1-10, 0-8 Pac-12): The Beavers will miss the postseason for the fourth straight season and are looking to halt a nine-game losing streak and avoid their second winless conference season in the last three years. Junior Ryan Nall ran for 42 yards and a touchdown in last week’s 40-24 home loss to Arizona State and ranks seventh in the Pac-12 with 76.9 rushing yards per game. Senior quarterback Darell Garretson has thrown for more interceptions (6) than TDs (5), as the Beavers rank last in the Pac-12 in turnover differential (-11) and scoring offense (21.6 points per game) and defense (40.6 points allowed).
ABOUT OREGON (6-5, 3-5): Against Arizona, Herbert threw for 235 yards and a TD and added a 40-yard rushing score as he returned to action for the first time since his injury Sept. 30 against California. Freeman, meanwhile, notched his fifth-straight 100-yard rushing game with 135 on 19 carries and emphatically snapped a six-game TD-less streak with a quartet of rushing scores. Linebacker Troy Dye has notched a team-most tackles (95) and has 12.5 tackles for loss and four sacks for a defense which ranks in the middle of the conference pack in surrendering 29.9 points and 373.4 yards per outing.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Nall rushed for 155 yards and four TDs to spark Oregon State’s 34-24 home win over Oregon a season ago, snapping the Ducks’ eight-game series win streak.
2. The Beavers have dropped 18 straight road games dating back to a 2014 win at Colorado.
3. Penalties have been a problem for the Ducks, who were flagged 12 times for 117 yards vs. Arizona and lead the FBS with 99 penalties for 955 yards overall.
PREDICTION: Oregon 48, Oregon State 17