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What To Watch For: Oregon Edition

Well, this should be fun.

  • The Oregon offense. The Ducks have an insane amount of weapons on offense this year. Whether it's LaMichael James or Kenjon Barner out of the backfield or quarterback Darron Thomas -- who may actually be an improvement over Jeremiah Masoli already -- running the read option, Oregon is hard to stop. Sell out to stop the run and Thomas can use his arm to burn you. Don't play assignment sound upfront and anyone out of the backfield has a chance to take one to the house. Watch Oregon run their offense. It's fun to pay attention to, even if they're killing us.
  • How will the WSU offensive line handle the Oregon front seven? Oregon is fast at all 11 positions. Because of their team speed, they bring pressure from any and everywhere. Zack Williams has to make the right line calls and diagnose what's going on in front of him to allow Jeff Tuel any time to work. Keep an eye on the zone blitzes and creative ways the Ducks bring pressure. 
  • LaMichael James. He's straight out of a video game. Nuff said.
  • C.J Mizell. The freshman has picked it up in practice and earned a chance to start today. How will he handle the starting job? Will his play move the linebacking crops towards competence? Does he understand the playbook enough to limit the mistakes we've seen from him thus far? He's been taking the right steps and now he has a chance to prove himself on the field in a starting role.
  • How well-conditioned is the WSU defense? We're about to find out. Oregon plays at such a high-tempo that they literally run opponents off the field. Have teams been faking injuries to slow the pace? It sure frustrates Duck fans and players.

Come back around 1 p.m. We'll be doing a live chat to discuss Oregon, WSU and any other random questions on your mind.