Oregon Ducks Football: Scouting Oregon State’s Offense

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The 15th ranked Oregon State Beavers (8-2, 6-2 Pac-12) welcome their in-state rivals, the Oregon Ducks, to Reser Stadium on Saturday at 12:00 pm PT.  The Beavers enter the Civil War after blowing out California over the weekend by a score of 62-14.  Quarterback Sean Mannion returned to the starting lineup after missing time with a knee injury.  He threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns in the rout.

Storm Woods in action earlier this season against Wisconsin (Jaime Valdez-US PRESSWIRE)

Oregon State has lost their last four meetings to the Ducks with three of the four games being lost by more than 17 points.  The Beavers last defeated the Ducks in Eugene in 2007 by a score of 38-31.  The Beavers will look to prevent the Ducks from making it to the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Offensive Breakdown

  • Passing: 3rd in conference, 34th nationally
  • Rushing: 10th in conference, 112th nationally
  • Scoring:6th in conference, 80th nationally

What offensive formation does Oregon State run?

Oregon State runs out of a one-back and three wide receivers set.  They throw the ball a lot as evidenced by their national ranking.

Who are those playmakers on offense?

There are three major players to watch: running back Storm Woods, wide receiver Brandin Cooks and quarterback Sean Mannion.

  • Woods: 143 carries for 698 yards and 7 scores, 28 catches for 218 yards
  • Cooks: 59 receptions for 1048 yards, 5 touchdowns, 12th in the country in receiving yards
  • Mannion: has completed 149 of 238 throws for 1,904 yards with 12 touchdowns

Where does Oregon match up the best against this offense?

This game will be decided on third-down.  Oregon State is 10th in the Pac-12 in third-down conversions.  They currently are successful 32.6% of the time while the Oregon defense is the third best in conference.  The Ducks hold opponents to 30.8% on the same downs.

Oregon State is also 11th in the conference in fourth-down converting as they’ve only made five-of-thirteen attempts.

Check out Raymond Mencke’s blog at www.sportissue.com. Also follow him on Twitter @RaymondMenckeJr,

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