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On Thursday night, the Oregon Ducks will travel to Arizona State to take on the Sun Devils. The season for Oregon has not necessarily gone as planned. Coming off a National Championship loss, the team was expected to make a run at another, but that will not be the case in 2015. However, there is still a Pac-12 Championship to play for and in a Conference that continues to compete at a high level and teams beating each other out of the College Football Playoff week after week, it is certainly anyone’s game to play in right now. Oregon has a good a chance as anyone to get there, at least for now.
The Ducks and Sun Devils enter with the same 4-3 record and at 2-2 in the Pac-12 Conference. Arizona State is averaging just over 260 yards per game passing and over one-hundred fifty yards rushing this season. As a team they have won four of their last six games including wins against Colorado and a highly ranked UCLA team several weeks ago. On the other side of the ball, Oregon is looking for back to back wins for the first time since 1985 and are coming off a bye week after beating Washington on the road 26-20 for their second Pac-12 Conference win of the year.
Arizona State Quarterback Mike Bercovici is one to watch. He is just under 150 yards away from a 2000 yard passing season. He has thrown 14 touchdowns on the season so far. On the ground Demario Richard and D.J. Foster lead the rushing attach with is not as potent as the Ducks on the ground. As a team they have just under 1100 yards. For a contrast, Oregon Running Back Royce Freeman is leading the Pac-12 Conference with 997 yards on the ground and powers the sixth best rushing offense at just under 300 yards per game. This game will be one to watch, specifically on the Defensive side for Arizona State who will look to blitz their way to Quarterback Vernon Adams.
ASU has a playmaker that can pass the ball around. He has been responsible for 14 scores this season and lead receiver Devin Lucien has 26 receptions and one touchdown. Tim White and D.J. Dosier have combined for eight touchdowns and close to 600 yards between them. Offensively they have the weapons that could give a young Oregon Ducks Secondary fits all evening, but it is the Defense that could make a difference in the Desert.
The Sun Devils have 13.5 sacks this season, good enough for 9th in the nation. Jordan Simone has found a way to sniff out the Quarterback and a trio of Linebackers play the part of backup according to ESPN.
"These guys blitz not just one extra guy, but two extra guys a bunch of the time. … They try to create chaos and they take away the easy things so that hopefully your quarterback is standing back there and they can get to him.”Oregon Offensive Coordinator Scott Frost on Arizona State’s Defense(via ESPN)"
The Ducks will look for their fifth win on the season in a Thursday night matchup with Arizona State on the road. The game kicks off at 7:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN.
Next: With Pac-12 Conference Up For Grabs, Who Will Contend?