Oregon Football: 3 bold predictions for Arizona battle in Week 4

Oregon football is off to a red-hot 3-0 start to the season and the Ducks are ranked No. 3 in the nation behind Alabama and Georgia.

After beating Ohio State, the consensus feeling was that the Ducks should run the table because the toughest game was out of the way and the rest of the schedule was looking more manageable than ever with Washington struggling, UCLA losing to Fresno State, Utah having a quarterback controversy and a losing record through three games, and potential title game opponent USC firing its head coach.

Now the Ducks will kick off conference play against the worst team in the Pac-12 in Arizona which lost to Northern Arizona last week.

Will the Ducks dominate or will this one be closer than expected?

3. CJ Verdell rushes for 150 yards

It’s hard to believe CJ Verdell has reached 100 yards just once this season but he did so against the toughest team on the schedule through the first three weeks: Ohio State. Verdell had over 160 yards rushing against the Buckeyes but has been held in check (mostly by the coaching staff) in the other two games.

That’ll change on Saturday night as Mario Cristobal and Joe Moorhead let him loose against the Wildcats. Arizona’s run defense has been awful this season, allowing nearly 200 yards per game on the ground and I could see Verdell approaching that number on his own.

Verdell was one of my sleepers to contend for the Heisman Trophy before the season began and I still think he could enter the conversation, but he needs to put together a torrid stretch.

That starts against Arizona as he rushes for 165 yards and two touchdowns on just 18 carries.