Oregon Football: 3 bold predictions for Week 5 battle at Stanford

Oregon's CJ Verdell, center, celebrate a first quarter touch down against Arizona.Eug 0922521 Uo Az 04
Oregon's CJ Verdell, center, celebrate a first quarter touch down against Arizona.Eug 0922521 Uo Az 04
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Sep 11, 2021; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Oregon Ducks running back CJ Verdell (7) runs during the third quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 11, 2021; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Oregon Ducks running back CJ Verdell (7) runs during the third quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

2. CJ Verdell rushes for 150 yards

I’ve been on the CJ Verdell bandwagon for a while now and I looked pretty smart during the Ohio State game when all my praise for the junior running back paid off. He had one of the best games of his career on the biggest stage and was one of the main reasons the Ducks went on the road to beat the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes.

In Week 5, the Ducks will need him to have a big game again.

Brown will have a solid game, but he’s not the most prolific of passers in the Pac-12, so I could see him dumping some passes down to Verdell and the junior running back will get some big-gainers there, but I do also see him rushing for over 150 yards for the first time since Week 2.

On the year, Verdell has 343 yards and five touchdowns on 5.6 yards per carry, but he hasn’t had to be that workhorse back yet (outside of the OSU game). He’s going to get a bulk of the carries against Stanford and he’ll rush for over 150 yards, putting him over 500 on the season.

Verdell will add a couple of touchdowns as well.

Schedule

Schedule