Over the past two seasons the No. 16 Oregon Ducks have dominated the Washington State Cougars in every facet of the game.
Oregon has outscored WSU 116-21 and will look to continue to improve upon that as the Cougars come to Autzen Stadium in the fourth and final game of the Ducks’ current four-game home stretch.
 
Last year in Pullman, Wash., the Ducks put up 63 points on the Cougars with Jeremiah Johnson and LeGarrette Blount rushing for three touchdowns each, while Jaison Williams reeled in two touchdown passes. And this year Oregon is in the exact same position as they look to go 4-1 on the season with its only loss coming against Boise State.
 
The Oregon defense that held Cal’s offense to only three points last week will no longer have Jahvid Best and Kevin Riley to worry about, but that doesn’t mean they are taking WSU lightly.
 
First-year Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said he’s been impressed by the level of intensity the Cougars bring into every game, no matter what the score is.
 
“If you’re not prepared to go against a team that plays hard you can lose,” Kelly said. “And we need to match their intensity this weekend.”
 
Defensively the Ducks will still be without senior free safety T.J. Ward, as well as senior cornerback and return man Walter Thurmond III after he suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee. Thurmond ended his career with more touchdowns — five in total — than any other non-offensive player in school history. He also finished ninth all-time on the Oregon career interceptions list with 12.
 
But the Ducks showed that they are more than capable of winning without their co-captain on the field, especially when the Oregon offense has finally begun to hit its stride.
 
Senior tight end Ed Dickson said that the key to winning this week would be, “putting a full game together and playing hard.” Dickson, who put together a monster game last weekend with 11 receptions for 148 yards and three scores, hopes to continue to get multiple touches throughout the game now that the Ducks have simplified their passing game.
 
“We threw a lot of play action to Ed,” Kelly said. “And that put the guys with dual responsibilities in a bind. Because of how well Ed did blocking it allowed play action passes to open up and we attacked those people.”
 
Through the first four games WSU has been outscored 56-0 in the first quarter, and if the Duck offense is able to maintain the same efficiency that they had against Cal last week, then they will jump on the Cougars as early as possible. The Cougars have featured 10 first-time starters on the defensive side of the ball so far this season and will look to junior safety Chima Nwachukwu and redshirt senior safety Xavier Hicks Jr. to help slow the Oregon attack. Nwachukwu and Hicks have recorded 29 and 23 tackles, respectively, so far this season.
 
“They’re in the Pac-10, they play hard,” Dickson said. “They’re defense looked pretty solid and it looks like they can bring it a little bit.”
 
Similar to the Ducks, WSU will be without one of its top players now that junior running back James Montgomery is sidelined by a season-ending surgery he underwent on Sept. 20 for acute compartment syndrome in his left leg. Montgomery had been leading the way for the Cougars on the ground this season with 167 yards, but now senior Dwight Tardy will likely shoulder the majority of the running load.
 
The Cougars played extremely well against the USC Trojans last weekend and true freshman Jeff Tuel led the way. He ran for 51 yards and threw for 130. Washington State’s offense actually had more first downs than the Trojans did (18-14), but linebacker Spencer Paysinger says that this year’s Duck defense will be ready for any surprises the Cougars bring to Autzen on Saturday.
 
“In the past, they had some plays to beat our defense,” Paysinger said. “This year we’ve tweaked our defense a little bit. We’ve put in more man-on-man, not just dropping to zones and stuff.”
 
The tandem of Paysinger and junior Casey Matthews at the linebacker positions has been nothing shy of superb through the first four games for the Ducks. Matthews leads the team in tackles with 35, while Paysinger is second with 24. They’ve also combined for 3.5 tackles for loss and have deflected five passes. Their pressure, along with the progression of the defensive line, should be enough to keep Tuel, on his toes — or his back — for most of the game.
 
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