Facing a lot of roster uncertainty, the Oregon Ducks will take on the Washington State Cougars on Saturday with a 5 p.m. kickoff at Autzen Stadium.
The Cougars are led by senior quarterback Luke Falk, who enters Saturday’s game tied with former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota with 105 touchdowns — good for second place on the Pac-12 career passing touchdown list.
“It’s another opportunity for our defense to play against a top quarterback — a guy that will be playing on Sundays,” Oregon head coach Willie Taggart said. “I think our guys will be fired up about another great opportunity to go against a guy like that. That’s pretty cool. You don’t get to do that each and every week.”
Washington State head coach Mike Leach, who is in his sixth season coaching the Cougars, runs a pass-heavy offense and ranks second in the nation with an average of 414 pass yards per game. The Cougars primarily get their running backs involved through short passes, screen plays and draws. The Cougars enter Saturday ranked 124th in rushing offense, averaging only 81.8 yards per game.
In his time as the Cougars’ head coach, Leach holds a 3-2 record over the Ducks, including two straight wins. This is the first matchup between Leach and Taggart.  
“I don’t know coach Leach really well,” Taggart said. “I know he’s a great offensive-minded coach. He’s done a great job at Washington State… an offensive genius.”
An underrated part of this Cougars team is the quality of their defense, which ranks 11th in the country in total defense. The Cougars love to get to the quarterback, averaging 3.4 sacks per game, which ranks ninth in the nation.
“They’re very aggressive. They do a lot of movement before the snap,” Taggart said. “They slant, angle and bring a little pressure and just try to confuse you up front, and they’re pretty good at affecting people when they do it. It’s going to be another great challenge for our O-line going against their D-line.”
Last week Washington State upset then-No. 5 USC to improve its record to 5-0, all of which came at home. The Cougars rolled through four of their five wins this season. The one challenge was from Boise State, which ended in a 47-44 triple overtime win for the Cougars.
Now, Washington State must take their show on the road. Saturday will be the Cougars’ first road game of the year as they will play five out of their seven final games on the road.
Despite Washington State’s success and Oregon’s uncertainty on the roster, the Ducks opened the week in Vegas as a surprising 2.5-point favorite. It could partially have to do with the fact that Oregon has been dominant at home, outscoring opponents 164-80 this season. Autzen Stadium isn’t an ideal spot for the Cougars to experience their first road game.
Heading into the sixth week of the season, both teams still have questions that need to be answered; however, Saturday marks an opportunity for Taggart to pick up his first signature win over a near top-ten team.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter @zlast3445