Arizona State will be in Eugene on Saturday, and it’s a game that won’t be a walk in the park for the Ducks. Offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo called Arizona State, “one of the hottest teams in the conference,” and for good reason.

Herm Edwards, in his first season as the Sun Devils’ head coach, has a long history of NFL coaching experience to lean on. The team has won three straight games and is playing is best football of the season.

“I don’t know Herm personally, but obviously he knows a ton of football, and he’s got those guys playing at a high level,” Arroyo said.

With two of the best offensive players in the conference, — running back Eno Benjamin and wide receiver N’Keal Harry — Oregon’s defense has another tough task ahead of them. The Ducks may lead the Pac-12 in interceptions, but rushing defense has taken a big hit. Over the past weeks, the top running backs against Oregon have all rushed for career-best games. The Ducks need to get their edge back on defense.

Oregon’s defense has to tighten up the run game. Jordon Scott blamed himself for Utah’s ability to run the ball so effectively. At the press conference on Monday, head coach Mario Cristobal emphasised the coaching staff needs to do a better job of preparing the defense for different offensive schemes.

“The way that we play defense, the nose tackle really is a critical piece. It controls the ‘A’ gaps,” Cristobal said. “He’s going to be tough on himself because he has a lot of pride.”

Running backs CJ Verdell and Cyrus Habibi-Likio did not practice on Monday with the team due to injury. Saturday’s game could be a dual-threat of freshman Travis Dye and senior Tony Brooks-James.
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