Bryan Addison – Wide receiver – Oregon
With highly touted senior quarterback Justin Herbert under center, the Ducks have proven time and again that they are a threat through the air no matter who’s lined up at receiver. The Oregon aerial attack features several weapons, and they will certainly be looking to build on last week’s performance against Arizona, when they threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns.
With impact freshman Mycah Pittman out for six weeks after sustaining a broken right arm in last week’s matchup, the Oregon offense will be in need of another target to spread the field. That target could very well be wideout Bryan Addison.
Addison, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman, adds height to the Oregon passing game. Coming off an aggressive offensive game plan against Arizona last week, the Ducks will be looking to continue their success through the air. With this, an opportunity knocks for Addison.
Mase Funa – Linebacker – Oregon
After holding six of their last 10 opponents under double digits, the Ducks will look to resume their defensive consistency this week against Arizona State.
A massive part of their defensive success, with the help of a talented group of pass rushers, has been applying heavy pressure to the quarterback. Despite entering the lineup as a true freshman, Mase Funa has been impressive.
Funa is second on the Ducks in terms of sacks, with four on the season. He had his season high early on against Nevada, when he brought quarterback Carson Strong to the turf on two occasions. Since then, the linebacker has played well, recording sacks in games against Montana and Washington State.
With only one sack in Pac-12 play, Funa will be looking to get after the quarterback this week when the Ducks head to Tempe.
Eno Benjamin – Running back – Arizona State
Despite sputtering of late, the Arizona State running game has been a crucial part of its offensive success in 2019. Sitting front and center of the Sun Devils ground game has been junior running back Eno Benjamin. The Wylie, Texas, native has been successful in 2019, tallying 801 total yards, eight touchdowns and 4.3 yards per carry on 188 attempts.
Benjamin started the season strong, having his best games against conference opponents Cal and Washington State, when he rushed for 100 and 137 yards, respectively. His season high in scoring also came against Cal, when the back found the end zone three times. Benjamin currently ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in rushing yards and fourth in rushing touchdowns.
Although he’s gained high praise from his Pac-12 peers, Benjamin has hit quite a rough patch. Over the last three weeks, the junior has fumbled the ball on four occasions, including twice in a 31-26 loss to USC. In the same period, Benjamin has been held to only one touchdown, coming last week against Oregon State.
Benjamin will look to bounce back this Saturday against Oregon. It will be no easy task as he will be facing the second-ranked run defense in the Pac-12.
Jermayne Lole – Defensive lineman – Arizona State
While the Sun Devils defense sits in the middle of the pack in passing yards allowed, they’ve been extremely solid in preventing large rushing totals. A huge part of their defensive success has been a talented group of defensive linemen, including sophomore Jermayne Lole.
The 6-foot-2, 284-pound lineman has played a physical and punishing brand of football, with 55 total tackles and 3.5 sacks so far in 2019.
Lole has shown improvement as the season has gone on, having his best game of the year last week against Oregon State, when he gathered eight tackles and a sack on the day.
He will face one of his biggest challenges against Oregon’s explosive run game on Saturday and will have to perform at the top of his game in order to be sufficient against a dominant group of Ducks running backs.
