The No. 10 Oregon Ducks (9-2, 7-1) play the No. 22 Oregon State Beavers (8-3, 5-3) next Saturday in their last regular season Pac-12 game.
Last weekend the Ducks beat Utah in a 20-17 thriller. Following a 37-34 loss to Washington the week prior, the Ducks were hungry to get a win and it showed.
The defense for the Ducks played an important role in the victory, holding Utah to only 17 points. After conceding 522 yards to Washington, the defense was able to demonstrate how they respond to adversity by upholding the standard they want to perform at. They forced three Utah interceptions.
Dealing with an ankle injury, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix’s status was uncertain right until kickoff. Nix ended up throwing one touchdown on 287 yards and an interception. His one positive rush was one of the most important plays of the game, occurring on third down with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
The Beavers are coming off a dominant 31-7 win against Arizona State. OSU held ASU to zero second half points and converted 28 first downs compared to the Sun Devils’ 13.
OSU’s Ben Gulbranson started the last six games at quarterback for the Beavers following a neck injury to Chance Nolan. Gulbranson threw a touchdown pass on 188 passing yards and had an 8-yard rushing touchdown against ASU.
Saturday’s game will be the first time since 2012 that both Oregon and OSU are ranked within the AP Top 25. Oregon won last season’s matchup in Eugene 24-10.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said, despite the big win against Utah, the team is just as motivated to get the job done in Corvallis. Lanning expressed his respect for the football OSU has been playing and said all of their focus will be on the game ahead of them, which is when Oregon is at its best.
If the Ducks pull off the victory against OSU they will clinch a berth in the Pac-12 Championship game for the fourth straight season. They still have a chance if they lose, but they would need Washington State to beat Washington. The Beavers are looking for their first nine-win season since 2012 and their first win against the Ducks since 2020.
Saturday’s rivalry game can be found on ABC at 12:30 p.m.
