Oregon at Oregon State Rivalry Game: Where to Find It, What to Look For

Oregon travels to Reser Stadium in Corvallis for the 128th edition of the battle for the state today, 12:30 P.M. Pacific Time on Fox, Channel 12 in the Portland metro area.

Ashton Jeanty, the best back in the country, ran wild against the Ducks in Week Two, racing, darting and bulling his way to 192 yards and three touchdowns. The Oregon State Beavers boast a pair of decent running backs, Jam Griffin and Anthony Hankerson, who will be eager to show themselves against what has looked like a vulnerable run defense in Oregon's 2-0 start.

Griffin averaged 6.6 yards a carry in OSU's wins over Idaho State and San Diego State, while Hankerson spelled him with 226 yards on 40 carries, a more than respectable 5.7 yards a carry. Operating behind a rebuilt offensive line (one starter returning, left guard Joshua Gray, two starters transferred in from Colorado, left tackle Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan and center Van Wells) the two have both been consistent and productive with three touchdowns each. Jeanty-lite, if you will, with long runs of 22 and 23 yards respectively. Hankerson is from Colorado too, making the Beaver offense a refuge from the thin mountain air where the Sanders clan seems to take it all out of the room.

So the first key to the game for Oregon will be to solve this Beaver running game. New head coach Trent Bray, a former Oregon State linebacker from 2002-2005, is understandably defensive-minded. He has his team run the football 73% of the time, often with multiple tight ends and the quarterback under center. It's an approach that recalls the glory days of State football, Dee Andros, Earthquake Enyart and Jess Lair in the Sixties. Bray's defense has been stingy, putting up a shutout in Week Two's 21-0 win over SDSU, shutting down the Bengals 38-15 in the opener. Neither opponent featured a competent quarterback, while the Ducks have one of the most experienced and accurate in the nation in 6th-year starter, UCF and Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel

The second challenge the Ducks face is taking energy from a hostile, fired-up crowd, emboldened by the team's 2-0 start, embittered by Oregon's role in the implosion of the PAC-12. Beaver fans feel the conference might have survived if the Ducks hadn't bolted for the Big Ten, but the claim is spurious: by the time Rob Mullens cut a deal to join Washington in the move eastward USC, UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State had already left. The Ducks were fleeing a burning building of league affiliation.

Even though deserting their in-state brethren meant desecrating a long history, it brought the Webfoots more credibility in national recruiting, a higher profile and a share of a better TV deal. It was a sound business decision, but don't tell that to screaming Beaver fans, who will only see betrayal. They'll relish the opportunity to stick it to the Nike-fancy (the Beavs wear Nike too, though in a more muted color palette, sticking to black and orange) and overhyped school 48.2 miles to the south.

If the Ducks are poised and smart, they can use all the spitting, screaming and hand-made signs to fuel themselves and strengthen their focus, turning that negative energy into unity and resolve. Taken that way it might counter the sloppiness that has plagued them in their 2-0 start, inexplicably close wins over Idaho, 24-14 and the Broncos, 37-34, teams the oddsmakers said they were supposed to blow out.

Yesterday Anthony Herron of the Big Ten Network questioned whether the Ducks, ostensibly championship contenders in the preseason, were capable of a championship-level focus. "The ball has been on the ground a bunch. They've blown protections. There have been penalties on special teams. There's a lot for Oregon to be satisfied with to be 2-0, but there's a lot of meat on the bone," Herron said, previewing this afternoon's game.