Alabama Football: One Giant will fall will there be any other help?

The Oregon State Beavers will have a chance to send the Oregon Ducks to the Big 10 with a sour taste in their mouth if they can upset the Ducks. Oregon State had a similar spot last weekend against the Washington Huskies by two points in a 22-20 game. The Beavers lived on the ground against the Huskies with Damien Martinez rushing for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The best part of the Oregon State defense is their run-stopping ability. Both losses have come due to getting beat by passers as Cam Ward passed for 404 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Beavers and Michael Penix Jr passed for 162 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Beavers will need to stop Oregon running back Bucky Irving as the Junior is averaging 90 yards a game on the ground. The issue after Irving will be the explosive Oregon Ducks passing attack. Bo Nix is a likely Heisman finalist at quarterback passing for 3500 yards and 35 Touchdowns. His favorite target may be the most underrated wide receiver in the country Troy Franklin who’s caught 68 passes for 1,221 yards and 13 touchdowns.

For the Beavers to win this game they’ll have to suffocate the Oregon Ducks by slowing this game down. Using Martinez to pick up first downs leaving Nix on the sideline is the best option the Beavers have. The Ducks have jumped on opponents early dictating how the remainder of the game will be played forcing the opposing offenses to become one-dimensional. Oregon Head Coach Dan Lanning did seemingly get frazzled in the Ducks’ loss to the Washington Huskies it could be an interesting storyline to see how Lanning coaches should his Oregon team start slow and fall behind in this game.

For Alabama, an Oregon Loss could be pretty big for playoff hopes. The loss would move the Tide up another spot while also sending the Arizona Wildcats to face off against the Washington Huskies. The Wildcats played Washington close losing by seven in Noah Fifita’s first start for Arizona.