Good Luck Ducks, Week 5: Things That Go Quack in the Night

 

Oregon's turn at #Pac12AfterDark sees them hosting the Cardinal. 

 

Last week, Oregon's offense dominated the Washington State Cougars in both their rushing and passing attacks. That is, of course, if you happened to change the channel when the team got into the red zone. After nearly three quarters of total frustration, the Ducks figured out how to get in the end zone and then really put the screws to their opponent. In the blink of an eye, Oregon turned a frustrating loss into a triumphant road win, as they hope to take that momentum into a night game back in Eugene.

By night game, I mean a late night game. The kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 PM local time, which means that it will be past midnight on the east coast before we even reach halftime. I'm sure all of those poll voters will be staying up until dawn to watch the game in its entirety before casting their votes. Tonight they meet a Stanford team which has had a pretty brutal schedule to start things off as they face their third consecutive ranked team. Goofy things certainly happen during the Pac-12 late shift, but Ducks fans are hoping that nothing... too goofy happens.

Notes and other things:

• So the Cougs kinda Coug'd it last week, after all, didn't they? I mean, I guess that's one perspective. Without the pick six that Cameron Ward threw that didn't make it over the line, it was certainly setting up to be more of a nail-biter. Of course, if Bo Nix hadn't thrown a first half pick six of his own...
• That being said, Bo Nix has been been very impressive aside from those incredibly costly turnovers. It's hard to fully point fingers at the quarterback or the play-calling, but it's nice to see a QB throw the ball down field from time to time again.
• The Ducks are looking to avenge an embarrassing upset loss to a 3-win Stanford team last season, their only non-Utah, non-bowl game loss in that frustrating mess that was 2021. Something tells me that they will.
• The combination of extremely late start and warm October weather has the potential to create a certain... atmosphere tomorrow night. Let's hope that Oregon can use that to their advantage instead of having everyone passed out by the third quarter.
• Will the Stanford band be in the house, up to their usual hijinks? Hopefully they leave that stupid tree "mascot" at home.
• Game time is 8:00 PM PDT on FS1 in Eugene. Go Ducks!