ScoopDuck Roundtable: Players of the Game vs Purdue

As Oregon heads to Purdue for a very tough road test tomorrow, we have one of our last roundtables of the week. We predict who the players of the game will be for Oregon on offense and defense. It’s based on how we see the game going and who will be counted on to step up in certain situations.

You can read our predictions below but feel free to tells us your own predictions as well.

Collin King:

Offense: Jordan James

Jordan James has been an animal this season and I certainly don’t expect that to change against a bad interior defensive line. I would expect James to go over 100 yards again in this game before potentially being pulled for some of the younger players. I am also predicting James will break a 20+ yarder for a score this week.

Defense: Matayo Uiagelelei

Uiagalelei has been a force to be reckoned with for the Ducks this season, leading the team in sacks through 6 games. Against an inferior offensive line, I think this defensive line could have its most dominant showing of the season despite being without Jordan Burch again. The pass and run blocking for Purdue have been very poor and it just so happens that Oregon has the best defensive front Purdue has faced yet. I would not be shocked in the slightest to see the Oregon defensive line completely shutdown Purdue’s gameplan.

Max Torres:

Offense: Evan Stewart

Stewart announced his arrival at Oregon last week with perhaps the best game of his college career. Well you can put me down for an encore. With Traeshon Holden facing discipline of some kind—-a half, a full game, who knows? More passes should be coming Stewart’s way. If the staff was trying to keep him under the radar before Ohio State, the cat’s certainly out of the bag now. One of him or Tez Johnson should have a big day against the Boilermakers.

Defense: Brandon Johnson 

Johnson is one of Oregon’s most versatile defensive backs and he’s been a blast to watch since coming over from Duke. That said, we haven’t seen a ton from him in recent weeks after constantly being around the ball earlier this year. With a matchup against another mobile quarterback on tap in Purdue’s Ryan Browne, I think we could see him get used in a few different ways, maybe even blitzing off the edge. The Ducks did that very effectively last year but we haven’t seen it be too effective just yet.

Linden Hile:

Offense: Terrance Ferguson

In a game where Oregon should have a massive physical mismatch at nearly every position, I’ll take Terrance Ferguson to be too fast for Purdue’s linebackers and far too big for its secondary players. Ferguson has been solid this year but hasn’t posted a truly elite game and I think that flips this week.

I’ll take Ferguson to have five or more catches and break 60 yards through the air.

Defense: Bryce Boettcher

Linebacker Bryce Boettcher had a quieter game against Ohio State than fans have grown accustomed to but I think that flips this week. Boettcher has been one of Oregon’s best defensive players and I think his run support will show up in a big way early against Purdue.

He’s also done well in coverage for a multi-sport player and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he had a pass deflection or two.

Jhop:

Offense: Jordan James

I believe with Oregon opening up the playbook and showcasing the deep ball, Purdue will have to back up and respect it. They can not afford to fall behind early on and be one-dimensional. That should open up the run lanes for James, something that hasn’t really happened so far this year. Expect Oregon to run the ball and get out of Purdue with a solid win.

Defense: Devon Jackson

With Purdue playing its dual-threat quarterback, a linebacker spy will be important. And there isn’t a linebacker faster than Devon Jackson for Oregon. I think he’ll be counted on to make big plays in this one and I’m banking on a pic or fumble from the speedy backer.