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ScoopDuck Roundtable: Surprise Storyline vs Utah

On3 imageby:Justin Hopkins•10/26/23
Dan Lanning, Kyle Whittingham
© Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oregon walks into a tough Utah stadium this weekend. A number of storyline predictions are already flowing from media. But we like to zag here.

What will be a storyline from the game nobody is expecting? Well here are our answers to that question below.

Joel Gunderson: Oregon unaffected by the hostile crowd

While the outcome is still painful to reminisce about, a prominent thing to take away from the game against UW was how Oregon handled the most raucous crowd in Husky Stadium history. 

They’ll face something eerily similar on Saturday, perhaps even louder, when they enter Rice-Eccles. The Utes have the loudest student section in the country (painful but accurate), and with all that’s at stake, it will be an incredible environment. But Oregon proved they can handle this type of situation, and we’ll see the same thing play out; this will come down to execution, and as great as Utah’s fabs are, Oregon will be prepared. 

Corpatty: When Pigs Fly — Saturday

Utah QB Bryson Barnes, the former walk on pig farmer, will affect the outcome of Saturday’s game more than any other player on the field.  Look for Barnes to play the game of his life on Saturday. 

Jarrid Denney: The Over Hits

I know there are a lot of folks projecting that this game will be a low-scoring rock fight. But I’m confident that Oregon’s offense won’t miss a beat and will still put plenty of points in the board. The Ducks’ offensive line is more than capable of holding its own against a very good Utah defensive front.

Jhop: Points, Points, Points

Often times we see two high-flying offenses meet up and instead of it being points galore, it’s 7-3 at half. This week we are anticipating more of a slugfest which usually means the opposite, both teams come out flying and points start piling up. Which usually means whichever team doesn’t turn the ball over and makes better second half adjustments wins. Will that be Oregon? They have been a good second half team under Lanning thus far.

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