The season kicks off this coming Thursday with a match-up of two BCS contenders; The Oregon Ducks of the Pac-10 ranked as high as #7 in the pre-season polls travel to the smurf turf just east of their Pacific Northwest home to Idaho to avenge their 2008 home loss to power of the WAC, Boise State Broncos.
The Oregon Ducks under new head coach Chip Kelley have loads of top talent led by stud senior running back LaGarette Blount and a big physical offensive line that on paper should overpower most opponents but this is where the good news ends.
The Broncos return sophomore sophomore to be Kellen Moore who completed nearly 70% of his passes albeit with lightweight competition and a very physical running back in Jeremy Avery. On top of that the smurf turf home field that has caused numerous guests to lose their composure before the game even kicks off. The Broncos will also be looking to get the bowl game loss to TCU out of their mouths with an opening day battle with the powerful Pac 10 Ducks.
The game should be a battle of talent versus home field over-achieving players wiht a major chip on their shoulders. The game should favor the Ducks from the perspective of talented, experienced players. The Ducks want revenge for last year's loss at Autzen Stadium in Eugene by the score of 37-32. In the loss due to injuries the Ducks were down to their 4th string quarterback and still nearly rallied late to beat the Broncos. In games like this a team the caliber of Oregon learns from their mistakes and than lets the talent take over but execution is easier said than done as the Broncos are not a pushover, especially at home. The coaching change for the Ducks doesn't help the Oregon cause as any time there is change mistakes are prone to happen and magnified in a what should be a tight game.
As for the Broncos they have a tough, experienced team. They will not ambush the Ducks and will get Oregon's best shot from kick off. This game will be a great indicator for Boise State as to how good they really can be this year. Beat Oregon and the table is set for making a run at a BCS bowl game, lose and their immediate focus will be winning the WAC. Boise State also needs to improve their image. Since their epic win using the statue of liberty play against Oklahoma in their only BCS appearance at the 2007 Fiesta Bowl in one of the great games of the century they have fallen short in bowl games against tough competition losing last in the waning moments against TCU by the score of 17-16 and the previous year in Hawaii getting ran over by current Tennessee Titan Chris Johnson and the East Carolina Pirates.
The battle in Boise is about as even as two teams can get. Talent favors the Ducks, experience is even, and the home field favors Boise State. Don't ever estimate the Broncos but at the very least we should expect a high scoring battle. Both running games will be physical and it should come down to quarterback play. Both Moore and Duck signal caller Jeremiah Masoli can put the ball up but the very physical Masoli gives the Ducks an extra runner in the backfield, edge on offense to the Ducks. On defense the Ducks are bigger, faster, more talented and have the taste of losing last year to the Broncos.
This should be a close one but final score prediction Ducks will score 32 again this year, control the ball from the start and will have to weather a late Broncos rally but be able to hold the home team to under 30 points. If you are a betting person take the over with any total less than 50 and give up to 3 points with the Ducks.
No comments:
Post a Comment