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Oregon vs. Bowling Green Fearless Prediction and game preview.

Broadcast

Date: Saturday, September 1
Game Time: 8:00 pm ET
Venue: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR
Network: Pac-12 Network

– 2018 CFN Preview
Bowling Green Preview | Oregon Preview

Oregon (0-0) vs. Bowling Green (0-0) Game Preview

How much better is Oregon now?

Last season was supposed to be a bit of a reboot, and it was. The Ducks beat the bad teams, lost to the good ones, and clunked in the bowl loss to Boise State. And now, it’s up to Mario Cristobal to take what he and Willie Taggart put together and make it all rock.

As a program, Oregon is supposed to be deep in the hunt for the Pac-12 championship, even though Washington and Stanford are going to be nasty.

The defense should be the best the Ducks have had in years, and the offense is going to be the Oregon offense with an NFL passer in Justin Herbert running it.

It’s up to Bowling Green to show off the offense to keep up the pace.

It’s been a rough run over the last few years for the Falcons, and while no one will think the opener in Autzen will be close, they at least have to look like they’re on the verge of being better and more competitive.

One Reason Why Bowling Green Will Win

The passing game should be good enough to work against just about anyone.

The ground game might be mediocre, and the line is going to be inconsistent, but the air show has the parts, starting with QB Jarret Doege and with almost all of the top receivers back.

Oregon’s secondary is going to be more than fine, and even a big positive at times, but it struggled last year against the great passing attacks and some of the star quarterbacks on the slate. Bowling Green will have a good passing game and an okay quarterback, but it’ll have no problem playing at a fast tempo, start bombing and keep throwing.

One Reason Why Oregon Will Win

Bowling Green returns a whole lot of veterans defense, but they’re not all that great.

There’s not a whole lot of sure-thing playmakers to get behind the line – not a plus against a potentially loaded Duck offensive line with four starters returning.

The backfield might need a little bit of time to get the parts together, but the receiving corps is tremendous, and Herbert is a special quarterback who might just be the No. 1 overall draft pick if everything breaks right.

Yeah, all four starters are back in the Falcon secondary, but the group allowed 253 yards per game. Herbert will hit that without a problem.

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What’s Going To Happen

The Ducks will do whatever they want to.

They’ll play around a bit with the Pistol formation, work in the new main backs, and get Herbert off the field as soon as possible early in the second half.

The offense, though, will take a little while before it starts to rise up and produce. The defense will hold firm on Bowling Green drive after drive, and then the Oregon offensive avalanche will come.

The Falcon passing game will put up yards, but they won’t mean much in the second half.