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With the Oregon State football team (2-0) set to face No. 9 Oregon (2-0) at Reser Stadium on Saturday, BeaversEdge gives five reasons why the Beavers can pull off the upset!
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1. Oregon State's Ground Game Can Keep Oregon's Offense Off The Field
What's the key to keeping an explosive offense off the field?
That is controlling the time of possession. The Beavers, with their running game, can surely accomplish that on Saturday. In the past two games, the Beavers have dominated the time of possession against Idaho State and San Diego State, which, on average, has been around 30 minutes or more, thanks to the running game.
Running backs Jam Griffin and Anthony Hankerson have 249 and 226 rushing yards, respectively, and they have been dominant on the ground through two games. Griffin and Hankerson will see a significant workload against the Ducks in the running game, mainly if the Beavers impose their will at the line of scrimmage early.
The Beavers will establish the run early against the Ducks to help set up what they want to do in the passing game, which is what offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson wants to do. However, this will be a defense that is far more talented and athletic than both the Bengals and Aztecs, so heavily favoring the run may prove difficult against a better opponent.
That's not to say the Beavers' offensive line won't be able to impose its will on the Ducks' defensive line; they did that in 2022, making 19 straight running plays to cap off a 38-34 comeback at home.
I think if the Beavers can lean on the running game being physical at the line of scrimmage and if Gevani McCoy can make the throws he asked to make to keep the offense on schedule, then the Beavers should be able to ride that game plan confidently against a Ducks defense that gave up 192 yards on the ground against Ashton Jeanty last week.
I like the Beavers' chances to make Saturday's game against the Ducks very competitive. Controlling the time of possession will be paramount to Oregon State's success if they want to win against the Ducks on Saturday.
