No. 13 Oregon Favored On The Road By 3 Over UCLA

NFL News - October 9th, 2009 - Written by John

No. 13 Oregon will travel to play UCLA in big Pac-10 game this weekend. Oregon has won four straight since their opening game loss to Boise State. The Oregon Ducks (4-1,2-0) are coming into the game after routing Washington State 52-6. UCLA looks to rebound after their first loss of the year last weekend to Stanford 24-16. The Bruins lost their starting quarterback Kevin Prince last month after he suffered a broken jaw against Tennessee and has missed their past two games. Oregon starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli had to come out of last week's game with an injured knee. Both quarterbacks appear to be ready to play in this game though. Oregon won last year's matchup 31-24.

Masoli is the leader of the Duck's offense. He has passed for 748 yards and 4 touchdowns. He is also the team's second leading rusher and has 218 yards and 5 touchdowns. He played very well against the Bruins a year ago and rushed for a career high 170 yards. After losing starting running back LaGarrette Blount for the year after the Ducks loss to Boise, some fears circulated as to how their running attack would be affected. Redshirt freshman LaMichael James has been producing well and has 429 yards and 4 touchdowns. Tight end Ed Dickenson leads Oregon's receiving group with 309 yards and 4 touchdowns. They will need to do a better job of not turning the ball over. They have lost 10 fumbles in 5 games.

The Oregon defense has really improved over the last two weeks. They have given up only 9 points the past two weeks, including just 3 in their win over California. If Prince can not play, look for Oregon to stack the line and force backup quarterback Kevin Craft to make plays.

UCLA was expecting some set backs on offense with just 3 senior starters this year. They rank last in the conference on offense. It would be a huge advantage if Prince can play. In only 2 games, he passed for 277 yards and 2 touchdowns. Craft, a senior, has played fairly well during the past two games and has thrown for 390 yards. He also started last year against Oregon and passed for 288 yards and 1 touchdown in their loss to the Ducks. Johnathan Franklin leads their stagnant rushing attack with 300 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Bruins will need their offense to come alive against Oregon on Saturday if they are t0 pull out a win.

Their defense has been very effective against the run and are only allowing 2.8 yards per rush on the year. It will be important to stop Masoli and force the Ducks to resort to their passing game.

BetUS sportsbook has Oregon favored by 3 against UCLA. The over/under is set at 46.

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