The Oregon Ducks travel to Sun Devil Stadium Thursday night to face the Arizona State Sun Devils in a big Pac-12 matchup. Both teams are coming in at 4-3 in the season, and the Ducks are looking to keep momentum rolling after beating Washington. The Sun Devils are looking to bounce back after a tough loss to Utah in their last game, and head coach Todd Graham will try to have his players fired up for a big Thursday night game.
Quarterback Mike Bercovici leads the Sun Devils offense, and is having a big season. The senior quarterback has 1,846 passing yards with four touchdowns, but has struggled at times with turnovers this season with five interceptions. Graham will look to establish the running game early by handing the ball off to talented running back Demario Richard.
The sophomore running back has 529 rushing yards on the season, and has scored four touchdowns on the ground. Richard is a versatile back that can catch passes out of the backfield, and has 240 receiving yards with two touchdowns this season. Arizona State's defense has struggled at time this season, and Graham will not want to find his team in a shootout Thursday night. The Sun Devils will look to control the time of possession with Richard, but still will try contain Oregon's offense.
Transfer quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. runs the offense for the Ducks, and has shown flashes of greatness. Adams has 853 passing yards this season with six touchdowns to two interceptions. Adams is a dual threat at quarterback as he can take off on the ground, and has already rushed for 117 yards with a touchdown. With Adams finally healthy the Ducks will try to establish their usual potent offense, but will have to be careful against the Arizona State ball-hawking defense.
Head coach Mark Helfrich probably knows he is fighting for his job at Oregon, after a 4-3 start to this season, and will rely on sophomore running back Royce Freeman to carry the load Thursday night. The Ducks lead the Pac-12 in rushing, and will look for Freeman to move the ball on the ground. Freeman has 997 yards on the season, and is averaging 6.6 yards per carry. Helfrich will look to use a combination of Royce and speed back Taj Griffin Thursday night, as the two backs can bring a change of pace to the Ducks' offense.
Both head coaches are trying to salvage their season, and a win Thursday could put one of them back in the conversation in the Pac-12. The game starts at 10:30 p.m. EDT and you can watch the live broadcast here. To listen to the Ducks' radio broadcast, go here, and for the Sun Devils' radio broadcast, click here.
