It's the last weekend of the college football regular season, and it is only fitting to finish the season with rivalry games. The battle for the state of Oregon happens this Friday, as the Oregon State Beavers travel to Eugene to face the Oregon Ducks in a classic rivalry game. The Beavers are looking to snap a nine-game losing streak but face arguably their toughest challenge yet in playing the Ducks. Oregon was unable to earn a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game, but they have won five straight and will look to finish their season strong.
Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich will need his quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. to continue to play well, as Helfrich does not want his team to sleep on a 2-9 Beavers team. Adams has played incredible down the stretch of this season with wins over California, Stanford, and USC. The Ducks quarterback is coming off his best game of the season, throwing for 407 yards with six touchdowns.
Helfrich will get running back Royce Freeman plenty of opportunities on Friday, as he has been tearing opposing defenses apart. The sophomore running back is the team's leading rusher with 1,539 yards on the season and has scored 12 touchdowns. Freeman is averaging 6.7 yards per carry and has only been held under 100 yards twice this season.
The Beavers defense has struggled this season, and Oregon's offensive will look to score in bunches Friday afternoon. Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen will need his defense to step up as they have let up 50 plus points in the Beavers' last two games.
The Beavers have played three quarterbacks this season, and it will be interesting to see which one gets a majority of playing time this Friday. Freshman quarterback Marcus McMaryion may have established himself as the starter this week, but don't be surprised if Andersen switches quarterbacks mid-game. McMaryion threw for 109 yards with a touchdowns and an interception last week, and the Beavers may want to see if he will be their quarterback for the future.
Expect the Beavers to run the ball a ton on Friday, as Andersen will look to alleviate pressure on his freshman quarterback. Running backs Storm Barrs-Woods and Ryan Nall will see a majority of the carries in this matchup, but they have both struggled to produce big numbers this season. Barrs-Woods has 491 rushing yards this season, but has only scored one touchdown. Nall is averaging 5.2 yards per carry, and the freshman running back is seeing more carries down the stretch of this season.
This is basically Oregon State's bowl game, and nothing would make Beavers fans happier then ending their season with a win over the Ducks. Oregon already lost their chance at a Pac-12 Championship game, but Helfrich will look to have his team fired up, as this game could have a major impact on which bowl game the Ducks play in. The game starts at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, and you can watch the live broadcast here. To listen to the Ducks' radio broadcast, click here, and for the Beavers' radio broadcast, go here.
