EUGENE, Ore — Eastern Washington (1-0) at Oregon (0-1), Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET (Pac-12)
Line: No line.
Series record: Oregon won the only previous meeting 61-42 at Autzen Stadium in 2015.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Oregon is coming off a disheartening season-opening 49-3 loss to Georgia that dropped the Ducks out of the AP Top 25. But they return home on Saturday to face the Big Sky's Eastern Washington. The Ducks have won 17 straight openers at Autzen Stadium, and 19 straight games at home overall, the third-longest active streak in the country. Eastern Washington faces two FBS teams this season: In addition to the Ducks, the Eagles visit Florida on Oct. 1 for a game that was rescheduled from 2020. Eastern Washington won its season opener 36-29 at home over Tennessee State. The Eagles are 2-11 over Pac-12 foes, with victories against Oregon State in 2013 and Washington State in 2016.
KEY MATCHUP
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix against Eastern Washington's defense. Nix struggled in the opener, throwing for 173 yards with two interceptions. Eagles defensive lineman Joshua Jerome, who had eight tackles and a fumble recovery in the Eagles' opener, piled up 61 tackles and seven sacks last season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Eastern Washington: QB Gunner Talkington, a sixth-year senior, was making just his second career start — but first as the Eagles' No. 1 QB — against Tennessee State, throwing for 348 yards and five touchdowns. He was named the Big Sky's offensive player of the week for the effort.
Oregon: LB Noah Sewell is the youngest of the four talented Sewell brothers and is expected to be a high NFL draft pick. He had a relatively quiet game against Georgia with three tackles as the entire Ducks defense struggled.
FACTS & FIGURES
The Eagles lost three key players from last season, including quarterback and 2021 Walter Payton winner Eric Barriere, offensive lineman Tristen Taylor and receiver Talolo Limu-Jones. ... Oregon's loss to Georgia was its most lopsided loss since 2016. ... Eastern Washington is 11-27 overall against FBS opponents. ... After facing the Ducks, the Eagles get a bye week. ... Oregon has averaged 56 points in its 17-game home opener winning streak, while holding opponents to 17.4 points. ... Oregon averaged 4.5 yards per carry against Georgia, most for an opponent since Kentucky averaged 4.6 in 2019. Oregon had 140 rushing yards total. ... First-year Ducks coach Dan Lanning was looking ahead, not back. “We’ve got good players and we can play a lot better than we played. That being said, you can’t sit around and spend a lot of time looking in the past, you got to start working on the future and we’re about to play a really good opponent in Eastern Washington,” he said.
