The Oregon Ducks unlocked the next level of competition last week, coming fresh off a 34-13 win in their first Big Ten conference game against UCLA. But this Friday, they’ll look to test the momentum deeper against the Michigan State Spartans, the first big legacy team. On the flip side, Michigan State is heading to the Autzen Stadium with the motive of compensating for a shattering loss against Ohio State last week. The Spartans miserably passed up their last two games, taking their scoring trajectory to a 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Despite the two teams not having a statement rivalry spanning through the years, they have a very brief yet intriguing history to put you on tenterhooks to see what comes next.
The two football powerhouses, Oregon and Michigan State, have met seven times since 1979, with the last coming up during the 2018 Redbox Bowl. As per the records, the Ducks lowkey led the race. Another fascinating detail about this series is that the Ducks are undefeated in Autzen Stadium against the Spartans, and Michigan State didn’t score an upset in Spartan Stadium against Oregon. Tomorrow, on a high-scale hype, both the coaches, Dan Lanning and Jonathan Smith, will try to get under each other’s skin as they both share an uncanny familiarity with the respective opponents’ team. The tension is on the rise, and there’s no way to cool it off unless and until you switch on to FuboTV or FoxSports.com on October 4th, right at 6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. ET.
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As of now, the Ducks are favored in the next Big 10 challenger by 24 points but are 1-3 this season against the spread. Can Dan Lanning take the team forward as undefeated in the homeground? Well, the answer seems to be rightfully subjective, depending upon a slew of factors. But coach Lanning looks to sway over the fight with an optimistic yet non-overbearing approach.
Peeping through Jonathan Smith’s mindset to tackle an underdog Michigan State at home
Oregon might be a novice to the Big Ten, but not Jonathan Smith, who had faced the rival multiple times as the Beavers’ head coach. Also, he and his squad are quite accustomed to the Autzen Stadium instinct that might work into their wonder. Keeping all these things in mind, the Ducks’ coach, Dan Lanning, kept their confidence in check.
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Acknowledging the opponent as a class sportsman, Dan said, ”I think they always do a good job of challenging you in the run game, creating different pictures than maybe what you see. Across college football, they always do a great job of that. Defensively a little bit different than what they were last year at Oregon State, but still really, really sound and do some things that challenge you as well.”
However, Lanning chooses to keep faith in his boys’ supremacy, especially when there will be a huge Autzen crowd to cheer them up all along after quite a while.