Pac-10 Thursday Night Battle: Oregon vs. UCLA

The 2nd ranked Oregon Ducks will have center stage on Thursday night as they take on the UCLA Bruins in a Pac-10 showdown. It may not seem as though this game will be competitive, but since starting conference play, the Ducks have allowed over 28 runs per game.

Oregon leads the country in scoring with an incredible 54.3 per game average. They are without question tremendously talented on offense, but 72-0 and 69-0 wins against New Mexico and Portland St have skewed their stats a bit. Their offense is led by running back LaMichael James. James leads the team with 848 yards on the ground and 9 touchdowns. Perhaps the most impressive part of the Ducks run game is that they have 5 players including their quarterback that have scored at least twice.

Quarterback Darron Thomas has filled in nicely in place of the departed Jeremiah Masoli. Thomas has done a great job in protecting the football and leading the offense. He’s thrown 14 touchdowns to just 5 interceptions thus far, and is completing nearly 60% of his passes. He presents a far greater threat passing the ball than Masoli did which is why they have been so dominant running the ball. Expect them to use much of the same formula against a Bruins defense that allows almost 26 points per game.

UCLA has been up and down this year. Their inconsistency has baffled many college football handicappers which has led to several bad football picks. After an embarrassing 35-0 loss to Stanford back In week 2, the Bruins responded by beating back to back ranked opponents. Taking down Houston may have been attributed to the fact that the Cougars were down to their 3rd string quarterback, but a convincing 34-12 blowout of the Longhorns in Texas.

The quarterback situation has been a disaster for UCLA this season. They are ranked 118th out of 119 division 1 schools in passing yards per game with a meager 95.5. This will have to be remedied quickly against the high-octane offense of Oregon. Starter Kevin Prince has been hindered by a sore knee for much of the season, but that shouldn’t be enough to attribute to his horrible passing numbers. He has only passed for over 100 yards once this season, and is completing just 44 percent of his passes. To make matters worse, he has just 3 touchdown passes and has thrown 5 picks. He may or may not go on Thursday, and if he doesn’t things will be much worse as the Bruins back-up isn’t much better.

The Vegas oddsmakers and off-shore sportsbooks aren’t giving the Bruins much respect in this game. The point spread opened at 20.5 and has soared to 25 after heavy action on the Ducks. I have no idea what to expect in terms of the spread as it’s next to impossible to get a read on this UCLA squad. However, the total is set at 61.5 which I feel is a tad too high. Oregon plays solid defense but doesn’t get credit for it, because they are outshined by the offense. Expect the Ducks to contain UCLA, and not showboat on offense as they try to keep most of their plays hidden from the USC scouts.

Related posts:

1. Arizona vs. UCLA in Thursday Night PAC-12 Match-Up
2. Oregon vs. UCLA: Can Oregon Duck a Bruin Upset Bid?
3. PAC-10 Game Day Battle: USC vs. Oregon
4. Oregon takes on California in PAC-10 Showdown
5. PAC-12 Title Fight: Stanford hosts Oregon

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