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Looking to continue its undefeated start to the season, the No. 6 Oregon football team will hope to build on its 34-13 win over UCLA last weekend in a return to Autzen Stadium against Michigan State Friday in Eugene.
The Ducks (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will face an all-too-familiar coach in Jonathan Smith, who previously coached at Oregon State before taking the Spartans’ (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) job in East Lansing following last season.
Here are three keys to a successful outing against the Spartans this weekend.
Ducks must be ready for new wrinkles from Jonathan Smith
Though these coaching staffs only met against one another twice, Oregon coach Dan Lanning and Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith are more than familiar with one another.
Smith, a former Oregon State player and coach, left to take the Michigan State position less than 24 hours after the Ducks defeated the Beavers last November, 31-7 at Autzen Stadium. The year before, in Lanning’s first season at Oregon, Smith and the Beavers defeated the Ducks at Reser Stadium, 38-34, in Corvallis.
Smith will return to the Autzen visiting sideline this Friday, albeit in different colors with a new logo on his clothes. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
“Yeah, there’s definitely some similar pieces,” Lanning 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.”
Smith isn’t the only coach with connections to the state of Oregon on staff, but another familiar face will be Spartans’ cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin, who coached in the same role for the Ducks last season.
The Spartans also tout several…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/oregon-footballs-3-keys-victory-171447303.html
Author : The Register-Guard
Publish date : 2024-10-02 17:14:47
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