Portland State vs Oregon Preview: Bo Nix Begins Heisman Push

The Oregon Ducks are paying the Portland State Vikings $575,000 for soundly beating them Saturday. When the two teams last played in 2018, Oregon won 62-14. There’s no reason to think things will be any different this year. The question isn’t whether No. 15 Oregon will win. It’s how much they’ll win by. The Ducks have been pushing to get Bo Nix in contention for the Heisman Trophy. He’ll finally get his chance on the field. The Portland State vs Oregon preview notes the Ducks have won their last 12 games against FCS teams by an average 60-14 score.

The college football betting odds haven’t been released yet for this game. But based on previous games, the Ducks should be close to 45-point favorites. The Sagarin college football ratings have Oregon 42 points better than the Vikings. Oregon was favored by 48 points in 2018, and the NCAAF scores show Ducks defeated Eastern Washington last season 70-14. And the Eagles are a better team than Portland State.

Portland State Has Some Good Players

The Portland State Vikings aren’t the college football equivalent of the Washington Generals out there. The Vikings have some talent, starting with quarterback Dante Chachere, who threw for 19 touchdowns and rushed for 609 yards and seven scores.

The Vikings suffered some key injuries last season and limped home with a 4-7 record. Wideout Darien Chase had 54 receptions in 2021 but missed all last season. He should be good to go here, as well as linebacker Parker McKenna, who missed more than half the season.

But it’s one thing to be a good FCS football player and go up against a good FBS player. The Ducks simply have much more talent on their team than Portland State.

Will Oregon Look to Run it Up?

The Portland State vs Oregon preview knows the Ducks can practically name the final score of this game if they’re so inclined. But there’s no real reason for Oregon to want to embarrass the Vikings. The NCAAF schedule has Oregon traveling to play Texas Tech next week. Being healthy for the Red Raiders is more important than defeating the Vikings by 50.

In addition to Nix, the Ducks have a solid stable of running backs they will get the ball to on a consistent basis. Oregon will try to get Nix out of the game early in the second half and get their backups in. You never know when injuries will force one of them into the starting lineup.

Oregon 62, Portland State 14 (2018)

Justin Herbert threw four touchdown passes for the Ducks, who led 35-7 at halftime and 49-7 after three quarters. Oregon piled up 562 yards of total offense and limited the Vikings to 224. PSU quarterback Jalani Eason threw two touchdown passes to account for the Vikings’ two scores.

What to Expect

The Oregon Ducks are thinking NCAA football championship this season. That might be too high of an aim. But the Ducks have a solid team this year and can play with the big boys in college football.

The Portland State vs Oregon preview has the Vikings coming up with a few big plays in the game. The Vikings can do some good things. But Oregon is going to come up with a lot more. That’s what you expect from a team with an NCAA football ranking of No. 15 in the polls. The Ducks are bigger, stronger, and faster than Portland State.

Oregon will let Nix get in some passes to help pad his stats a bit. But they’ll also work on the ground game and getting as many NCAAF players in the game in the second half as possible. That’s what these tune-up games are for.

The only thing that will keep the Ducks from scoring 60 points here is the coaching staff. It certainly won’t be the Vikings.

For college football betting news, odds, analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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