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The Countdown: The Beavers stand between Oregon and the Pac-12 North title; do they have a chance?

Arrogance. Turkey, gravy, pumpkin pie-fueled arrogance. Laying on a couch, waking up from a nap and seeing Matthew Stafford throw another interception, no work for five days arrogance. Maybe it's just all that that I got going on, but I just don't see a situation where the Ducks can lose on Saturday. And here's why.

  • The Beavers are an extremely young team, with pretty awful offensive and defensive lines, no running game, and the loss of an offensive veteran when wide receiver James Rodgers spontaneously combusted injured his left leg last week against washington. They don't have the talent, the experience, or the depth to hang with the Ducks for 60 minutes, in Autzen.
  • The last time Oregon lost a conference game, it was in 2009 against Stanford. The next week, the Ducks came home and put together on of the most complete performances of the Chip Kelly era. Oregon built a 31-7 halftime lead, thanks to three first half touchdowns by LaMichael James, and the Ducks went on to a 44-21 win over Arizona State. With a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game on the line, Duck fans have no reason to expect a letdown this week.
  • The quarterbacks that have beaten Chip Kelly's Ducks: Kellen Moore, Andrew Luck, Terrelle Pryor, Cam Newton, Jarrett Lee, Matt Barkley. That's a talented bunch, even with the inclusion of Lee, who did a great job of managing the game and letting LSU's defense and Oregon's turnovers get the win for the Tigers. Even on his best day, Sean Mannion is just not a part of that group yet. His best games this season have been helped by mistakes by the opposition, and have included at least one interception. He'll have to be turnover-free, and near perfect, if the Beavers are going to have a chance. 
  • The Oregon defense had a pretty bad game last week: they couldn't get pressure on Matt Barkley, they allowed big runs on first and second down, and they couldn't hang with USC's big and talented wide receivers. I think it's safe to say that Coach Alliotti's unit will be hungry for redemption. 
  • After an in-season loss under Chip Kelly, the Ducks have won the next game by an average of 50-25. Sounds about right.

I could spend time thinking of five reasons why the Beavers will pull the shocker. But that would cut into my time spent napping and being nowhere near a computer. If the Ducks can't get pressure on Sean Mannion, and he has the game of his career, and if the Oregon offense takes three quarters to figure itself out again, this game could get interesting. But I don't see it happening. Maybe it's the cornbread, leek, and bacon stuffing and all the wine and beer talking, but I don't think this one will be close.