Oregon opens as 2.5 point favorites over No. 11 Washington State

Oregon will be without starting quarterback Justin Herbert and will also most likely not have running back Royce Freeman when they face No. 11 Washington State this weekend at home. Despite that, Vegas likes Oregon’s chances to pull the upset.

Today, the Ducks opened as 2.5 point favorites over the Cougars, according to OddsShark.com. Washington State is 5-0 on the year after beating No. 5 USC at home this past week. The Ducks are 4-1 after beating Cal at home on Saturday.

The Oregon defense will have their hands full this weekend when they face Luke Falk, who ranks sixth in the nation in passing yards per game (343.6), tied for second in passing touchdowns (16) and has only thrown two interceptions in 220 attempts across his first five games.

Meanwhile, nobody quite knows who will start at quarterback for the Ducks. Taylor Alie was the next man up on Oregon’s depth chart, but he was hurt during the game as well. That forced Willie Taggart to burn freshman Braxton Burmeister’s redshirt. Burmeister is a four-star recruit who flipped his commitment from Arizona to Oregon earlier this year. The talent level is there, but how fast can the Ducks get Burmeister up to speed?