When is the last time Oregon defeated a decent team? That is the question many are asking, and the reason why many are backing Stanford this week. This is just the 4th time in the last 8 years that Oregon is a dog at home. Stanford is getting all the money because they have faced two solid teams in San Diego STate & USC and have won and covered, but now they go on the road for the first time this season and face an Oregon team that has not played anyone.

Oregon has a new offensive coordinator along with an offensive coach in Mario Cristobal in his first year. The offense through the first three games has been "designing a new approach." That's exactly what the coaching staff called it, but I expect them to go back to what works and pull out all the stops to get a big time win at home.

What is hidden in all of this is how well Oregon's defense has played and how poorly Stanford has run the ball. I don't anticipate much to change and Oregon's aggressive defense will continue their improvement on defense this year under Jim Leavitt who is arguably a top 5 defensive coordinator in the nation. He has drastically improved this unit that allowed less than 3 yards per carry at home. Stanford right now 120th in offensive success rate, and averaging just 3.84 ypc. Stanford just 2-5 straight up when they are held under 4 yards per carry the last two years and that is exactly what Oregon will try to do here, and I think they'll be successful.