You have to give BYU credit, they are not backing down in their early season scheduling. the Cougars are coming off a 26-20 home win over #9 Baylor last week in 2OT and now head to Autzen Stadium to take on the #25 Oregon Ducks in another huge clash.
The Ducks already have a pretty good test of their own under their belt, losing 49-3 to #3 Georgia in the season opener. OU got back into the win column with a 70-14 whitewashing of Eastern Washington last week and are -3.5 favorites in the BYU Oregon week 3 matchup. 62% of public bettors actually like Brigham Young plus the points here.
BYU Going to Have a Hangover?
It’s hard to beat ranked teams on back to back weeks but that’s what the Cougars are up against in the BYU Oregon week 3 matchup. The Cougars were actually -2.5 favorites at home last week over #9 Baylor, even after losing 38-24 on the road to the Bears last season. BYU used a very strong defensive showing (holding Baylor to 137 yards passing) to pick up the 26-20 victory in 2OT.
Of course even with the big win last week there are some concerns heading to Autzen Stadium where the Ducks have won 20 straight games. One issue is that BYU couldn’t get much going in the run game last week, gaining just 83 yards on 33 attempts. There is also the health of WRs Puca Nacua (ankle) and Gunner Romney (undisclosed) to consider as both players missed last week That’s a combined 72 catches, 1,300+ yards, and 9 TDs from 2021 potentially out of the lineup.
Of course there’s also plenty of reasons BYU can cover the +3.5 and/or even win outright on Saturday in Eugene starting with QB Jaren Hall. He wasn’t incredibly efficient vs. Baylor (23/39) but did have 261 yards and a TD while also adding a TD catch on a trick play. Even without two of their top receivers Chase Roberts was able to step up with 8 catches for 122 yards and a TD to go along with his TD pass. Georgia threw for 439 yards in the opener against Oregon.
Big One for the Ducks
Being at home definitely gives Oregon an edge here but do they have any other intangibles in their favor? It’s hard to take much out of last week’s 70-14 win over Eastern Washington even though the Ducks were ‘only’ -27 point favorites, but the Eagles had just 187 total yards in that game, an improvement for the OU defense after allowing 571 to Georgia in the opener.
Throwing the quality of opponent aside, the Oregon offense was also clicking last week with TDs on their first 9 drives. That includes 263 on the ground following a solid 132 yards rushing vs. Georgia in what has really been a team effort as no Ducks RB has broken 100+ yards for the season yet.
Bo Nix also had a confidence builder last week after going 21/37 with 2 INTs vs. Georgia he was able to connect on 28/33 for 277 with 5 TDs vs. Eastern Washington. This will be Nix’s third game in the Oregon system so one would think he only becomes more and more comfortable.
Free BYU Oregon Week 3 Betting Pick
Oregon returns all five of it’s offensive line starters from a year ago and Nix had his breakout game at QB last week. BYU is good and a very dangerous underdog, but it’s a tough ask to go on the road and get a win in Autzen after taking down a top 10 ranked Baylor last week.
Free Pick: Oregon -3.5
