Oregon Ducks’ three keys to victory against Indiana

We are a little over a month into the college football season and we’re finally getting a clearer picture of where most teams are. It would be difficult to find anyone who doesn’t think the Oregon Ducks have firmly rooted themselves in the playoff picture and National Championship discussion.

The schedule makers were kind to the Ducks as they got a bye week right after their upset victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions. After having some down time to rest and heal up, Oregon will be back home for another top-10 matchup, this time against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Although Penn State was ranked No. 2 when the Ducks beat them, Indiana may very well be the best team on their schedule this year. These two teams are both 5-0 and fresh off a bye week, so we should get a high-intensity battle. Let’s take a look at what the Ducks need to do to pull off their second consecutive signature win.

Stay Disciplined

This is the first matchup Oregon will play in all season where the opposing team has no real offensive weakness. These Hoosiers have rushed for over 300 yards as a team in four out of their first five games, but they also have a Heisman contender under center in Fernando Mendoza.

Oregon was able to stop Penn State’s vaunted rushing attack, so whatever they did to stifle them, they need to use that same game plan against Indiana. There are no special tricks or secrets to stopping this Indiana offense, all the Ducks can do is stay disciplined on their assignments because this team can gash them both on the ground and through the air.

Start Fast

On Saturday, it will be two weeks since either one of these teams took the field, so the Ducks need to start fast and get in a rhythm. They looked like they played their most complimentary game against the Nittany Lions, but there’s a chance their flow was interrupted with the bye week, so they’ll need to get tuned back up.

Unfortunately, they won’t have a pushover opponent for them to do it against, so the Ducks will need to get Dante Moore some easy throws and get their running backs out in space with some creative run designs. It is imperative for offensive coordinator Will Stein to keep his unit rolling and open to up the field for his playmakers.

Keep it Close

Indiana has yet to play in a close game this season, so unless the Ducks plan on blowing them out, they need to keep this game close and see just how confident the Hoosiers are when the game is in the balance late. Oregon’s last game was a double-overtime thriller against a team that was a National Championship contender at the time, so we know they don’t waver in the clutch.

We know the Hoosiers can blow teams out of the water, but can they continuously execute when the game can be won or lost on a single play?

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon’s 3 keys to victory against Indiana football