The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, September 14, 2019, WEEKEND EDITION, Image 19

The daily Astorian., September 14, 2019, WEEKEND EDITION, Page 19, Image 19

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Newspaper Page TextC3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW NO. 16 OREGON DUCKS (1-1) Aug. 31: Oregon 21, No. 16. Auburn 27 Sept. 7: Oregon 77, Nevada 6 Saturday vs. Montana, 7:45 p.m. (PAC12) Sep. 21 at Stanford, 4 p.m. (ESPN) PITTSBURGH LOOKS TO RECOVER FROM SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (1-0) UGLY Sept. 8: Seattle 21, Cincinnati 20 Sunday at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m. (FOX) OPENER Sept. 22 vs. New Orleans, 1:25 p.m. (CBS) Sept. 29 at Arizona, 1:05 p.m. (FOX) Oct. 5 vs. California, TBA Oct. 3 vs. Los Angeles Rams, 5:20 p.m. (FOX/NFLN/ Amazon) Oct. 11 vs. Colorado, 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at No. 23 Washington, TBA Oct. 13 at Cleveland, 10 a.m. (FOX) Oct. 26 vs. No. 20 Washington State, TBA Oct. 20 vs. Baltimore, 1:25 p.m. (FOX) Nov. 2 at vs. No. 24 Southern Cal, TBA Nov. 16 vs. Arizona, TBA Oct. 27 at Atlanta, 10 a.m. (FOX) Nov. 23 at Arizona State, TBA Nov. 3 vs. Tampa Bay, 1:05 p.m. (FOX) Nov. 30 vs. Oregon State, TBA Nov. 11 at San Francisco, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN) Steven Senne/AP Photo Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) tries to scramble away from New England Patriots linebacker Shilique Calhoun (90) in Foxborough, Mass. Steelers host Seahawks in home opener, eager to move past a 30-point loss to Patriots Sept. 7: Hawaii 31, Oregon State 28 Saturday vs. Cal Poly, 1:15 p.m. (PAC12) Sep. 28 vs. Stanford, TBA Oct. 5 at UCLA, TBA Oct. 12 vs. No. 11 Utah, TBA Oct. 19 at California, TBA Nov. 2 at Arizona, TBA Nov. 8 vs. No. 23 Washington, 7:30 p.m. (FS1) Nov. 16 vs. Arizona St., TBA Nov. 23 at No. 20 Washington State, TBA Nov. 30 at No.15 Oregon, TBA AP TOP 25 SCHEDULE FRIDAY No. 20 Washington State 31, Houston 24 SATURDAY No. 1 Clemson at Syracuse, 4:30 p.m. No. 2 Alabama at South Carolina, 12:30 p.m. No. 3 Georgia vs. Arkansas State, Noon No. 4 LSU vs. Northwestern State, 4:30 p.m. No. 5 Oklahoma at UCLA, 5 p.m. No. 6 Ohio State at Indiana, Noon No. 7 Notre Dame vs. New Mexico, 11:30 a.m. No. 8 Auburn vs. Kent State, 4 p.m. No. 9 Florida at Kentucky, 4 p.m. No. 11 Utah vs. Idaho State, 1:15 p.m. No. 12 Texas at Rice, 5 p.m. No. 13 Penn State vs. Pittsburgh, Noon CROSSING CONCERNS By WILL GRAVES Associated Press P ITTSBURGH — Pete Carroll watched the tape. The Seattle Sea- hawks coach isn’t buying what he saw from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a lop- sided Week 1 loss to New England. “Opening games are always difﬁ cult,” Carroll said. “You don’t know what you’re going to get. New England couldn’t have looked better. Not everybody starts the way they think and not every- body stays the way they start. (The Steelers are) a loaded team.” Maybe, but Pittsburgh (0-1) didn’t exactly look like one against the defending Super Bowl cham- pions. The offense managed a measly ﬁ eld goal. The defense let 42-year-old Tom Brady do what- ever he wanted whenever he wanted, just like always. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called it the football equivalent of laying an egg. Carroll and the Seahawks (1-0), however, remain wary. Pittsburgh’s proven plenty resilient during the long and largely successful marriage between Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlis- berger. The Steelers are 8-1 after losses by at least 20 points during Roethlisberger’s 15-plus years in the league. Carroll doesn’t expect another clunker in Pittsburgh’s home opener, which means his team needs to play better than it did in a Week 1 victory over Cincinnati. LEGION OF GLOOM? It was eye-opening to see Andy Dalton throw for a career-high 418 yards against Seattle in the season opener. Part of Dalton’s success was because of Seattle’s game plan of allowing the Bengals to complete throws underneath. Where Seattle ran into problems were two big plays that both went for touchdowns, including a 55-yard strike to John Ross that safety Tedric Thompson badly misplayed. Seattle isn’t expected to make any changes, other than the addition of veteran Jamar Tay- lor, who was signed this week. But the Seahawks know they must be better on the back end against Roethlisberger and the Steelers. “We understand we’re playing a really good quarterback, and he probably seen the same ﬁ lm that they saw. So they’re going to try to attack us in the pass game,” Seattle’s Bobby Wagner said. Brady sliced up the Steelers for 341 yards and three scores, many of his 24 completions coming on shallow crossing patterns that allowed Julian Edelman and company to have the ball in open space. Though Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson tends to look downﬁ eld more than Brady, Pittsburgh’s defense knows until it shows it can stop the crossing routes, they’ll keep seeing them. “It’s a copycat league,” said nickel back Mike Hilton. “We know it’s something we need to shore up by working on our communication.” OFF THE EDGE Jadeveon Clowney had a strong debut with Seattle, playing 48 of 77 plays — more than expected — while getting a sack and deﬂ ecting a pass he nearly intercepted. Perhaps more impor- tantly, the presence of Clowney forced Cincinnati to give him extra attention and allowed others on Seattle’s defensive line to stand out. Quinton Jef- ferson had the best game of any defensive lineman with six tackles and two sacks. That pass rush could get even better for Seat- tle this week if Ziggy Ansah is healthy enough to play. Ansah was inactive last week after soreness developed in his surgically repaired shoulder. If Ansah plays, he’ll likely have a restricted number of plays, but it will be the ﬁ rst chance to see him in action with Clowney. GROUND GAME Seattle led the NFL in rushing last season at 160 yards per game. It was a far greater strug- gle in the opener as Cincinnati loaded up against Seattle’s run game and held the Seahawks to 72 yards on the ground. Part of the problem was Seattle’s inability to sustain drives and going three-and-out six times. The lack of total plays limited Chris Carson to just 15 carries and Seat- tle to 25 total rushes as a team. Expect the run to be a priority. “We have to be more consistent, we’ve got to stay ahead of the sticks, we have to be more effec- tive running the ball on early downs,” Carroll said. The Steelers were even worse. Pittsburgh man- aged just 32 yards rushing in New England, 7 of them coming on a scramble by the 37-year-old Roethlisberger. Pittsburgh will try to get the run- ning game going without fullback Rosie Nix, who is out with a knee injury. No. 15 Oregon vs. Montana, 7:45 p.m. No. 16 Texas A&M vs. Lamar, 4 p.m. No. 17 UCF vs. Stanford, 12:30 p.m. No. 18 Michigan State vs. Arizona State, 1 p.m. No. 19 Iowa at Iowa State, 1 p.m. No. 21 Maryland at Temple, Noon No. 22 Boise State vs. Portland State, 7:15 p.m. No. 23 Washington vs. Hawaii, 4:30 p.m. No. 24 Southern Cal at BYU, 12:30 p.m. No. 25 Virginia vs. Florida State, 4:30 p.m. FAR WEST SCHEDULE SATURDAY Air Force (1-0) at Colorado (2-0), 10 a.m. North Texas (1-1) at California (2-0), 1:15 p.m. Idaho St. (1-0) at Utah (2-0), 1:15 p.m. Idaho (1-1) at Wyoming (2-0), 2 p.m. Western New Mexico (0-1) at Northern Arizona (1-1), 3 p.m. Weber St. (1-1) at Nevada (1-1), 4 p.m. San Diego St. (2-0) at New Mexico St. (0-2), 5 p.m. Oklahoma (2-0) at UCLA (0-2), 5 p.m. Stephen F. Austin (0-2) at Southern Utah (0-2), 5:05 p.m. Northern Colorado (0-2) at Sacramento St. (1-1), 6 p.m. Lehigh (0-2) at UC Davis (1-1), 7 p.m. Texas Tech (2-0) at Arizona (1-1), Nov. 24 at Philadelphia, 5:20 p.m. (NBC) Dec. 2 vs. Minnesota, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN) Dec. 8 at Los Angeles Rams, 5:20 p.m. (NBC) Dec. 15 at Carolina, 10 a.m. (FOX) OREGON STATE BEAVERS (0-2) Aug. 30: Oklahoma State 52, Oregon State 36 Nov. 17 BYE Oregon gets Pac-12 After Dark matchup Line: No Line. Series: Ducks lead 7-0-1. of 192 set in 1998. Louie-McGee has 1,928 career receiving yards. He returned a punt for a 74-yard touchdown last week against North Alabama. Oregon: Quarterback Justin Her- bert threw for 310 yards and ﬁ ve touchdowns against Nevada. All ﬁ ve of those TDs went to different receiv- ers. The Ducks are averaging 46.8 points per game at Autzen Stadium in the senior QB’s starts. He’s thrown a touchdown pass in 30 straight games, the longest current streak in the nation. He’s also fronted by an offensive line that has a combined 163 career starts. WHAT’S AT STAKE? Oregon seeks to continue its upward trajectory after a season-open- ing loss to Auburn. The Ducks are coming off a 77-6 rout of Nevada last weekend. With both Washington and Stanford suffering early-season losses in conference play, Oregon could mount a bid for the Pac-12 North. But the team has Montana ﬁ rst before fac- ing the Cardinal in the league opener next week. The Grizzlies have faced just three other nationally ranked teams: No. 16 Iowa in 2006 and No. 7 Washington in 2017. Montana’s sea- son-opening wins came against South Dakota and North Alabama. KEY MATCHUP Oregon’s defense against Mon- tana’s offense. The Grizzlies’ offense has been humming along so far this season, led by senior quarterback Dalton Sneed, who is averaging 348 yards passing. Montana’s offense is ranked seventh nationally at the FCS level, averaging 520 yards. But Ore- gon’s defense looks to be adjusting well to new defensive coordinator Andy Avalos’ system. One standout has been freshman Mase Funa, who FACTS & FIGURES Chris Pietsch/AP Photo Oregon’s Bryan Addison, left, and Daewood Davis celebrate a fourth- quarter interception that Davis ran back for a touchdown against Nevada. leads the league with four tackles for loss. Funa had two sacks in the win over Nevada. PLAYERS TO WATCH Montana: Senior receiver Jerry Louie-McGee needs just three catches to break Raul Pacheco’s career record Oregon has won 24 straight non- conference games at home. ... Ore- gon has had 12 players score a touch- down this season, tied for most in the nation with Baylor and Maryland. ... The Grizzlies have four interceptions this season to lead the Big Sky. ... All of the games between the two teams have been played in Eugene. ... The status of Oregon grad transfer Juwan Johnson was put at 50-50 for Satur- day’s game by Ducks coach Mario Cristobal. Projected to start at receiver at the start of the season, Johnson has missed both games with a soft tissue injury. — Associated Press Dec. 22 vs. Arizona, 1:25 p.m. (FOX) Dec. 29 vs. San Francisco, 1:25 p.m. (FOX) SEAHAWKS- STEELERS CAPSULE OPENING LINE — Steelers by 3½ RECORD VS. SPREAD — Seahawks 0-1; Steelers 0-1 SERIES RECORD — Tied 9-9. LAST MEETING — Seahawks beat Steelers 39-30, Nov. 29, 2015 LAST WEEK — Seahawks beat Ben- gals 21-20; Steelers lost to Patriots 33-3 AP PRO32 RANKING — Seahawks No. 10, Steelers No. 15 SEAHAWKS OFFENSE — OVERALL (29), RUSH (25), PASS (29). SEAHAWKS DEFENSE — OVERALL (23), RUSH (4), PASS (31). STEELERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (24), RUSH (30), PASS (13). STEELERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (26), RUSH (15), PASS (27). STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Seahawks scoreless in last two vis- its to Pittsburgh. Seattle’s 2-7 in Steel City. ... Win would make Seahawks coach Pete Carroll ﬁ fth active coach with 100 career victories. ... Seat- tle QB Russell Wilson needs two TD passes to reach 200 in career. He would be ﬁ fth fastest in league his- tory to reach mark. ... Wilson’s sec- ond career game vs. Steelers, threw for 345 yards and ﬁ ve TDs vs. Pitts- burgh in 2015 win in Seattle. ... Wilson has thrown two TD passes or more in 12 of past 13 road games. NFL STANDINGS AMERICAN CONFERENCE EAST W L T Pct Buﬀ alo 1 0 0 1.000 New England 1 0 0 1.000 N.Y. Jets 0 1 0 .000 Miami 0 1 0 .000 SOUTH Tennessee Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville W 1 0 0 0 L 0 1 1 1 PF 17 33 16 10 PA 16 3 17 59 T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 43 13 0 .000 28 30 0 .000 24 30 0 .000 26 40 NORTH W L T Pct PF PA Baltimore 1 0 0 1.000 59 10 Cincinnati 0 1 0 .000 20 21 Cleveland 0 1 0 .000 13 43 Pittsburgh 0 1 0 .000 3 33 WEST Oakland Kansas City L.A. Chargers Denver Pct 1.000 1.000 1.000 .000 PF 24 40 30 16 PA 16 26 24 24 NATIONAL CONFERENCE EAST W L T Pct Dallas 1 0 0 1.000 Philadelphia 1 0 0 1.000 Washington 0 1 0 .000 N.Y. Giants 0 1 0 .000 PF 35 32 27 17 PA 17 27 32 35 SOUTH New Orleans Tampa Bay Carolina Atlanta W 1 1 1 0 W 1 1 0 0 L 0 0 0 1 L 0 1 2 1 T 0 0 0 0 T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 30 28 0 .500 37 45 0 .000 41 50 0 .000 12 28 NORTH W L T Pct PF PA Green Bay 1 0 0 1.000 10 3 Minnesota 1 0 0 1.000 28 12 Detroit 0 0 1 .500 27 27 Chicago 0 1 0 .000 3 10 WEST San Francisco L.A. Rams Seattle Arizona W 1 1 1 0 L 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 1 Pct 1.000 1.000 1.000 .500 PF 31 30 21 27 PA 17 27 20 27 NFL SCHEDULE Thursday’s Game Tampa Bay 20, Carolina 14 Sunday’s Games Seattle at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m. Indianapolis at Tennessee, 10 a.m. Arizona at Baltimore, 10 a.m. New England at Miami, 10 a.m. L.A. Chargers at Detroit, 10 a.m. Dallas at Washington, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Houston, 10 a.m. San Francisco at Cincinnati, 10 a.m. Buﬀ alo at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m. Minnesota at Green Bay, 10 a.m. Kansas City at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. Chicago at Denver, 1:25 p.m. New Orleans at L.A. Rams, 1:25 p.m. Philadelphia at Atlanta, 5:20 p.m. Monday’s Game Cleveland at N.Y. Jets, 5:15 p.m.