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C3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW NO. 7 OREGON DUCKS (7-1) SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (6-2) Aug. 31: No. 16. Auburn 27 No. 11 Oregon 21, Sept. 8: Seattle 21, Cincinnati 20 Sept. 7: No. 16 Oregon 77, Nevada 6 Sept. 15: Seattle28, Pittsburgh 26 Sept. 14: No. 15 Oregon 35, Montana 3 Sept. 22: New Orleans 33, Seattle 27 Sept. 21: No. 16 Oregon 21, Stanford 6 Sept. 29: Seattle 27, Arizona 10 Oct. 5: No. 13 Oregon 17, California 7 Oct. 3: Seattle 30, LA Rams 29 Oct. 11: No. 13 Oregon 45 Colorado 3 Oct. 13: Seattle 32, Cleveland 28 Oct. 19: No. 12 Oregon 35, No. 25 Washington 31 Oct. 26: No. 11 Oregon 37, Washington State 35 Saturday at Southern Cal, 5 p.m. (FOX) Oct. 20: Baltimore 30, Seattle 16 WHAT LIES AHEAD Nov. 16 vs. Arizona, TBA Nov. 23 at Arizona State, TBA Nov. 30 vs. Oregon State, TBA Curtis Compton/AP Photo Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner runs after recovering a fumble by Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman (24) at the Seahawks 1-yard line during the fourth quarter Oct. 27 in Atlanta. By TIM BOOTH Associated Press Aug. 30: Oklahoma State 52, Oregon State 36 Sept. 7: Hawaii 31, Oregon State 28 Sept. 14: Oregon State 45, Cal Poly 7 Sept. 28: Stanford 31, Oregon State 28 Oct. 5: Oregon State 48, UCLA 31 Oct. 12: No. 15 Utah 57, Oregon State 7 Oct. 19: Oregon State 21, California 17 Saturday at Arizona, 1:30 p.m. (PAC12) Nov. 8 vs. No. 25 Washington, 7:30 p.m. (FS1) Nov. 16 vs. No. 24 Arizona State, TBA Nov. 23 at Washington State, TBA Nov. 30 at No.7 Oregon, TBA AP TOP 25 SCHEDULE THURSDAY No. 12 Baylor 17, West Virginia 14 Georgia Southern 24, No. 20 Appalachian State 21 SATURDAY No. 4 Clemson vs. Woff ord, 1 p.m. No. 6 Florida vs. No. 8 Georgia at Jacksonville, Fla., 12:30 p.m. S EATTLE — With what lies ahead, the Seattle Seahawks better enjoy what appears to be the fi nal “easy” week on the schedule. The Seahawks have started 6-2, are in the middle of the NFC playoff race and will host struggling Tampa Bay on Sunday. Seattle’s fi rst half of the season has put it in the playoff conversation and could have the Seahawks in contention for a divi- sion title, eventually. But the visit from the Buccaneers is a scary matchup and the last appetizer on Seattle’s schedule that becomes incredibly diffi cult over the fi nal seven games. “It isn’t just getting to the halfway point, it’s what you’re going to do about it,” Seattle coach Pete Car- roll said. “That’s all gone and done with. Now this is when the run to the fi nish is under way.” Seattle has feasted on the lower tier of the league in getting to six wins. It owns only one win over a team with a winning record. Five of its six wins are by one score, with a 17-point win at Arizona its only comfortable victory. Between the easy schedule and the margins of victory, Seattle hasn’t proven much in its six wins. But it’ll have plenty of opportunity over the fi nal two months. After facing the Bucs, six of Seattle’s fi nal seven games come against teams currently with .500 or bet- ter records. That includes two games against San Francisco and road trips to Philadelphia, the Rams and Carolina. “I like the spot that we’re at,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “There’s been situations or games where we’ve been 4-4, or a lot worse records. So sitting at 6-2 with a chance to improve and really take off defensively, I like our chances.” The cross-country trip is the end of a long stretch away from home for the Bucs. Tampa Bay (2-5) has lost three straight and hasn’t played a game in its own stadium since Week 3. Turnovers continue to be a nagging problem in Bruce Arians’ fi rst year in charge. LINE CHANGE Seattle will experience a massive change on its offensive line with veteran center Justin Britt out for the season with a torn ACL in his knee. Joey Hunt will make his third career start at center and his task will be signifi cant trying to make protection calls while handling the defensive line duo of Ndamukong Suh and Vita Vea. Suh and Vea are big reasons why Tampa Bay has the best run defense in the league giv- ing up just 68.6 yards per game. “It wouldn’t matter who is playing center with Vita Vea over there on the other side. He’s a remarkable player,” Carroll said. MY HOUSE Arians has a 4-1 record as a head coach at Centu- ryLink Field from his time as the head man for the Arizona Cardinals. The 67-year-old enjoys the rau- cous atmosphere of one of the league’s toughest ven- ues for road teams and has been known to refer to the Seahawks’ stadium as “my house” because of the success his teams have experienced in Seattle. Seattle is just 2-2 at home this season. “It’s kind of odd because when we played them every year, they’d beat us at home and we’d beat them up there,” Arians said. “A lot of those games were really close games that we won at the end. If you can hang in there with the crowd and the environ- ment and everything that’s so unique about the place, and don’t get overwhelmed, you’ll have a chance to win the game.” NEW MEMORY Russell Wilson has been great for most of the sea- son, but the one hiccup in his otherwise stellar fi rst half came in his previous home game against Balti- more. Wilson threw his only interception so far this season in the 30-16 loss to the Ravens, which was returned for a touchdown by Marcus Peters. Wilson was just 20 of 41 for 201 yards in that game and it’s his only game this season with a passer rating under 102 and a completion rate below 64%. BIG PLAY POTENTIAL Whether Seattle can contain Tampa Bay wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans will be a big key. The Seahawks allowed 460 yards passing to Atlanta’s Matt Schaub last week. Jameis Winston is more than capable of just as big a day through the air with Evans and Godwin. The pair has combined for 85 receptions and 12 touchdowns in just seven games. No. 7 Oregon at Southern Cal, 5 p.m. No. 9 Utah at Washington, 1 p.m. No. 11 Auburn vs. Mississippi, 4 p.m. No. 14 Michigan at Maryland, Noon No. 15 SMU at No. 24 Memphis, 4:30 p.m. No. 16 Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech, 11:30 a.m. No. 17 Cincinnati at East Carolina, 4 p.m. No. 21 Boise State at San Jose State, 7:30 p.m. No. 22 Kansas State at Kansas, 12:30 p.m. No. 23 Wake Forest vs. N.C. State, Noon FAR WEST SCHEDULE SATURDAY Southern Utah (2-7) at Montana State (5-3), 11 a.m. Army (3-5) at Air Force (6-2), 12:30 p.m. UNLV (2-6) at Colorado State (3-5), 12:30 p.m. Utah (7-1) at Washington (5-3), 1 p.m. Northern Arizona (4-4) at Eastern Washington (3-5), 1:05 p.m. Northern Colorado (1-7) at Idaho State (3-5), 1:30 p.m. Cal Poly (2-6) at Idaho (3-5), 2 p.m. Drake (4-2) at San Diego (5-2), 2 p.m. Montana (6-2) at Portland State (5-4), 2:05 p.m. Weber State (6-2) at Sacramento State (6-2), 6 p.m. Colorado (3-5) at UCLA (3-5), 6 p.m. BYU (3-4) at Utah State (4-3), 7 p.m. New Mexico (2-6) at Nevada (4-4), 7:30 p.m. Boise State (6-1) at San Jose State (4-4), 7:30 p.m. Fresno State (3-4) at Hawaii (5-3), 8:59 p.m. Nov. 3 vs. Tampa Bay, 1:05 p.m. (FOX) Nov. 11 at San Francisco, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN) Nov. 17 BYE Nov. 24 at Philadelphia, 5:20 p.m. (NBC) Seahawks face last ‘easy’ challenge hosting Bucs OREGON STATE BEAVERS (3-4) Oct. 27: Seattle 27, Atlanta 20 No. 7 Oregon puts 7-game streak on line Line: Oregon by 4 1/2. Series record: USC leads 39-20-2. WHAT’S AT STAKE? Oregon has played its way into Col- lege Football Playoff contention with a seven-game winning streak, but the Ducks won’t stay there unless they can get past their fellow Pac-12 division leaders at the Coliseum, where USC is 23-3 under embattled coach Clay Hel- ton. The game looms large in recruit- ing, with Mario Cristobal’s staff hit- ting talent-rich Los Angeles hard and taking advantage of the struggles and instability at USC and UCLA to per- suade players to join them in the rain up north. KEY MATCHUP USC’s star receivers vs Oregon’s secondary. This is strength on strength, with the Trojans’ trio of Michael Pit- tman Jr., Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns providing an enormous challenge to the Oregon defense that leads the nation with 14 interceptions, including veteran cornerbacks Thomas Graham Jr. and Deommodore Lenoir and safety Nick Pickett — all Los Angeles-area natives, of course. PLAYERS TO WATCH Oregon: QB Justin Herbert. The Ducks’ Heisman Trophy candidate has passed for 2,104 yards in eight games with 21 TDs and one interception, and he has thrown 131 straight passes without a pick. USC defensive coordi- nator Clancy Pendergast has had suc- cess against star players before, but the Chris Pietsch/AP Photo Washington State’s Willie Taylor III sacks Oregon’s Justin Herbert Oct. 26 in Eugene. Trojans’ injury-riddled defense could struggle against an elite QB. USC: RB Kenan Christon. The Cal- ifornia 100-meter state sprint cham- pion has produced two strong games after being forced into action by inju- ries to the Trojans’ top three running backs. He’s likely to get most of the carries again, and his open-fi eld speed can wreck any defense. FACTS AND FIGURES The schools haven’t met since 2016. ... The Ducks have won four of last six against Trojans, but Hel- ton and Sam Darnold beat Oregon at the Coliseum in last meeting. ... USC is playing its fi fth ranked team already this season. ... Oregon RB C.J. Ver- dell leads Pac-12 with 753 yards rush- ing. ... USC freshman QB Kedon Slo- vis is completing 72% of his throws. ... The Ducks have 48 native Californians on their roster. USC has four players from Oregon. ... Two sets of brothers on opposing teams: USC’s Pittman and Oregon WR Mycah Pittman, and USC LB Eli’jah Winston and Oregon LB La’Mar Winston. — Associated Press 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) Dec. 22 vs. Arizona, 1:25 p.m. (FOX) Dec. 29 vs. San Francisco, 1:25 p.m. (FOX) BUCCANNERS SEAHAWKS- CAPSULE OPENING LINE — Seahawks by 6. RECORD VS. SPREAD — Buccaneers 2-5, Seahawks 3-5. SERIES RECORD — Seahawks lead 8-5. LAST MEETING — Buccaneers beat Seahawks 14-5, Nov. 27, 2016. LAST WEEK — Bucs lost to Titans 27-23; Seahawks beat Falcons 27-20. AP PRO32 RANKING — Buccaneers No. 26, Seahawks No. 7. BUCCANEERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (15), RUSH (19), PASS (9). BUCCANEERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (18), RUSH (1), PASS (31). SEAHAWKS OFFENSE — OVERALL (9), RUSH (9), PASS (13). SEAHAWKS DEFENSE — OVERALL (23), RUSH (16), PASS (27). STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Buccaneers have won four of past fi ve meetings between clubs that began play as expansion franchises in 1976. ... Bucs concluding six-week stretch in which they have not played a game in their home stadium. Has included four road games sandwiched around “home” game against Carolina in London and team’s bye. ... Seahawks looking to start 7-2 or better for fi fth time in franchise history. Only better start 8-1 in 2013. ... QB Russell Wilson will tie G Chris Gray for franchise record for consecutive starts at 121 on Sunday. NFL STANDINGS AMERICAN CONFERENCE EAST W L T Pct New England 8 0 0 1.000 Buff alo 5 2 0 .714 N.Y. Jets 1 6 0 .143 Miami 0 7 0 .000 PF 250 134 78 77 PA 61 122 185 238 SOUTH Indianapolis Houston Jacksonville Tennessee PF 158 212 173 148 PA 151 188 163 135 NORTH W L T Pct PF Baltimore 5 2 0 .714 214 Pittsburgh 3 4 0 .429 150 Cleveland 2 5 0 .286 133 Cincinnati 0 8 0 .000 124 PA 156 145 181 210 WEST Kansas City Oakland L.A. Chargers Denver W 5 5 4 4 W 5 3 3 2 L 2 3 4 4 PF 226 151 157 125 PA 181 192 157 151 NATIONAL CONFERENCE EAST W L T Pct Dallas 4 3 0 .571 Philadelphia 4 4 0 .500 N.Y. Giants 2 6 0 .250 Washington 1 7 0 .125 PF 190 202 158 99 PA 124 199 218 195 SOUTH New Orleans Carolina Tampa Bay Atlanta PF 195 179 196 165 PA 156 184 212 250 NORTH W L T Pct PF Green Bay 7 1 0 .875 215 Minnesota 6 2 0 .750 211 Detroit 3 3 1 .500 180 Chicago 3 4 0 .429 128 PA 163 132 186 122 WEST San Francisco Seattle L.A. Rams Arizona PA 102 196 174 251 W 8 6 5 3 L 1 3 5 7 L 0 2 3 5 T 0 0 0 0 Pct .714 .625 .500 .500 Pct .625 .429 .375 .250 W 7 4 2 1 L 3 4 5 6 T 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 1 Pct .875 .571 .286 .125 Pct 1.000 .750 .625 .389 PF 235 208 214 195 NFL SCHEDULE THURSDAY San Francisco 28, Arizona 25 SUNDAY Houston vs Jacksonville at London, UK, 6:30 a.m. N.Y. Jets at Miami, 10 a.m. Washington at Buff alo, 10 a.m. Tennessee at Carolina, 10 a.m. Minnesota at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Chicago at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. Indianapolis at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Seattle, 1:05 p.m. Detroit at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. Green Bay at L.A. Chargers, 1:25 p.m. Cleveland at Denver, 1:25 p.m. New England at Baltimore, 5:20 p.m. Open: L.A. Rams, New Orleans, Atlanta, Cincinnati MONDAY Dallas at N.Y. Giants, 5:15 p.m.