B2
East Oregonian
Friday, November 29, 2019
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
JAKE
LUTON
Oregon State
JUSTIN
HERBERT
Oregon
NO. 14 OREGON
DUCKS (9-2)
SEATTLE
SEAHAWKS (9-2)
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
HOPE IN STORE FOR 123RD
Oct. 19: No. 12 Oregon 35,
No. 25 Washington 31
CIVIL WAR
Oct. 26: No. 11 Oregon 37,
Washington State 35
Nov. 2: No. 7 Oregon 56,
Southern Cal 24
Nov. 16: No. 6 Oregon 34,
Arizona 6
Nov. 23: Arizona State 31,
No. 6 Oregon 28
Saturday vs. Oregon State,
1 p.m. (PAC12)
AP Photos
No. 14 Oregon looks to rebound from loss,
while Oregon State seeks bowl eligiblity
Oct. 13: Seattle 32,
Cleveland 28
Oct. 20: Baltimore 30,
Seattle 16
Oct. 27: Seattle 27,
Atlanta 20
Nov. 3: Seattle 40,
Tampa Bay 34 (OT)
Nov. 11 Seattle 27,
San Francisco 24 (OT)
Nov. 17 BYE
Nov. 24 Seattle 17,
Minnesota 9
Monday vs. Minnesota,
5:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 8 at Los Angeles Rams,
5:20 p.m. (NBC)
Line: Oregon by 20.
Series record: Oregon leads
65-47-10.
OREGON STATE
BEAVERS (5-6)
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
Nov. 2: Oregon State 56,
Arizona 38
Nov. 8: Washington 19,
Oregon State 7
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Oregon is coming off a loss to
Arizona State last weekend that
scuttled any hopes the Ducks
had of reaching the College Foot-
ball Playoff. Oregon has already
clinched the Pac-12 North for a
spot in the league championship
game and waits to see its oppo-
nent, either No. 6 Utah or USC.
The Utes need to get by Colorado
to secure the Pac-12 South. The
123rd edition of the Civil War is
more signifi cant for the Beavers,
who are hoping to become bowl
eligible for the fi rst time since
2013.
KEY MATCHUP
Oregon’s defense against WR
Isaiah Hodgins. Oregon State’s
junior receiver is averaging 98.7
receiving yards per game and
has 13 touchdowns. He’s got 168
career receptions, good for sev-
enth on the program’s all-time list.
Oregon ranks 13th in the nation in
scoring defense, allowing only
16.3 points per game. Oregon’s
pass defense is ranked third in
the league, allowing an average of
223.6 yards a game.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Oregon State: QB Jake Luton.
This could be the sixth-year
senior’s fi nal college game, so
look to him to make the most of it.
Luton has thrown for 2,714 yards
this season and 28 touchdowns.
He’s averaging 246.7 passing
yards a game, and he’s thrown for
just three interceptions all season.
Oregon: QB Justin Herbert.
It will be Herbert’s fi nal game at
Autzen Stadium after deciding to
forgo the NFL draft last season to
stay at Oregon for his senior year.
Herbert is averaging 269.6 yards
passing per game, 20th nationally,
with 30 touchdowns, sixth nation-
ally. He’s got 93 career passing
touchdowns, most among active
players nationwide.
FACTS & FIGURES
The Ducks have won 10 of the
last 11 Civil Wars. The only loss
in that string came in 2016, when
the Beavers won 34-24 in Corval-
lis. ... It will also be the fi nal game
at Autzen Stadium for linebacker
Troy Dye, who ranks fi fth on Ore-
gon’s career list for tackles with
376. Like Herbert, Dye chose to
return to Eugene for his fi nal year
instead of declaring early for the
draft. ... Nineteen different Ducks
have scored a touchdown this sea-
son to lead the nation.
—Associated Press
Saturday at No. 14 Oregon,
1 p.m. (PAC12)
AP TOP 25
SCHEDULE
No. 19 Iowa at Nebraska,
11:30 a.m.
No. 20 Boise State at
Colorado State, 12:30 p.m.
No. 22 Appalachian State
at Troy, 3 p.m.
No. 23 Virginia Tech
at Virginia, Noon
SATURDAY
No. 1 LSU vs. Texas A&M, 4 p.m.
No. 2 Ohio State at
No. 10 Michigan, Noon
No. 3 Clemson at
South Carolina, Noon
No. 4 Georgia at
Georgia Tech, Noon
No. 5 Alabama at
No. 16 Auburn, 12:30 p.m.
No. 6 Utah vs. Colorado,
4:30 p.m.
No. 7 Oklahoma at
No. 21 Oklahoma State, 5 p.m.
No. 8 Florida vs.
Florida State, 4:30 p.m.
No. 9 Minnesota vs.
No. 13 Wisconsin, 12:30 p.m.
No. 11 Baylor at
Kansas, 12:30 p.m.
No. 12 Penn State vs.
Rutgers, 12:30 p.m.
No. 14 Oregon vs.
Oregon State, 1 p.m.
No. 15 Notre Dame
at Stanford, 1 p.m.
No. 24 Navy at Houston, 4 p.m.
FAR WEST
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY
Washington State (6-5)
at Washington (6-5), 1 p.m.
SATURDAY
Wyoming (7-4) at
Air Force (9-2), 11 a.m.
UNLV (3-8) at Nevada (7-4), 12 p.m.
Utah State (6-5) at
New Mexico (2-9), 1 p.m.
Notre Dame (9-2)
at Stanford (4-7), 1 p.m.
BYU (7-4) at San Diego St. (8-3), 6 p.m.
Arizona (4-7) at
Arizona State (6-5), 7 p.m.
Fresno State (4-7) at
San Jose State (4-7), 7:30 p.m.
California (6-5) at UCLA (4-7), 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 29 vs. San Francisco,
1:25 p.m. (FOX)
VIKINGS-
SEAHAWKS
CAPSULE
OPENING LINE — Seahawks by 3
RECORD VS. SPREAD — Vikings 6-5,
Seahawks 6-5
SERIES RECORD —Seahawks lead 11-5
LAST MEETING — Seahawks beat
Vikings 21-7, Dec. 10, 2018
LAST WEEK — Vikings bye, beat
Broncos 27-23 on Nov. 17; Seahawks
beat Eagles 17-9
AP PRO32 RANKING — Vikings No.
6, Seahawks No. 4
VIKINGS OFFENSE — OVERALL (8),
RUSH (4), PASS (15).
VIKINGS DEFENSE — OVERALL (15),
RUSH (6), PASS (20).
SEAHAWKS DEFENSE —
OVERALL (23), RUSH (10), PASS (29).
Playoff implications surround Vikings’
Monday night visit to Seahawks
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
FRIDAY
No. 17 Memphis vs.
No. 18 Cincinnati, 12:30 p.m.
Dec. 22 vs. Arizona,
1:25 p.m. (FOX)
SEAHAWKS OFFENSE —
OVERALL (5), RUSH (6T), PASS (11).
Nov. 16: Oregon State 35,
Arizona State 34
Nov. 23: Washington State 54,
Oregon State 53
Dec. 15 at Carolina,
10 a.m. (FOX)
S
EATTLE — Just like a year
ago, there’s no avoiding the
importance of this Monday
night matchup in the Pacifi c
Northwest between Minnesota and
Seattle.
Except this time around, a division
title is still very much in play for both
teams.
“This is a huge game for both of us.
We know the stakes. Everybody knows
the stakes,” Vikings linebacker Eric
Kendricks said. “Monday night makes
it a little bit bigger, in Seattle. But I
mean, you’ve got to live for these kind
of moments, you know what I mean?”
For the second straight year, the
Seahawks will host the Vikings in
a late-season, prime-time matchup
fi lled with playoff implications. But
unlike that last meeting — won by
Seattle 21-7 — when a wild-card berth
was the target, both the Vikings and
Seahawks are in the middle of division
title races this time.
NFL STANDINGS
AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File
Seattle Seahawks’ Bradley McDougald (30) celebrates after intercepting a Phila-
delphia Eagles’ pass Nov. 24, 2019, in Philadelphia.
time,” linebacker Anthony Barr said.
“Hopefully we get some guys back
healthy and be strong for this last fi ve-
game push we have.”
CARRYING THE LOAD
While the playoff implications
are the primary focus, the quarter-
backs will certainly get their share of
attention. It’s deserved as both Seat-
tle’s Russell Wilson and Minnesota’s
Kirk Cousins have been among the
best in the league this season. Cous-
ins leads the league in passer rating;
Wilson is second. Wilson has 24 TD
passes; Cousins 21. Both have thrown
just three interceptions. Both are com-
pleting better than 67% of their passes.
For most of the season, Chris Car-
son has carried the load for Seattle’s
run game, while Rashaad Penny took
on a complementary role, only getting
a handful of carries.
That changed last week against the
Eagles. Penny was the star, rushing for
a career-high 129 yards and a clinch-
ing 58-yard touchdown in the fourth
quarter. Carson was relegated to a
lesser role, getting only eight carries to
Penny’s 14. Carson also added to his
league-leading fumble total with one
that was credited to him and another
that was his fault. Carson’s seven
fumbles are the most among running
backs in the NFL.
Carroll said Penny has earned more
carries, but Carson will still get his
share.
“Rashaad did great. I’m really fi red
up for that,” Carroll said. “We need his
explosiveness. He continues to show
up. He has had the real home run type
of style of play. We’ve got to give him
chances to bring that to us.”
After missing four starters in their
previous game against Denver on Nov.
17 — wide receiver Adam Thielen,
right guard Josh Kline, nose tackle
Linval Joseph, free safety Anthony
Harris — the Vikings had the advan-
tage of the latest possible bye week to
heal for the most challenging game
of the fi nal stretch. This was the sec-
ond-latest bye week in team history,
with only the break in 1991 falling
later on the calendar. The Vikings are
2-7 in the last nine seasons in their
games immediately after the bye.
“Give your body a rest, give your
mind a rest. I think it came at a good
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
EAST
W L T Pct
New England 10 1 0 .909
Buff alo
8 3 0 .727
N.Y. Jets
4 7 0 .364
Miami
2 9 0 .182
PF
300
231
198
163
PA
117
173
258
346
SOUTH
Houston
Indianapolis
Tennessee
Jacksonville
L
4
5
5
7
T
0
0
0
0
Pct
.636
.545
.545
.364
PF
265
244
245
209
PA
249
226
217
264
W L
9 2
6 5
5 6
0 11
T
0
0
0
0
Pct
.818
.545
.455
.000
PF
386
216
233
157
PA
202
212
252
292
Pct
.636
.545
.364
.273
PF
308
228
224
175
PA
256
284
218
217
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
EAST
W L T Pct
Dallas
6 5 0 .545
Philadelphia 5 6 0 .455
N.Y. Giants
2 9 0 .182
Washington 2 9 0 .182
PF
295
243
217
144
PA
210
247
308
269
SOUTH
New Orleans
Carolina
Tampa Bay
Atlanta
PF
272
259
312
242
PA
230
291
335
297
NORTH
W L T Pct PF
Green Bay 8 3 0 .727 258
Minnesota 8 3 0 .727 289
Chicago
5 6 0 .455 188
Detroit
3 7 1 .318 260
PA
242
205
188
291
WEST
San Francisco
Seattle
L.A. Rams
Arizona
PA
163
263
243
317
NORTH
Baltimore
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Cincinnati
QBs
TIME FOR A REFRESHER
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES —
Second straight year Vikings play
at Seahawks on Monday night in
December. ... Vikings have lost fi ve
straight to Seahawks. ... Vikings QB
Kirk Cousins has longest active streak
in league with 177 consecutive pass
attempts without interception. ...
Seahawks QB Russell Wilson fi rst QB
in league history to have winning
record in each of fi rst eight seasons.
Wilson has never won fewer than
nine games in season.
Eric said of his sibling who’s two years
older. They were both second-round
draft picks, Mychal out of California
in 2012 by the Eagles and Eric out of
UCLA in 2015 by the Vikings.
These days, Eric is defi nitely not
in Mychal’s shadow. He leads all line-
backers in the NFL with 12 passes
defensed, already matching Ben
Leber (2008) and Matt Blair (1981) for
the most by a linebacker in Vikings
history. According to SportRadar
research, no linebacker in the league
has had more than 13 passes defensed
in any of the last six seasons.
COMING IN BUNCHES
Seattle is getting back into the
mode of taking away the ball. The
Seahawks have forced 16 turnovers
in the past six games, including eight
in the past two against San Francisco
and Philadelphia. The Seahawks are
third in the league in total takeaways
with 24, behind New England (29) and
Pittsburgh (24). Minnesota has just 12
giveaways on the season, tied for sev-
enth best in the league.
WEST
Kansas City
Oakland
L.A. Chargers
Denver
W
7
6
6
4
W
7
6
4
3
W
9
5
4
3
W
10
9
6
3
L
4
5
7
8
L
2
6
7
8
L
1
2
5
7
T
0
0
0
0
T
0
0
0
0
T
0
0
0
1
Pct
.818
.455
.364
.273
Pct
.909
.818
.545
.318
PF
332
292
249
248
NFL SCHEDULE
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Chicago at Detroit, 9:30 a.m.
Buff alo at Dallas, 1:30 p.m.
New Orleans at Atlanta, 5:20 p.m.
OH, BROTHER
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Tampa Bay at Jacksonville, 10 a.m.
Cleveland at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m.
Green Bay at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m.
N.Y. Jets at Cincinnati, 10 a.m.
Tennessee at Indianapolis, 10 a.m.
Washington at Carolina, 10 a.m.
San Francisco at Baltimore, 10 a.m.
Philadelphia at Miami, 10 a.m.
L.A. Rams at Arizona, 1:05 p.m.
L.A. Chargers at Denver, 1:25 p.m.
Oakland at Kansas City, 1:25 p.m.
New England at Houston, 5:20 p.m.
“We’re not going to face each
other, really, but it’s pretty special,”
MONDAY’S GAME
Minnesota at Seattle, 5:15 p.m.