On Friday when Oregon arrives in Lubbock, The Weather Channel says the temperature will be 103 degrees, with 10 mile an hour winds from the east. At gametime Saturday night, 6:00 P.M. local time, 4:00 o'clock Pacific, it'll be 93, a hot wind still gusting.
"We're hydrating our guys," Dan Lanning said Wednesday after practice. Good thing, because in conditions like these, even with Oregon's lightweight and space age uniforms, cramping and heat stress can be a problem. You have to prehydrate, hydrate and rehydrate to perform at your peak.
They're renovating Jones AT&T Stadium right now, adding new luxury suites over the south end zone, a project budgeted for $185 million. The Jones typically seats 60,400, but with that section not yet completed, it'll be 56,200, a sellout crowd for the home opener. The new Hellas Matrix Helix turf is fast. A laser light system glows bright red after Red Raider touchdowns.
When four-star quarterback Will Hammond of Hutto, Texas arrives next year, the light show might trigger PTSD. Last Friday night in a game at Liberty Hill, Hammond completed 36 of 58 passes for 719 yards and four touchdowns, plus ran for another 88 yards and six touchdowns. But the Hippos couldn't slow down a bruising running attack: despite Hammond's ten touchdowns, they lost 82-80.
At every level football games are billed as clashes of quarterbacks, and Oregon's trip to northwestern Texas is no exception. The Fox network is carrying the game in a national telecast, and every promo bills it as Tyler Shough versus Bo Nix, to better reel in the casual fan. Mark Helfrich provides the color commentary, Jeff Levering the play-by-play.
The official story will lean heavily into redemption and resilience, because that's the most interesting way to set it up. Tyler Shough began his career at Oregon. The Ducks have featured their former Auburn transfer in a national billboard campaign to boost his Heisman chances, promote the brand and boost recruiting. The latest one went up last week in Los Angeles, just blocks from where the USC Trojans practice. There have been banner ads on sports websites, even a full-page poster in the Sunday New York Times.
Asked about all the noise and hoopla before the season started, Nix said, “It’s great for the university, I think it’s great for the team, but we’re not gonna let it distract us. We’re gonna keep the main thing the main thing and that’s doing our best to win football games.”
A big part of the main thing Saturday night is protecting Nix. In their 35-33 double overtime loss to Wyoming last week, the Red Raider defense positively beat up Cowboy quarterback Andrew Peasley, a couple of times sending him reeling to the sidelines at the end of possessions.
From LaGrande, Oregon, Peasley took another shot on the last drive of the game, blasted as he threw an 11-yard touchdown pass on fourth and seven. A blitzing linebacker came free and tried to take out his legs.
Nix has a better and more accurate passing arm than Peasley, who completes about 52% of his throws. Still, the Wyoming senior found running room against TTU, constantly making improbable escapes to keep the Cowboys in the game. Around Laramie fans like to say of Peasley, "He's as tough as boot leather."
Oregon can't take those kinds of chances with Nix. He's too valuable for the rest of their season. Jackson Powers-Johnson and the rest of the offensive line have to be razor sharp in the loud, hostile environment, being locked in in their communication while picking up the blitz. They can't allow an amped-up Red Raider Front Seven to take so many free shots at their future first round draft pick and senior leader, who's making the 48th start of his college career.
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