That defense is Michigan's real case. Michigan State didn't score a touchdown. Liam Boyd's 5 field goals were all 15 of its points. Michigan also held Indiana to 13 and beat Penn State 21-18 at home last month. The problem is the other side of the ball. Michigan scored 6 points in 2 of its last 3 games, and both of those were at home.
Oregon's season hasn't been a straight line either. The Ducks lost to UCLA 17-15 at home and then scored only 10 in a loss at Illinois, so the offense that dropped 41 on Ohio State spent most of October stuck in neutral. Over the last 2 weeks it found something, with 34 against Northwestern and then Dierre Hill Jr. running for 2 touchdowns in Columbus. The question for Saturday, November 14 is whether that's the real Oregon or a 2-game run.
The forecast in Eugene is 51 degrees with light drizzle and a 66% chance of rain, but almost no wind. That's not enough to wreck a game plan. It's just enough to make the ball slick for an offense that turned it over 4 times a week ago. Michigan will need its defense to slow down a Ducks attack that has finally gotten going and its offense to protect Carr better than it did against Michigan State. Oregon needs to avoid the kind of home stumble it had against UCLA.
