Oregon football’s 3 keys to victory vs. Maryland in Big Ten matchup

The Oregon football team will put its consensus No. 1 ranking in the country to the test once again on Saturday against an unranked Maryland team fighting for bowl eligibility.

The Ducks (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) will play the Terrapins (4-4, 1-4 Big Ten) at 4 p.m. in Autzen Stadium.

Here are three keys to a successful outing for Oregon football at home.

Continue to roll with punches amid injuries to key players

Though the Ducks were bolstered by the returns of stars such as tight end Terrance Ferguson and edge Jordan Burch, they lost a few more key players last Saturday in leading receiver Tez Johnson and sixth-year offensive lineman Marcus Harper II.

Though it’s uncertain how long either player will be out, or if Harper, in particular, could appear this week against Maryland, the Ducks have a plan for their absences.

“I’m confident that we’ve shown there’s a lot of guys that can play winning football for us right now,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “Who that’ll be come Saturday, I’ll leave that for us to figure out in-house, but we’ve got a lot of guys that can play winning football for us, and there’s gonna be some guys that step up, like we’ve had all season.”

In the immediate term, Traeshon Holden had a career day at Michigan while Johnson sat on the sidelines, hauling in six passes for 149 yards, both career highs.

With Harper sidelined late in the game, sophomore Kawika Rogers stepped up to play at right guard on the final drive that sealed the game after playing sparingly this season.

Oregon football must contain Billy Edwards Jr., Maryland passing game

Only one team in the Big Ten has a better statistical passing offense than Oregon: the Terrapins.

Maryland is the only team in the conference that accounts for over 300 passing yards per game, with quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. throwing for 2,314 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The Ducks’ passing defense ranks fifth in the Big Ten, giving up just 172.8 passing yards per game with opposing quarterbacks completing 55.7% of their passes.

“He’s extremely efficient,” Lanning said of Edwards. “He knows where to put the ball and when to put the ball there. I think they’ve done a good job of coaching him up. Where’s the extra hat, and how can I take advantage of advantage throws when those opportunities exist? And he’s been really accurate doing that.”

Ducks must continue to win ground game battle, control pace of game

Lanning has stressed the importance of stopping the run and outrushing opponents on a week-to-week basis throughout the season.

Despite playing a pass-heavy team, Lanning emphasized that point Monday this week.

“The best defenses in college football, consistently, are always good at stopping the run,” Lanning said. “Teams that win football games are always good at running the ball and stopping the run. So that’s an important trait. But certainly you want to be able to take away a team’s strength.”

The Ducks rank seventh in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (168.11) to Maryland’s 14th (119), but the Terrapins’ run defense is slightly better than the Ducks, ranking sixth in the Big Ten, giving up 105.25 rushing yards per game.

Though Oregon has outrushed most of the opponents it has played this season, Saturday’s game will be a test due to Maryland’s fast and pass-heavy pace of play.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.