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Oregon Week 5 Preview: Washington State

College is supposed to be about the education of America's late teens and early twentysomethings. Well, on most occasions, anyway.

Don't expect too much to be learned this Saturday evening, when Washington State comes into Autzen Stadium to take on the Oregon Ducks. Wazzu scored some notable victories earlier in the decade, winning the Pac-10 title in 2002 (the last time USC wasn't the official Pac-10 champion with respect to the BCS and its distribution of bowl bids; the Trojans were the at-large team in a year when the Cougars went to the Rose Bowl to play Oklahoma) and then topping Texas in the 2003 Holiday Bowl. Since those golden years, however, former coach Bill Doba couldn't re-stock the shelves in Pullman, Wash. Talent dried up, and so the Cougars lost their bite.

Last year, in addition to losing their appetite, the Cougars were de-fanged as well. A toothless team went 2-11, only 1-11 if you focus only on the FBS opponents on the schedule (one win for WSU came against FCS-based Portland State). Wazzu's 11 losses were decided by a total of 447 points, which translates to an average margin of defeat of just over 40 points (40.64, to be more precise). Oregon got healthy against the Cougars last season, rolling to a 63-14 win in the Palouse. Now on home turf in Eugene, the Ducks--even after their typically emotional battle with Cal--should have little problem tossing aside their Pacific Northwest neighbors.

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If you want to learn at the U of O, go to a classroom. Saturday evening's game against Paul Wulff's Cougars just isn't going to say a whole lot about Chip Kelly's charges, as they move forward with their football odyssey on the first weekend of October. Even if you blindfolded the Ducks and tied one of their hands behind their backs, they'd probably still rate as a one and a half-point favorite against Wazzu.

Yeah, that's how far the Cougars have fallen, and that's how drama-free this game figures to be.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer