University of Oregon football Head Coach Willie Taggart said Monday that sophomore quarterback Justin Herbert will be “out for a while” after suffering a broken collarbone late in the first quarter of Saturday’s 45-24 win over California.

Additionally, senior running back Royce Freeman exited the game early with an apparent shoulder injury, as did backup redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Alie, who suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of the win, according to a team source.

Freeman is expected to play Saturday against WSU, but this leaves Oregon (4-1, 1-1) with the task of turning to freshman quarterback Braxton Burmeister for his first collegiate start against an aggressive Cougar defensive, which has recorded 17 sacks in five games, rolls into Autzen Stadium.

Despite the Ducks’ rash of injuries, WSU Head Coach Mike Leach offered high praise for a program coming off a 4-8 campaign in 2016 that resulted in a coaching change. Leach said the Ducks are as talented as they have been over the past decade, and that their downfall from a 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship appearance is old news.

In other words, heading to Eugene for his team’s first road contest of the year, in what he considers to be the loudest venue in the Pac-12, is as steep a challenge as ever for Leach and No. 11 WSU (5-0, 2-0).

Below are Leach’s thoughts on Saturday’s matchup with Oregon.

What are your first impressions of Oregon on film?

“They’re real fast, and they’ve stacked one top recruiting class on top of the next. We’ve played them well the past couple years, too, but that doesn’t change how talented they are and what they’re capable of.”

Oregon was the runner-up in the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship, but fired former Head Coach Mark Helfrich less than two years later. What went wrong for the Ducks from your perspective?

“It’s pretty irrelevant at this point. It’s all news from a year ago. I think that they just got impatient. They won a bunch of games and just thought that anyone could do it.”

What are the challenges first-year Head Coach Willie Taggart faces in inheriting an Oregon program coming off its first losing season since 2004?

“Well, he starts out with really good players, so that eliminates one of them. But I think getting everybody on the same page, same message, is the big challenge.”

WSU and Oregon square off at 5 p.m. Saturday at Autzen Stadium, and the game will air on FOX Sports.