Barely nine months removed from a National Championship Game appearance, the Oregon Ducks come into Saturday’s match-up against Washington State (2-2, 0-1) unranked. However, the Cougars know that that doesn’t mean that they no longer pose any problems.

“They’re still a great team,” Cougar redshirt sophomore running back Jamal Morrow said. “We’re going to prepare for them like they’re a normal team and go compete.”

Gone to the NFL is quarterback Marcus Mariota, who carved up WSU’s secondary to the tune of 329 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 38-31 Oregon win in Pullman last year. This time, it will either be senior Vernon Adams Jr. or redshirt junior Jeff Lockie starting for the Ducks (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12) come 3 p.m. Saturday in Eugene.

WSU senior linebacker Jeremiah Allison said it doesn’t matter who’s quarterbacking their opponent, because the Cougars (2-2, 0-1) know that Oregon’s offensive scheme will be the same. He said defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has stressed the importance of three specific things in preparation for this game.

“Our creed right now is gaps, leverage and check-down rally,” Allison said. “If we do those three things, and we finish, and if takeaways equal victories, it’s hard to beat us.”

The word “Ducks” is generally synonymous with the words speed and offense. In fact, Oregon has won the last eight meetings against the Cougars by an average score of 50.6 to 21.6. Even though the Ducks are known to push the tempo on offense, the WSU defense is prepared for the challenge.

“We have to match their speed,” Allison said. “We’ve got to play to our level, play to our ability, and we have to be the aggressors. We have to be the hammer and not the nail.”

The Cougars come into this weekend having missed opportunities to close out a very tight game against No. 23 California last week. One of those included allowing a 42-yard run on 3rd-and-36, which significantly altered the field position at a key point in the game.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Falk was sacked seven times in the loss. One of Falk’s pass protectors, redshirt senior offensive lineman Gunnar Eklund, said there are a couple plays in every close game that can change the outcome of the contest.

“You never know when those two or three plays are going to be,” Eklund said. “It’s not always that fourth quarter late 40-yard touchdown pass that wins you the game. It could be that block that you lay in the 2nd quarter that springs an extra first down that leads to a touchdown instead of a three-and-out. We just have to execute and just play our football, and do it the whole game.”

Against an opponent where offense will more than likely rule the day, executing the small things early in the game will be just as important as doing so in the fourth quarter. The Cougars are confident that a big victory at Oregon will be possible if they succeed in making those imperative plays in the first half.

“This team can be very good,” Allison said. “The only individual that’s going to beat us is ourselves. We beat ourselves. If we realize what we have in front of us and we play like the team that we know we are… we can be really scary.”

The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.