A Lot on the Line at Autzen Stadium

On Halloween night the #5 USC Trojans travel to #10 Oregon Ducks. Before the season began California and Oregon were expected to challenge USC for first place in the Pac-10. The Trojans defeated the Bears 30-3 and Oregon beat California 42-3.

The Ducks could be the only team remaining on the Trojans schedule that has a shot at beating them. Autzen Stadium is a very difficult place for visiting teams to win. A lot of highly ranked teams have lost at Oregon. In 2006 # 15 Oklahoma lost 34-33. In 2007 #6 Arizona State lost 35-23. The Ducks have beaten USC four out of the last six games at Autzen Stadium.

The Ducks need to play this game at a fast pace and make this game a shootout. Oregon has a better chance of winning this game 42-35. A low scoring game would favor the Trojans. The Trojans defense in a two-week span held Washington State to 6 points and California to 3 points. The last couple of defensive performances by USC might have Oregon believing that it’s possible for them to put a lot of points on the board this Saturday.

USC gave up 27 points to Notre Dame and 36 points to Oregon State. The Ducks are second in the conference in scoring at 34 PPG and USC is ranked #1 in the Pac-10 in scoring defense allowing only 15.1 PPG

(Continue to Inside the Pac-10)

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Sip on This Fantasy Juice

The 2009 NFL season kicked off with a bang last weekend, providing us fans with the excitement, action, and superb highlights that we've come to expect out of the country's greatest sports league. While there wasn't a catastrophic injury that will impact fantasy owners like the one suffered by Patriots QB Tom Brady in week 1 of the 2008 season, there were a few that will surely hurt fantasy owners for the next few weeks.

Donovan McNabb, Anthony Gonzalez, and LaDanian Tomlinson all got banged up and will not see any action in week 2, causing owners to look elsewhere for production at key positions. You never like to see players go down, but it's part of the game and an important aspect of fantasy football is dealing with adverse situations like early season injuries to your stars.

Finding viable replacements can be a bit tricky this early since there's such a small sample size of games to analyze, but there are a lot of good reads throughout the Internet where you can find helpful information to help you make those decisions. I recommend http://www.rotoworld.com/ as a site that has thoughtful commentary geared towards fantasy owners.

(Continue to Inside Fantasy Sports)

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Time to Bring the Juice

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Seeing as how the NFL season begins today (remember that the Steelers host the Titans tonight, but please do not put Kerry Collins into your starting lineup because he's playing a prime time game), most drafts have already taken place. The decision-making is not over, however. The most important decisions you'll make from now until the season's end is who to start from week to week.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more frustrating in fantasy football than benching a guy that goes off for a monster game while the guy you started in his place puts up a dud. Of course, it's nice to see your players do well, but successful fantasy owners ensure that they're getting the best players in their starting lineups on a weekly basis.

(Continue to Inside Fantasy Sports)

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