The Oregon Ducks travel to Oklahoma State in a Week 2 matchup that should tell us a lot about both programs. Most notably, we’ll find out this weekend if the Oklahoma State rebuild is over before it even starts.

Oregon’s defensive line has something to prove after a competitive but imperfect showing against Boise State, and Oklahoma State looked physically outmatched in a terrible loss to Tulsa. The Cowboys’ offensive and defensive lines were beaten up, and now they face a significant talent upgrade.

The case for Oklahoma State to have a chance in this game, and why it falls apart

I can absolutely hear the argument if you want to say Oklahoma State had been preparing for Oregon the entire offseason and simply overlooked Tulsa. If you want to say that, fine. You could get a better performance from Oklahoma State. But frankly, it’s not going to matter.

I think Oregon, because of their performance against Boise State, is going to have a much better bounce-back game. And the reason is simple: I don’t think Oklahoma State is going to create any kind of pressure on quarterback Dante Moore. That’s the recipe to success against this Oregon offense.

If you want to speed up Dante Moore, create a couple turnovers, maybe Oklahoma State has a chance. But even with that in mind, you still have to be able to score points, and I have no faith in Oklahoma State’s offensive line against an Oregon defensive line that wants to bounce back and prove themselves.

This isn’t about the result, it’s about the margin

The question isn’t about who wins or loses this game. It’s by how much, and whether Oregon looks like the dominant team everyone projected them to be going into the season. Oregon had legitimate questions surface against Boise State, the best team in the Group of Six, and a road game against a desperate Oklahoma State squad is exactly the kind of environment where they need to respond.

And you may say, Tegan, Oklahoma State is at home, they’re going to come out with more energy after getting embarrassed by Tulsa. Sure. But energy doesn’t fix an offensive line that got physically beaten down in Week 1 and now faces a more talented front.

It doesn’t fix a defensive line that couldn’t generate pressure against Tulsa and now has to deal with a quarterback in Dante Moore who can make you pay the moment you give him time.

I am out on Oklahoma State for this year. I think they could be a competent team down the road, but an 0-2 start for head coach Erik Morris is absolutely brutal. The rebuild has to happen, and nobody is disputing that. But getting physically dominated by Tulsa and then drawing Oregon in Week 2 is about as tough a start as you can script.

Oregon wins this one comfortably, and the Ducks use it to prove their preseason hype was warranted.