Oregon and Washington State head into Saturday’s game coming off completely different outcomes in Week 7 of the college football season. The Ducks got the best of a strong Washington defense last week in their first competitive game of the season while the Cougars are still trying to figure out what happened in the fourth quarter of their 52-24 loss at home to Oregon State.

Let’s take a look at some players to watch on both sides: 

Oregon:

Ifo Ekpre-Olomu & Terrance Mitchell (DB) – Oregon’s secondary will get plenty of action against Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense, which has averaged the third most passing plays per game among FBS teams. Ekpre-Olomu is coming off a strong performance at Washington that led head coach Steve Sarkisian to declare the Oregon junior as “probably the best defensive player” that he had seen all season. Ekpre-Olomu and Mitchell have tightened their coverage on opposing wideouts to an extent that prompted defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti to say earlier this week that the best chance to beat them would be to “throw some deep balls and hope to get a PI (pass interference).”

Bralon Addison (WR/PR) – Addison has broken out in a big way since conference play started, notching multiple touchdowns against California, Colorado and Washington. He’s also had consecutive games of at least 150 receiving yards. Since the turn of the century, only two other Oregon receivers have tallied multiple 150-yard receiving games during a single season (Samie Parker in 2003 and Jaison Williams in 2006). Neither of those players did it in back-to-back games. Addison’s big-play ability is difficult to contain and likely to prevail against a Washington State defense that ranks in the bottom third of the FBS in passing yards allowed per game.

Wade Keliikipi (DT) – Keliikipi is on the heels of possibly his best game as a Duck, as the senior defensive lineman recorded four tackles, including 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss during last week’s win at Washington. The Waianae, Hawaii native trails only Tony Washington on the team in tackles-for-loss and will do his best to create havoc behind the line of scrimmage. Keliikipi, along with DT Taylor Hart, will look to pressure quarterback Connor Halliday from the get-go.

Washington State:

Connor Halliday (QB) – Halliday had a performance to forget last weekend and will need a strong bounce-back performance in order for Washington State to mount any type of offense against Oregon’s sixth-ranked defense. Halliday leads the FBS with 13 interceptions and was picked off to end three consecutive fourth-quarter drives against Oregon State. The Cougars’ signal caller has struggled against competent defenses this year, throwing two touchdowns versus nine interceptions against teams that aren’t Southern Utah, Idaho or California. Halliday needs to buck that trend quickly if Washington State wants to put points on the board against Oregon’s defense.

Deone Bucannon & Damante Horton (DB) – Bucannon and Horton are tied for the team lead with four interceptions this year and will attempt to end Marcus Mariota’s interception-less streak on Saturday. Bucannon is considered one of the most NFL-ready safeties in college football and picked off Mariota twice the last time they squared off. Horton has totaled 146 interception yards this season – the third most in the nation – on his way to a pair of pick-sixes.