Five questions for Oregon to answer in CFP matchup with Texas Tech

It's finally here. Less than 24 hours remain before the No. 5 Oregon Ducks will take the field in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals against the No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Both teams are at the top of the country statistically on both sides of the ball, presenting arguably the best matchup of this quarterfinals New Years slate.

The Ducks enter coming off a 51-34 victory over the No. 12 James Madison Dukes, in which the first half was about as good of football as Oregon has played this season — with the second half presenting a different story, with the Dukes ultimately scoring 28 points in the final two quarters and racking up over 500 total yards on the game.

Ducks head coach Dan Lanning made sure that his team knew that that wasn't the standard, something that could benefit them as they survived but have much to improve upon.

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders haven't played in nearly three weeks, as they dismantled the BYU Cougars in the Big 12 title game.

Their talented roster presents several potential challenges for Oregon: Can the Ducks protect Dante Moore? What's the best gameplan to defend the Red Raiders' offense? Will Oregon avoid turnovers?

We'll break down those three questions — but first, two other questions that have a chance to determine who advances to the semifinals and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.

Who wins the line of scrimmage?

This is easily the biggest question heading into this game, and it pertains to both sides of the ball.

The Red Raiders are the best in the country at stopping the run, allowing under 69 yards per game. On the other side, the Ducks average 217.1 rush yards per game, good for 13th in the country and headlined by a talented and versatile trio of backs. But it's the Oregon offensive line, a Joe Moore Award finalist for the third straight season, that will determine if the running backs get free.

Guard Emmanuel Pregnon and center Iapani Laloulu are road-grading blockers but will face up against a dominant front seven. There's a case to be made that Indiana's front seven rivals Texas Tech's front seven — and the Hoosiers allowed just 81 rushing yards in their Week 7 win at Autzen Stadium over the Ducks. It's imperative that Oregon's able to establish the run early and often.

On the other side of the ball, Texas Tech enters with a running back duo that's combined for nearly 1,800 yards. They're the reason that quarterback Behren Morton is able to play safe and efficient football, with defenses crowding the line of scrimmage and allowing him to throw against favorable looks.

If the Ducks' front seven (add in safety Dillon Thieneman, who's one of the top safeties at contributing against the run) can contain the Red Raiders on the ground and be able to run the ball themselves, they should feel very good about their chances of advancing.

Who wins the red zone battle?

It's been known that the Ducks' defense has struggled in the red zone, giving up a touchdown 70% of the time, ranking 120th in the country. Between the 20-yard lines however, they've been excellent — but against elite offenses, limiting their points in the red zone is critical.

Lucky for Oregon, Texas Tech's offense isn't particularly good at finishing their drives in the end zone once they reach the red zone, scoring touchdowns just 56.2% of the time. If half of the Red Raiders' drives in the red zone end in field goals, the Ducks will like their chances — especially with how good their offense has been in the red zone.

With true freshman running back Jordon Davison establishing himself as one of the top short-yardage backs in the nation and tight end Kenyon Sadiq as one of the top red zone targets, monitoring if the Ducks can turn their long drives into touchdowns will go a long way towards determining who comes out on top.

Can Oregon avoid turnovers?

There's a lot of aspects to a football game, but one simple stat that can wreck a team's chances of winning is turnovers. And for the Ducks, they have to alert at all times against the Red Raiders, who have forced an eye-popping 31 turnovers this season, the best mark in the country.

Standout linebacker Jacob Rodriguez has forced 11 alone, seven forced fumbles and four interceptions.

The turnover bug struck the Ducks in their lone loss to Indiana, with quarterback Dante Moore throwing two costly fourth-quarter interceptions. That can't happen against this opportunistic Texas Tech defense, which could pounce on them if the ball is put in harms way.

Will the Ducks be able to protect Dante Moore?

Along with protecting the football is protecting Moore, who has carved up just about every defense that he's faced over the last two months. During that time, rarely has he ever faced an abundance of pressure.

But the Red Raiders present an extremely tough pass rush, with David Bailey (13.5 sacks) and Romello Height (9 sacks) having had tremendous seasons and wreaking havoc on Big 12 passers. Without extra attention paid to them, they can absolutely wreck a game, speeding up the mental clock of opposing quarterbacks, oftentimes leading to turnovers.

The Texas Tech secondary has been greatly aided by the pass rush in front of them — but if Moore is given time, he could slash them, especially with all of his weapons healthy.

What's the best gameplan to defend the explosive Texas Tech offense?

This goes hand-in-hand with winning the line of scrimmage, because the Ducks' main priority has to be making Morton throw the ball. In order for that to happen, they have to limit both Cameron Dickey and J'Koby Williams, the Red Raiders' duo in the backfield.

If Texas Tech can establish the run, it opens up everything for their offense, which features a talented quartet of productive pass catchers. Morton is an upper tier Big 12 quarterback, having started the entirety of three seasons for the Red Raiders. But he's far from dynamic, lacking game-changing arm strength.

He is extremely accurate and makes sound decisions with the football, but there remains the question of if he could put Texas Tech on his shoulders and win a game if needed.

If he is in that position, the Ducks should feel good about their chances.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Five questions for Oregon Ducks to answer against Texas Tech in CFP