The Oregon Ducks have been one of the best regular season teams in college football over the past two seasons, combining for a 23-1 record with the lone loss coming to the eventual national champion Indiana Hoosiers in 2025. But that's not say they haven't had some minor hiccups and scares along the way, most notably in so-called "trap games" to a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team once each year.
In 2024, the Ducks had to battle back and convert a fourth down in the fourth quarter to come away with a victory over the pesky Wisconsin Badgers in Madison. The 2025 season featured much less of a scare against the Badgers, though they scored just 21 points in a home win with backup quarterback Brock Thomas filling in admirably in a driving rainstorm
with Dante Moore sidelined in the second half with an injury.
CBS Sports college football analyst Brad Crawford targeted Oregon's matchup with Michigan State late in the year as a potential trap game for the 2026 season. The game is on a Friday night prior to the Ducks' season-finale against the rival Washington Huskies.
"This is a game that is going to be hard to get up for," Crawford said. "At Michigan State, once again on a Friday night, you might have some snow in late November. We've seen Oregon the last couple of years, while they don't usually play with their food, some road games have been a little bit tricky. Maybe the offense goes through some spurts and has some sporadic moments and cold a little bit in that first half. If Michigan State gets a lead in that game... then there might be a chance the Spartans put Oregon on upset alert in the second half."
What is Oregon's trap game this season?
— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) August 1, 2026
That's an easy one.
*Road game
*Friday night
*Potential weather
*CFP pressure
🔗: https://t.co/bf2aTsq7ou pic.twitter.com/WYWB85dng4
Crawford's first point about the game being hard to get up for very well may be true, especially considering Oregon will be coming off of a tough late-season stretch of playing at Ohio State and home against Michigan, two teams with College Football Playoff hopes. Neither project to be easy outs.
At the same time, Washington has their own hopes of competing for the CFP, representing another tough game to finish the 2026 season. Sandwiched between those is the matchup against Michigan State, a team simply hoping to reach bowl eligibility. They'll likely have nothing to lose late in the year, and will pull out all the stops to take down the Ducks on national television on Friday night.
Crawford did finish his statement by saying that he wasn't picking Michigan State over Oregon, but the Spartans are not to be overlooked with the Ducks' focus largely on the Buckeyes, Wolverines and Huskies in the final month.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Michigan State matchup identified as potential trap game for Oregon
