Washington State’s unique offensive attack creates a difficult task for opposing defensive coordinators. While head coach Mike Leach is one of the more peculiar figures in sports, his offensive scheme is brilliantly confusing to opposing defenses. How are the Ducks preparing to face this heavy passing attack? It sounds like Oregon may try and combat confusion with — you guessed it, confusion.

“You’ve got to mix up exactly what you do in terms of pass rush and pressures,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said after Wednesday’s practice. “Sometimes you got to play coverage, sometimes you just have to cover the guy.

“They’re so ingrained in that system that if you give them a picture, they will have answers to the same picture as the game goes on.”

The challenge starts at quarterback with transfer Gardner Minshew who has seamlessly taken charge of the offense. Leading the nation’s No. 1 passing attack, Minshew has thrown for 2,422 yards and 19 touchdowns while only throwing four interceptions on the year.

Receivers Davontavean Martin and Easop Winston headline a WSU receiving core which boasts six players with at least 200 yards receiving. For reference, Oregon only has two players over the 200 yard mark. Martin has 40 catches for 440 yards and six touchdowns while Winston has caught 29 passes for 426 yards and five touchdowns.

On the offensive line, left tackle Andre Dillard graded out as the highest ranked offensive lineman in the Pac-12 with an overall grade of 83.6. The Cougars also have two talented running backs in James Williams and Max Borghi — both pose as receiving threats out of the backfield.

“They have a great quarterback who runs the system perfectly,” linebacker Troy Dye said of Washington State’s offense. “Fantastic receivers as well as their offensive line. We have our hands full this weekend again.”

When asked how the Ducks plan to defend against this offense, Dye kept things simple.

“Try to get in the passing lanes,” Dye said. “Get our hands up. Keep everything in front of us and keep our eyes on the ball.”

Easier said than done. As Dye expressed, Oregon is going to have their hands full this Saturday. Washington State’s offensive scheme stretches the field and gets guys in space. The defense is going to have to play disciplined and stick to their assignment.

As we’ve come to understand with Cristobal as head coach, Oregon tends to prepare well. Since the beginning of fall camp, practices have had periods dedicated to letting the first team offense and first team defense play against each other. Cristobal feels those periods have paid off in letting the defense adjust to multiple offensive looks.

“They stretch you in a lot of different ways and you know what, our guys have seen a lot of football,” Cristobal said. “They play against a lot of different stuff when we play against them in practice. Overall I think they’re going to be prepared for the challenge.

“Their concepts, they’ll stress you. They are really good concepts, but at the same time we have really good defensive guys.”

Oregon will have a chance to slow down this elite Washington State offensive attack this Saturday in Pullman, Washington. The game kicks off at 4:30 PM.