By Don Smalley
DSN Contributor

Oregon begins the Pac-10 schedule tonight when they enter Wells Fargo Arena to face Arizona State. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. PST. No live television.

The Sun Devils are a team that almost nobody is talking about, but ASU went through the non-conference season with a 10-2 mark. That’s significant considering the Sun Devils only claimed eight victories last season.

Arizona State usually starts two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. They are led by freshman James Harden, a 6-4 guard that is averaging 16.9 points a game and 5.3 rebounds. Junior forward Jeff Pendergraph is the elder statesman of the team with his 13.1 scoring average and his seven boards per contest. He is also shooting at a 65 percent clip from the field.

This game could be a battle of wills, as Oregon likes to score as much as possible and play very little defense. While the Sun Devils like to play defense, and get the game in the 60’s. Oregon leads the conference in scoring at nearly 86 points a game, but the Ducks are last in points allowed at 74.8. On the flip side, Arizona State scores just 72 points a game, but the young Devils have bought into coach Herb Sendek’s defensive philosophy by allowing just 57 points a game.

In the two games they did lose, ASU’s defense fell off in just one with a 77-54 loss to Illinois in the Maui Classic. In their other loss, the Devils couldn’t shoot the ball in a 62-47 loss at Nebraska. Although the competition hasn’t been too good, the Sun Devils are on a six-game win streak. All of the wins are at home. The Oregon game is their seventh game of a nine-game home stand, so to speak.

As for the Ducks, an 81-73 win over Mount St. Mary’s last week made them feel a bit better about themselves, but Oregon still has plenty to work on, namely defense and putting inferior teams away.

The Ducks also found out that they will be missing Joevan Catron for nearly the entire first half of the Pac-10 schedule due to a tear of a ligament in his foot. Oregon will have to go to a bench that hasn’t been that productive in the early going, but they will need to.

Oregon will probably start freshman Kamyron Brown at point guard and go with a small lineup with Frantz Dorsainvil the first one off the bench and then Mitch Platt.

But with Churchill Odia not providing much and Drew Viney and Ray Schafer hurt, that means the Big 4 of Bryce Taylor, Malik Hairston, Maarty Leunen and Tajuan Porter will have to log in some serious minutes and be productive for Oregon to win this game or any game in the Pac-10.

Welcome to “The 4|4 with Peter Sirmon”, the ASU Edition. Every week throughout the remainder of the college football season, visitors to DuckSportsNews.com ask Peter four questions and he answers them.

If you would like to ask Peter a question for next week’s edition, leave it in the comment section or send Peter an email. Questions sent within the last twenty-four hours will be answered in next weeks edition.

Here’s this week’s “The 4|4 with Peter Sirmon”.

What do folks say about Oregon back in Tennessee? What is the general “knowledge” and feeling about them back there? - Jake, Eugene

Peter: The Oregon Ducks come up several times every day back here in Tennessee. You would be surprised how many people have taken notice. The Michigan game went a long ways towards putting Oregon up there with other national powers. Also, the USC game was another big step. Both of those games were televised nationally, which is the only way teams on the west coast get the accolades they deserve.

Hey Peter! Big fan of yours! Hey I was wondering what you thought of LB Jon Bacon? As far as play on the field? - Tyson, Corvallis

Peter: Jon Bacon was all over the place versus USC. I was very impressed with the way he played. It says a great deal about a LB when he is involved on several of the biggest plays of the game. Some players just have a knack for being around the ball and making big plays, he seems to have both of those qualities, which by the way can not be coached or taught.

Does a light class load provide football players any kind of advantage? - Nate, Bend

Peter: I attended summer school every year I was at the U of O in anticipation of taking a lighter load during the fall quarter. I did it that way so I could devote as much time as necessary to football during the season. During my sophomore season it started to become apparent that there was a chance that I would have the opportunity to play in the NFL and decided that I needed to really focus on football during the season. I guess that thinking paid off.

What, if any, qualities does Dennis Dixon share with the Titans’ Vince Young? - Aaron, Portland

Peter: Dennis Dixon shares a lot of the same qualities of Vince Young. There is nothing more frightening than facing a dual threat at the quarterback position. A lot of defenses try to employ a “spy” on the QB throughout the game as part of their strategy. Time and time again though Dennis Dixon and Vince Young prove to difficult for that one player.

When a QB possesses that kind of speed and arm strength as Dennis Dixon does it really becomes the game plan to just try to contain him and limit the amount of big plays that he makes. A QB that makes plays through the air and on the ground proves to be infectious to the entire team. Giving everyone, offense and defense a tremendous amount of confidence that no matter what happens that they have a player that can change the game.

Thanks for the questions. We’ll see you next week for a bye week edition. - Peter

[UPDATE 5:45 p.m.] This broadcast issue has been resolved. The UO-ASU game will be broadcast on FSN Northwest with FSN Arizona commentators at it’s scheduled time of 3:30 p.m. The OSU-USC game will air on ABC at 5:00 p.m.

It’s a Land of Confusion out there.

So, let’s make this as clear as possible right now.

Everything that you’ve heard or read up until this point about the broadcast of the Oregon and Oregon State games is in flux and subject to change.

Hopefully, we will have a definitive word by the end of today.

If you would like to follow what is currently being said, here you go:

Got the Oregon-ASU-Oregon State TV thing figured out? Good. It’s changing again (sort of)

Bernard in doubt but TV back on for Beavers

Pac-10 TV Schedule | November 3

Local TV update

Check back at DuckSportsNews.com for updates.