College football Week 7 buzz: Oregon-Washington, USC's defense - ESPN

This weekend's biggest game is a Pac-12 showdown between two of the best offenses around as the Oregon Ducks face the Washington Huskies in a matchup with serious College Football Playoff implications.

What does Oregon coach Dan Lanning have in store to contain Michael Penix Jr. and the high-flying Huskies? And how will Washington try to limit the Ducks' explosive offense?

And while we're talking about high-octane offense and challenges on defense, fellow Pac-12 contender USC has to be part of the conversation.

In the ACC, North Carolina has emerged as a serious contender, but how long can the Tar Heels keep it up?

ESPN insiders Heather Dinich and Adam Rittenberg tackle all that and more, including their upset picks, in this week's roundtable.

Jump to a section:
Oregon-Washington X factors
Heels' ACC chances
Fixing USC's defense
CFB's best conference
Upset picks | Emptying the notebook

Dinich: Lanning noted several keys, including the matchup between the Ducks' DBs and Washington's wideouts; scoring opportunities through special teams (he noted wind could be a factor on field goals at Husky Stadium); and which defense will be able to create more stops. «And then last year there were a ton of third-and-1, fourth-and-1s in this game on both sides, and it was relatively even a lot of the night, but if somebody decides to go for one of those instead of kicking a field goal, that could be critical,» Lanning told ESPN.

Rittenberg: I would be surprised if the nation's top two offenses are kicking too many field goals. But both defenses look improved, especially Oregon's front. The Ducks added defensive end Jordan Burch, a transfer from South Carolina, who leads the team in sacks (three) and tackles for loss (six). They also regained