5 storylines to watch when the Huskies host No. 7 Oregon
Two years removed from their last meeting, Washington (4-4) and No. 7 Oregon (7-1) will renew their fiery rivalry Saturday afternoon in Seattle.
The game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. from Husky Stadium.
Here are five storylines to watch:
1. Can the Huskies snap another Ducks winning streak early on, or is Oregon headed for a third consecutive win in this series?
The Huskies have had two full calendar years to think about the last time the Ducks visited — when Justin Herbert and Oregon rallied from two touchdowns down in the second half, and eventually took a fourth-quarter lead UW couldn’t match.
They’ve had three years to think about the loss before that — when C.J. Verdell’s overtime touchdown run sent the then-No. 7 Huskies home from Eugene with a heartbreaking defeat.
UW hasn’t won in this series since 2017, and only four players on UW’s roster have played in a victory against the Ducks.
Oregon has won 14 of the past 16 in this series — including the past two, and the 12-game streak the Huskies finally snapped in 2016 — and is favored again Saturday.
Can the Huskies, having gained some momentum with wins over Arizona and Stanford the past two weeks, make it three wins in a row with an upset in this renewed rivalry?
There’s plenty at stake for both teams.
Oregon debuted at No. 4 in the first set of College Football Playoff rankings released earlier in the week, and is on a three-game winning streak after dropping its only loss of the season so far at Stanford in overtime last month.
The Huskies haven’t exactly had the season they were expecting when they opened against Montana back in September, but suddenly find themselves one win away from moving into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 North.
Beyond that, there are even more factors that could add to the intensity of Saturday’s meeting.
Last season, when the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues in UW’s program, was the first time the Huskies and Ducks missed their annual meeting since 2001.
The Huskies were still declared the winners of the Pac-12 North, but also had to miss the conference championship game the following week. Oregon replaced them, and went on to win the conference title for a second consecutive season.
“I was pretty sad, I’m not going to lie,” UW cornerback Kyler Gordon said this week. “I’d love having the chance to go play in the Pac-12 Championship and do all that, and just to see a team that we were in front of be able to take that (spot), it’s like, ‘I don’t think you deserve that. You don’t. Let’s just be real. You don’t.’ … So it was sad to let that happen.”
Earlier this week, Huskies coach Jimmy Lake seemed to stir up rivalry week more with his now widespread comments about recruiting and “academic prowess,” prompting discussion on social media, by news outlets, including national outlets like ESPN, and a response from Oregon president Michael Schill.
Ducks coach Mario Cristobal, when asked about Lake’s comments, told reporters in Eugene on Wednesday, “Every single ounce of our focus is on the game.”
Lake later addressed his original comment, made during his Monday press conference, on his weekly radio show on Seattle’s SportsRadio 950 KJR on Wednesday evening, and said he has “the utmost respect for the University of Oregon as an academic and athletic institution” and his comments were “focused on our recruiting efforts and what we were doing.”
Saturday marks the 113th meeting of the Huskies and Ducks. UW currently leads the all-time series, 60-47-5.
2. UW’s offense rallied for an impressive game-winning touchdown drive against Stanford last week, but can the Huskies keep their momentum going against one of the conference’s toughest defenses?
Huskies second-year quarterback Dylan Morris engineered a game-winning touchdown drive last week — connecting with Jalen McMillan in the corner of the end zone with less than a minute to play — to give this offense a boost.
“I love it,” Morris said postgame of the play call. “That’s just the aggressiveness of this team. The offense, defense, the whole team together — we’re aggressive and we want to put up points on the board.”
Will the Huskies be able to against Oregon?
The Ducks rank third in the conference in points per game allowed (23.3), third in rushing yards per game allowed (131.6) and 10th in passing yards per game allowed (261.1).
Perhaps Morris (156-of-256, 1,809 yards, 11 TDs, eight INTs) and a now healthy group of receivers led by Terrell Bynum (25 catches, 427 yards, four TDs) and McMillan (27 catches, 392 yards, three TDs), who both rank in the top 10 in the Pac-12 in receiving yards per game, might have some room to throw.
Oregon’s defense also has 11 interceptions this season, which is tied for the Pac-12 lead with Arizona State. Safety Verone McKinley III is the individual conference leader with four.
And don’t forget about Kayvon Thibodeaux, who many have projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft. He has four sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles in six games.
“We definitely need to know where he is at,” Huskies coach Jimmy Lake said this week. “And even if you know where he is at — which I’m sure these other teams knew where he was at — he was still able to create havoc in the backfield.”
The Huskies posted their best rushing performance of the season last week at Stanford, but still average only 122.9 yards per game, which is ninth in the Pac-12.
3. What happens when the conference’s top-scoring offense meets the Pac-12 defense that has allowed the fewest points?
Oregon averages a conference-leading 36.1 points per game.
UW allows a conference-best 18.9 points per game.
How that matchup unfolds Saturday afternoon is certainly worth keeping an eye on.
The Ducks are one of two teams in the Pac-12 — Oregon State is the other — that average more than 200 yards per game on the ground, with 204.9, which ranks second.
Their 25 rushing touchdowns lead the conference, and Travis Dye (106 carries, 609 yards, 10 TDs) has nearly half of them, and averages 5.7 yards per attempt.
And Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown (143-of-221 passing, 1,797 yards, 10 TDs, three INTs; 80 carries, 365 yards, six TDs) adds another 4.6 yards per carry.
“They give you a lot of problems,” Lake said. “They’re a downhill running team, and then as soon as you start stopping that, they’re going to hit you on the outside.”
Meanwhile, while UW’s defense also allows the fewest total yards to opponents (325.4) among Pac-12 teams, and the fewest passing yards (146.9), the Huskies have also given up 178.5 per game on the ground.
4. Who will the Huskies have available this week?
For the second consecutive week, the Huskies have lost another impact player to a season-ending injury.
Last week, Lake announced inside linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio (arm), who was UW’s leading tackler at the time, and tailback Richard Newton (knee), who started the first three games, would both miss the rest of the season.
Monday he confirmed outside linebacker Ryan Bowman (arm) will also be out the rest of the way. The sixth-year senior started the first seven games for UW, collecting 22 tackles, including 3 ½ for losses, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
The Huskies were also without several more players last week against Stanford, including left tackle Jaxson Kirkland, running back Kamari Pleasant, tight end Quentin Moore and safeties Alex Cook and Asa Turner.
5. Here are the players with Washington ties you could see on Oregon’s sideline, and the players with Oregon ties you could see on UW’s.
On Oregon’s roster:
OL T.J. Bass, jr. (Mount Baker High School, Butte College)
OL Cole Young, R-fr. (Bellevue)
On UW’s roster:
DL Draco Bynum, soph. (Wilsonville)
OLB Jahleel Heath, fr. (Oregon City)
OL Jaxson Kirkland, jr. (Jesuit)
DL Brody Reese, fr. (Hillsboro)
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 3:36 PM with the headline "5 storylines to watch when the Huskies host No. 7 Oregon."
