WASHINGTON HUSKIES – OREGON DUCKS GAME FORECAST
October 7th, 2016
The Washington Huskies travel to Eugene this Saturday to take on the Oregon Ducks. The Huskies have not defeated the Ducks since 2003, winning in Seattle by a 42-10 margin. The last time Washington won in Eugene was 2002 and the score was similar at 42-14. Since then Oregon has won 12 in a row.
However, the Duck dynasty is in serious jeopardy this season. The Huskies are undefeated, ranked No. 5 in the polls, and are coming off a dismantling of the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal last Friday night with a score of 44-6. They were anointed by many as the team that would win the PAC-12 this year. The media and fans have lavished the conquerors with adorations during this last week. Not to be a stick in the mud, but this does create a small chink in the Washington armor which may be exploited by the now underdog Ducks. In college football we have seen many a scenario in which a team has a huge, emotional win only to fall flat on their faces the following week. Based on recent history, it is surreal to consider Oregon as a trap game, but nonetheless it has unfolded as such.
Another factor which must be accounted for is that this is young Master Browning’s first visit to Autzen stadium. The Washington QB has never experienced this environment as a player. This is only Washington’s second away game of the season and if you watched their first away game against the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson, it was less than pretty. They did come away with the victory in overtime but Jake Browning and the rest of the team struggled in that venue. Now, if that means they got it out of their system and are ready to roll that is very good news for Husky fans. But if they make mistakes, especially turnovers, and give Oregon and the Autzen crowd hope, it could make a significant difference.
It should be noted that Stanford was hobbled with at least 4 starters out due to injury including both of their starting corners. Stanford also runs a pro-style offense while Arizona runs a zone read. Stanford was at home. Arizona was away. Oregon runs a zone read offense and is an away game. So the game against the Ducks will at least start out much the same as the Arizona game and not like the Stanford game. This is an excellent challenge for the brash young Huskies to demonstrate they can handle road trips playing these kinds of teams.
The last item to consider is that Oregon came into the rivalry game last year with 3 losses as well but still found a way to win.
If Browning and the Huskies can stay focused and avoid coughing up the ball they will likely come away with their first win against Oregon since 2003. Conversely, if the Ducks can pull their heads out of their keisters and put them together they could still collect an epic victory on par with the Kenny Wheaton pick-6 game from 1994. This is one of the most interesting games in recent memory due to the expectations of each side. Normally, if a No. 5 ranked team wins by 1 point against an unranked advisory they would be chastised by the pundits from the peanut gallery and their fans would be disappointed that they didn’t eviscerate the opponent. However, this is one of the few match-ups between a top 10 and an unranked team in which either side would be thrilled with a 1 point win. As fans of college football, let’s hope this game is a battle for the ages. We shall see if the chink in the armor was but a myth or if it can be pierced.