The Oregon Ducks (5-0, 2-0) take to the road again this week heading to the heart of Husky country in Seattle this Saturday to take on the Washington Huskies (4-1, 2-1) in an important Pac-12 conference game for both teams.
Oregon, ranked No. 2 in the polls, once again dominated the opponent in front of them. Despite a slow start letting the Buffaloes go up 3-0 and 10-8, the Duck defense dominated the second half against Colorado giving up less than 60 total yards en route to the 57-16 victory. The 57 points extended their school record streak to five consecutive games above the 50 point plateau.
The Huskies, meanwhile, are licking their wounds after a tough 31-28 loss to Pac-12 North contender Stanford. The Huskies had their chances outgaining the Cardinal by a 489 to 284 margin. Despite the wide margin in yards, Washington was not able to convert the yards to points frequently enough.
Penalties and two long kickoff returns, including one for a touchdown ultimately spelled too much trouble for the Huskies to overcome.
Despite an injury on the opening kick of the Cal game to running back De’Anthony Thomas, the Ducks were able to score at will against a Buffalo defense that was improved, but still far from Oregon’s level.
This week, we continue our Inside Edge series to cover both sides of the ball in one article. We show the starting lineups for both teams and discuss our thoughts as to which team has the edge at each match-up.
Both teams will bring an explosive offense to Seattle for this key match-up. The Huskies, who have lost nine consecutive games to Northwest rival Oregon look to be improved on defense, though, having held opponents to a Pac-12 conference best 287.8 yards per game. The Huskies are also third on scoring defense allowing just 14.8 points per game. The defense looks considerably better than the one which gave up over 50 points to the Ducks last season in Eugene.
What do the match-ups look like for this game? Take a look at the latest edition of DSA Inside Edge.