Washington (12th in the CFP rankings) looks to keep the Pac-12’s playoff hopes alive as they face off against the Oregon Ducks. The Huskies (7-1) host the Ducks (5-4) at 10:00 EST from Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. The game can be found on Fox Sports 1.
Washington recovered after their crushing loss at Arizona State with a commanding win over UCLA. Even though QB Jake Browning hasn’t been nearly as involved the last two weeks, the running game got going against the Bruins.
RB Myles Gaskin has continued to be the stable workhorse for the Huskies, running for nearly 800 yards and owning nine rushing TDs. Washington has also continued to dominate on defense, with UCLA becoming the first team to score over 20 points against them. Still, the Huskies D held Josh Rosen to 170 yards passing, and the Bruins to 232 overall.
Oregon meanwhile, seemed to get back on track against Utah. Their 41-20 win in Eugene propelled them after three straight spread and straight-up losses.
QB Justin Herbert, who’s been out the last three weeks, could start this week. He’ll be a big re-edition to an offense that’s long had a catalyst in Royce Freeman. The running back is already over 1,000 yards on the ground, with double-digit touchdowns.
Oregon still comes into this game as 21-point underdogs on the road.
Oregon has made strides defensively, but this is still not a unit that can stop Gaskin, Browning, and WR Dante Pettis. Washington should have no fear of having offensive struggles like they did a couple weeks ago against Arizona State. They jumped right back on it against UCLA as if they’d never slumped on that side of the ball to begin with.
A Washington blowout is evident. The favorite has failed to cover the spread only twice in the last 15 meetings between these teams. Not enough has changed since last season, even with Oregon coach Willie Taggart making some strides with the program.
Washington won last year’s meeting at Autzen 70-21. While there’s no doubt it’ll be closer this year, Oregon’s change of game plan won’t improve the personnel on defense enough to keep it close.
But they will score enough for the over/under to look ridiculously small. The Huskies have scored 37 points or more in all but one game this year, with the 17th-best scoring offense. And even with a solid defense, it’s hard to find a better RB Washington has played. That great rushing D will be challenged more than they have all season.
Both teams are used to the weather, so sub-40 degrees won’t slow down these offenses much.
Taggart’s offense looks like it’s back in the groove, and will be in a higher gear if Herbert is back. Don’t expect any more than 21-24 points from them. The Chip Kelly-Marcus Mariota show left a long time ago. But with a figure like that, Washington won’t have any problems covering the rest.