Washington Huskies Opponent Preview: Week 10 – Oregon
Saturday, the Washington Huskies travel to Eugene for their biggest game of the year as they take on the 6th-ranked Oregon Ducks.
Herb Nightengale
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Saturday, the Washington Huskies travel to Eugene for their biggest game of the year as they take on the 6th-ranked Oregon Ducks.
It won’t be an easy task for the Washington Huskies to pull off an upset this week. Oregon is the only undefeated team in Pac-12 conference play.
Their only loss of 2022 came against top-ranked Georgia in the season opener, 49-3. Since then, the Ducks have scored more than 40 points in each game.
History
All-Time Series: Washington Huskies lead 60-48 with 5 ties.
Oregon has won the three most recent meetings. The Huskies’ last win over UO was a 38-3 rout on November 4, 2017.
Oregon Offense
The Ducks average 520.5 yards of offense (231.2 rushing and 289.33 passing).
Quarterback
Leading the Oregon charge is Bo Nix. The grad transfer from Auburn is having an outstanding season. In 9 games, Nix completed 200 of 273 for 2495 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.
With 457 yards and 13 touchdowns on 69 carries, he’s also very dangerous running the ball. The Washington Huskies will have to be careful how and when they put pressure on him, especially in the red zone.
Expect Washington to keep a spy on Nix.
Running Back
The Ducks go primarily with two backs, Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington, both sophomore transfers.
Irving has carried the ball 100 times this season for 688 yards and 2 touchdowns. Also, he has caught 17 for 206 yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Whittington has 83 carries for 512 yards and three touchdowns. Add another 15 receptions for 122 yards to his yards from scrimmage total.
Wide Receiver
The Ducks go with three receivers. Their main weapon is Troy Franklin. The former four-star recruit out of East Palo Alto, California, has 39 receptions for 636 yards and 5 touchdowns this season.
Opposite him is another sophomore, Kris Hutson. The Compton, California native pulled in 25 passes for 340 yards. The third receiver is Cota Chase, a senior transfer from UCLA. Chase has 24 catches for 319 yards on the season and 1 touchdown.
Tight End
Oregon uses all four of the tight ends on their depth chart. The starter Terrance Ferguson, a sophomore, has 23 catches for 234 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Behind Ferguson is senior Cam McCormick. Although he only has 9 receptions for 64 yards, 3 of those catches went for touchdowns.
Also, expect to see sophomore Moliki Matavao and Patrick Herbert (Justin’s younger brother).
Oregon Defense
The Ducks’ defense gives up about the same amount of points as Washington, just over 26 per game.
They line up in a base 3-3-5, using a nose tackle, defensive tackle, and defensive end on the front; three linebackers, including an edge rusher, two safeties, two corners, and a nickel back.
Defensive Line
Junior Brandon Dorlus starts at defensive end. He has 26 tackles with 8.5 for loss.
Jordan Riley, a junior transfer from Nebraska, has 15 tackles, including 1.5 for loss is the number one nose tackle. Former Husky Taki Taimani, who transferred to Oregon after last season, has seen limited action because of an ankle injury. UO expects him to play on Saturday.
The defensive tackle is Casey Rogers, who has 21 tackles this season. Backup Keyon Ware-Hudson has 14 tackles with 2.5 for loss.
Linebackers
On the edge, DJ Johnson is picking up where Kayvon Thibodeaux left off with 25 tackles and 6 sacks. He missed last week’s game against Colorado but is expected back for Washington. Junior Mase Funa should see significant action as well.
Noah Sewell holds down the middle; he was an All-Pac-12 first-teamer last year as a freshman. This year, he has 39 tackles and a sack.
Sophomore Jeffrey Bassa is the other starter. So far, he has 38 tackles with 3 for loss.
Defensive Backs
A pair of sophomores, Trikweze Bridges and Christian Gonzalez, start at corner for UO. Gonzalez transferred from Colorado after one season, where he was a Pac-12 Honorable Mention. Each man has 3 interceptions and over 30 tackles.
At nickelback is William Bennett. The senior has 42 tackles with two forced fumbles.
Jamal Hill and Steve Stephens IV are the safeties. Hill has 37 tackles on the season. Stephens has 32 tackles.
The Oregon Ducks are a 13 point favorite going into Saturday. In this rivalry game both teams don’t like each other, so anything goes. Expect lots of points, the over is an astounding 72 points. Have fun and enjoy the game. Go Dawgs!