A focused and balanced 5th ranked Washington Huskies (6-0, 3-0) team snapped a 12-year losing streak to the Oregon Ducks (2-4,0-3) with a dominating 70 to 21 win over the Oregon Ducks Saturday evening at Autzen Stadium. Washington’s last win in the famed border rival war was in 2003. The So-called rival game had become nothing but a practice game for the Ducks.
With a defense that had a top five national ranking and a quarterback who ranked No.2 in pass efficiency, Washington was focused on breaking the streak not by talking but by action.
MUMS THE WORD
Just how focused where the Huskies? Husky coach Chris Petersen barred his players from speaking to the press during team practices leading up to the game. Seems Petersen wanted his player’s performances on the field to do all the talking. If action speaks louder than words, the Huskies breakout performance in Eugene was so loud it reverberated all the way to the Yale Club of New York. Home of the Heisman Trophy.
BROWNING CONTINUES TO SHINE
In addition to his high-efficiency rating, Browning entered the game ranked No.3 touchdowns and No.6 in completion percentage. Add two rushing touchdowns, 304 passing yards and six touchdowns on 22 of 28 pass attempts. Browning played a flawless game except for one show of petulance which occurred when he was called for taunting an Oregon player on his was to the end zone for the Huskies first score.
Petulance or not, one can begin to hear the soft whispers of the H word around Husky Nation. Especially with a bye week in hand.
Running back Myles Gaskin continued the resurgent of the Huskies running game by rushing for a touchdown and 197 yards on 16 carries. The Huskies have now rushed for 592 yards (214 Stanford, 378 Oregon) in the last two games.
Dante Pettis caught eight passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns, while John Ross had nine catches for 94 yards and three scores.
DEFENSE SET TONE EARLY
Washington entered the game leading the nation in fumble recoveries and takeaways. The Husky defense quickly added to the tallies when Safety Budda Baker picked off Oregon freshman quarterback Justin Herbert’s second pass of the game and Keishawn Bierria recovered a Royce Freeman fumble in the second quarter. The Washington defense stopped the Ducks on two separate fourth and one attempts as the Huskies bolted to a 28-7 first half lead they never relinquished. The two takeaways added to Washington’s national tallies of 12 fumbles recoveries and 16 takeaways.
GAMENOTES
Oregon Freshman Justin Herbert made his first college start and threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks.Oregon (2-4, 0-3 Pac-12) hasn’t lost four straight games since the 2006 season.
Oregon (2-4, 0-3 Pac-12) hasn’t lost four straight games since the 2006 season.Browning’s six passing touchdowns ties a Pac 12 record for most TD in a game.
Leave a Reply