The Ducks handled the Beavs, 31-7, in the Autzen Stadium’s Pac-12 swan song, and they earned themselves a rematch with their rivals in the last conference title game ever.
First things first, I’d like to welcome you all to the Duck State.
I started my preview last week with the fear that OSU would attempt to slow the game down and grind us out with long possessions that, “didn’t suit our play style.”
Naturally, Oregon started the game off with a 15-play, 88-yard touchdown drive that immediately milked 8:41 off the clock before the Beavs ever touched the ball for the first time.
After that, allow me to give you a quick summary of what happened when Oregon State did get the ball after that: Turnover on downs. Punt. Touchdown. Downs. Punt. Interception. Downs. Downs. End of game.
It was a defensive performance that should go down in Duck history—a testament to the trenches.
I distinctly remember in 2019, a lot of folks (myself included) kept trying so hard to compare our defense to 1994’s Gang Green.
And despite the fact that I wear an authentic Gang Green hat on every game day, I haven’t considered or heard that comparison once about this year’s team.
That’s because we all know this D is exponentially better than Gang Green.
Now, if we’re grading on a recruiting curve, the ‘94 squad gets way, way closer to this year’s defense, but still, the regular season is all wrapped up now, and I think we should begin the conversation that we’re looking at the best or second-best offense-defense combo in school history.
I just think it’s healthy to remind ourselves of that fact, and I want to breathe in these achievements for a minute—before this next must-win game tests our ability to feel joy ever again.
But back to the Beavs for just a little bit more:
As my Dad pointed out mid-game, Oregon’s defense sold out against the run.
Beavis could only muster a mere 53 yards on the ground (despite averaging 180 per game), and Damian Martinez had just 38 of those (despite being an 1,100+ yard rusher this year).
Yeah, I’d say our front seven is hitting their stride.
Our commitment to stopping the run invited/allowed DJU to have moderate success through the air—220 yards on 19 completions.
As much as Washington fans might salivate over a couple of the big shots OSU hit in the passing game, I can tell them that it was fool’s gold.
Oregon State looked like a competent passing team because we were fine with that, not because our secondary suddenly got bad.
On the other hand, if/when Washington looks like a competent passing team, it’ll be because they’re actually a competent passing team.
Okay! Fine! Let’s talk about the Huskies again, I guess!
First, for accountability’s sake, I’m happy to report that I haven’t listened to a single second of Dave “Softy” Mahler this week.
And quite frankly, I haven’t thought about him at all (until this exact moment).
You’ll all be proud to know that the same fear/morbid curiosity/sickness that caused me to tune into KJR in Seattle just a few short months ago to, “see what the other guys were saying,” hasn’t overcome me once since the prospect of this rematch presented itself.
If I can manage to survive tonight’s 14+ hours of driving to Las Vegas, I’ll be collecting my Softy chip accordingly.
That’s called growth.
Or I might just feel tremendously more confident going into this game than I was on October 14th.
Oregon is playing some of the best football in program history, and they have been doing it consistently since their crushing loss to Washington.
They’ve been on a warpath that would’ve made Henry Kissinger cringe, and the whole college football world knows it.
On the other hand, it’s been all the Huskies could do to survive and get to this point.
Michael Penix Jr. has been a Duck-killer throughout his time in Seattle—there’s no getting around that fact. However, he has played worse game-after-game since winning the September/October Heisman, and there have recently been whispers that he’s allegedly pretty banged up.
And his drop in performance has certainly bled into the rest of the team, because UDub has been living very dangerously and barely beating teams that the Ducks have blown out of the water.
Last time out, our front seven managed a few key hurries on Mr. Big Penix Energy, but they’ll have to get home more often to truly disrupt him and keep the ball out of Rome Odunze’s hands as much as possible.
On our injury list, it seems like we’re almost guaranteed to be playing without CB2, Jahlil Florence.
Credit to the 247Sports Autzen Audibles guys, who reported that they saw Florence on crutches and have heard plenty of intel around the program that have lead them to believe that Khyree Jackson will be playing cornerback alongside Dontae Manning and Trikweze Bridges for the foreseeable future.
Trikweze has definitely had his moments throughout the year, and Dontae really stepped up last week with a huge interception in the endzone, but I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t feel way more exposed to the Husky air raid without our top two guys back there.
That being said, we basically played almost the entire second half in Seattle without Khyree OR Jahlil, so we’re still technically fielding an improved secondary against an offense and quarterback who we assume will be less than 100%.*
*I should say that I assume he’ll be less than 100%, I promise you that Dan and Tosh are building a gameplan that assume’s he’ll be playing at 300%.
But beyond those little tidbits, I think it’s just important to note that this is all pretty unprecedented.
Last Pac-12 Title Game ever.
Two Husky games in one year.
Psuedo-Heisman championship.
Playoff Quarterfinal.
The stakes are massive.
A game like this may never come around again, and that pit in your stomach is absolutely warranted.
Oregon’s defense is playing out of its mind, we have one or two of our all-time top receivers, and our offensive line is in the conversation for being the best in the nation.
Oh, and did I mention we have Bo Nix?
Oregon 37, Washington 27.
Go Ducks.