John Donovan to UW

It's that time of year again; Ducks vs the Huskies. Oregon has an 11-year winning streak over Washington, but the Huskies (3-2, 1-1 Pac 12) have some momentum coming into this game after defeating USC 17-12 in Los Angeles. The Ducks (3-3, 1-2 Pac 12) should be fired up coming off a heartbreaking 38-45 loss in overtime to Washington State at Autzen Stadium.

Current and Former Washington players/staff are ready to reverse the streak.

Washington Lineman Siosifa Tufunga told reporters,

"It's a big rivalry. Everyone is excited to play in this game - it's a big game. We just got to do our thing; continue to ball out."

"We all think about that. How long has it been, 11 years? Yeah, we're just trying to cut that streak off. But we've got to continue to do what we've got to do - continue to work everyday and improve, and when that game comes we'll be ready to play."

Casey Paus was the Washington quarterback the last time the Huskies beat the Ducks in 2003 (42-10). Paus says for this Saturday's matchup,

“Hopefully, we just put a whooping on them.”

Washington's former offensive coordinator (from 1999-2002), Keith Gilbertson, said in an article,

“Chris Petersen and his staff are really fine coaches, and they’re going to make this a rivalry again. I promise you,' said Gilbertson. 'It’s going to be a knockdown, drag-out rivalry again, but they’re going to do it the right way. No one’s going to be stomping on the ‘O’ or stomping on the ‘W.’ It’s going to be done the right way, like it was for so long.'” In 2002, Washington danced on the 'O' at midfield in Autzen Stadium after pulling a 42-14 victory.



Despite Oregon's record, the Huskies are not underestimating the Ducks, and are ready for a fight.

“Those guys aren’t down, they are going to come up here and fight,” said UW linebacker Travis Feeney. “They’ve lost what, two close games, and only one blow-out game. We know they’re going to come out to punch and come out to fight. They’re definitely not a bad team at all.”

“Coach Petersen called them thunder and lightning, and that’s what they are,” observed Washington linebackers coach Bob Gregory. “Those guys are very good. First guy misses, we better have two, three, and four guys there to help wrap him up.”

Washington head coach Chris Peterson told reporters, "We're going to be playing an extremely explosive Oregon offense. Whoever they're quarterback is, they've been explosive. They've been one of the leading teams in the country in scoring points, they run the ball as well as anybody, they've got a really good play-action pass, and so...to me, it's the same old Oregon team.

Duck and Husky reporters believe it will be a close game, but most fingers point to a Husky win.


Spoiler alert - Oregon won again