Oregon vs Washington game time set.

[zifnab32]

If Adams misses the game I'd probably pick UW to win. Oregon looks flat out bad with the other two.

Washington has almost zero ability to score on offense. Oregon is yet to prove they can stop anyone on defense. This game could be a battle of bad offense vs awful defense on one side, and solid defense vs ok offense on the other.

Washington is averaging 29.25 points per game and has scored 24+ in all but the first game, where a true freshman QB was clearly overwhelmed on the road vs a quality opponent.

The real criticism for Washington is that their running game is totally dependent on the big play, but otherwise stinks. I wouldn't trust them to hold a lead against a good team.

Heavily skewed by the 49 points vs Sac State

Good win for them last night. Sark is absolutely clueless. It is amazing how lucky UW got with that coaching transition.

If we look at just Pac-12 games:

Scoring offense:
Oregon is 6th at 33.0 ppg
UW is 11th at 20.5 ppg

Scoring defense
UW is 1st at 21 ppg
Oregon is 11th at 43.7 ppg

Only off of two games so it's weighted pretty heavily by who you've played, but UW at #1 scoring defense is pretty impressive since they've played two good offenses in Cal and USC and haven't had a dominating offense that is capable of dominating TOP (I think Cal had over 40 minutes of TOP to UW's 20ish).

UW's been playing the pass really heavily last couple of games, will be interesting to see what they do against a more run focused offense

 

[SeatownJay]

When was the last time Washington was favored over Oregon?

Probably back in the days where Tui was the QB.

I found the answer. It was 2003.

I'm sure that they will be again this week.

Washington has opened as a 2-point favorite.

 

[Sarlacc83]

Sucks that we're in the position where the year won't feel wasted if the Ducks keep the winning streak alive, but since that's where we're at, Go Ducks!

 

[kearly]

If we look at just Pac-12 games:

Scoring offense:
Oregon is 6th at 33.0 ppg
UW is 11th at 20.5 ppg

Scoring defense
UW is 1st at 21 ppg
Oregon is 11th at 43.7 ppg

Only off of two games so it's weighted pretty heavily by who you've played, but UW at #1 scoring defense is pretty impressive since they've played two good offenses in Cal and USC and haven't had a dominating offense that is capable of dominating TOP (I think Cal had over 40 minutes of TOP to UW's 20ish).

UW's been playing the pass really heavily last couple of games, will be interesting to see what they do against a more run focused offense

I know it's lame for me to be making excuses, but rewatching the USC game it's frustrating that UW didn't put up way more points than they did. Browning had at least three chances to connect for a deep TD but overthrew or underthrew the ball on all of them. At one point he had a WR open for an easy deep TD on back to back plays and over threw both of them. UW also opened the game with three straight possessions in field goal range and scored 0 points off them, IIRC.

Not saying the Huskies offense is great, but I think they performed a lot better offensively than the 17 points against USC would suggest. They should have scored 24-30 with the chances they had, but had a very high number of clutch mistakes to keep the game closer than it really was. Leaving points on the field wasn't really much of an issue in the previous games.

If Browning can develop deep accuracy that is as good as his short accuracy, he'll be a very good QB. I think he's just getting by right now, but i think it says a lot that even in tough games like Cal or USC he remained composed as a true freshman. He'll be fun to watch next year especially with John Ross returning.

I like UW in this game because when they get the run going they usually win under Petersen, and Oregon's run defense is so bad that even WSU was running all over them last week. Gaskin seems too undersized to me but his patience suits a Huskies OL that has made huge strides lately.

For Oregon to win they need good QB play, it's as simple as that. Freeman is a very good RB, but realistically you are looking at a lot of 3rd down conversions in this game and that will come down to the QB position more often than not. If Adams can be a difference maker then Oregon wins. Otherwise, they probably lose.

 

[cesame]

Feels like the Huskies really want this game with the shape Oregon is in. It's been over a decade and this is by far the best chance in years to finally get a W over Oregon. If it doesn't happen now in what is clearly a big down year for Oregon, when does it happen? Big game for UW. Need to end the streak.

But..... there are definitely some things working in Oregon's favor

Browning is a true freshman and is not yet really beating teams though the air. Washington is in the bottom half of the conference in passing and that's Oregon's obvious weakness on defense by far. The cougars had some big gains on the ground last week ,but that's mostly because the Ducks were playing pass all the way, leaving big openings for the Cougs to take advantage of. This week Oregon shouldn't have to play the pass as much.

Also, buried in the collapse in the 4th Q last week is Oregon's defense actually showed signs of real improvement. They were getting a lot of pressure on the QB, as they did against Colorado. There's been a lot more 4 man fronts and it has worked MUCH better than the 3 man front. Oregon was getting pressure with just 4 a lot of that game and Folk took a lot of big hits.

The Cougars only had 21 pts with less than 10 minutes to play. Then the collapse happened, much like the Seahawks/Bengals game this weekend. Rough weekend for fans of the Ducks and Seahawks.

If Vernon Adams is back this week I actually feel good about the game and a W. It makes the Ducks much more complete on offense and allows them to make vertical plays down the field, which right now are non-existent. Lockie and Alie are really bad.

If no VA and it's the Lockie/Alie show....yikes.

 

[kearly]

Feels like the Huskies really want this game with the shape Oregon is in. It's been over a decade and this is by far the best chance in years to finally get a W over Oregon. If it doesn't happen now in what is clearly a big down year for Oregon, when does it happen? Big game for UW. Need to end the streak.

I think UW has a chance to be a real contender in the conference in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The arrow is pointing up at the OL and QB position long term, possibly the RB position too. They get Ross back in 2016. And Petersen has always been known for cultivating quality defenses. I think UW is basically an average team right now, but their long term outlook is fairly bright after this season.

I see Oregon as a collapsed program in need of a rebuild and possibly a regime change. I don't think Oregon is going to bounce back in the next couple years barring some very good fortune on defense and at QB. UW is favored this week and I wouldn't be surprised if they were favored over Oregon for the rest of Browning's tenure. So I don't feel any pressure as a fan to win this game, though it would definitely be nice.

 

[cesame]

UW should be a contender in the mold of ASU. I say ASU because their recruiting rankings are usually about the same. If Browning actually lives up to the hype they should be able to challenge for a PAC 12 title, but we've heard this story before with Jake Locker. Highly ranked QB who was the next coming at UW, but it never really materialized. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.

Oregon's demise is greatly exaggerated IMO. These coaches have been here for decades and didn't forget how to coach over night. Since the turn of the decade the Ducks have been in the hunt not only for a PAC 12 championship, but the NC as well under 3 different head coaches. Everyone (including Oregon fans) need to R-E-L-A-X /aaronrodgers

The QB play is probably the worst in the PAC 12 right now and it's a very inexperienced secondary that's missing two starters right now (Seisay/Daniels), furthering the lack of experience. It's just a tough situation. The players back their certainly have the talent, but it's obvious they are a year away.

Oregon will be fine. Will they be a top 4 team every year, as they were under Chip Kelly? Most likely not. They'll certainly continue to challenge for the PAC 12 title though. The recruiting is still there and only USC and UCLA regularly recruit better them. Sometimes Stanford.

Team is still averaging 41 pts/G this season with two QBs playing that aren't PAC 12 caliber.

 

[JSeahawks]

Gotta agree with cesame. Ducks are back to a top 10 team of they get just above average qb play next year. They went to the title game with darron Thomas at qb. With the worst qb play in the country, and one of the worst defenses in the country, they're still 2 plays away from being 5-1.

Hopefully Travis jonsen, who's redshirt ing and hurt right now, is the real deal. If he's good and we get a competent defensive coordinator... Watch out. Cuz the talent is there. Get Thomas tyner back next year too. Freeman, tyner and taj griffin will be unfair.

 

[Seahawks1983]

Gotta agree with cesame. Ducks are back to a top 10 team of they get just above average qb play next year. They went to the title game with darron Thomas at qb. With the worst qb play in the country, and one of the worst defenses in the country, they're still 2 plays away from being 5-1.

Hopefully Travis jonsen, who's redshirt ing and hurt right now, is the real deal. If he's good and we get a competent defensive coordinator... Watch out. Cuz the talent is there. Get Thomas tyner back next year too. Freeman, tyner and taj griffin will be unfair.

Anyone can play the "x plays away" game.

UW is arguably 3 plays away from 5-0. WSU probably 4 plays away.

 

[cesame]

Travis Jonsen certainly has a chance to be another good one for Oregon.

He was at the elite 11 last year and received good reviews

"Oregon just got their Mariota," Dilfer said.

"He's a special kid. He really is. It will be interesting how consistent he is in The Opening when it's all passing. Because one of his gifts is what he can do with his feet. In this group, he's the Colin Kaepernick. And I have no problem saying that. He's going to be the guy who is so physical, and so physically gifted, that because he can also pass, he's going to be really hard to defend."

 

[JSeahawks]

Anybody up for predictions?

I say ducks win 41-31. Adams plays, which adds the passing dimension they've been missing the past few weeks, and freeman has his 2nd straight 200 yard game. Browning has his best game yet, but it's not enough to end the husky drought against the good guys from UO.

 

[kearly]

With Adams: 41-38 Oregon.

Without Adams: 38-24 Washington

Freeman gets 160 yards with Adams, and far less without him. I expect UW to key on Freeman if they can get away with it.

 

[kearly]

Oregon will be fine.

Right now they sure look like a dumpster fire though. Lot of stuff to fix. And it must be asked, can you really trust a coaching staff that allowed this implosion to fix things? Usually it doesn't work that way. And if I was a Ducks fan, I'd be really concerned about the precipitous drop in team speed lately.

The Ducks are in year zero of a rebuild. Next year will be year one. They won't just reload and be great again in one offseason. That would really surprise me.

 

[kearly]

UW should be a contender in the mold of ASU. I say ASU because their recruiting rankings are usually about the same.

If Browning develops and UW finds a consistent running game, I think they'll basically be a transplanted version of Petersen-era Boise State. Definitely some 'ifs' in there, but Petersen got more out of Miles than I expected he would, and so far he's gotten more out of an undersized true freshman QB this year than I was expecting he would.

The OL is also ahead of schedule, and Petersen was known for having very good OL at Boise State.

The offense is insanely young but the arrow is pointing up. Really the only thing holding back my long term optimism is the lack of a dominant RB, but Petersen has a good track record finding those guys and Gaskin has been a decent stopgap option so far.

Defensively I think Petersen has a system and that's why the defense is actually better this year despite losing so much NFL talent. I don't think UW will have the #1 defense in the Pac-12 every year but I think it will be a long term strength for the team.

 

[cesame]

Oregon will be fine.

Right now they sure look like a dumpster fire though. Lot of stuff to fix. And it must be asked, can you really trust a coaching staff that allowed this implosion to fix things? Usually it doesn't work that way. And if I was a Ducks fan, I'd be really concerned about the precipitous drop in team speed lately.

The Ducks are in year zero of a rebuild. Next year will be year one. They won't just reload and be great again in one offseason. That would really surprise me.

Certainly doesn't help when two kids playing QB wouldn't start a meaningful game for any D1 football program. Taylor Alie has been getting meaningful snaps and he is a walk-on ukeface: . These kids just can't complete throws down the field with any regularity. If the offense had a competent QB Washington State isn't even in position to make that comeback as Oregon would have put up 50+ and the game would have been out of reach.

There are real questions about the defense and the coaching over there which may need to be addressed(Pellum), but the offense is absolutely fine. Even with the defense though (especially the secondary), they're just really young. Guys look slow because they're confused with their assignments. They recently switched Charles Nelson back there and he was lighting receivers up against Washington State. It's just tough this year with all the inexperience, but the guys back there are talented recruits and Oregon is bringing in another top 25 CB next year in Jared Mayden and top 25 safety in Brady Breeze. They're also in play for the #1 CB Nigel Knott and Oregon has a fair shot to land him. At one point he named Oregon his early leader and also Knott's dad played for Oregon's secondary coach John Neal back in the day.

As far as QB, there's a real chance Travis Jonsen is the guy going forward. All reports say he's really talented as I posted above. Dilfer was certainly impressed. Find a stud at this position and Oregon is top 5 offense in the country with all the talent they have at WR and RB. Everyone talks about Freeman, but true freshman Taj Griffin is lighting it up and currently averaging 9 ypc on over 40 carries. Griffin was the #1 all-purpose back in the entire 2015 recruiting class. He's De'Anthony Thomas quick. Oregon also continues to recruit very well at WR. Jalen Brown, Alex Ofodile, Kirk Merritt, Dillon Mitchell....remember these names.

If anything I see it more as a transition year. There's been a lot for the coaches to overcome. Replacing a Mariota is not easy, and the last 5 teams who had a player win the Heisman all went 8-5 or something like that. Just some perspective when it comes to Oregon having a down year this year.

 

[cesame]

As far as the game, it really sounds like Vernon Adams will be back as well as WR Darren Carrington.

 

[CPHawk]

With Adams: 41-38 Oregon.

Without Adams: 38-24 Washington

Freeman gets 160 yards with Adams, and far less without him. I expect UW to key on Freeman if they can get away with it.

Fwiw Freeman had 148yds after contact vs a WSU, who had 9 men in the box most of the game. I also think UW fans are sleeping on Taj Griffin.

 

[cesame]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/A_Jude/status/654718617418788864[/tweet]

Safe to say Husky fans want this game badly. In the best position in years to finally end the streak. As of right now they are favored to win.

 

[CPHawk]

Feels like the Huskies really want this game with the shape Oregon is in. It's been over a decade and this is by far the best chance in years to finally get a W over Oregon. If it doesn't happen now in what is clearly a big down year for Oregon, when does it happen? Big game for UW. Need to end the streak.

I think UW has a chance to be a real contender in the conference in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The arrow is pointing up at the OL and QB position long term, possibly the RB position too. They get Ross back in 2016. And Petersen has always been known for cultivating quality defenses. I think UW is basically an average team right now, but their long term outlook is fairly bright after this season.

I see Oregon as a collapsed program in need of a rebuild and possibly a regime change. I don't think Oregon is going to bounce back in the next couple years barring some very good fortune on defense and at QB. UW is favored this week and I wouldn't be surprised if they were favored over Oregon for the rest of Browning's tenure. So I don't feel any pressure as a fan to win this game, though it would definitely be nice.

UO might look like a collapsed program from the outside, but in reality UO has a lot of pieces. Let's start at DL, with the d being so bad this year, they have actually been solid. Lead by a future top 10 pick in DeFo, who ranks at a +22 on PFF, this group is deep and talented and well coached, by former Cardinals DL coach Ron Aiken. Tonight keep an eye out for RS-Fr Jalen Jelks, he's shaping up to be the next DeFo and Armstead and 6'6 285 and plenty of room to grow. Alex Balducci has also been solid this year at nose guard, 6'5 310 he already has as many tackles this year as he had all of last season. Another true Fr who hasn't played much, but should be a factor next season is former 5* Canton 6'6 300, with about 10% body fat, the kid is a god dam beast, and once he learns technique he'll be a all conference guy.

The problems start at LB, where UO is really recruiting well this year, but a sr lead group has looked miserable. There really isn't any excuses here, they have all crap in their helmets all year long, and graduation can't come soon enough. The good news is, if we're talking about a rebuild we have four 4* LB commited to this class, and have a good shot at one more.

In the secondary it's a young but talented group, and we have lost our top returning corner in Seisay for the year. When you start a true Fr, even one who was a top 150 recruit, things aren't good. At the other former we start a true So, who only played about 100 downs last season and had 3 tackles. But he is also a talented kid and has good size, 6 208, and has been in the right spot a lot but doesn't always make the play. Safety to me has been the biggest issue with the d, two highly recruited kids, with size 6'4 205and 6'2 190, but neither have played good at all. Enter last week Charles Nelson, you know the guy who played so well on O as a true Fr, all 5'9 175lbs of him, he hits like a train and has great ball skills. Reminds me of Baker if I'm being honest.

UO has the foundation to bounce back next year, and whoever the new DC turns out to be, he will look like a genius, but the fact is he just has to be an average coach to make this group a upper echelon d in the pac 12. While Pellum is obviously a below average DC and maybe the worst in all of D1.

 

[cesame]

Assuming Vernon Adams is playing today, is actually healthy and not rushing back to play with a finger he can't throw with

37-24 Oregon