Oregon 55, Washington 34
During the 80s and 90s, losing to Oregon anywhere was unheard of--losing at Husky Stadium was a disgrace. So, even though Oregon is a top-10 team with one of the best offenses in Pac-10 history, there was little patience among Husky fans on Saturday.
Seattlest was sitting in the North end zone yesterday behind the type of people who complain constantly about the players but don't know anything about football.
So, for example, the woman was screaming "cover HIM!" when Oregon would run a screen pass to a guy four yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Or, after a surprise onside kick (a brilliant move) her husband immediately started complaining about how it was a terrible move that had cost the Huskies the game. Then, as soon as Oregon ran their first play, he started yelling "The clock's ticking!"
People are frustrated with the fact that Washington's defense couldn't stop Oregon yesterday, but nobody else has either. Oregon's offense this year is equivalent to the 1991 Huskies defense. Take a look:
Oregon offensive output, 2007
vs. Houston: 473 yards, 7.4 per play
@ Michigan: 624 yards, 8.1 per play
vs. Fresno St.: 461 yards, 6.6 per play
@ Stanford: 589 yards, 7.1 per play
vs. Cal: 497 yards, 6.0 per play
vs. Wazzu: 551 yards, 6.4 per play
@ Washington: 661 yards, 7.2 per play
So, yeah. It's not like the Huskies are the only ones Oregon has slaughtered.
It's just a shame that the Huskies had their best offensive game since the Syracuse game in the same game they faced the one offense they couldn't stop. This is a big play offense--Locker once again was well below 50% accuracy--but he threw four touchdowns.
Louis Rankin, after being replaced by Brandon Johnson for two consecutive series, had his best game of the season with 73 yards rushing, a 43-yard TD catch, and some key blocks that gave Locker time to throw.
The defense suffered from facing one of the best backs in Pac-10 history. Jonathan Stewart is averaging 7.2 yards per rush this year and is on a pace to rush for 1660 yards. We're hoping to see him in the Seahawks backfield next year.
Speaking of the Seahawks, We're not sure they could beat any of the teams the Huskies have played tough this year. Here are the teams the Huskies have lost to this year, all of whom they've played tough for at least a half:
#1 Ohio State
#5 Oregon
#7 Arizona State
#9 USC
Pac-10 leader UCLA (ranked #26)
They've beat Boise St (ranked #27, and one of three undefeated WAC teams).
The Huskies now get into the soft part of their schedule, and beating the Arizonas and Oregon States of the world should be a breeze. Save injuries or other wackiness, they should win four of their next five and turn the Hawai'i game into a "win and you go to a bowl" matchup. Yay!
