Oregon trying for 9-0
The Bowl Championship Series top ranked team Oregon Ducks are putting their perfect 8-0 record on the line this Saturday against a conference foe in the unranked Washington Huskies. The Huskies are currently sitting in eighth position in the Pac-10
conference with a record of 3-5, and are looking to ruin the dream season of the Ducks.
Washington’s previous games
The team has been stymied in their previous two games, with losses coming against the Arizona Wildcats and the Stanford Cardinals. The Huskies offence has only scored 14 points in their last two games (one of them was a shut-out) and has an average
of 21.8 points for per game, ranking them at 94th in the country. Huskies quarterback Jake Locker is completing just over half of his passes, and only has 14 touchdowns so far this season. These statistics are clearly not good enough for the competitive
conference of the Pac-10.
As for the defence, they have allowed a combined total of 85 points in the last two games.
Oregon’s season so far
The Ducks are coming into the game having a perfect record. There is a reason why they are perfect, and that is they play a complete football game on both sides of the football.
The offence, which is lead by quarterback Darron Thomas, is averaging an intense 54.9 points per game that leads the nation. Even though Thomas has thrown for 1827 yards, he has not done it alone. Running back LaMichael James has rushed for 1210 yards
this season on 170 carries.
Defensively they are solid, only allowing 30 or more points scored in three games, and giving their defence an average of 17.9 points allowed per game, good enough for 17th in the nation.
Keys to the game
Many people have already ruled out an upset by Washington, however, if Oregon is not prepared and are already looking past this game to the Pac-10 championship, than an upset might be in the cards.
Washington will have to draw on their strengths, although that may be tough to determine after their last two lopsided losses.
Their passing game, even though it ranks up at 62nd in the nation, is one of their strengths, and they should use it early and often to start against the Duck defence. If they jump on the board early, it may turn out to be a long day for Oregon
fans, however, they will need to put pressure on the Duck defence and make them earn every tackle.
For Oregon, they need to kick a team when their down. They know that Washington has hit rock bottom, and will need to capitalize on the low morale of the Huskies. If they are caught looking ahead at any time, or taking any of the plays lightly, they will
be in for some trouble. Duck wide receiver Jeff Maehl understands the situation, and will try to reiterate that message to his teammates before the game on Saturday.
"If we come out and lose a game, our shot at the national championship is totally out the door. We keep that in mind, and we know we've got to match the other team's intensity,” said the Duck receiver according to espn.go.com.
Prediction
Ducks keep on squawking.
Oregon 52 – Washington 10
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