The stage is set for Oregon’s biggest game of the year.
Pac-12 title? Yes. Bid to the inaugural College Football Playoffs? You bet.
Regardless of whether or not the complexion of the rematch will be any different than the Oct. 2 meeting, which ended in a 31-24 result in favor of the Wildcats, everything is on the line for both teams as they head into Levi’s Stadium this Friday.
They’ll both be at their best.
Question is: who will come out on top in round two under the bright lights?
Receiving the news
After exiting Reser Stadium with their seventh straight Civil War win, there was a mix of emotions among the Ducks.
On one hand, Tony Washington, couldn’t hide from his costly bowing incident, understandably evading most questions. On the other hand, Byron Marshall was the first to admit that he has awaited the rematch all along.
“I don’t know about everybody else, but I wanted to play them (Arizona),” Marshall said. “Just to know that you lost to somebody, it just kind of sits there. You move on, but you don’t forget.”
Marshall went as far as comparing their recent problems with the Wildcats to those of Stanford that were only recently put to rest.
“Stanford beat us twice in a row, but we put a whooping on them this year,” Marshall said.
Regardless, for Oregon, there simply is no avoiding the added pressure to rid its recent Arizona woes.
“Certainly, our guys know the ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’ of that night,” Mark Helfrich said. “We’ll be excited.”
Flipping the script
At his weekly Sunday press conference, Mark Helfrich sat alongside athletic director Rob Mullens in front of eager media members who were all trying to find an answer as to how Oregon is going to flip the script the second time around.
What is going to be different? Who is going to step up? Can Oregon finish the season strong? Would a loss conclude that Rich Rodriguez has Oregon’s number?
“We just tried to do too much,” Hroniss Grasu said. “We grew up so much since that game as an entire team and have been really pleased with how we’ve responded since that game.”
But as Helfrich answered each and every question, he maintained an even demeanor, hinting at the fact that he had no idea about how this game will play out. And he had a point. Every week poses different looks and focuses. It will be no different in this year’s Pac-12 title game.
“We’ll look at last year’s game, we’ll look at everything they’ve done this year,” offensive coordinator Scott Frost said.
Simply put, Helfrich is fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead.
“We’re not going to change things. We believe a ton in for some opponent,” Helfrich said. “They’ve done a great job. Our guys are playing harder, they’re playing smarter and now it’s just a different challenge week to week.”
Erasing the bow 
It’s an unforgettable picture.
Tony Washington sacks Anu Solomon on a crucial fourth quarter drive to force a fourth down. Oregon fans are rejoicing knowing Marcus Mariota will have an opportunity to lead his team down the field to take a late game lead, only to have it snatched away in a matter of seconds.
As both teams were prepping for an Arizona punt, Washington, still caught up on the sack, ran toward the opposite end of the field and proceeded to give, what at the time, looked like a harmless bow to the Oregon crowd.
The whistle blew and the flag was thrown for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Wildcats a first down. This would eventually turn into game-winning drive.
Washington would later apologize for his actions, saying the referees mistook his sign of respect for God, but it didn’t matter. That play cost the Ducks that game. He knows it. Everyone knows it.
Washington, as well as the Ducks, will have their shot at redemption this Friday. While Washington has done nothing but perform in the seven games after its loss to Arizona, recording 26 total tackles and two sacks, the lights will surely be shining a bit brighter on his side.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Washington said in October. “The refs made the call and whatever they say goes. It was a selfish move on me. It shouldn’t happen.” 
Clash of titans 
Since his arrival in Oregon, Helfrich has had the experience of facing some of the best coaches in the country. From David Shaw to Jim Mora, Helfrich has had his fair share of close battles.
When he goes head-to-head with Rodriguez, who boasts a 26-12 overall record in three years, 2-0 against Helfrich, it will be no different.
Rodriguez, who has flown under the radar this season with a 10-2 overall record, has made a strong case for Pac-12 coach of the year with wins against Utah and in-state rival Arizona State. After all, it will be Arizona representing the Pac-12 South.
When the two line up across from each other this Friday, expect both teams to be fully prepared. Helfrich and Rodriguez will make sure of it.
“Rich does a great job coaching them, and they do a great job executing it (the game plan),” Helfrich said. “That is absolutely the name of the game is truly stopping one part of that (Arizona’s spread offense) and then being sound enough to take care of the rest of it.”
Tale of two meetings 
You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again. Oregon and Arizona are different teams since the teams last met in the month of October. Both teams have grown and overcome impressive feats en route to the Pac-12 title game.
“That’s the thing about college football, it’s so different, your team is so different almost on a weekly basis and certainly this many months literally removed from that game we’re different, they’re different, so it’s a different situation,” Helfrich said.
Oregon, who has won seven straight games since its loss to Arizona, is averaging nearly 48 points per game, a stat few teams can correlate with. Arizona managed a 5-2 record, giving up around 25 points to its opponents.
What does this mean?
It means Mariota’s offense is playing at an all-time high, while a Scooby Wright III led Wildcats defense is coming up big against top tier competition.
“They’ve got some exceptional players,” Frost said. “They got a linebacker (Scooby Wright III) that may be the best defensive player in the country and a really good secondary with one safety (Jared Tevis) that’s one of my favorite players to watch in the league because he’s so tough.”
Last time, it was the Wildcats defense getting the better of the Oregon running game, forcing Mariota to make plays on the run. This time, we’ll see if the Ducks can force a different storyline.
“I think we’re a better team (than when we played them in October) and they (Arizona) are too,” Frost said. “We’re playing better up front, our quarterback is playing at an elite level and we got a lot of young guys that have stepped up.”
A big return
The Ducks haven’t represented the Pac-12 North since they beat UCLA in the 2011 Pac-12 title game. And yes, it had everything to do with back-to-back losses to a Kevin Hogan who was playing out of his mind and a physical Cardinal team.
So, as the Ducks make their humble return to the pinnacle of their conference, they will carry the very hurdles they couldn’t overcome these past few years.
“I think we played two terrible games against Arizona,” Marshall said in reference to the past two years. “It just eats at us knowing they beat us, but we weren’t at our best.”
It was Nov. 21, 2009 when an undersized quarterback by the name of Jeremiah Masoli threw a game-tying touchdown pass to Ed Dickson with six seconds remaining in double overtime to pick up an eventual 44-41 win over Arizona, giving them control of their Rose Bowl destiny.
We’ll see if the Ducks can leave Levi’s Stadium with the same feeling.
Follow Hayden Kim on Twitter @HayDayKim