Yummy.
Like a nice, juicy steak sitting in front of you waiting to be devoured, this Saturday’s Northwest showdown between the No. 6 Washington Huskies and the No. 20 Oregon Ducks has many mouths watering.
Oregon defensive end — and Seattle native — Saul Patu mentioned back on Monday that he was already “licking his chops” in anticipation.
Rightfully so, as this game has all the ingredients necessary to assemble a full-course meal.
First of all, there’s the obvious: The winner of this weekend’s contest at 12:30 p.m. in Autzen Stadium has the early advantage in the Pacific-10 Conference race for the roses. Granted, it’s only September, but this game carries the maximum amount of postseason impact that a game this soon in the year could.
“It is our Pac-10 opener and although it is early in the Pac-10 race, it certainly has implications down the road,” Washington head coach Rick Neuheisal said. “We need to take care of business if we expect to be a team that is in the race in November.”
For the Ducks, Saturday’s game reflects a bit of a repetition from last week.
An intense Pac-10 rivalry. A rowdy Autzen Stadium crowd. An opponent ranked No. 6 in the nation. And the Ducks being three-point favorites over its higher-ranked foe.
But while the Bruins were a team the Ducks really wanted to beat, the Huskies are a team the Ducks feel they have to beat. After all, the bragging rights to Northwest supremacy are always huge.
So don’t expect the Ducks to have any trouble changing gears from one big Pac-10 game to the next.
“It’s never a tough switch for the Huskies,” said Patu, who is tied-for-third on the school’s career quarterback sacks chart with 19. “Plus, we’re going to be at home, so that’s good. Hopefully we’ll put on a show for our fans.”
Neuheisal and his staff have had 14 days to prepare for the Ducks due to Washington’s bye last week. He has reviewed countless hours of film from Oregon’s previous games, and can analyze the Ducks’ strengths and weaknesses to a tee.
But there is one thing that he knows he can’t prepare for: Autzen Stadium.
“I don’t know what you do to combat it,” said Neuheisal, of the Ducks’ home which they’ve defended successfully on 17 straight occasions. “We’ll try to invite 70,000 of our closest friends [to practice] and see if they can scream for us.”

While the crowd could be Oregon’s biggest strength, the Ducks’ main key must be shutting down Washington’s multi-talented quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo. A year ago, Tuiasosopo had what Neuheisal considered his finest outing as a Husky, when he completed 17 of 21 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns in Washington’s 34-20 victory. The Ducks, however, were missing Patu and tailback Reuben Droughns that day.
During the game, the Huskies got their rushing attack going early, which opened up its passing. Expect Washington to try the same strategy this Saturday, and try to quiet down the sellout crowd.
Oregon, on the other hand, must get its passing game down pact and take some of the pressure off of tailback Maurice Morris. He carried the Ducks last week in their win over the Bruins with 139 yards, but will be zeroed-in on by the improved Husky defensive line. Washington’s pass rush has already recorded 12 sacks in three games, with Larry Tripplett owning five of those.
Morris doesn’t know much about Oregon’s history with the Huskies, but he does know that there is a big competition between the two teams.
“My teammates have let me know that these schools don’t like each other that much,” Morris said. “So I’m not sure what to expect. I’m just going to take it as serious as all of the other games.”
But it sure doesn’t get much more serious than this. Only twice in the past 14 years has a Duck-Husky game been played when both teams were ranked. Oregon has won four of the past six meetings between the two teams, but Washington did beat the Ducks in Autzen twice in the ’90s.
Traditionally, the two teams have had several weeks to prepare for one another, but this year marks the first time the game has been played in September since 1982. Still, the early game date is not affecting the anticipation or emotion one bit.
“This is such a huge game and everybody who has played the Huskies before knows how important it is to our season,” Oregon fullback Josh Line said. “A huge rivalry, and not only that, but it has championship implications.”
Saturday will mark Neuheisal’s first visit to Autzen Stadium as a head coach. He was here in 1983 as UCLA’s starting quarterback and in 1992 as an assistant coach for the Bruins — winning both of those games. He is well aware of the intense rivalry between the schools due to their close proximity.
“Much has been made about the rivalry between Washington and Oregon,” Neuheisal said. “Now that I am at Washington it takes on a more significant meaning because these are two top programs these programs have met, and look for an added intensity this time since they won’t meet until Nov. 16, 2002. It will be the first time since 1944 that the two teams will go a full year without facing each other.
“It’s another tough one going on at home so we’re going to have to bring it up a notch and defend the fort again,” wide receiver Keenan Howry said.
If this game tastes half as good as it looks, it should leave college football fans everywhere completely satisfied.