Just when a Pacific-10 Conference football game seemed like it couldn’t get bigger, it did.
Duck fans in Eugene and else where held their breaths in the days leading up to last Saturday, when UCLA, then the sixth-ranked team in the nation, donned its gleaming gold helmets and walked into Autzen Stadium.
It’s safe to say the Bruins weren’t the only ones unaware of the harsh beating they were about to receive.
Not even the Las Vegas boys, who made the Ducks slight favorites, predicted a rout. Oregon was just a three-point favorite, no more advantageous than a field goal. The Duck defense took a gamble when they hounded Bruin running back DeShaun Foster and made sophomore quarterback Ryan McCann try to beat them.
If McCann had only connected on some more passes, the game could have fallen on the other side of that three-point betting line.
McCann didn’t deliver, so Oregon won — by a lot.
Sigh.
Now, if the implications of last week’s matchup weren’t enough to make nerves stand on end, well, the necessity of beating the Huskies might do the trick.
Another No. 6 team. Been there, done that.
But the last sixth-ranked team Oregon faced was, in the words of more than 45,000 people who attended the UCLA game, “overrated.” Make no mistake, Washington is anything but overrated.
Here is a Husky team that preseason analysts picked to win the Pac-10. Not by coincidence, Washington is the highest-ranked team in the conference right now.
Maybe the Huskies didn’t beat two third-ranked teams in their preseason, but they have shown the ability to emerge victorious in tough games. The Dawgs bit then-No. 5 Miami 34-29, on Sept. 9, then silenced a hostile Colorado crowd to rally for a fourth-quarter win, 17-14, over head coach Rick Neuheisel’s former team.
And unlike UCLA’s McCann, Washington’s senior quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo will not be rattled by any volume of crowd noise. A stop-the-run philosophy won’t work against the Huskies’ Heisman Trophy candidate, who terrorizes defenses with his ability to pass and run the football with the best of them.
Oregon’s red-zone offense has also struggled this season. In a close contest, the difference between a touchdown and a field goal can decide the outcome of the game.
So, with that said, Washington will be tougher to beat than the Bruins.
That’s just the half of it.
While the national spotlight was focused on Oregon last Saturday, the game by itself wasn’t necessarily season-altering. Why? Because, as stated earlier, the Bruins were overrated. They won’t go to the Rose Bowl, and if the Ducks didn’t beat them, somebody else would have.
Meanwhile, Washington is the Pac-10’s most promising Rose Bowl contender. If the Ducks win on Saturday, then the Huskies can’t go to Pasadena unless Oregon loses twice because of the tie-breaking edge. Same goes for Washington if the Ducks lose.
One can’t disregard Southern California, ranked No. 7 in the nation after a 3-0 preseason, with wins over Penn State, Colorado and San Jose State. The first win was sensational at the time, but the Trojans nearly lost home games against Colorado and San Jose State.
If the Ducks beat the Huskies, Southern California could be nothing more than a speed bump on the schedule.
Think about it: Oregon pulls out an emotional win over Washington, reclaiming Northwest dominance for two full years because the teams don’t play next season. That momentum pulls the Ducks through a bye-week, in which a bruised-up Maurice Morris and Joey Harrington get some valuable rest after the toughest two games of their season. Then, it’s the Trojans in Los Angeles: Another close win, but the Ducks show they can win on the road, as they should have done in Wisconsin.
After winning those first three conference games, Oregon takes care of business the rest of the way, maybe getting upset once by a lesser opponent.
Then, with the tie-breaking edges over Washington and USC — the Pac-10’s other Rose Bowl contenders — Oregon holds a deck with all the aces.
Dare it be said?
It could happen.