A Bitter Taste
70-21.
It’s a scoreline that still haunts many Ducks. The players see it every day.
“It definitely stuck with us,” running back Tony Brooks-James said. “It’s something that [the coaches] have talked about since they got here. The score is posted inside the weight room every day. It’s kind of like a constant reminder.”
After the Ducks were humiliated by Washington at Autzen Stadium last season in one of the Oregon programs worst defeats, the team began to crumble as the Ducks finished the season 4-8, ending with a loss to Oregon State. Now, the Ducks will look to avoid a repeat of the disastrous loss when they play the Huskies in Seattle on Saturday.
“It wouldn’t be a rivalry if they never won, so that was good for them,” cornerback Arrion Springs said. “That was a good year for them, a bad year for us — it just happened to be their best year and our worst year — so good for them.”
The storied Pacific Northwest rivalry hits close to home for many. Portland native Brady Breeze remembers growing up watching bouts between the Ducks and Huskies.  
“The rivalry is unlike anything else,” Breeze said. “The past 13 years, [Oregon] has been 12-1, so we’re just trying to get that vibe back and get our progression back for our defense and our offense as well so hopefully we can get a win this weekend.”
The rivalry feels fresh with a new Oregon coaching staff for 2016-17. While Oregon’s wounds are still healing after last year’s thrashing, head coach Willie Taggart is approaching Saturday’s game in a different way than his players.
“I won’t use it as motivation, maybe our players will,” Taggart said. “I’m gonna stay focused on us, and trying to get us better and doing the things we need to do in order to win the ballgame. I’m sure any competitor out there, though, wouldn’t forget what happened and wants to make sure they’re at their best when they go and play that opponent again.

“That’s our job this week is make sure we’re at our best and see to it that what happened last year doesn’t happen again.”
Last season’s loss cut a little deeper than normal because of the intensity of the Oregon-Washington rivalry. The 2016 Washington Huskies made it to the College Football Playoff, but that didn’t soften the blow of the loss.
“It’s just one of those games where everything seems to not go your way,” then-safety Brenden Schooler said after the game. “Everyone’s gonna remember that one.”
Even with defeat, it was then-true freshman Justin Herbert’s first start at quarterback. The Eugene native went 21-of-34 for 179 yards, throwing two touchdowns and an interception.
He’s grown since then, but a fractured collarbone has kept him out of the last four games. According to Taggart, Herbert could have played last week against Utah. A week later, he could be set to return to action against the Huskies.
Herbert’s return would serve as a big boost for the Ducks’ offense.
Like last year, Oregon has a freshman starting quarterback. This time, it’s Braxton Burmeister.
Taggart hinted at Herbert’s return the past two weeks, but no official word has come from the program yet. Taggart could wait until kickoff to make a decision on who starts at quarterback.
Whether Herbert plays or not, the hype around Oregon versus Washington is always fiery.
When the season’s schedule is released each year, fans immediately look to see when the Ducks play the Huskies. But for Taggart, it’s just another game.
“I know the feelings when it comes to Oregon and Washington. I’ve heard that from day one — what it’s like,” Taggart said. “I don’t consider this like the first rivalry game. I think every game we play is a rival game, and that’s the way it’s got to be if we’re going to get to where we want to go. We can’t just make one game bigger than another. If we do that, we’ll never get to where we want to go.”
Forever Foes
“Will you beat Oregon?”
That’s what Chris Petersen was asked on Dec. 9, 2013 during his introductory press conference as the head coach of Washington. He chuckled.  
“Do we have to talk about that already?” Petersen said.
Yet to familiarize himself with his new team, construct his coaching staff or build a recruiting class, Petersen offered the only response possible at the time.
“We’ll be swinging hard,” he said.

It was a funny and lighthearted moment, but it’s no joke now. Less than four years later, Washington has risen to one of the top programs not only in Pac-12, but across the country. Now, it’s the Ducks that are chasing the Huskies.
As the head coach at Boise State for eight years, Petersen turned the Broncos into one of the most successful and exciting teams to watch in the nation. He’s done the same with Washington. If things shook out differently, he could have been doing the same at the helm with Oregon.
Petersen interviewed for the head coach opening with the Ducks after Chip Kelly left for the NFL in 2012. Petersen had spent six seasons as an assistant for Oregon under head coach Mike Bellotti from 1995 to 2000, but the job was ultimately given to the Ducks’ in-house candidate, Mark Helfrich.
Instead, Petersen ended up 300 miles north with Washington, and the balance of power in the Pacific Northwest has flipped drastically. While the Ducks sputtered to a 4-8 record in 2016, the Huskies rolled to a 12-2 mark, punctuated by a 70-21 thrashing of the Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Washington’s impressive season included a Pac-12 championship and representing the conference as the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff.
The result? Washington has kept it rolling, sitting at 7-1 heading into Saturday’s matchup. Beating the Ducks used to be all that mattered for Washington. Now? Just another game.
“We try to always be the same. We always just try to worry about ourselves,” Petersen said. “We hope our approach doesn’t change from week to week.”
On the other side, Oregon has restructured its coaching staff in hopes that they’ll be able to right the ship. One thing is certain: Taggart won’t have to look far for inspiration to see how a program can turn around in just a few years.
Until it’s accomplished, the question of whether Oregon can beat Washington will always remain.
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow
Follow Cole Kundich on Twitter @ckundich

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Kaylee Domzalski

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