Players and coaches nationwide fear visits to Autzen Stadium because of its reputation as being one of college football’s loudest venues.
The Ducks will host four Pacific-10 Conference teams at Autzen this season, including Washington State, a team the Ducks haven’t hosted since 1999.
It has also been four seasons since the Ducks have made the trip to play Washington at Husky Stadium.
“I’m excited to go to somewhere new and play,” linebacker Kevin Mitchell said about traveling to Seattle.
Conference play began with Oregon’s Sept. 13 win against Arizona. The 48-10 victory was the Ducks’ third consecutive trip to Tucson, Ariz., and the third win in as many years.
Tailback Ryan Shaw (27) will look to help lead Oregon against Oregon State at Autzen.
The Ducks continue conference play Saturday as they host Washington State. Oregon has won four of the last five against the Cougars, having lost in 2002 in Pullman.
After the last non-conference game of the season on Oct. 3 at Utah, the Ducks resume Pac-10 play with a trip to Tempe to face Arizona State on Oct. 11.
Sun Devil Stadium, one of the larger venues Oregon plays at this season, holds 73,379 fans. It doubles as the home stadium for the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals.
Oregon has won four of the last five against Arizona State and two of last four in Tempe.
The Ducks will then have a week off before playing Stanford on Oct. 25 in Autzen for homecoming. Oregon played Stanford at Autzen in 2001 — also the homecoming game — but the Cardinal ruined Oregon’s perfect season.
Oregon has won two of the last three against Stanford while at Autzen.
Then the Ducks take to the road again for their first trip to Seattle, with the exception of the Seattle Bowl, since the 1999 season.
“I can’t wait to go up to Washington and get a little action up there,” quarterback Jason Fife said.
The Nov. 1 game is in Washington’s Husky Stadium, a 72,500-fan capacity field that is bordered on one end zone by Lake Washington.
“I just want to go play at Washington,” Mitchell said. “I’ve just never played there in the five years I’ve been here. Everyone says it’s a great place to play. It’s real hostile. Hopefully our game will be a big one there which will add to the excitement.”
Running back Terrence Whitehead has stepped up so far in replacing former star Onterrio Smith.
The Ducks have won three of the past five games and two of the past three in Seattle against the Huskies. Oregon then returns home and hosts California on Nov. 8, which it did not face last season.
The Ducks have won six consecutive games against the Golden Bears, as well as five straight at Autzen, but have the two teams have not faced each other since former Oregon offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford took the head coaching position at Cal.
The next week, the Ducks take flight to Pasadena, Calif., a place where they’ve won three of their last five games.
The 91,500-seat Rose Bowl may be Oregon’s toughest road game of the season, but the Ducks have won three consecutive games against the Bruins.
“I always love playing in the Rose Bowl, just because I’m from Southern California,” Fife said.
Oregon returns to Autzen for its final game of the season on Nov. 22 for the Civil War. The Ducks have won four straight games against the Beavers in Autzen.
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