SEATTLE — Malik Benson has continued to elevate his play wherever the Ducks called on him this season. The former four-star recruit’s own rise has been even more dramatic.

Perhaps no player better represents Oregon’s season than Benson — who had to receive a crash-course on the Ducks’ longstanding rivalry with Washington before the game — before he produced five catches for 102 yards and the game’s most critical on a 64-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that helped secure the win.

“Malik… you know he’s going to be a playmaker with the ball in his hands,” quarterback Dante Moore said. “I just had to find a way to give it to him.”

Much like Oregon, the journey hasn’t been perfect for Benson, who made stops at The University of Alabama and Florida State University before coming to Eugene. But much like the Ducks, you can’t argue with the results. They both win, and they both pack the hardest punch when it matters most.

In No. 6 Oregon’s (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) 26-14 win over Washington (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten), the Ducks were more forceful in the trenches. They were quicker on the outside. They were more aggressive on fourth down. And even though they were cold at times, they were more willing to take shots.

They were, really, everything the Huskies weren’t — down to the head coach who never left and preached nothing but loyalty and the lack of unique in-game presentation. Really, guys? No purple rain?

Then, after Dante Moore kneeled out the win and large waves of fans filed out of the stadium, head coach Dan Lanning, kicker Atticus Sappington and company took the Montlake-sized monkey off their backs and threw it to the side.

Chants of “Let’s go Ducks!” took over the stadium, while coaches and players took turns circling the Oregon sideline in celebration.

Sappington went 4-4 on field goals, including a 51-yard bomb in the first half, and Lanning, who even cracked a smile when asked about his history in games at Washington — albeit just one contest in 2023 — called a seamless game.

“I don’t concern myself with the past,” Sappington said when asked about past kicking troubles at Husky Stadium. “I’m my own person.”

Oregon is its own team, really unlike any other in the country. They’ve tasted their own blood, won in one of college football’s greatest environments and won in every terrain imaginable.

What’s more, they’ve done so while managing injuries, coordinator-driven head coaching hoopla, all while shifting their team’s identity as a whole from years past.

“We’ve had great offense at times, we’ve had great defense and we’ve had great special teams,” Lanning said. “But not always in sync at the same time. And I think this season we’ve seen it show up together.”

Oregon’s starting offensive line was finally back together against UW. In three weeks, so too might be a wide receiver group missing Gary Bryant Jr., Evan Stewart and Dakorien Moore. Oregon won’t again be the belle of the ball in the College Football Playoff, but it might not matter. Who’s to say a team that has won in every way imaginable and could have three dangerous weapons can’t win a National Championship?

“It’s gonna be scary once we get all of our guys back,” Benson said.

For everyone.