The clash of Ducks and Huskies on Oct. 14 was an instant classic. But while neither team has lost since, their two seasons have had different tones since they met in Seattle.

Both Washington and Oregon have survived the gauntlet that has been the Pac-12 this season. The No. 5 Ducks (11-1, 8-1 Pac-12) have only lost to the No. 3 Huskies (12-0, 9-0 Pac-12), but each team has been able to knock off the same, at times tricky conference opponents. 

Washington came out on top in the first matchup of the two Pac-12 contenders on the back of a late Rome Odunze touchdown and a missed field goal that would have tied the game as time expired. Since then, the Huskies have been a mixed bag, but they won out and finished the regular season with a 12-0 record.

The Huskies have looked very impressive at times and a lot less so at others.

Their star receiver Odunze has had over 80 receiving yards in each of the last six games since playing Oregon and has had seven touchdowns in those games.

Running back Dillon Johnson has also been very dangerous at times, especially rushing for 256 yards in the Huskies’ victory over USC.

In their first game coming off of their win against the Ducks, the Huskies and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. struggled to overcome one of the conference doormats in Arizona State. Penix Jr. threw two interceptions that game and neither team got anything going on offense with a Washington pick-six being the decider.

However, in the next three games, the offense posted over 35 points, but the defense exclusively allowed at least 28 points each game. The Huskies’ defense could barely contain teams like Stanford, who posted just six points on Oregon earlier this season.

To its credit, Washington had two ranked wins in that stretch against USC and Utah, but both games were shootouts. These games were also within 10 points, so it meant that even though its offense was firing and scoring points, the defense was struggling and couldn’t make many stops.

Washington having had a hard time against USC’s Caleb Williams, along with the fact that they let Bo Nix pass for over 300 yards in Seattle, demonstrates the idea that big-time quarterbacks with high-powered offensive attacks can outmatch the Huskies defense.

The Huskies’ previous two contests have been close, low-scoring games where the grind of a long season is starting to show on these teams. Against their in-state rival Washington State, Washington needed a game-winning field goal at the end of the game to pull out the victory in its last-ever regular season Pac-12 game.

All of the opponents that Washington has struggled against, most notably Stanford and Arizona State, have been teams that Oregon has thoroughly dismantled at one point or another this season. The Ducks have looked much more dominant in their games since Seattle than the Huskies.

Oregon is 6-0 since it played Washington, and all of those games have been decided by more than one possession. Nix has put in some of the best performances of his collegiate career in the past weeks, including over 400 yards and six touchdown passes against ASU and six total touchdowns against Cal.

Another standout performer has been slot receiver Tez Johnson, who has taken a considerable step up in the second half of the season. The junior has hauled in six touchdowns in his last six games, along with amassing over 100 yards receiving in three of those.

The Ducks’ defense has continued to be stellar since they let up 36 points in Seattle. This unit hasn’t let up that amount since then and has forced teams out of games early. 

Oregon has the No. 7 ranked scoring defense in the country and a vast majority of that production has happened in recent weeks. Tysheem Johnson has led this defense to most of its success including a huge ranked win in Utah, where he intercepted the Utes twice.

The Ducks also conceded just seven points to in-state rivals Oregon State, a team that pushed Washington to the end, scoring 22 points.

Ever since that fateful Camden Lewis missed kick, these squads have been on a direct path to meeting each other in the last Pac-12 championship game ever. Both these teams have survived the conference gauntlet, beat all of the teams eating each other alive and came out with a real shot to make it to the playoffs.

It’s only fitting that the two teams with the best chance the Pac-12 has had at a CFP berth duke it out for that spot in Vegas.