With a rivalry dating back to 1900, bad blood is bound to exist between the Ducks and Huskies.
The game certainly evokes strong feelings to fans of both Pacific Northwest schools. They’re the ones that seem to be the most passionate about the rivalry creating such slogans as ‘Husky-free Northwest’ and T-shirts like ‘Ted Bundy was a Husky’.
But just when did the outright loathing begin?
Facebook’s ‘Huck the Fuskies’ group creator, junior Jacob Chang believes that Duck fans have been hating the Huskies since the program voted for Cal instead of Oregon to represent the Pacific-10 Conference in the 1948 Rose Bowl.
“Washington wouldn’t let us become the new power in the Northwest,” Chang said. “They haven’t shown us much respect. They’ve led the way in snubbing us from national recognition.”
The rivalry intensified once Washington gained national prominence in the ’90s. But when Oregon began challenging the Huskies for Pac-10 and Northwest supremacy, Husky fans became Duck-bashers and vice versa.
There are even urban legends that concrete beams made by a Washington state company were used in Autzen’s renovation and have “Go Dawgs” inscribed on them.
Since then, the rivalry has become one of the most heated on the West Coast.
Some of the senior players still have memories of when the rivalry reached its boiling point.
“My first year here, I remember them dancing on our ‘O’, really disrespecting our house,” defensive end Matt Toeaina said. “That just tells you how much of a rivalry it is. There’s going to be a lot of trash-talking.”
That trash-talking is something that Oregon coach Mike Bellotti has been trying to keep a lid on for the past few years after numerous exchanges between the teams took place in the press, primarily during the Rick Neuheisel era.
In 2002, Neuheisel was asked by ESPN what he thought about Oregon’s effort to promote the football program.
“They certainly are a propaganda machine with respect to how they promote,” Neuheisel said.
And during that time, the players started chipping in as well. Oregon safety Keith Lewis said that Washington quarterback Cody Pickett was “overrated” to which Husky wide receiver Reggie Williams replied, “I don’t know who Keith Lewis is.”
For Bellotti, he’s had to experience the rivalry in a multitude of ways, seeing five different opposing coaches during his tenure.
“It’s different each time,” Bellotti said. “Each adds their own flavor to the rivalry, their own spin on it. Some, in my opinion, much worse than others.”
Bellotti believes that he and current Washington coach Tyrone Willingham treat the game the same way – as a tough football game rather than a war of words.
Bellotti, though, said he doesn’t encourage his players to treat the game differently than any other game. Instead, he said, the rivalry is something that’s passed down from the senior players to the freshmen.
Although some of the players try to instill the idea of the rivalry into new recruits, a few of them don’t buy into any sense of Husky-hatred. But maybe that’s result of Bellotti’s attempt to downplay any negative comments to the press.
“The rivalry’s more for the fans than it is for us,” junior tackle Geoff Schwartz said. “I’m from Southern California so I’m new to the whole rivalry.”
For Chang, he was troubled knowing that some of the football players don’t treat the Huskies with an increased level of animosity. He believes everyone should realize the history between the two schools and take pride in their own.
Chang says that in order for the rivalry to gain national recognition, someone needs to name it.
“I think people would take more pride in the rivalry if we had a name for it,” Chang said. “We’re thinking the Cascade Clash would be a good one.”
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