After meeting expectations with a 52-29 win over Colorado, Oregon (7-1) heads to Seattle for a road matchup with rival Washington.
At the start of the season, the Huskies were expected to be one of the better teams in the Pac-12, finding themselves at No. 20 in the preseason ranking. This quickly changed in their week one loss to Montana.
Since, they’ve gone 4-3 and have struggled to gain momentum throughout the season, let alone live up to the expectations they had heading into the year.
Besides Montana, the Huskies have dropped games to Michigan, Oregon State and UCLA. They’ve defeated Arkansas State, Cal, Arizona (last in Pac-12 South) and Stanford (last in Pac-12 North).
Freshman quarterback Dylan Morris has started every game for the Huskies. Morris has had bright spots throughout the year, but has also been disappointing at times. In eight games, he has 11 touchdown passes and eight interceptions off a 60.9 completion percentage.
Morris started the season in brutal fashion, throwing three picks and no touchdowns against Montana. As the season went on, Morris has gotten more comfortable, throwing at least one touchdown in each game since. With a buzzing Ducks secondary, interceptions are something to watch out for since Morris is averaging one pick a game.
Other offensive standouts are senior running back Sean McGrew and junior wide receiver Terrell Bynum.
McGrew, in his fifth season with the Huskies, has 383 yards and six touchdowns in as many games played this year. He already has a career high in touchdowns. Bynum leads the Huskies in yards (427) and receiving touchdowns (four). Bynum has proven explosive this season, unleashing for 143 yards and a touchdown off five catches against Arizona.
Overall, the Huskies offense is subpar scoring 22.8 points per game — a measure that ranks 10th in the conference.
With an underwhelming offense, the Huskies defense has been a strong suit. They are first in the Pac-12 in points allowed per game (18.8), yards per game (324.9) and passing yards allowed (146.9). The next closest team is Cal with 196.1 passing yards allowed.
Defensive backs Kyler Gordon and Brendan Radley-Hiles have been major players in the excellent pass defense; the duo has 24 solo tackles each. Combined this season, they have three tackles for loss, three interceptions and 10 pass break ups.
Senior outside linebacker Ryan Bowman has been a standout, leading the defense in sacks (2) and is second in tackles for loss (3.5). Sophomore linebacker Jackson Sirmon has led the way tackling with 59 total tackles, 33 solo. He’s also tallied two tackles for loss.
Oregon’s passing game led by Anthony Brown has become a strong suit in the past few weeks. With the Huskies’ top tier pass defense, the Ducks may focus on the run attack to secure a gritty win. The Ducks will look to continue their dominance in the rivalry, attempting to win their 16th game against Washington in the last 20 years.
