Washington Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2017
By Zach Bigalke
Last season, the Huskies knocked off Oregon for the first time in 13 years. The win was an emphatic 70-21 stomping in Seattle.
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On that early-October Saturday, Washington emphatically exorcised its inferiority complex against its southern rival. True freshman Justin Herbert started his first college game for the Ducks in the blowout on the road. And Oregon’s usually sieve-like defense was especially porous in hostile territory.
By then Oregon’s season was already beginning to crater. In 2016 the Ducks tumbled from perennial bowl participants to a 4-8 records. The result got head coach Mark Helfrich fired just two years after leading the Ducks to the College Football Playoff championship game.
Key parts of their offense such as running back Royce Freeman and left tackle Tyrell Crosby fought through injuries, and as a result the team sputtered.
Prediction: Washington 45, Oregon 41 (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12)
Oregon, though, returns healthier and deeper in 2017 as a result of last year’s downturn. New head coach Willie Taggart has assembled an impressive group of coordinators that could turn around the Ducks quickly. Things will be much tighter for Washington against their rival in 2017. But Myles Gaskin is going to have a long touchdown run that breaks open the game, and the defense will hold on after giving up a late score, to keep the Huskies undefeated at 9-0.