Oregon and Washington football meet at Autzen Stadium in a battle of AP Top 25 teams. Which Pac-12 North hopeful will emerge as the division favorite?
Oregon gets the chance to host another nationally-ranked contest in Eugene, as the No. 17 Ducks welcome No. 7 Washington to Autzen Stadium for an afternoon game on Saturday in Week 7. If not for a fall-from-ahead defeat to Stanford, as CJ Verdell fumbled in the final minute to give Stanford an improbable win. If not for the poor play calling, the Ducks would be undefeated and probably ranked about where Washington is currently.
Justin Herbert remains a legitimate Heisman contender despite the one loss on his record. If he can take down Washington at home on Saturday, Herbert will vault up Heisman lists. Verdell should be healthy again after suffering some lingering MCL issues, providing Herbert with the newest backfield star to help the Ducks balance out the offense with a punishing ground game. Mario Cristobal’s team looks like a legitimate national threat this season.
Washington is no slouch, though. The Huskies fell in the season opener to Auburn out in Atlanta, but since then they have reeled off four straight wins to reach this showdown in the top 10 of the AP Top 25. If Auburn loses a few more games and falls completely out of the SEC West race, it could damage Washington’s outlook in the national picture. But they are still the front-runner in the Pac-12 North until further notice.
Chris Petersen’s team has missed Dante Pettis especially on punt returns, as the Huskies now rank outside the top 100 in return average.But Jake Browning is still slinging the ball around the field, Myles Gaskin is still in the backfield, and Washington’s defense continues to dominate year after year. The Huskies allow fewer than two touchdowns per game as they approach the halfway point of their season.
Can the Ducks knock them from that perch on Saturday afternoon at Autzen? Here’s how you can watch the Top 25 matchup between No. 7 Washington and No. 17 Oregon on Saturday:
Date: Saturday, Oct. 13
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: City, ST
Venue: Autzen Stadium
TV: ABC/ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN | FuboTV
Keys to Victory
Oregon needs Justin Herbert to have a standout game. They need Verdell to be healthy and confident in the biggest rivalry game of his budding career. The offense especially needs to make sure that they aren’t leaving points on the field in the red zone, something that they have done on more than 20 percent of their trips inside the opponent’s 20 this season.
Washington, meanwhile, needs to get third-down stops against the country’s sixth-best team at converting and moving the chains in such situations. If and when they do get stops, they need Aaron Fuller to break out as a punt returner if they are going to flip the field position and make the trip out of Washington worth their while.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of oddsshark.com
Point Spread: Washington -3.5
Over/Under: 57.5
Prediction
Oregon has the firepower to make real waves, but they will have to do so against a Washington defense that is playing incredibly well once again. Here’s guessing that offense wins out in this one. After a tentative first quarter, the two teams will come out, guns blazing and sure of themselves. By the end of the game, only a few points will separate them — and the hosts will ultimately come out on top, beating the spread and taking down their rivals outright.
Final Score: Oregon 37, Washington 35