Washington football: 3 bold predictions in marquee matchup vs. No. 8 Oregon

With the season approaching the halfway point, two of the more essential teams with visions of the Pac-12 crown meet Saturday when No. 7 Washington football hosts No. 8 Oregon at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington.

The Washington Huskies are off to a smoldering start, leading the country in total offense and outscoring Power Five foes by a combined 68 points in three games. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. leads the country with 399.8 yards passing per game. He has been on a cataclysmic pace this season and doesn’t seem like he will slow down any time soon.

The Oregon Ducks has been nothing to sneer at themselves and has been on much of a roll themselves, winning its first two Pac-12 games by a combined 84-12. Their rushing attack leads the nation at 7.1 yards per carry and 227.2 rushing yards per game (8th FBS, 1st Pac-12). Quarterback Bo Nix has thrown 15 touchdowns with just one interception and is completing an exorbitant 80 percent of his passes.

The Ducks dominated this rivalry for the better part of the 2000s, winning 12 straight matchups between 2004 and 2015. But let us not talk about the past because the present is what everyone is concerned about in this rivalry. The matchup is a dead even draw at 3-3 in the last six games after Washington edged Oregon 37-34 behind 408 yards passing from Penix the previous season.

Saturday marks the first-ever meeting with both teams ranked in the top 10. The two programs have combined to win eight of the last 13 conference titles and assembled the only two College Football Playoff trips in Pac-12 history. Still, this marquee matchup will be the most immense one yet. The winner of this game becomes the Pac-12’s top competitor for the College Football Playoff.

Penix has been putting up Madden football-like numbers this season. In five games, he’s thrown for 1,999 yards with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 74.7% of his attempts, which leads the country by a vast margin. Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is second nationally at 336.7 yards per game. Sanders has a 21-yard edge on Penix for the national lead in passing yards, but Sanders has played in six games compared to Penix’s five.

Next year at about this time, this game will be a Big Ten game, but for the time being No. 8 Oregon travels to No. 7 Washington, in what will be a game of Physicality by the Ducks, and a game of finesse by the Huskies. This will be one of the most watched and entertaining games of the weekend, and more important has massive implications on the rest of the season for both teams.

This is going to be a sold-out game, and all eyes will be on this  game.

Now, let’ get bold.