Oregon Football takes on the Washington Huskies on the road and it has all the makings of a close game.
Last week, the Ducks faced a team with one of the worst recruiters in the Pac-12 and the team took care of Colorado. Entering this week, there is one team that needs this game more than the other. Add to it being the biggest rivalry in the Pac-12 Conference with Oregon besting the rivalry for a decade.
Dave Bartoo from College Football Matrix sees this game as being close. Now that we are past the six-week mark of the regular season, his numbers reflect a one-month moving average, rather than the full season with non-conference games. In the information, we went over both Auburn and Nevada were not part of the equation.
Over the last four weeks, the Oregon Football Offense is 47th in the country in scoring efficiency. On the other side, the Washington Huskies come into the game as 52nd in scoring efficiency, a wash according to Bartoo. The difference is on the defensive side of the ball.
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Oregon has not given up a touchdown in conference play and posted multiple games giving up just single digits. Those numbers have Oregon ranked 2nd in the country in defensive efficiency. Washington is lagging slightly behind at a respectable 26th.
Bartoo has the game at 17-13 and is calling it a ‘Keith Jackson Slobberknocker’, especially with the weather that is expected in Seattle for the game. Rain is in the forecast.
Washington is the team that needs this game to stay in the Pac-12 North conversation. The loss to Cal earlier this season put them in a tough spot. Oregon beat Cal 45-3 last week in Eugene. With an Oregon win and the Ducks tiebreaker over Stanford(and the Huskies with a win), the Pac-12 North may well be decided in October. Of course, there is a lot of football left to play.
Oregon Football meets Washington at 12:30 pm Pacific Time Saturday on ABC.
Quotes obtained in an interview with Dave Bartoo, College Football Matrix.