Oregon embraces another Big Ten hostile environment at Husky Stadium

Dan Lanning likes to say, "The proof's in the pudding." Today the pudding hits the table.

The Ducks don't shy away from hostile environments. All through their first two years in the Big Ten they've embraced them, with notable victories at The Big House, Camp Randall, and Happy Valley. In particular, A'lique Terry and the offensive line have a good plan for handling the noise and communication issues.

“Hostile can be fun,” Dan Lanning said. “I think this one will be one of those environments. There’s gonna be a lot of distractions, a lot of pieces going on outside the puzzle, but we’re really focused on being the eye of the storm, the calm within the storm. I think our guys will handle that well.”

Oregon travels to 8-3 Washington for a rivalry game with the Huskies, 12:30 p.m. PT on CBS. The line remains steady at Ducks -6.5, the over/under hasn't moved since Sunday, still 51.5, and the Moneyline offers Oregon -260, Washington +215.

At AccuWeather Gametime temperature looks like 44 degrees, 5 mph winds and five percent chance of rain, classic football weather for a November big game, no barrier to the offense.

A key matchup in the game is the young Oregon secondary versus elite wide receiver Denzel Boston. Mason Bartholomew breaks that down in Autzen's Zoo's feature story this morning. A 6-4, 209 junior from South Hill, Washington, Boston racked up 52 catches for 730 yards and 8 touchdowns this season.

Containing a physical receiver proves persistent problem for Oregon secondary

He sprained an ankle in the Wisconsin game but sat out against Purdue and UCLA. He's capable of dominating a matchup the way Elijah Surratt, Makai Lemon and Jakobi Lane can-- against Illinois he scorched the secondary for 10 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown.

A second critical factor in this rivalry clash is injuries. The Ducks are beat-up, and the toll has concentrated itself on the offensive line and receiver, while Husky coach Dedd Fisch told Roman Tomashoff of Huskies Wire and the rest of the reporters that Boston and star running back Jonah Coleman will play today.

"I'd expect them both to be back in a much more significant manner than they were last week," Fisch said during his Monday press conference. "I don't know how many reps that is, but a substantial amount...Raiden (Vines-Bright), I was also just told is cleared to play, so I believe that all of those guys...will all be good to go barring any setback."

The outlook on the Oregon side is less positive, though the official update won't be out until the Big Ten injury report is released at 10:30 a.m., two hours before kickoff. Based on the murmurings and chatter, it's unlikely offensive coordinator Will Stein gets Dakorien Moore, Evan Stewart or Gary Bryant Jr. back for this game. Isaiah World and Alex Harkey will take snaps, but center Iapani Laloulu probably won't be back until the playoff game.

Stein has been innovative in his workarounds. The Ducks have used a combination blocking schemes and looks to keep the running game humming. It cracked the 200-yard barrier against Wisconsin and Iowa, 261 against the Hawkeyes in the wind and rain. They pounded out 179 versus Minnesota and USC.

The Huskies allowed 189 yards rushing to Michigan, 4.7 yards a carry, 138 to Illinois, 4.8. Junior edge rusher Jacob Lane leads in tackles for loss with 7.5, safety Alex McLaughlin in tackles. Even with Charlie Pickard filling in at center, the Ducks can move the ball against this defense, though they feasted on Purdue and UCLA in their last two starts.

An effective run game establishes dominance. The Dawgs have two tall, effective corners in Tacario Davis (6-4, 200) and Ephesians Prysock (6-4, 195), so the matchup advantage in the passing game will likely be Kenyon Sadiq against anyone, or Noah Whittington and Dierre Hill out of the backfield.