Oregon faces tougher foe than USC with a more depleted roster

Duck fans love to diss the Dawgs, but Washington is a good team and a dangerous opponent in Husky Stadium.

Oregon faces the enormous challenge of a motivated opponent while coming off a costly, emotional win on Senior Day versus USC, a game that sent Isaiah World, Alex Harkey and Iapani Laloulu to the sideline joining a legion of walking wounded on a decimated two-deep.

The Ducks are banged up five days before this road trip, which would be a tough assignment even if they were at full strength. At 8-3 the Huskies are unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls but computer strength rankings like Massey and Sagarin place them as the 19th-best team in the country.

It's a tough matchup for the Ducks in critical ways, perhaps closer and more challenging than the clash with USC last weekend. The Huskies play strong complementary football with a defense that stands sixth in the conference in yards per play at 4.75, seventh against the run at 3.46 yards per carry.

The pass defense ranks in the upper half of the conference also, allowing a passer rating of 118, though they've given up 15 touchdowns this year.

Only one of their three losses this season came at Husky Stadium, 24-3 to Ohio State. They are 11-1 at home over the last two years under Jedd Fisch.

The biggest reason they are so dangerous as a Week 14 opponent is quarterback Demond Williams. The 5-11 sophomore from Chandler, Arizona has thrown for 2,721 yards and 19 touchdowns, rushed for 568 yards and six scores. The Ducks bottled him a year ago in Autzen Stadium, erupting for 10 sacks.

Inside pressure and containment the keys to slowing UW's dangerous triggerman

His protection has been slightly better this season with Geirean Hatchett anchoring the offensive line, the only Husky lineman to start every game this season. Wisconsin got to Williams five times, Ohio State pierced his protection six times, but in wins over Purdue and UCLA he wasn't sacked once.

Big factors in this rivalry showdown are injuries and recovery time. Husky standout receiver Denzel Boston missed the Purdue and UCLA games with a leg injury. Jonah Coleman has been limited and out of the lineup with a knee, day-to-day.

In Coleman's absence Adam Mohammed and Jordan Washington have churned out a pair of breakout performances against the Boilermakers and Bruins, pacing the attack to 212 yards on the ground each time, over 5.3 yards a carry.

Washington secondary rounding into form

Hampered by injuries earlier in the year, the Husky secondary led by Dylan Robinson, Tacario Davis and Rahshawn Clark has posted some of the best coverage grades in the league. In the last three games they held Wisconsin, Purdue and UCLA to 48, 167 and 150 yards passing, two total touchdowns.

With no rain in the forecast and a high of 49 degrees, the Ducks are 6.5-point favorites, but make no mistake, this looks like the toughest win of the year.

Oregon got Williams in his first start as a freshman last season. A year later he's a much more dangerous quarterback, capable of taking a game over and knocking off an overconfident opponent, especially at home. The Ducks have to avoid this pitfall.