Our friends at the "Inside the Pylon" podcast have enacted a new twin-part outrage, one referring to the Oregon-Washington rivalry as "The Cascade Clash" and two comparing the two schools as if they were remotely equal.
Oregon is a top ten team in 2025, the defending Big Ten Champions and a strong contender for the playoffs. Washington isn't even in the top 40, a 6-7 team last season.
The last time the two teams met on the field the Ducks won by four touchdowns, sacked UW quarterback Demond Williams 10 times and held Jonah Coleman to 3 yards on 11 carries.
CASCADE CLASH!!
— Inside the Pylon (@ITPCFB) June 16, 2025
Going into 2025 who has the advantage in the position groups?
Oregon vs Washington
QB
RB
WR
TE
OL
EDGE
DT
LB
CB
S
ST pic.twitter.com/hrE3RzgDtI
No one west of Indianapolis ever calls the 125-year-old rivalry "The Cascade Clash." In over a century that phrase has not appeared on a program or a newspaper article coming out of Seattle or Eugene. Not everything needs a name, especially a tritely alliterative one..
Third, football doesn't work this way. While it's handy to describe it in terms of offensive line versus offensive line, quarterback versus quarterback, it's how whole units execute that determines the outcome of games.
One or two edges don't make teams equivalent. Usually a couple of key factors outweigh the others. When Washington was winning the rivalry in the last two years of PAC-12 play, it was Washington's edge in the deep and intermediate passing game that led to three straight victories.
The Oregon secondary gave up too many big plays, a deficiency Tosh Lupoi, Marshall Malchow and Dan Lanning have worked hard to correct through recruiting and the portal. By this November, fans of both schools will know if they've succeeded.
In the 2024 matchup, Oregon's aggressive and relentless defensive line swarmed a thin and ineffective offensive line for the Dawgs. They gashed the visitors for 10 sacks while limiting Jonah Coleman to 3 yards on 11 carries.
The shorthand of Team A quarterback versus Team B quarterback really doesn't work, but for entertainment purposes only, here's the result, stipulating that in the actual play of an actual game, it's the matchup of opposing units that dictate the outcome, and typically one or two of those matchups are most significant.
QB: Oregon Dante Moore's freshman debut wasn't as good as Williams' but he's a more experienced quarterback in a better system with a stronger offensive line. He's had a full year to develop and tune his game under Will Stein.
RB: Oregon The tandem of Makhi Hughes and Noah Whittington, plus Dink Riggs, gives the Ducks a more effective and explosive running game than UW's, particularly because in the interrelation of units, the Ducks have a stronger offensive line and a more disruptive defensive line.
WR Washington With Evan Stewart out, the Ducks don't have a returning receiver that matches Denzel Boston, though Dakorien Moore may eclipse him by the end of the year.
TE Oregon Kenyon Sadiq is the best tight end in the West, 22 mph speed and a dynamic playmaker. He's going to be a problem in the Big Ten.
OL Oregon The Ducks absolutely crushed this position in recruiting and the portal, bringing in Isaiah World, Alex Harkey and Emmanuel Pregnon to add to Rimington Award candidate at center Poncho Laloulu, guard Dave Iuli and Swiss Army Knife utility man Matthew Bedford. Blue-chip talent like Gernorris Wilson, Douglas Utu and Ziyare Addison waits in the wings.
DL Oregon Matayo Uiagalelei led the Big Ten in sacks during the regular season with 10.5, and he had two against the Huskies. Teitum Tuioti, Bear Alexander, A'Mare Washington, Aydin Breeland, Elijah Rushing and Blake Purchase comprise one of the deepest units in the league, 40 sacks last year, third in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Penn State.
Washington had half as many.
LB Oregon Burlsworth Award winner Bryce Boettcher led the Ducks in tackles last season with 94, and he's had a full season to focus on football after doubling up over the previous two campaigns. He leads a corps of blue-chip returnees that includes Devon Jackson, a former Nebraska state 100-meter champion, Kamar Mothudi, Dylan Williams, Brayden Platt and Gavin Nix.
CB Washington The Husky duo of Tacario Davis and LeRoy Bryant is a strength of the team, and junior Epesians Prysock started 13 games last year with six pass breakups and a forced fumble
S Oregon Dillon Thieneman was one of the top transfer in college football, a high-impact player and workout demon who piled up 210 tackles and six interceptions in two seasons at Purdue, Freshman All-American. Opposite him the Ducks have a trio of blue-chip prospects who've looked in spot duty, Kingston Lopa, Aaron Flowers and Alabama transfer Kingston Lopa, plus high four-star freshman Trey McNutt.
ST Oregon The Ducks picked up 2023 Ray Guy Award finalist who led all kickers in the nation with a 49.7-yard average that year, 45.0 over three seasons. Placekicker Atticus Sappington hit 88 percent of his field goals, and redshirt freshman backup Gage Hurych connected from 56 yards in the Spring Game.
Bet Online gives Washington a 10 percent chance of making the College Football Playoff. Their over/under at FanDuel is 7.5. The Ducks come in at 72 percent with the highest over/under of the preseason, 10.5.
Yet the 2025 game is in Seattle, where Dan Lanning has never won. He's 1-3 lifetime against UW.