3 storylines to keep an eye on as the Washington Huskies face the Oregon Ducks
By Ethan Lee
It’s rivalry week and that means we get to see the Washington Huskies head on down to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks in Autzen Stadium. This rivalry game seemed a bit more significant in the big picture back before the season began and it was unclear as to just how good this particular Washington Huskies team would be.
But, well, the Huskies haven’t exactly been as good as they’ve wanted to be. And unfortunately for Washington Husky football fans, the Oregon Ducks have been pretty much as good as advertised. There have been a few moments in which it seemed like Oregon might fall victim to an upset loss, but so far that hasn’t actually happened.
Thus, Oregon is the last remaining unbeaten team and the Ducks are also the top-ranked team in the country. And now, Washington gets the distinct pleasure of meeting with the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
3 storylines to watch as Washington Huskies take on Oregon Ducks in Autzen Stadium
There are plenty of fascinating things to keep an eye on throughout the weekend, but you absolutely need to know about these three storylines in the upcoming game between the Washington Huskies and the Oregon Ducks:
- Key transfer players taking on big roles for both teams: The transfer portal has radically changed the way college football teams operate. Both the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies have utilized the portal to enhance their rosters and that was a huge story a season ago. It’s a huge story once more.
- Contrast of coaching backgrounds that led to this moment: Dan Lanning and Jedd Fisch are both brilliant coaches, but they’ve taken very different roads to get to this moment. And Fisch now has an opportunity to beat Lanning (and also Oregon) for the first time in his career as a head coach, which is interesting.
- Washington is playing a much different role from what it played last season: When the Ducks and Huskies met up twice back in 2023, they were both competing for a spot in the College Football Playoffs. Now, the Huskies have a chance to spoil the perfect season that Oregon is experiencing in 2024.
There’s a lot of opportunity up ahead for Washington here. The Huskies essentially have no pressure on them. And if they can play like that, then maybe we’ll see Fisch’s first UW team find a way to upend and sabotage Oregon’s special season. Is anyone really opposed to that notion?