Oregon Ducks vs. Washington Huskies 2024: 3 thoughts on the 1st half
By Ethan Lee
Well, things could be going better for the Washington Huskies. Right now, Jedd Fisch’s UW team has found itself trailing 28-14 heading into halftime. Washington really has struggled to slow Oregon’s potent offensive attack and there have just been too many issues from UW’s offense for the Huskies through the first 30 minutes.
That said, Washington isn’t out of the game just yet. The Huskies scored before halftime and will be getting the ball back to start the third. There’s a good chance that we see the Huskies continue to try to claw back into this one.
So, what can we take away from the first half of this rivalry game?
3 first half thoughts from Washington Huskies’ rivalry matchup with the Oregon Ducks
Let’s go over a few things from the first 30 minutes of this game, shall we?
No. 1: Demond Williams Jr. is really showing some potential here
He’s young, but through the first half, Washington Huskies QB Demond Williams Jr. is showing flashes of potential through numerous exciting plays. In the first half, UW’s young quarterback has completed 10 of 12 pass attempts and he’s thrown for 115 yards. He’s struggling with Oregon’s pass rush and has been sacked four times, but there are reasons to be excited here.
No. 2: Washington really needs to avoid committing turnovers and penalties in Autzen Stadium
The Huskies aren’t the more talented team. They don’t have the more explosive offense in this matchup. UW just doesn’t have the defense to routinely shut down a team like Oregon. So, the Huskies can’t afford to waste possessions and give Oregon yet another advantage over them.
The Huskies currently have more penalties than Oregon does (four for 29 penalty yards vs. one for five yards). Both of these teams have fumbled the ball (and recovered an opposing team’s fumble), but UW only turned that into a field goal while Oregon got a touchdown out of it. No more mistakes, please.
No. 3: The Huskies are showing some signs of life, but who knows if it can be sustained
It would’ve been real easy for the Huskies to fold when down 28-6, but they managed to show a bit of resilience to get one last score (and two-point conversion) before the half ended. The game now sits at 28-14 and UW has demonstrated that it can move the ball a bit. It remains to be seen if the Huskies can go score-for-score with Oregon and mount a comeback, but this is a solid start.