If Stanford was the John Deere tractor that bulldozed Washington on Saturday night, what might top-ranked Oregon be?
Hard to say, but it’d surely be sleeker, faster and more explosive than a tractor.
The Huskies don’t have much time to regroup from their 41-0 shellacking by Stanford. Kickoff in Eugene, Ore., will be at 12:30 p.m, and Ch. 4 will televise the game.
“We’ve got to throw away the rearview mirror really quickly here, and get started on Oregon, that’s for sure,” UW defensive coordinator Nick Holt said. “They pose obviously a lot of different problems than what Stanford gave us.”
Yeah – they move fast, they strike quick and they can score points in a hurry.
In this case, the numbers do not lie – Oregon leads the country in scoring (54.9 points per game, 71/2 more than No. 2 Boise State) and total offense (572.9 yards per game – 45 yards more than Oklahoma State).
The Ducks’ 308.8 rushing yards per game is No. 3 in FBS – led by sophomore LaMichael James, whose 1,210 yards and 14 touchdowns lead the country.
The Huskies know what they’re in for. After losing to Stanford on Saturday, the players got a chance to view some of the Ducks’ 53-32 win over Southern California.
“We’ll look at the film, and see if we can capitalize on what USC did well,” Huskies linebacker Victor Aiyewa said, “and what Oregon did bad.”
Oddsmakers have installed the Ducks as early 271/2-point favorites.
The UW is 1-9-1 all-time against No. 1 teams, its lone victory coming in the 1961 Rose Bowl, 17-7, over Minnesota.
The last time the Huskies met a No. 1 team was 2007, when they lost to USC, 27-24.
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
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