Tomorrow marks the 107TH meeting between the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies football teams. You’re reading that correctly, the 107th, this thing goes all the way back to when men’s glee clubs led the cheers and sang songs to the crowd, well before Universities had loud-speakers let alone stadiums. And while most current-gen Oregon fans (and even current-gen Husky fans for that matter) are probably operating under the assumption that the Ducks have always had the Huskies’ number, it was actually a quite lopsided “rivalry” usually in Washington’s favor from their first meeting 114 years ago (the two teams didn’t begin an annual rivalry until 1922) until the Ducks’ current 10 game winning streak began in 2004.
Once upon a time this was known as the “Husky-Webfoot” rivalry in the old Pac-8, and Washington holds the all-time edge with 53 wins, 48 losses, and a share in 5 ties. Oregon looks to gain their 11th consecutive victory in the series, dating back to Washington winning in back-to-back years over Oregon in 2002-03. And despite Duck fans usually refusing to eat the humble pie they are dared to try, it wasn’t all that long ago that the Ducks lost 14 games to the Huskies during Rich Brooks’ career as HC from 1977-1994, the one and the same HC who the field at Autzen Stadium is named for. In fact, since former Oregon record setting QB Dan Fouts was drafted by San Diego in 1973, the Huskies have won 5 straight games against Oregon 3 or more times.
As far as titles go, the Huskies won a national championship in 1991, while Oregon has only played in one national championship, losing on a game-clinching field goal to Cam Newton-led Auburn in 2010. Oregon lays claim to 11 conference titles, including six in the last 20 years. In contrast, Washington has claimed 15 conference titles, winning 5 since 1990 and three straight from 1990-92.
Oregon has seen two former players inducted in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Super Bowl era (1967-present), with Fouts (1993) and Gary Zimmerman (2008) getting busts in Canton.
Former Huskies great Warren Moon was inducted in to Canton’s hallowed halls in 2006 after a playing career lasting into his 44th birthday, well beyond the average life-span of today’s passers.
There’s even a curious twist of fate in the history between the current coaching staffs of UW-UO. Huskies’ HC Chris Petersen spent six seasons as Oregon’s receivers coach before taking over as the offensive coordinator at Boise State, and later taking over as HC. Boise State boasted one of the best offenses in the nation under Petersen, and Oregon lost both matchups against the Broncos under Chip Kelly. Former Oregon State QB Jonathan Smith now works for Petersen as the Huskies OC, and Washington’s current defensive coordinator is Pete Kwiatkowski, the same Boise State DC that effectively gummed up Oregon’s offense while going toe-to-toe in a low-scoring chess match with then-offensive coordinator/current HC Mark Helfrich in 2009.
Simply put, over the course of more than a hundred years, there’s a lot of history between these teams, and it’s not one-sided, regardless of what either fan base tells you. Prior to Kenny Wheaton’s pick-6 to clinch the 1994 installment of the rivalry, Washington arguably owned the Ducks for the majority of the time. Some of the last 10 games have been lopsided in Oregon’s favor, and plenty of Duck fans prefer to remind Husky fans of that fact. For you math majors at UW, simply remind them that if you take 107 and take away 10, what you end up with is 97, and I promise you that Washington was on the winning side for the majority of those. For the Duck fan old enough to remember what is was like to be harassed by the “upper-class” in the Pac-8/10, there’s no time like the present to be the bigger man when your team is on top. The Law of Averages has an impact on us all, and eventually, Oregon’s day in the sun will turn to dusk.
It wouldn’t hurt the average Duck fan to recall that they used to be the kid-brother in this here rivalry, and they probably didn’t appreciate all of the noogies. Unless they were very, very weird, in which case they deserved it. And it would serve Husky fan well to recall that they probably weren’t as nice to Duck fan in their heyday as they could have been.
Prior to 2004, Oregon had never won more than four in a row against Washington. Yet they’ve now doubled that and then some. Leading up to 1994, the Huskies took 5 straight against Oregon from 1989-93 at the height of their power. For the Duck fans that waited years to see your team climb the mountain and get past those pesky Huskies (and especially those that are enjoying your day in the sun without ever having to earn it), remember that it can’t last forever. And for the Husky fan sick of hearing your team jeered by Duck fans, remember, it can’t last forever. And there’s always creative ways to remind those in Oregon that you’re still around no matter what the scoreboard says.
Heading in to tomorrow’s game, both teams are 5-1, with one loss in the PAC-12. Washington lost to fellow-north division resident Stanford and would need some help from Oregon (who lost to south division rival Arizona) and the rest of the north division to make the conference championship game. With the help of three former members of a Boise State coaching staff that sure had Oregon’s number in 2008-09, is this the year the Huskies get back on track against the Ducks?
If you want to see if for yourself, you’ll have to tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 5pm tomorrow evening to see what the 107th chapter of this story has to tell.
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