It’s that time of year again, when the Pac-12’s most bitter rivalry takes the stage. A rivalry where so much vitriol flows that a cutesy nickname has never been proposed or adopted. Neither side of fans has any use for one.
The last 11 years have been entirely one-sided, and while the faces change each year, the results have not: chest-swelling wins for the Oregon Ducks, frustrating losses for the Washington Huskies. But this year, there is the hint of something different in the air. Both teams seem to be at the cusp of what could be a great transition for their respective programs. Thus far, Oregon has had an unprecedented run of success and national recognition for a decade. Washington has never made it back to the standard they established in years past: one of Rose Bowls and conference dominance.
In Seattle, the days of greatness may have occurred fifteen or twenty-plus years ago, but that does nothing to dim the ingrained expectations of Husky fans. And if the sky is truly falling in Eugene, which many of the world wide webs’ loudest Duck fans would have you believe, then they will know in the coming years what it’s like to pine for a program’s glory days, as Husky fans have come to know all too well. But at this point this sort of talk is premature.
A Husky win this Saturday would be the clearest signal that times are changing. After 11 consecutive defeats, a victory over the Ducks has come to resemble a desert mirage: a reprieve from long and merciless suffering that shimmers like a dream briefly, but hangs blurry and out of reach before disappearing completely, somewhere in the third quarter. A Husky win has become so improbable, it often seems only a drastic re-ordering of the cosmos could disrupt this pattern.
Many Husky fans will admit they were short on patience last year, Chris Peterson’s first, as the nagging feeling that he would noticeably improve on Steve Sarkisian’s accomplishments came naturally. It didn’t work out that way. UW never won when they weren’t expected to. And a bowl loss to Oklahoma State at the season’s end, with the team starting the game utterly without purpose or vigor, did nothing to assuage concerns. But the road bumps that occurred now seem as evidence that Peterson’s vision and philosophy cannot allow compromise, nor can it be mandated onto players who never bought in to begin with.
Sarkisian, to his credit, had “signature” wins most every year, with the first coming against his mentor Pete Carroll and the #3 Trojans in just his third game at the helm in Montlake. These wins did much to placate Husky fans, who were still dumbfounded over the programs recent wretched state. Chris Peterson had no such victories in his first season.
But if something truly great is to be built, it must take the time that deliberate work demands. On Peterson’s adherence to his own philosophy, no clearer message could be sent than the removal of star DB Marcus Peters midway through the season. Peterson is certainly a “character” guy. And with the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to admit that Sarkisian was never going to be the one to take UW back to the top of the Pac-12, even if he hadn’t had his eye on USC all the while.
The question over whether Peterson can win in a Power Conference has dogged him for years, long before his jump to the Pac-12. He has the power to end this discussion. A win over USC looks a little less glossy in light of Sarkisian’s dismissal 4 days later. A win over Oregon, whatever type of season the Ducks are having, won’t come with any “yeah, but” s on this side of the Columbia.
It is perhaps more important for Chris Peterson to win this game than it ever was for Steve Sarkisian to beat Oregon in any of his five years. Largely because Oregon is now beatable, as Utah and in-state rivals WSU showed in Eugene. It’s a fair bet that the Ducks get up a bit more for the Dawgs then the Cougars, but for the first time in a very long time, Husky fans believe that the Ducks can be bested. Peterson cannot let this chance slip through his fingers.
UW is starting true freshmen at quarterback and running back, and several young players on an offensive line that for years has been unremarkable. The absence of All-Americans Shaq Thompson, Danny Shelton and Hau’oli Kikaha on defense, which seemed so ominous 9 months ago, wasn’t noticeable in the solid performance against the prolific USC offense a week ago. It is still too early to award any olive wreaths to Peterson, but these are the types of strides achieved through good coaches coaching up their players. And this is what Husky fans have been wanting and needing to see.
Oregon’s rise to prominence coincided with Washington’s sinking to the cellar of college football. Is it possible that another reciprocal reversal of fortunes is underway? Opinions on both sides will surely be solidified at the end of this season. And the result of Saturday’s matchup will have much to do with how Duck and Husky fans view the current state of their programs.
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