SEATTLE_Soak it up, Husky fans.
The Washington Huskies once again have a stranglehold in their contentious rivalry with Oregon, affirmed in their thorough dismantling of the Ducks, 38-3, during a steady downpour on a chilly Saturday night before a sold-out crowd of 70,572 Husky Stadium.
Dante Pettis broke the all-time NCAA record with his ninth career punt-return touchdown, Jake Browning tied UW's career record with his 75th passing touchdown, and the No. 12 Huskies_following their 70-21 victory in Eugene a year ago_have won back-to-back games against the Ducks for the first time since 2002 and '03.
With three regular-season games remaining, Washington (8-1 overall) has taken over first place in the Pac-12 North at 5-1. The Huskies have a short week before traveling to No. 20 Stanford for a Friday night game. Stanford is coming off a 24-21 loss at Washington State on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies also helped themselves in their quest for a second consecutive College Football Playoff berth. Washington, No. 12 in the first CFP rankings last week, will almost certainly move up after losses by three teams ranked ahead of them this weekend (Ohio State, Penn State and Oklahoma State).
Pettis' 64-yard punt-return TD early in the second quarter_his fourth of the season and ninth of his career_gave the Huskies a 10-3 lead. They wouldn't trail again.
Washington led 17-3 at halftime after Myles Gaskin's nifty fake-reverse handoff resulted in a 34-yard touchdown run.
Browning threw a 47-yard TD pass to Pettis early in the third quarter. Lavon Coleman took a short screen pass, spun on top of an Oregon defender and finished off a 31-yard touchdown reception later in the third quarter to make it 31-3. That was Browning's 75th career TD pass, matching Keith Price's school record.
Freshman running back Salvon Ahmed added a thrilling 58-yard TD run late in the third to push the Huskies' lead to 38-3.
The Ducks (5-5, 2-5) lost for the fourth time in five games without sophomore quarterback Justin Herbert (broken collarbone). Herbert suited up Saturday but did not play.
Without him, Oregon had a predictably one-sided offensive attack. True freshman Braxton Burmeister was 6-for-8 passing for just 27 yards in the first half, and after their impressive opening drive the Ducks were shut out for the next three quarters.
The Ducks held on to the ball for nearly 8 minutes to start the game, driving 62 yards on 15 plays. But they had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead. On Oregon's next drive, Ben Burr-Kirven stripped running back Kani Benoit, and UW's Keishawn Bierria recovered.
Oregon's offense didn't muster much of a fight after that. Following their first drive, the Ducks managed 142 yards on 43 plays (3.3 yards per play) on their next nine possessions (six punts, one lost fumble, one turnover on downs, end of half).
Senior Royce Freeman, Oregon's all-time rushing leader, had 122 yards on 24 carries, becoming the first player to rush for 100 yards on the Huskies' defense this season. But that was about the only bright spot for an Oregon program that was once again knocked back a peg in the Northwest hierarchy.
