Oregon vs. Washington fearless prediction and game preview.
Oregon vs. Washington Broadcast
Date: Saturday, October 19
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: Husky Stadium, Seattle, WA
Network: ABC
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Oregon (5-1) vs. Washington (5-2) Game Preview
Why Oregon Will Win
The defense is crushing and killing.
Oh sure, stopping a toothless Stanford attack and a punchless Cal was nice, and stuffing Nevada and Montana was fun, but Colorado has a veteran quarterback in Steven Montez, a terrific passing game – even if some of the parts were hurt – and the explosiveness to ….
45-3 Ducks.
The Buffs moved the ball a bit, and they had their chances, but the Duck D shut everything down time after time with four picks – the Colorado offense isn’t normally big on turning the ball over – for its fifth game in a row allowing seven points or fewer.
The Washington offense has had its moments, and it’s coming off a 51-point performance against Arizona on the road, but it’s also inconsistent. When it’s not controlling the tempo and it’s not moving the chains, the big plays aren’t there to pick up the slack.
Over the last three games, the Dawgs are converting just 22% of their third down tries, which wasn’t the end of the world in a workmanlike win over USC and the blowout over Arizona, but against Stanford it was a killer – there just wasn’t any tempo.
Okay, so Oregon’s D isn’t amazing on third downs, but it’s good enough, and it has a terrific way of not breaking whenever it starts bending. Whether it’s big picks in key spots to take over the Colorado game, or timely sacks to snuff out Cal, this group has a knack for timing.
It also helps that the team’s NFL quarterback isn’t turning the ball over. Justin Herbert has given up just one interception in 194 throws.
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Why Washington Will Win
This might be a flaky Washington team, but it’s able to rise up and bring the defense, too.
The Huskies have been a takeaway machine over the last several weeks – except on that fateful day against Stanford – coming up with three or more takeaways in four of the last five games. Again, turnovers aren’t that big a problem or Oregon, but if it won’t take too much to get the crowd and the energy into the game.
Washington normally won’t beat itself. It doesn’t get hit with a slew of bad penalties, it doesn’t give up the ball, and it takes advantage of every chance it gets to score. Yeah, Oregon bends, but that might be enough. Unlike most of the other teams on the Duck slate so far, Washington has the offensive talent to close out drives with points once it gets in the red zone.
It starts with the O line that needs to blast away. Oregon doesn’t give up downfield passes, but no one has been able to pound on the defensive front outside of Auburn. That’s how the Tigers hung around 206 yards on the ground, and the only rushing touchdown the Ducks have allowed all season long.
This isn’t a dynamic UW ground game, but it’s able to get physical. If you’re a believer in trends and history, Washington is 2-0 over the last six years when it runs for 200 yards or more on the Ducks, and 0-4 when it doesn’t.
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What’s Going To Happen
The Washington passing game will be the bigger issue.
There’s some flash to the Husky ground attack, and the top backs average over five yards per carry, but it all starts with Jacob Eason being able to loosen up the defense. He couldn’t do it against Stanford and Cal, and the Dawgs lost. The passing game clicked just fine against everyone else, and they won.
UW will flirt with 200 rushing yards, but won’t quite get there. It’ll be more of a grinding game than any sort of a shootout, and at the moment, Oregon is better at that.
Oregon vs. Washington Prediction, Line
Oregon 26, Washington 16
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Oregon -2.5, o/u: 50.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
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Must See Rating: 5
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