**Editor’s Note: Each week during football season, we feature an essay from the opponent’s student newspaper on why Oregon will lose. This week’s edition is from Daniel Rubens, the sports editor at the The Daily.**
It has to happen eventually. Right?
It’s been a decade now. The Huskies haven’t beat the Ducks in 4,001 days (as of Wednesday). Ten years. That’s a mighty long time.
It’s hard for me to say with any confidence that the University of Washington will end the losing streak Saturday because I’m a very jaded sports fan (thanks to the Oakland Athletics). But I can make an argument that there’s a chance.
All discussions about Oregon begin with Marcus Mariota, naturally. Good thing Shaq Thompson is a cyborg. If there’s one guy in the Pac-12 who can keep up with Mariota from a linebacker spot, it’s the guy who has a radar for the football built into his brain and four defensive touchdowns to prove it.
But the UW defense isn’t just Shaq Thompson, which is why the Huskies actually stand a chance at slowing down the Ducks. Danny Shelton is an immovable object in the middle and has allowed national-sack-leader Hau’oli Kikaha to feast on opposing quarterbacks. Oregon’s offensive line has, at times, looked shaky, and the Huskies can get serious pressure on opposing quarterbacks with just four pass rushers.
The secondary had struggled a bit — until it shut down Jared Goff and the “Bear Raid” last week to the tune of seven points and zero passing touchdowns. Marcus Peters has the talent to be the first cornerback taken in the NFL Draft, and he talks as big a game as he plays.
Offensively, the plan to beat Oregon gets a little dicey. But Cyler Miles looked a whole lot better last week against Cal than he had in any other game. The Ducks’ defense is good, but also susceptible to a formidable rushing attack, which UW showed so far this season.
If Miles is able to get the ball out quickly to John Ross and Jaydon Mickens, two of the fastest men in the Pac-12, the Huskies will move down the field. If that happens, they at least have a chance to score, and we already went through why the Huskies defense could silence Mariota.
This all is a logical, rational argument as to why the Huskies could beat the Ducks on Saturday. But all logic and reason in this rivalry from a UW perspective went out the window a few years ago. Which is why the true answer to why the Huskies will win is so simple: Chris Petersen.
All that said, the Ducks will probably lead by four touchdowns at halftime. But maybe they won’t. Maybe this is finally the year the narrative flips.