It happens again this weekend in Eugene. The Rivalry. Oregon and Washington. What will happen this year? Anything can happen with these two teams and anything can happen off the field as well with the fans. This is about as heated a rivalry as it gets between two teams.
Back in the day, when I was growing up this game was pretty much a guaranteed win for the Huskies, they were the big brother to the Ducks. They showed no mercy in terms of the score and their fans showed no mercy in letting the Oregon fans know just how superior they felt to the Duck fans. When it was time for this game to occur Duck fans were all in. They would get their "quacker" mouth pieces out, which sounded so annoying to me because I thought "real adults are putting these in their mouths and making this annoying sound...?" Somebody needs some meds. Most of the time all this quacking the Ducks did were all for nothing. The Huskies owned the Ducks for many years.
The Huskies were coached by Don James and the Ducks by Rich Brooks. The Huskies were very disciplined and a heavy run first type of offense. They always had huge offensive linemen that seemed to look like a house with legs and boy, could they move the pile and open up holes for the likes of Napolean Kaufman. Quarterbacks such as Warren Moon, Brock Huard, Steve Pueller, Chris Chandler, and Jake Locker have all passed through the walls of Husky Stadium and put up many yards and victories for the Husky faithful. Growing up it always seemed like the Huskies were the ones in the Rose Bowl. Oregon was never a thought about the going to the Rose Bowl, they were always trying to break the five win barrier.
Oh, how times have changed. The Ducks made the commitment to their football program with the help of Uncle Phil (Nike) and have not looked back since. Even though they are known for their uniform combinations more than their wins, they have certainly become a force to reckon with in the college football landscape and even played for the National Championship in 2011. The rivalry has been dominated by the Ducks. In fact, the Huskies have not won this game since 2003. The Ducks have been running over people with their spread offense and the Huskies have been part of that running over.
To many fans of either school, this is known as hate week. For Oregon fans, Oregon State is the rival, but Washington is the enemy. For Washington fans, their rival is Washington State, however Oregon is the enemy. This "hate" between the two schools goes back to 1948 when both teams were in the PCC (Pacific Coast Conference) and Oregon tied for the conference title with the University of California. The conference decided that members of the conference would pick who would go to the Rose Bowl. Six out of the ten teams in the league were located in the Northwest, so fans figured Oregon was going to be the one that was voted into the Rose Bowl. That didn't happen. Washington went to the University of Montana and convinced them to vote for California. Montana voted for California, thus keeping the Ducks out of the Rose Bowl that year. Ever since then. Oregon fans have never forgotten about that slight by the Huskies. Older Duck fans have not forgotten, younger Duck fans may not know about that part of the history of this rivalry. I believe that this spark to the rivalry is one of the most important parts to know about this heated game. Fans should educate themselves to this fact.
Tomorrow, in Eugene, the fans will be crazy and wild inside Autzen Stadium, but the show really may be just be in the tailgating area of the stadium. A ton of trash talking will be going on during the game and in the stands. Husky fans might have to get in all their smack talk as soon as they can because I think the Ducks will continue the winning streak against the Huskies.
However, that is why they play the game.
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