The Oregon-Washington football competition is the American college football competition between the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies of the Pac-12 Conference at the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Each campus in Eugene and Seattle is 284 miles apart, via Interstate 5.
Like many other contiguous state rivalries in college football, it is sometimes referred to as the "Border War". It's also referred to as "The Cascade Clash," and "The Emerald City Showdown," but more generally it's just anonymous rivalry. The game, one of the most played rivalries in NCAA Division I FBS history, has been played regularly since 1900.
Video Oregon-Washington football rivalry
Series history
Although schools began playing with each other in 1900, the competition became hot from an Oregon perspective in 1948, when Oregon and California were equally unbeaten in the Pacific Coast Conference. California was undefeated overall, and Oregon's only defeat was in unbeaten Michigan, the national champion of the year, and Duck had seven wins on PCC for Cal's six. The PCC winner, like today with Pac-12, plays at the Rose Bowl. Oregon, led by quarterbacks Norm Van Brocklin and halfback John McKay, opted for a playoff game, but California refused. The PCC tiebreak format chosen for use is that the winning team is selected by the schools. PCC has ten member schools in 1948, six in Northwest and four in California, so it is assumed that Oregon will be the team playing in the Rose Bowl of 1949, because even 5-5 ties of votes will benefit them. California, on the other hand, was chosen as the PCC champion, because Washington had persuaded Montana, who later became a member of PCC, to choose California, something Oregon fans have not forgotten. (PCC allowed the second bowl team of the season and Oregon went to the Cotton Bowl, but lost 21-13 from high school in the hometown of Dallas, California twice defeated Northwestern by six at Rose.)
In the last 60 years the competition has grown between two fan bases. In 1962, Larry Hill of Oregon was tackled by Washington fans who had rushed to the field at Husky Stadium as he tried to capture a touchdown tie-breaking in the final game game. In 1995, Washington's head coach, Jim Lambright, failed to lobby for Huskies to be chosen to play in Cotton Bowl instead of Duck. Seattle Post Intelligencer columnist Bud Withers writes that Lambright's actions "invite at least half a century of bile from Oregon fans."
After winning four of the top six Washington head coach Jim Lambright, the rivalry was given another impetus in Oregon's eyes when former Colorado head coach Rick Neuheisel became Washington's head coach in 1999. In 1996 the Cotton Bowl was between # 12 Oregon and # 7 Colorado, Neuheisel calling for a fake punt while Buffaloes lead 32-6 with less than five minutes remaining. Oregon coach Mike Bellotti is also accused of altering Neuheisel to be recruited during the period of death. The ducks were 1-2 against the Huskies under Neuheisel, and the rivalry intensified when Neuheisel celebrated by taking photos and jumping on "O" in the middle of the field after winning at the Autzen Stadium in 2002. Two years earlier, the duck triumph in 2000 at Eugene damaged an unbeatable season for the Huskies, who won the Rose Bowl and finished third in the country. Due to Pac-10 scheduling, the team did not meet in 2001, the first break in competition since hiatus in 1943 and 1944 due to World War II.
Through 2016, Washington leads 60-45-5 (.568). The Huskies went 18-4 from 1972 to 1993 (mostly under Don James, 15-3), but Oregon was 17-5 since 1994. Duck won twelve straight from 2004 to 2015, the longest run by one of the teams in the series; the closest margin is six points (26-20) by 2015. It ends in 2016 when the fifth ranked Huskies won 70-21 at Eugene, a game that set the record score for a team (70 points) and both teams (91).
Maps Oregon-Washington football rivalry
Game results
- Oregon's home game against Washington was played in Portland from 1911-13 and 1926-65.
Train a note
Since 1945
Oregon
Washington
- The last tie in 1962, overtime started in 1996 in Division I-A (not available until 2016)
- Two matches played in 1945, nothing scheduled in 2001
See also
- The most frequently played competition in NCAA Division I FBS
References
External links
- College Education Data Warehouse - Oregon opponent: vs. Washington
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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