With 3 days remaining, we look back to arguably the biggest UW-Oregon game ever, the 2000 battle. Both teams were highly ranked and it was the height of the Neuheisel hate era.
UW was No. 6 in the country, and had beaten eventual No. 2 Miami in Seattle early in the season. Oregon was No. 20 in the country and fresh off a 29-10 demolition of No. 6 UCLA in the first GameDay visit to Autzen.
Two stellar quarterbacks led the offenses and the defenses were top notch. With the defeat of UCLA, this game would determine the conference favorite
Despite some penalties on kick returns that would have blown the game open, Oregon was able to make up for those mistakes with solid offensive play. Over the game, they gained 229 yards on the ground behind Maurice Morris, and Harrington added with some great passes to Peele and Howry.
The Oregon defense clamped down as well, holding the Huskies to 3 points in the first 3 quarters. Oregon took a 23-3 lead in the 3rd quarter on a Harrington QB sneak. However, Washington would not go away. Helped by Josh Frankel missing 3 field goals and an Oregon offense that seemed content to bleed the clock, Marques Tuiasosopo brought the Huskies back, closing the gap to 23-16 and getting the ball back with minutes left in the game.
But that's when it ended. The Oregon D, led by Matt Smith (Mr. Turnover and one of my favorite Oregon defenders) forced a 4 and out, ending the game. Smith knocked down the final pass to go along with an earlier interception. Washington got one more chance after Oregon failed to run out the clock, but the "hail mary" went incomplete.
If you can handle a little Joe Giansante today, below is the video recap from the 2000 highlight video:
This was a great win against the last great Husky team, which made it that much sweeter.
3 days left! GO DUCKS!