The good, the bad and the unknown: Oregon

The Good

108-24 - The Huskies haven’t just beaten the Ducks two years in a row, they have destroyed them in a historically epic fashion. The gap between these two programs has completely flipped, and in a huge way, in just a few short seasons. Massive credit to Chris Petersen and staff for taking care of the Oregon problem, and streak, in just a few short years.

Ending another streak - The Huskies accumulated some embarrassing in-conference streaks over the struggles of the last 20 years or so and not beating Oregon in Husky Stadium since 2003 was one of them. It’s an ugly monkey off the back. Now, winning at Arizona State and UCLA…

Dante Pettis - Pettis broke a national record and started breaking the game open at the same time. Extra points for this one because there was a lot of traffic on this return and he had to get past a lot of defenders. He also had a great game receiving as well.

The entire defense - Just about everyone on the Husky defense played lights out after that opening drive. They made a limited Oregon offense look like a high school offense for almost the entire game.

Burr-Kirven, Rapp, Bierria fumble team up - Underrated play because the Ducks were up 3-0 and driving when Burr-Kirven, Rapp, and Bierria combined to force a fumble on Kani Benoit, recover it and return it to the red zone.

Running game - A lot was made of Oregon’s improved run defense going into the game, but the Huskies ran right through it. Myles Gaskin was as good as he has been all season. Salvon Ahmed averaged 14 yards per carry and the offensive line basically controlled the game.

Passing game - This was the best game for the Husky passing game, and Jake Browning, in a long time. They two big keys were getting big plays downfield, and a second receiver in Aaron Fuller stepping up.

Jake Browning - Browning looked like his old self - throwing with confidence, throwing quickly, throwing downfield and avoiding defenders in the right way. Even his interception was the kind of aggressive play I think everyone has been looking for from him that was essentially a punt.

Big offensive plays - The Husky offense has been very good at times this season, but seemed to lack chunk plays. They got some against Oregon, including the fantastic fake reverse that Myles Gaskin took to the house and Lavon Coleman’s amazing touchdown catch and run.

The Bad

Slow start - The Husky defense allowed Oregon to drive for half of the entire first quarter and get a score, the offense was sluggish until Pettis’ return TD, Vizcaino missed a field goal, and the Ducks were driving again until the Benoit fumble. Another case of a game where a better team would have put the Huskies in a hole or set up another Arizona State scenario if the offense never found its way.

Early penalties - Two false starts by Andrew Kirkland were killer, the personal foul on Ezekiel Turner on Bierria’s fumble return was catastrophic, and a holding penalty by Luke Wattenberg took away a huge passing play when the game was tight. These played a part in the slow start and would have been deadly in a tight game.

Missed targeting on Browning - I have no idea how the officials missed Jimmie Swain teeing off on Browning after the play, helmet-to-helmet. Completely inexcusable in a world where we have to live with Greg Gaines falling at Josh Rosen’s ankles as a personal foul. Should have been 15 yards and an ejection.

The Unknown

Problems solved, or competition that bad? The Husky offense has progressed quite a bit since the Arizona State debacle, but at home, against questionable defenses. Has the Husky offense fixed some passing, blocking, and rushing issues, or is it more about how bad Oregon and UCLA are?

Offensive line set? Is the set of Wattenberg at left tackle and Kirkland at left guard here to stay? I would think so. I also think it sets up nicely to hold up for the rest of the season in hopes that one of the Henrys (Bainivalu or Roberts) steps into Kirkland’s vacated spot next year.

Jake Browning back? Browning just looked to have more swagger...maybe Oregon just brings it out of him. Is Browning going to be confident, accurate, and energetic going forward?

How injured is Bryce Love? Love sat out two weeks ago and then had his worst game of the season against a Cougar run defense that was fresh off getting shredded by Arizona’s attack. I’m not sure how much was Love’s injury and how much was WSU’s defensive performance. I’m sure Love is definitely at least banged up, but I’m very curious as to how banged up and how much it will affect him against the Huskies.

Short week effects? The Huskies have to travel on a short week to Palo Alto for Friday. Will it play a factor? How about Stanford coming off a tough road trip Saturday and the Huskies coasting against Oregon?