Huard on Huskies: Why a win over No. 10 Oregon St would be huge

Nov 13, 2023, 12:03 PM | Updated: Nov 14, 2023, 10:07 am

Bralen Trice of the UW Huskies celebrates a stop against Utah on Nov. 11, 2023. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Editor, Seattle Sports

The No. 5 UW Huskies’ quest to make the College Football Playoff went through the two-time defending Pac-12 champions on Saturday, and the Dawgs made it out with their perfect 10-0 record intact.

Huard: How No. 5 UW Huskies are having best season since ’91

With just a few games left to go, that should be a relief, right? Not so much.

Following the 35-28 win over Utah, the Huskies now have to get ready for the new No. 10 team in the country – Oregon State. And the 8-2 Beavers are going to have an ax to grind when Washington comes to Corvallis this weekend.

“Everybody will be on tilt Saturday night,” said Seattle Sports’ Brock Huard, a former UW Huskies quarterback who was in the FOX broadcast booth for Washington’s win over Utah. “… For me, Oregon State’s the most dangerous (of Washington’s remaining opponents) because they’re a lot like Utah. They’re incredibly physical. They’re gonna run the ball, and maybe even run it better. Their 1,000-yard running back is better – (Damien) Martinez – than the Utah guys are. And Jonathan Smith is a tremendous coach, and you’re going to be in their environment.”

Where things really get interesting is what the Pac-12 title will represent this year. It’s the last year of the conference as we know it, with every school except Oregon State and Washington State having found new conferences for next season. That means a win on Saturday at home over the Big Ten-bound Huskies would be incredibly symbolic for the Beavers.

“It would mean a lot to be the champion in the final year,” Huard said. “When it’s written and it’s said about this conference, ‘Who was the team that won the very last one?’ That one will be remembered. And Oregon State doesn’t have a seat at the table. Right now, like Wazzu, they don’t know where they’re going to be next year. So the emotion, the hatred – and they point to Washington, your next two opponents do, as being one that didn’t help, didn’t throw a lifeline. That if anything kind of was with Oregon right there leaving the ship and leaving us sinking. So the emotion in that building is going to be unreal.”

A win for the Huskies, though, would be huge for those CFP hopes. Washington is still the first team on the outside looking in for the four-team playoff, but a victory at Oregon State would change that, according to Huard.

“If they do (win), they’re gonna move in the rankings the following week into No. 3 or 4,” Huard said with certainty about the Huskies. “… They’ve got three wins over top 25 teams (already). That’s more than anybody else currently.”

Listen to the full discussion in the podcast from Monday’s edition of Brock and Salk at this link or in the player near the top of this post.