Washington v. Oregon Predictions, Spread & Betting Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd on August 26, 2008

The Washington Huskies head to Eugene, Oregon to take on the Oregon Ducks in a huge Pac-10 rivalry showdown on Saturday, August 30 at 10:00 EST. Justbet oddsmakers have listed the Ducks as 13-point home favorites against their conference rivals. Jimmy Boyd’s Washington/Oregon betting preview will help you handicap this contest.

Oregon already faced the challenge of replacing QB Dennis Dixon and running back Jonathan Stewart and now they will have to do without this season’s projected starting QB in the season opener. That means the 21st ranked Ducks will have to depend on sophomore QB Justin Roper to lead them to victory in the season opener. Roper was announced as starter after it was announced that projected starter Nate Costa would miss eight to 10 weeks with knee surgery. Roper is not a complete virgin though. He played in four games a season ago, including Oregon’s Sun Bowl win over South Florida when he threw four touchdown strikes. For Oregon’s sake, hopefully that is the Roper they will see. Otherwise, Dixon will become more missed than ever.

The Ducks return six offensive starters from a unit which averaged 467.5 yards per game and helped them post a 9-4 mark on the season. While Dixon and Stewart are off to the NFL, several stars remain, including center Max Unger, wide receiver Jaison Williams, and tailback Jeremiah Johnson. The Ducks return seven defensive starters, including Pac-10 sack champion Nick Reed.

If Oregon hopes to have a chance at competing for a Pac-10 title, they can’t afford to lose to a Washington team which is considered to be a middle-of-the-pack team at best. But with the pressure on head coach Tyrone Willingham to win to keep his job, you can bet his troops will not be going down without a fight. Washington went just 4-9 last season and 2-7 in the Pac-10 to fall to just 11-25 in three season’s under the highly touted Willingham. Washington’s success will largely fall on the shoulders of premier QB Jake Locker. Few QB’s in the country are as athletic as this dual-threat signal caller. As a freshman, Locker broke the Pac-10 rushing mark for QB’s with 986 yards and 13 touchdowns. Adding 2,062 yards through the air, he accounted for 59 percent of Washington’s offensive yardage. The Huskies are a much younger team than the Ducks with 10 projected freshman and sophomore starters, but the Huskies always get hyped up for this big conference rivalry matchup. Oregon has won four straight games over the Huskies in this series and three straight in Eugene. A big win here by the Huskies would get them off to a strong start and could be enough to save Willigham’s job if they don’t completely tank the rest of the season. We know the Huskies will be able to score as they put up 34 points on the Ducks last season, but the question will be if the defense will be able to stop Oregon. It should have a much better chance with the versatile Nate Costa having to sit out the opener.

Important trends to consider:

The Favorite is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 meetings.
Huskies are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 meetings.
The Under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Oregon.
The Over is 6-1 in Huskies last 7 conference games.

Remember to take a look at our live college football odds comparison’s before deciding where to place your bets this weekend.

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