I think the game will be close, but the thing that doesn't worry me is that there's been a clear way to beat Oregon the past 2-3-4 years, and that's to slow the game down, dominate the trenches, burn the clock by running the ball on Oregon and force Oregon to have to beat you with the pass. It has taken teams like Ohio State, Stanford, LSU and Auburn to do this. Washington isn't on that level when it comes to owning the trenches, and I've yet to see a team come close to beating Oregon when they try to beat Oregon at their own game.
This game for Oregon is ultimately going to come down to Mariota and the receivers vs the Washington secondary. Wilcox likes to stack the box with 8 to stop the run. It worked very well against Stanford because Stanford isn't very explosive on the outside. That obviously isn't the case with Oregon. I'm sure Hefrich and Mariota are ready for this. Then to come back to the running game, I still have visions of Ka'Deem Carey running through tackles vs Washington and picking up 132 yards on the day, with the QB Denker rushing for 56 yards as well. I have to believe Oregon will be able to do the same thing.
I'll predict 45-28, with Oregon pulling away in the 4th. Mariota is the best player on the field and Wilcox won't have an answer.
