Oregon’s fifth offensive snap came midway through the first quarter but it said plenty about the state of their big rivalry matchup against Washington that the Ducks trailed by two touchdowns at that point in the game.
Things could have been much, much worse for coach Mark Helfrich’s squad however had the Huskies not made a few minor mistakes but the visitors nevertheless went to the locker room at halftime up 35-7 in a game that wasn’t even that close.
Running back Myles Gaskin was the star of the show offensively for UW, ripping off two 65+ yard runs against the iffy Ducks defense on his way to 154 yards and a score before the whistle. His fellow sophomore in the backfield wasn’t too bad either as quarterback Jake Browning threw just three incompletions to go with his two touchdown throws.
As bad as the Oregon defense was, they didn’t receive much help from their normally prolific offense. New signal-caller Justin Herbert was picked off on his first pass as a starter but did rally late and throw a touchdown as time was winding down in the second quarter. Normally reliable tailback Royce Freeman fumbled in the red zone to hamper the bright spot of his 4.5 yards a carry.
It’s been 12 long years since Washington beat their Pacific Northwest rival but judging by how both teams played in the first half, that long streak appears to be coming to an end this week.