Oregon preparing for hostile Washington environment in rivalry with playoff stakes

November 28, 2025

EUGENE — The importance of the rivalry between Oregon and Washington is never lost on Dan Lanning. When the fourth-year coach is on the recruiting trail and interacting with fans and donors during the offseason, the game is the first topic of conversation.

Lanning lost his first three meetings with the Huskies, who were coached by Kalen DeBoer at the time, and got his first win in the rivalry at Autzen Stadium last season, when Jedd Fisch made his debut coaching in the series.

“It’s one that I struggled with early on when I was here, to start,” Lanning said. “They had some success against us. It means a lot to me. It’s one that I want to have success in. … You see a complete team and then two fan bases which don’t like each other, which makes it fun.”

The 118th meeting in the series has significant stakes as the No. 6 Ducks (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) are looking to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff, and potentially the Big Ten Championship game, while the Huskies could play the role of spoiler while improving their bowl positioning.

CBS analyst Gary Danielson said the upside of hosting a first-round playoff game would be a big advantage for Oregon, which would be at least “at risk” of missing the 12-team field with a loss.

“If you want to win the championship, which is the goal for Oregon, this game is just as important to them as if it was a play-in game,” Danielson said. “They may get in anyway, but if they want to get to where they want to go — playing for the national championship — they have to win this game against their rival.”

Those consequences are more than enough for players to appreciate the magnitude of what they’re playing for, even if they haven’t been a part of the rivalry before or had to endure the loss in Seattle in 2023 or later in the Pac-12 Championship game.

Lanning showed the team clips from the rivalry’s past, including the 2023 game, earlier this week. The Ducks practiced inside with as much simulated crowd noise as possible to prepare for a raucous Husky Stadium.

“It’s one of the best environments that we’ll get to play in,” Lanning said. “It’s special for this game. There will be a lot of chaos within this game. It’s kind of walking into a middle of a storm; there’s calm within that chaos, right in the middle of it. We have to go attack it, be ready for that moment.”

Oregon backup center Charlie Pickard is one of just 13 Ducks who played in the 2023 regular season loss still on the roster today. He’s been telling younger teammates what it was like to experience Washington fans storming the field in celebration after the 36-33 Ducks loss.

“One of the worst feelings I’ve ever had in my career,” Pickard said. “I’m trying to reiterate that to some of these young guys here who have had so much success and haven’t been able to experience a loss like that before. It’s a very loud stadium, very imposing, very large. … Being able to reiterate that feeling of loss and standing on that field and feeling that pain after, (I’m) trying to bring that emotion up in everybody here, especially that wasn’t there in ’23.”

Dante Moore will be making his first appearance in the rivalry, as will most of Oregon’s offense, which enters the game No. 8 in scoring and No. 12 in total yards. Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. will be facing the Ducks for a second time, having made his debut as as starter in the game last season.

“I think the difference in this game is Dante can play a ‘B’ football game in a win,” Danielson said. “I don’t think that Washington has a chance this game if Demond doesn’t play his ‘A’ game. I think Oregon has a little stronger, deeper team.”

No. 6 Oregon (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) at Washington (8-3, 5-3)

When: Saturday, Nov. 29
Time: 12:30 p.m. PT
Where: Husky Stadium
TV: CBS
Stream: Watch for free when you sign up for Paramount Plus (free trial). You can also watch on DIRECTV (free trial), with Fubo (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.