Scouting Oregon before Washington's rivalry matchup

Washington is not going to announce a starting quarterback for Saturday’s game, which is a particularly prudent decision given the way Oregon forces quarterbacks to get off schedule. If the Huskies do start Will Rogers, the offensive line holding up to prevent Harmon and Uiagalelei from getting home will be crucial in keeping the senior on time to deliver throws to Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson, both of whom should be able to create some opportunities when the Ducks get into man coverage.

If Washington instead turns to Williams, the Huskies will have to keep tabs on edge rusher Teitum Tuioti (jersey No. 44), who was tasked with tracking Locke two weeks ago against Wisconsin. Locke is a mobile quarterback, and the Badgers run a fair amount of zone read and RPOs, which would be a bigger part of the playbook with Williams in, but Tuioti has the wheels to run down quarterbacks on those plays if they keep the ball. Oregon does a good job of making sure that he’s the edge defender on the read side of those option plays as well.

Whoever is at quarterback, Washington needs to trust Boston, who has been held under 50 receiving yards in four of his last five games. Opposing defenses are rightly putting more attention on the sophomore, but Oregon’s defense is constructed perfectly for Boston to create opportunities – he’s a proficient deep route runner, whether on a go or a post, and has won plenty of slants this season that should provide underneath options.

On the ground, Wisconsin found a ton of success running outside zone and counter two weeks ago, especially on a second half drive that included ten straight rushes and concluded with a field goal after 16 plays. On that drive, the Badgers did a better job of getting a blocker to the second level and onto a linebacker, but Wisconsin’s running back was also seeing the play perfectly and making excellent cuts nearly every time. Washington will need a similar showing from Jonah Coleman, who just carved up an excellent UCLA defense to the tune of 95 yards and 2 touchdowns with a very similar blueprint.