Sports Greatest Rivalries

While Auburn may have emerged from Monday night’s game with the crystal football, Oregon proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is an elite national program, a team that must be reckoned with year in, year out as long as head football coach Chip Kelly holds the keys to the green and yellow Lamborghini.

But go back 20 years, and the Oregon program was more of a Ford Pinto. In 1991, the Ducks were the whipping boy of the Pac-10, going 3-8 and finishing last in the conference. Meanwhile, in Montlake, Washington was on its way to a 12-0 season and a national championship. The Huskies were in the midst of a 22-game winning streak, and Washington was the most dominant program on the West Coast and the undisputed powerhouse of Northwest football.

Now, the logical follow-up question: What the hell happened? Simply put, Phil Knight and Nike.

Knight decided to turn Oregon into his own private plaything and the face of Nike’s burgeoning college football empire. To date, he has pumped roughly $300 million into the Oregon athletic department. Players follow the money, and winning follows the players.

While the Ducks were transforming themselves into the trendiest, flashiest program in the nation, the Huskies saw a decline into irrelevance unmatched by any period in their history. Marred by NCAA investigations, probation and Keith Gilbertson, the UW’s descent from college football’s pinnacle was as abrupt as an Oregon touchdown drive.

This drastic reversal of fortunes of the two Northwest rivals is best illustrated by simple wins and losses. From 1974 to 1993, the Huskies won 17 of 20 meetings with the Ducks; now, Oregon has won seven straight, the longest streak in series history.

Oregon’s rise to prominence has had undeniable effects on the UW. The Ducks’ success has shadowed the proliferation of an omnipresent national media, meaning it could not have come at a better time with regard to the improvement of their national image. The Huskies are now viewed as the little brother to their more dominant neighbors to the South — a clear change from historical precedent.

Perhaps most importantly in the realm of fandom, bragging rights in the rivalry are entrenched in Eugene, Ore. When head football coach Steve Sarkisian went on the radio and declared he would be rooting for Oregon in the championship game, the first reaction of many UW fans was horror — but really, what else could he say? Picking a fight to draw Oregonian ire would be inadvisable. The team doesn’t exactly need extra motivation next season, as seven-straight wins can attest to.

The pressure on UW football has undoubtedly risen. There is now clear and present proof that, with the right mix of coaching, innovation and benevolence, a program from the Pacific wilderness can be a player on the national scene.

It appears the Huskies may have found their man on the sideline in Sarkisian. Both his time spent at USC and developments in his tenure at the UW, such as this season’s black jerseys, show that he may have the innovation and creativity needed to plaster the Huskies all over ESPN.

As for the benevolence — um, Mr. Gates? Any plans to delve into football?

Reach sports columnist Kevin Dowd at sports@dailyuw.com.

Article source: http://dailyuw.com/2011/1/12/oregons-success-adds-more-pressure-huskies-get-bac/