Oregon Football: Can Ducks Extend Decade of Dominance vs. Washington?

When Oregon and Washington take the field at Autzen Stadium on Saturday it will have been 4,005 days since the Huskies last defeated the Ducks. It has been a "Decade of Dominance."

The date was Nov. 1, 2003. The Huskies had just completed their second consecutive victory over the Ducks in convincing fashion—a 42-10 knockout. Since then it's been all Oregon. Do you remember who was on the Huskies in 2003? Remember the name Casey Paus? How about Kenny James? Reggie Williams? Me neither.

How about Washington’s head football coach in 2003? Bueller? Bueller?

It was Keith Gilbertson. Gilbertson would be fired one year later after compiling a career record of 7-16 with the Huskies.

Needless to say, it’s been a long time since the Huskies took down the Ducks. Since 2004—the beginning of Oregon’s decade of dominance over Washington—the Ducks have compiled the seventh-best record in college football. Oregon has gone 103-31 since 2004—good for a winning percentage of 76.9. But more important to Duck fans is the team's winning percentage against their hated rivals to the north—100 percent.

Ten games. Ten victories.

Washington fans are about as tired of hearing the Ducks gloat about their decade of success as Dodger fans are of watching the Giants go to the World Series. They also won’t enjoy the fact that Oregon will be wearing throwback uniforms to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of “The Pick”—Kenny Wheaton's game-winning 97-yard interception return against Washington that propelled the Ducks to the Rose Bowl. It's one of the most important plays in the history of the Oregon program and a sore spot for fans of the Huskies.

In order to combat the continued dominance of the Oregon program, the Huskies made a huge splash in the offseason by recruiting former Boise State head coach Chris Petersen to lead the program after coach Steve Sarkisian fled town for USC. If Ducks fans aren’t scared of Petersen, they should be.

Since 2006—the year Petersen took over as head coach of the Broncos—he has compiled the best record in all of college football. Including his first six games with Washington, Petersen is 101-16 as head coach—good for a winning percentage of 86.3. Moreover, Petersen is 2-0 against the Ducks in his career as a head coach. His Broncos defeated the Ducks in Eugene in 2008 by the score of 37-32 and in Boise in 2009 by the score of 19-8.

While the Ducks are still considered the class of the Pac-12, the Huskies are on the rise and they present a very real threat to Oregon’s chances of staying in the hunt for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

With so much on the line and with this being such a heated rivalry, it begs the question: Can the Ducks continue their decade of dominance?

Here are the two things the Ducks must do to win No. 11:

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Win the Turnover Battle

The Ducks are ranked No. 5 in the country in turnover margin. You would assume that Oregon would have the edge here. You would be wrong. The Huskies are ranked No. 1 the country in turnover margin. In fact, Washington has forced 15 turnovers this season and has only turned the ball over once. The Ducks have forced 12 turnovers and have turned the ball over twice. Both quarterbacks—Cyler Miles and Marcus Mariota—have yet to throw an interception this season.

The key for the Ducks offense is going to be avoiding linebacker Shaq Thompson. Not only is Thompson being considered as a Heisman trophy candidate, but he’s also scored more defensive touchdowns (4) than almost every team in the entire country.

So far on the year the Huskies have forced 10 fumbles and five interceptions. That’s 15 total turnovers. Shaq Thompson has returned four of those for touchdowns. Four!

Simply put, he’s the 2014 version Tyrann Mathieu, aka the “The Honey Badger.” You’ll remember that Mathieu finished fifth in the Heisman vote for LSU in 2011 and was unequivocally a game-changer for the Tigers.

The key for the Ducks offense will be keeping control of the ball and avoiding Shaq Thompson at all costs. The Ducks have only turned the ball over twice this season; however, both turnovers came in their lone loss of the season to Arizona. This much is clear: If the Ducks don’t turn the ball over, they’re going to win the game.

Let’s not forget about what Oregon’s defense needs to do against Cyler Miles and company. Miles and the Washington offense have only turned the ball over once this season—a fumble against Illinois. While the Ducks defense has forced 12 turnovers this season—six interceptions and six fumble recoveries—they’re going to have to force Miles—a sophomore—into making some mistakes.

There may not be a turnover in this game with the way both offenses have been able to protect the ball. However, if Oregon manages to just get the ball one more time to Marcus Mariota it could be the difference between a tight game and a blowout.

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Let Mariota do Mariota Things

Speaking of the Heisman favorite. After two straight conference games in which the Ducks offensive line failed to allow Mariota to play from the pocket, the O-line finally got Mariota the space and protection he needed against UCLA last weekend.

In contests against Arizona and Washington, Mariota was sacked 12 times. For comparison's sake, Mariota was only sacked 18 times during the entire 2013 season and 17 times during the 2012 season.

While Mariota was still able to score eight touchdowns against Arizona and Washington State, he wasn’t able to consistently move the offense down the field and generate points. However, against UCLA—due to the return of left tackle Jake Fisher—the Ducks scored 42 points in three quarters and Mariota accounted for 285 yards—210 passing, 75 rushing—and four scores before the Ducks let off the gas early in the fourth quarter.

The motto for Oregon’s offense for the rest of the season should be to let Mariota do Mariota things. In order for Mariota to do his thing, Oregon’s O-line is going to have to produce as well as they did against a subpar UCLA defense.

The Washington Huskies defense will provide a much stiffer test for Oregon’s O-line. The Huskies rank No. 2 in the country in team sacks this year with 24—an average of four per game. Moreover, Washington has two players ranked within the top five in terms of individual sacks this season. Hau’Oli Kikaha—a senior linebacker—is ranked No. 2 in the country with 10 sacks this season. Danny Shelton—a senior defensive lineman—is ranked No. 5 in the country with seven sacks.

It’ll be Oregon’s toughest test of the season. Washington is going to bring the heat and force Mariota to make plays from the pocket with pressure coming directly at him. However, Mariota’s ability to escape the pocket will come in handy. The Oregon O-line just needs to give Mariota enough time to make the determination to scramble and offer him a lane to run through. If they can do that, the Ducks will come away with a victory.

This isn’t just another game between conference foes. This is a rivalry game and a bitter one at that.

Washington would love nothing more than to shake the Oregon monkey off their backs and ruin the Ducks' postseason aspirations in the process.

The Ducks, on the other hand, have win No. 11 in their sights and see Kenny Wheaton in their dreams.

Jason Gold is Bleacher Report’s lead Oregon writer. Follow Jason on Twitter @TheSportsGuy33.