Early years Washington–Oregon game decided the
Northwest Conference championship and ownership of the
John Barrett Cup, with Washington winning 20–6.
Northwest Conference In
1909 the teams met in Seattle on
Thanksgiving Day for the final game of the season, with both teams undefeated in
Northwest Conference league play. California was undefeated overall, and Oregon's only loss was at undefeated
Michigan, that year's national champions. The Ducks had seven victories in the PCC to Cal's six. The winner of the PCC, as was the case for most of the Pac-12's history, played in the
Rose Bowl. Oregon, led by quarterback
Norm Van Brocklin and halfback
John McKay, opted for a playoff game, but California declined. The tiebreaker format the PCC elected to use was that the championship team be elected by the schools. The PCC had ten member schools in
1948, six in the Northwest (with
Idaho and
Montana) and four in California, so it was assumed that Oregon would be the team playing in the
Rose Bowl, as even a vote would be in their favor. Instead California was voted champion of the PCC, because Washington had persuaded Montana to vote for California, something that has not been forgotten by Oregon fans. The PCC allowed a second bowl team
that season and Oregon went to the
1949 Cotton Bowl Classic, but lost 21–13 to
Southern Methodist. California lost to
Northwestern, 20–14, in the
Rose Bowl.
1950s and 1960s All-Pacific Coast Conference fullback
Hugh McElhenny and the Huskies ran up the score on Oregon, 63–6 in 1951 in what was at the time the most lopsided score of the series. In
1962, Larry Hill of Oregon was tackled by Washington fans who had rushed onto the field at
Husky Stadium while he was trying to catch the tie-breaking touchdown on the game's final play.
1970s and 1980s In 1973, the Ducks exceeded the 57 point loss margin that the Huskies had inflicted on them back in 1951 with a 58–0 shutout in Eugene. The following season, the Huskies more than returned the favor, shutting out the Ducks 66–0 in Seattle.
Seattle Post Intelligencer columnist Bud Withers wrote that Lambright's actions "invited at least another half-century worth of bile from Oregon fans." After winning four of six over Lambright in the 1990s, the rivalry was given another boost in Oregon eyes when
Colorado head coach
Rick Neuheisel moved to Washington in
1999. At the between #12
Oregon and #7
Colorado, Neuheisel called for a fake punt while the Buffaloes led with less than five minutes left. Oregon coach
Mike Bellotti was also accused of turning Neuheisel in for recruiting during the dead period. The Ducks were 1–2 against the Huskies under Neuheisel, and the rivalry grew even more when Neuheisel celebrated by taking photos and jumping up and down on the "O" in the middle of the field after a win at
Autzen Stadium the Ducks' victory in
2000 in Eugene spoiled an otherwise undefeated season for the
Huskies, who won the
Rose Bowl and finished third in Due to Pac-10 scheduling, the teams did not meet in
2001, the first break in the rivalry since the hiatus in 1943 and 1944 due to Through
2023, Washington leads . The Huskies went from
1972 to
1993 (mostly under
Don James, but Oregon then went from
1994 through
2015. The Ducks won 12 straight from
2004 to 2015, the longest run by either team in the series; the closest margin was six points in 2015. in
2016 when the fifth-ranked Huskies won in Eugene, a game that set series scoring records for one team (70 points) and Washington followed it up with a home win Oregon ended their 2-game losing streak in the series in 2018 with a 30–27 overtime win over Washington in Eugene, the first overtime game in the rivalry's history. In the 2019 rendition in Seattle, the Ducks came back from a 14-point deficit in the 2nd half to prevail 35–31 over the Huskies. It was the 2nd consecutive meeting in which both teams were ranked, and 7th all-time. The 2020 game was canceled due to increasing
COVID-19 cases in the Washington football program.
Notable events after 1990 "The Pick" Arguably the most iconic moment in the history of the rivalry for Ducks fans happened in 1994, when Oregon freshman cornerback
Kenny Wheaton intercepted Washington quarterback
Damon Huard and returned the ball 97 yards for a touchdown with under a minute to play to seal a 31–20 upset win that snapped a five-game losing streak in the series for the Ducks and set them on course for what would become their first conference championship (and trip to the Rose Bowl) since 1957. This play, coined "The Pick", is widely credited as the turning point for the Oregon football program on their way to becoming nationally relevant in the decades that followed. It also swung momentum in the rivalry that was until then mostly dominated by the Huskies, 54–28–5, with Oregon notching a 17–4 record against Washington from The Pick until the end of The Streak. Just before kickoff of every Ducks home game, a replay of "The Pick" is shown on the
Autzen Stadium video board, always accompanied by a loud and gleeful reaction.
"The Streak" Oregon beat Washington in 12 straight games from 2004–2015, the largest winning streak in the rivalry. This streak correlated with Oregon's most successful era of football and Washington's least. The Ducks went 120–36 () over these 12 seasons, with two national championship game appearances, four conference titles, two Rose Bowl victories, and a Heisman Trophy winner. Meanwhile, the Huskies went 62–88 () including a winless 0–12 in 2008.
"The Point" and 70 point victory commemorating Washington's 2016 70-point victory. The Huskies finally snapped their losing streak in 2016 with a dominating 70–21 win over the Ducks in Eugene. This was the first time an opponent had scored 70 points in
Autzen Stadium's history, and the first time an Oregon team had allowed 70 points or more in a game since a 71–7 loss to the
Texas Longhorns in 1941. The
2016 Huskies would go on to finish the regular season 12–1, win the Pac-12 Championship, and face
Alabama in the CFP semifinal
Peach Bowl. Their win vs. Oregon was seen as a major realignment in the power ranking of the Pac-12 North. In contrast to the Huskies, Oregon would go on to finish the season 4-8, resulting in head coach
Mark Helfrich being fired at the end of the season. This gesture became known as "The Point" after sideline photographs of the play
went viral across social media during and after the game.
2023: Top 10, Top 5, and the last Pac-12 crown First ever Top 10 matchup The 2023 matchup between AP No. 7
Washington and No. 8
Oregon was the first ever where both teams were ranked within the top ten of the AP Poll. In front of a sold out
Husky Stadium, Washington defeated Oregon 36–33 in what was immediately considered one of the greatest games in the history of the rivalry. Despite having stopped two red zone fourth down conversion attempts by Oregon, Washington trailed by four with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. After Oregon failed to convert another fourth down to end the game, Washington's quarterback
Michael Penix Jr. connected with receiver
Rome Odunze for a game-winning touchdown after a drive spanning just two plays. With four seconds on the clock and one timeout remaining, Oregon kicker Camden Lewis missed a 43 yard field goal attempt, giving the Huskies the three-point win.
Final Pac-12 Championship and first Top 5 matchup The
2023 Pac-12 Football Championship Game, the last before the collapse of the traditional
Pac-12 Conference as a result of the
2021–2024 NCAA conference realignment, was a seasonal rematch between No. 3 Washington (12–0) and No. 5 Oregon (11–1). Oregon's sole loss had been the earlier road defeat to Washington, and they had looked dominant in the second half of the season. Washington, while remaining undefeated, had won all its games by ten points or fewer throughout October and November. The Ducks thus entered this December 1st game as the betting favorite. Adding even more suspense to this final Pac-12 Championship played between two rivals, it was widely predicted before the game that the winner would go to the four-team
College Football Playoff. Washington's offense caught the Ducks by surprise early in the game, jumping out to a 20–3 lead, before the Ducks, led by quarterback
Bo Nix, responded with 21 straight points. After a series of turnovers, the momentum swung back in the Huskies' favor. Washington came back to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win the game 34–31 after a key first down by running back
Dillon Johnson allowed them to run out the clock.
Michael Penix Jr. received the Pac-12 Championship MVP. This was the first and last
Pac-12 Football Championship Game to be played between the rivals. ==Game results==