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Oregon followed its first loss with an impressive win in a tough environment last weekend.
Returning home to face Washington shouldn't provide nearly as tough a challenge.
Marcus Mariota tries to lead the ninth-ranked and heavily favored Ducks to an 11th consecutive win over the Huskies as these Pac-12 rivals square off Saturday.
Oregon (5-1, 2-1) averaged 48.5 points in winning its first four games before falling 31-24 to Arizona on Oct. 2. The Ducks got back to their high-scoring ways in a 42-30 win at then-No. 18 UCLA last Saturday.
Mariota threw for 210 yards and ran for 75 while totaling four touchdowns, and true freshman Royce Freeman had a season-high 121 rushing yards and two TDs.
"I think it validates what we think of our team and the character of our team," coach Mark Helfrich said. "Those guys are competitive dudes that care a lot about each other, care a ton about the process, and knowing how they responded last week to adversity, that's huge. That will pay off down the road."
With 17 touchdowns and no interceptions, Mariota owns the highest passer rating in the FBS at 193.7. He's also rushed for 290 yards and five touchdowns, two behind Freeman for the team lead.
The Ducks were able to keep Mariota upright after surrendering 12 sacks in the previous two games. Offensive linemen Tyler Johnstone and Andre Yruretagoyena remain out with injuries, but Jake Fisher returned against the Bruins.
"For him, he was very excited to come back. He was really motivated to get out there and do his thing, and he wanted to bring everybody else along," Mariota said. "That type of thing is huge for us."
Protecting Mariota could prove especially key against a Huskies team that's tied for third in the country with 24 sacks, including an FBS-best 10 from linebacker Hau'oli Kikaha. Washington only got to Mariota once in a 45-24 defeat last Oct. 12.
Mariota finished that game 24 of 31 for 366 yards and three touchdowns, adding 88 yards and another score on the ground.
"He's probably the best dual-threat quarterback out there," Kikaha said. "Just knowing he can cut you deep by throwing the deep ball and then running it as well is nerve-wracking for pass rushers."
Oregon has taken six in a row at home in this series by an average of 28.5 points. The Ducks, who had won 28 straight against unranked opponents at Autzen Stadium before losing to Arizona, haven't dropped back-to-back games there since October 2002.
"I know how the rivalry was because when I was at Oregon it was kind of flipped in a lot of ways," said Huskies coach Chris Petersen, who was an assistant with the Ducks in the late 1990s. ''I think there are interesting rivalries in the Pac-12 with all the Northwest schools in a lot of ways."
Washington (5-1, 1-1) is on the verge of its best start since opening 7-1 in 2001, with its only loss coming 20-13 to then-No. 16 Stanford on Sept. 27. The Huskies were off the following week and bounced back with a 31-7 win at California last Saturday.
Shaq Thompson scored on a 100-yard fumble return and Cyler Miles threw for a season-high 273 yards and three touchdowns, giving him nine and no interceptions in five games.
The Golden Bears came in averaging a conference-best 50.0 points but couldn't get anything going against Washington, which gives up 21.3 per game to rank second in the Pac-12.
"This is always just about us," Petersen said. "Are we playing the best we can play? Are we making progress? And if it's yes and yes, we feel like we feel good about ourselves."
The Huskies improved to 2-0 away from home for the first time since winning their first four on the road in 1997. However, they have dropped 20 of their last 21 road matchups against Top 25 opponents, including nine straight by an average of 25.4 points.
