"There's only one thing worse than a Beaver, and it's a Husky": what the UW rivalry means to Oregon's players, coaches

T.J. Bass wouldn’t go so far as to admit that he grew up a Washington fan. But it’s fair to say he was Huskies-adjacent.

A Deming (Wash.) native, Bass grew up 100 miles north of the UW campus. The Huskies were the closest thing he had to a hometown team, and he frequently attended games with family and friends.

When he emerged as one of the top junior college prospects in the country in 2019, Bass was courted by a who’s who of Power 5 programs. Oregon, Auburn, Arizona State, UCLA, and countless others extended offers.

Bass was tabbed by 247Sports as the No. 21 JUCO player in his class after a standout freshman season at Butte College in northern California.

But Washington never came calling.

“They had too much academic prowess for a JUCO guy, I guess,” Bass, the Ducks’ all-conference left tackle, said with a wry smile.

At the time, Chris Petersen was Washington’s head coach, and current Huskies’ offensive line coach Scott Huff was in the same role. They added four OL signees in the 2019 recruiting cycle, but never offered Bass.

Does that still bother him? Bass pauses for a moment before responding with another slight smile.

“I’m happy to be here,” Bass said. “Let’s just say that.”

It goes without saying that Bass is plenty familiar with what “hate week” means to the fans of both programs. He doesn’t need to rely on the recruiting snub from UW’s coaching staff for motivation, he says, because the opportunity the No. 6-ranked Ducks have in front of them at the moment is enough to keep him locked in.

But it would be impossible to ignore the regional significance of Saturday’s matchup. All week long, Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning blared the UW fight song — “Bow Down to Washington” — during practice to keep Saturday’s matchup at the forefront of his players’ minds.

“We’re doing what we can during practice to make sure that doesn’t get played in our stadium,” Oregon offensive lineman Ryan Walk said.

Walk grew up in Eugene and attended nearby Sheldon High School. He was front and center during a period in which Oregon dominated the rivalry to the tune of 12 straight wins from 2004-15.

“There’s only one thing worse than a Beaver, and it’s a Husky,” Walk said. “That’s what my dad taught me when I was young.

“It means a lot in the community to all the Duck fans. There’s a lot of good memories watching the Ducks play the Huskies growing up.”

In the 121-year history of the rivalry, Washington has notched 60 wins and Oregon has won 48 times. There have been five ties.

The Ducks have narrowed the gap during the 21st century. They are riding a three-game winning streak that includes a 26-16 thriller on a rainy night in Seattle last season.

Only four current Ducks were with the program in 2017 when Washington beat Oregon 38-3: Walk, Alex Forsyth, Cam McCormick and Popo Aumavae.

McCormick was around in 2016, too, when the Huskies ran the Ducks off the field in Eugene during a 70-21 blowout.

“There’s still a few dudes left,” Walk said. “To all of us who have been here a while, we understand how much it really means.

“That 2018 win was monumental to turn that around. Like, they’re not just going to dominate us. They’re not going to bully us.

“We can hold our own and go in there and make it a dogfight every single year and come out and win games against them.”

Sophomore receiver Troy Franklin and sophomore tight end Moliki Matavao, both 4-star recruits in the class of 2020, received heavy interest from Washington before ultimately signing with Oregon.

This week, both players downplayed any previous affinity they had for the Huskies.

Like so many others who will take the field on Saturday, neither player has a regional connection to the rivalry. But they have become immersed in it nonetheless.

“Washington was a good school,” Matavao said. “But Oregon is a better school — the best school.”

Oregon’s roster features 24 players who grew up in the state of Oregon. There are six from the state of Washington.

But the person setting the tone for the Ducks during “hate week” is Lanning. The Missouri native rose to prominence in Georgia and, prior to this year, had never lived within 1,000 miles of Eugene.

The way Lanning has approached the rivalry, though, could leave you convinced that he is a Pacific Northwest lifer. To get there, he spent time picking the brains of some of the program’s legendary figures, including Mike Bellotti and Dan Fouts.

Lanning hit all the right notes during his weekly press conferences — without providing bulletin board material for the Huskies. When Oregon’s players begged him to turn off the UW fight song during the week, he turned it up louder.

“It’s been exciting for me, because this game means something to people,” Lanning said, “not just our players. … It means something to people outside of that arena.

“I’m excited to see our fans come up and make an impact, but also our players get out there and take care of business.”