EUGENE -- On Nov. 9, 1997, a 21-point underdog Oregon Ducks team went to Husky Stadium and upset sixth-ranked Washington in a win still remembered by UO fans for how stunning, and sweet, it was.

Twenty years later, the Ducks are preparing for a trip to Seattle Saturday in which they will again be huge underdogs to a highly-ranked Washington team.

When betting lines opened Sunday in Las Vegas, Chris Petersen's 12th-ranked Dawgs were favored to beat UO by 26 points, according to Vegas Insider.

According to OddsShark, that is the largest Oregon has been an underdog since 2004, when it faced Oklahoma as a 27 1/2-point dog.

Oregon (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) is coming off a 41-20 win against Utah that snapped a three-game losing streak. That skid overlapped with the absence of starting quarterback Justin Herbert, who fractured the collarbone on his non-throwing side Sept. 30. Herbert watched the victory against Utah in full uniform but did not play.

"I think if we needed to play Justin, he could have played," UO coach Willie Taggart said. "Not one doctor told me he couldn't play."

Washington (7-1, 4-1), which ended a 13-game losing streak to UO with a 70-21 win last season en route to the College Football Playoff, beat UCLA in Seattle on Saturday, 44-23.

Kickoff in Seattle is 7 p.m. and will be carried on Fox Sports 1.

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com