Chris Petersen

Washington head coach Chris Petersen greets fans as he walks through a vapor cloud before the Huskies played Stanford in Seattle on Sept. 27. The No. 9 Oregon Ducks -- the program Petersen used to work for -- now host the Huskies.

(Elaine Thompson/The Associated Press)

EUGENE -- During Chris Petersen's tenure as Oregon's receivers coach, the Ducks won four of six rivalry matchups against the Washington Huskies, by an average margin of just over four points.



When Petersen arrived in 1995 on Mike Bellotti's first coaching staff, the Huskies were a power with a share of the 1991 national championship and the Ducks were upstarts whose stunning '94 Rose Bowl run was helped by a certain interception against the Huskies that snapped a five-game losing streak to UW.



"I know how the rivalry was, because when I was at Oregon it was kind of flipped in a lot of ways," Petersen said Monday, ahead of Washington's trip to No. 9 Oregon on Saturday in Autzen Stadium.



"Was" is a key word. The rivalry hasn't been very close ever since he left.

He'll try to change that Saturday when he returns as Washington's head coach.



Once Petersen departed after the 2000 season for Boise State -- where he and his 92-12 record as head coach would become the object of many fans' desires during annual coaching searches -- Oregon has won 10 of the 12 matchups against the rival Huskies. The average score: 43-18.

"Yeah, when somebody wins a lot, I know it frustrates a lot of people," Petersen said.

Meanwhile, Petersen went 2-0 against the Ducks as Boise State head coach. The Broncos' 37-32 win in Autzen Stadium in 2008 remains Oregon's only non-conference loss at home since 2004. The Broncos followed that with a win in 2009 that left Chip Kelly's head coaching debut with a loss.

"It was a long time ago," Petersen said of the 2009 game. "I just know the kids played hard. Two good teams going at it. ... I don't remember the details other than guys played really, really hard and effective."



Petersen's personal winning streak against Oregon will be used as reasons for positivity in Washington this week, because little else has worked in the past 10 years with UO ripping off 10 straight wins.

Yes, much has changed ever since Kenny Wheaton's "The Pick" on Damon Huard in 1994, which prompted a sea change in the border battle toward Oregon's direction.

Yet in his first time stepping back into the border battle since 2000, Petersen noted that for all of the upheaval in the Northwest's power structure, Oregon's core remains relatively intact even as the Ducks' profits, amenities and national profile have raised.

Petersen's six-season run in Eugene overlapped with many coaches who remain on Oregon's staff, from Gary Campbell (running backs), Don Pellum (linebackers, now defensive coordinator), Steve Greatwood (defensive line, now offensive line), Mark Helfrich (graduate assistant, now head coach) and Tom Osborne (special teams and tight ends).

"I just think they've stuck to the process," Petersen said. "Those are the same coaches. Half that staff were the same guys that were there when I was there. They're really good people, first and foremost. They're really good coaches. They've got really good support there.

They've never said, 'Hey, we're good. We have this building, we're good. We have this stadium, we're good.' They're always trying to figure out how to get better. It's not any one thing. It's this on top of that. They stack things, and they get good players that are good kids, and this is what happens."

When Petersen was hired in December from Boise State, Bellotti

who didn't get enough credit for Oregon's record-breaking offensive season in 1998, and Helfrich as a graduate assistant who hit it off well with Petersen.

ever since their last season working together, in 2000 at Boise State.

"He's a good guy," Petersen said of Helfrich. "A really good guy."

He went on to add that when he's studied the film of Oregon, he's seen a really good team, one he called an "elite team in the country."

"How are we going to play?" Petersen said. "If we're not extremely ... playing our best football we've played all year, have as much attention to detail as we've had all year, play as hard as we've played all year, we're not going to have a chance. So it comes back to us. So it doesn't necessarily have to do with anything in the past. It comes down to playing good football."

-- Andrew Greif |