The Ducks are Prepared to Face a Wet and Hostile Environment in Washington This Weekend

With a 90 percent chance of rain and a 100 percent chance of noise, the Ducks are doing what they can in practice this week to get ready for the hostility in Washington.

The rain was falling down on a cool, 55-degree morning in Eugene on Wednesday, and the Oregon Ducks were out in it, pumping loud decibels of crowd noise onto the practice field. 

They are in the midst of preparation for a top-25 matchup against the Washington Huskies on Saturday, where temperatures are expected to stay in the low 50's, and there is a 90% chance of rain throughout the day. The field will be wet, the crowd will be loud, and the environment will be hostile. That's not easy to deal with unless you've experienced it before. 

Unfortunately for the Ducks, few of their star players have experienced life on the road in Washington. Senior quarterback Justin Herbert was held out of Oregon's last game in Husky Stadium with a collarbone injury, and skill position players like Jaylon Redd, CJ Verdell, Mycah Pittman, and Juwan Johnson weren't on the team. To make up for that lack of knowledge for what it's like to play in a heated rivalry game away from your home crowd, the Ducks are doing what they can this week to bring that environment to Eugene, and make sure that their players get a sense for what's in front of them. 

While rain is nothing new for a Duck, it acts as just another element that they will have to deal with. The offense will be forced to operate largely in silence, as any verbal cues will be hard to communicate due to the crowded airwaves in Seattle, but that's something that Oregon is used to. While they usually have the advantage of playing with the crowd in their favor at home, the defense is forced to deal with the noise, so crowd noise being pumped into the practice facility is a regular thing, as one side of the ball will always have to deal with the increased decibels. 

It may be true that it never rains in Autzen Stadium, but it was coming down hard on the Ducks' practice Wednesday morning, and it will likely continue into the weekend while Oregon flies up north. This time around, they're doing what they can in order to be prepared.