Oregon’s style choices often reflect a keen sense of the program’s history, and that element was played up Wednesday when Akili Smith Jr. was chosen as one of the uniform models.
Twenty-eight years ago on November 8, 1997, his dad Akili Smith Sr. faced third and 20 with 2:39 to go in the fourth quarter, trailing the Huskies in Seattle 28-24.
Smith to Johnson connect on iconic play against a jailbreak blitz
The Huskies sent six, with single coverage on the outside. Smith Sr. hung in there and threw a pass to speedster Patrick Johnson in the right corner of the end zone. Johnson laid out for the catch and a 30-28 lead.
The point was good and the Oregon defense held on for the win in Husky Stadium. They took their third game in four seasons in the series, dominated by the Huskies 17 games to three in the 20 years prior to The Pick…