OREGON 7/7/14/7 - 35
WASHINGTON 7/14/10/0 - 31
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - The Ducks were down by two touchdowns in the third quarter, but were able to rally back on the road to remain undefeated in conference play. Strong performances from Justin Herbert and Cyrus Habibi-Likio helped Oregon outlast the tired Washington defense in the fourth quarter and the Duck defense came up big when it mattered most.
Oregon scored on their opening possession to go up 7 to 0. The drive appeared to be in trouble when a bad snap flew thirteen yards behind the line of scrimmage, thankfully, Justin Herbert was well trained in the art of bad-snap wrangling and was able to return it to the Washington 23, where he was hit late by Asa Turner resulting in an Oregon first down. Three plays later Herbert connected with Spencer Webb for a 12-yard touchdown.
After trading punts with the Ducks, the Huskies capitalized on advantageous field position by putting together a 13-play, 52-yard drive that finished with running back Salvon Ahmed in the end zone. Oregon went three-and-out on their next possession, then Washington found quick success with a 49-yard touchdown bomb that floated over cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. and into the hands of receiver Jordan Chin.
Oregon tied the game at 14 apiece thanks to a handful of big plays by Johnny Johnson III and CJ Verdell that set up a 16-yard screen pass to Jaylon Redd for the score. But Jacob Eason and the Huskies offense retaliated by moving the ball 75 yards in just over two minutes to reclaim the lead with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Andre Baccellia. The Ducks weren’t able to do anything with the 58 seconds left on the clock, so they went into the locker room trailing 14 to 21.
The Duck defense, which had allowed only four touchdowns against their previous six opponents, allowed their fourth touchdown of the night on the opening drive of the third quarter when the Huskies traveled 74 yards in four plays to take a 28-14 lead with a 33-yard pass to Puka Nacua. Now down by two scores, Mario Cristobal elected to stick with the ground game. Travis Dye and Cyrus Habibi-Likio split carries to pick up a combined 48 yards on a touchdown drive that concluded with three straight carries from Habibi-Likio who scored with a 14-yard run.
On the following drive, Washington was able to reach the Oregon four-yard line, but a false start forced them to settle for the field goal. The Ducks trailed by ten late in the third quarter, but once again, the strong running of Habibi-Likio allowed the team to fly down the field in a hurry, and at the Washington 36-yard line Mycah Pittman took a short pass to the end zone to cut the lead to three and end the quarter.
After Troy Dye and Jordon Scott blew up a Washington third-and-short, the Oregon offense put together the game-winning drive in the middle of the fourth. Big plays from Johnny Johnson III and Travis Dye helped the Ducks reach the Washington 27-yard line, then Habibi-Likio used four consecutive carries to reach the two-yard line, then Jaylon Redd took a short pass to the end zone to put the Ducks up 35 to 31. Jacob Eason led his team to the Oregon 35, but failed to connect with Puka Nacua on a crucial fourth-and-3.
After falling to the Huskies in 2016 and ‘17, the Ducks now had a two-game winstreak in the rivalry.
"Words cannot describe how proud we are of them. We never gave up.”
Mario Crisobal
FUN FACT: Troy Dye broke his thumb attempting to prevent Washington’s opening score, but his hatred for the Huskies fueled another great game from the star linebacker.
Oregon Offense (total: 434 - pass: 280 - rush: 154)
Washington Offense (total: 414 - pass: 289 - rush: 125)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 0)
Washington Defense (forced turnovers: 0)
UO (6-1, 4-0) UW (5-3, 2-3)