OREGON 0/0/17/3 - 20
WASHINGTON ST 7/20/0/7 - 34
PULLMAN, WASHINGTON - A week after upsetting Washington at Autzen stadium, the Ducks were upset themselves by No. 25 Washington State on the road at a raucous Martin Stadium. The Cougar fans let the the Fireball flow early as College GameDay made their long awaited debut in Pullman. Oregon nearly came back from a 27-0 deficit, but a late touchdown pass from Gardner Minshew to Dezmon Patmon sealed the fourth consecutive victory against the Ducks for Mike Leach’s Cougars .
The Duck defense bent but did not break on the Cougar’s opening possession, allowing grad-transfer quarterback Gardner Minshew to reach the Oregon 11, but on third-and-9 Deommodore Lenoir ended the drive with an interception at the 5-yard line. Despite starting the game with a victory from the defense, Justin Herbert and the Oregon offense found no momentum in the first half of the game; back-to-back bad snaps doomed the offense’s first drive. They had three three-and-outs, they punted on their first four drives, and only managed to pass midfield on their final possession of the half which ended at the Wazzu 46 with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-2.
Amid Oregon’s offensive troubles, Minshew had the Cougar air raid running like a well-oiled machine. James Williams scored the opening points off a 24-yard touchdown run, then Minshew, the mustachioed quarterback, threw touchdown passes of 16, 6, and 15 yards to Renard Bell, Easop Winston, and Max Borghi, respectively. This was all made easier by an influx of missed tackles from the Duck defense.
Each touchdown came after an Oregon punt, and outside of Minshew’s early interception and a missed point-after by Blake Mazza, Washington State looked like the clear victors on a day in which they felt destined to win. Wazzu went into the half having outgained Oregon 295 to 39, but the Ducks used a gutsy call in the fourth quarter to spark a comeback bid that fell just short of shocking the home team.
A couple of passes to tight end Jacob Breeland helped jump-start Oregon’s opening possession of the second half by picking up 20 and then 27 yards. Cristobal elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Wazzu 8-yard line, and Herbert rewarded him by scoring the Ducks’ first touchdown of the night with an 8-yard keeper. Jim Leavitt’s defense fueled the momentum by forcing the opposing offense into their first three-and-out of the matchup, and again, Herbert and the Oregon rushing attack were able to add points to the board, though this time they had to settle for an Adam Stack field goal as they were pushed back once they reached the Wazzu six-yard line.
The comeback bid was stoked even more when on the next drive Lenoir tallied his second interception of the game. Runs from Herbert and Verdell opened up the attack against the Cougar defense, and once the Ducks reached the enemy 11-yard line, Jaylon Redd caught Oregon’s first and last touchdown pass of the evening when Herbert found him alone in the corner of the end zone. Washington State was unable to disrupt Oregon’s second-half rhythm and were forced to punt from midfield early in the final quarter. Herbert led a 16-play, 74-yard drive that was capped off by a 23-yard field goal that cut the lead to seven with 6:38 remaining.
However, Washington State was able to put together a crucial touchdown drive to solidify a surprisingly tense conclusion to the game. Deep passes to Travell Harris fly down the field to the Oregon 22-yard line, and from there Minshew (who finished 39-of-51 for 323 yard, four touchdowns and two interceptions) connected with Dezmon Patmon to make it a two-score game. Herbert and the offense attempted to rally for a quick score, but a sack by Willie Taylor III on third-and-10 setup an unobtainable fourth down situation that resulted in the Cougars being able to kill the clock.
" We really weren't able to get no rhythm on the offensive side of the ball… We started to call different plays, and find gaps and open space in the defense. We just weren't able to finish it."
- Jaylon Redd
Oregon Offense (total: 328 - pass: 270 - rush: 58)
Washington St Offense (total: 400 - pass: 323 - rush: 77)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 2 - INT: 2)
Washington St Defense (forced turnovers: 0 )
UO (5-2, 2-2) WSU (6-1, 3-1)