On an unseasonably warm night, the Oregon football team started predictably slow against Washington State; but it only took a single slow offensive series for the Ducks to find their footing. Anthony Brown made plays with his legs early as Oregon marched 75-yards on their second possession to take the early 7-0 lead. Travis Dye capped the drive with a 1-yard dive as the Ducks established their offensive identity early.
After an early 70-yard pass gave Washington State some early momentum, the Oregon defense clamped down and forced two turnovers in the first quarter en route to two early scores and the early 14-0 lead. Verone McKinley set the tone on the third defensive stand for the Ducks with an interception to set up the 4-play, 40-yard drive capped by the 11-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Brown to Travis Dye.
A strange thing happened on the way to easy victory tough; Travis Dye fumbled the ball away to Washington State inside the 50-yard line to give the Cougars a breath of life with just under nine minutes left in the first half. It was that kind of mistake the Cougars needed to get back into the game and they did just that with a 5-play, 46-yard drive to close the game to 14-7 with 6:52 left in the first half.
Despite the early offensive fireworks, the Cougars dominated most of the half offensively controlling the tempo and structure of the second quarter outgaining Oregon 137 to 28 yards to tie the game 14-14 just before halftime.
The second quarter version of the Oregon football team looked nothing like a number three team in the nation and looked a lot more like the team that lost to a woefully inept Stanford team. Despite the sluggish second quarter, Oregon would get the kickoff to start the second half; a big return by Mykael Wright would lead to a quick score to retake the lead, but the Ducks would struggle once again to contain the Cougar passing game as the third quarter began to look like this game might become a shootout – but the Duck defense got a stop to force the punt and went to work.
Though Brown did not have his best game as a passer, his RPO game solidified the Duck offense as the sixth-year senior led Oregon with 123 yards on 17 carries for the game.
Pinned inside the 5-yard line with just under ten minutes left in the third quarter, the Ducks would march 91-yards on 13-plays but settle for a field goal to extend their lead over the Cougars to 24-14 with 2:54 left in the quarter.
After rushing for over 200 yards a week ago against rival Washington, the Ducks started slow before they began to establish the run game with dominant interior blocking in the second half as Oregon tried to pull away from the pesky Cougars.
Travis Dye carried the ball far more sparingly against Washington State with just 18 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown; but Byron Cardwell added balance on the evening rushing for 98 on 9 carries with two touchdowns.
A controversial fumble ruling gave Washington State life in the fourth quarter. With Anthony Brown appearing to score, the Cougars were ruled to have recovered a fumble and returned it to midfield. The play was upheld on review and the Cougars quickly moved the ball into the red-zone against a shell-shocked Oregon defense. Just when Oregon needed him the most, Kayvon Thibodeaux would step up and deliver with a second down sack of De Laura to force a third and long. After a timeout, the Oregon crowd roared as the defense forced a field goal.
The Ducks would strike back with a 5-play, 66-yard drive capped by Byron Cardwell’s 27-yard touchdown run to extend the Oregon lead to 31-17 with just 5:52 left in the game. An errant thrown by de Laura would seal the game for the Ducks as Bryan Addison returned the interception 23 yards to set up Oregon at the WSU 32-yard line with 3:53 left in the game. Byron Cardwell would cap the scoring with another touchdown – this time from 22 yards out to give Oregon its final margin of victory.
With the win Oregon moves to 9-1 overall and 7-1 in conference play with a huge match-up next week at Utah. While Oregon is almost a lock to make the Pac-12 Conference Championship Game, there is a lot left to play for as Mario Cristobal’s squad has a chance to get to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014 when former Oregon Heisman Trophy winning quarterback led the Ducks to the national championship game which they eventually lost to Ohio State.
Coincidentally, it was a victory over Ohio State earlier this season which vaulted Oregon into the discussion for the post-season. But the Ducks must take care of business on the road in a hostile, high-altitude environment next week if they want to make some post-season noise.
