After a gritty road victory over Washington a week ago, Oregon entered the night with a commanding lead in the North Division of the Pac-12 but facing a particularly vexing nemesis as the Air Raid offense has been a thorn in the side of the Oregon football program through three different head coaches.

From the outset, the team looked disheveled, bewildered, and undisciplined. There were some bright moments in a first half that would see Oregon take a lead, miss an extra point, score a two point conversion, score a defensive touchdown, score on a touchdown run of 89-yards and still somehow find themselves tied at 17 heading into half time. The Ducks sorely missed their defensive leader as Troy Dye was ruled out just before game time and that seemed to affect the psyche of the team.

CJ Verdell rushed just 8 times in the first half, but thanks to his 89-yard jaunt, had 148 total for the half. Despite that gaudy number, the Ducks could not get much else going on offense as Penei Sewell and the Oregon offensive line struggled to protect Justin Herbert allowing three sacks in the first half alone.

With both side of the ball struggling and a home loss looming, the Ducks came out strong to start the second half with a three-and-out on defense and then began a methodical drive down the field riding the legs of Verdell and the accuracy of Herbert’s arm to take a 24-17 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Oregon defense still found few answers for the Air Raid in the second half. After an initial stop on the first drive – aided mostly by an errant snap over Cougar quarterback Anthony Gordon’s head – the Ducks struggled to close down the middle of the field and Washington State drove to the Oregon five yard line. A stop for a field goal kept the score close at 24-20 late in the third quarter.

But the day belonged to Verdell who carried the team on his back with 23 carries on the evening for 257 yards and 3 touchdowns. After several solid games, Verdell had his best game as a Duck; his longest run as a Duck; most total yards and was also an effective receiver with 4 catches for 56 yards. His third rushing touchdown of the night gave Oregon a 31-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Oregon did just enough to earn the lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the absence of their emotional leader, safety Jevon Holland took the mantle recording 6 tackles as well as a big interception in the first half that stopped a Cougar drive and gave the Ducks an emotional boost with the return for a touchdown.

Gordon would finish the game completing 32 of 50 passes for 406 yards and 3 touchdowns. Easop Winston, the leading receiver for Washington State coming in, was stifled by the Duck defense, but Brandon Arconado filled the void with 9 catches for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns to keep the Cougars to within a touchdown with just over six minutes left in the game.

With the game still in doubt as Oregon took over at the six-minute mark, a perfect swing pass took the Ducks into Washington State territory where the Ducks ran controlled passes and runs to milk the clock and keep the ball out of Gordon’s hands as much as possible.

The Ducks punted on fourth-and-six with just over three minutes left in regulation setting up a dramatic finish that would require the Cougars to drive 90 yards to win the game. With only one timeout left the Cougars were facing a monumental challenge in an Autzen Stadium filled to capacity for the first time this season. With one big 48-yard pass, the Cougars set themselves up in the redzone with just under two minutes left.

The Ducks would force a fourth down but were unable to stop Washington State. Arconado scored his second touchdown on a five-yard slant to give the Cougars a late one-point lead with exactly one minute on the clock.

The Ducks took the ensuing kickoff to the 40-yard line. Needing just a field goal to win, the Ducks had two timeouts and a quarterback considered to be a potential top-10 pick in next year’s NFL Draft. Three quick completions took Oregon to the Washington State 33-yard line with 34 seconds left in the game.

The Ducks then pushed the ball into field goal range with a big 24-yard pass to Juwan Johnson. With just three seconds left on the clock Camden Lewis stepped in and drilled a 26-yard field goal to give Oregon a thrilling 37-35 win. The victory snapped Washington State’s four game win streak against Oregon and kept the Ducks alive for the Pac-12 North Division title and a spot in the conference championship game.

The Ducks (7-1, 5-0) will head to Los Angeles next Saturday to face USC (5-3, 4-1) at the Coliseum.