Oregon's streak of 23 straight home wins ended as they lost 37-34 to Washington Saturday night November 12th in Autzen Stadium.
The loss dropped Dan Lanning's squad out of first place in the PAC-12 Conference, out of the race for a playoff spot, and out of college football's Top Ten. They had climbed to number six with eight straight wins after an embarrassing opening game loss to Georgia, 49-3.
It was a brutal game. The Ducks lost despite out-gaining the Huskies 592-522. They lost despite cranking out 32 first downs and 312 yards rushing. For Oregon it was a game of lost opportunities, failed possessions in the Red Zone, gambles that didn't pan out and a porous pass defense.
After the game Dan Lanning said, "This 100% falls on me." Duck fans can be sure that whatever lessons can be taken from losing both rivalry games in the new head coach's first year, he's examined and reassessed them 100%.
For one thing, the Ducks went out in the off season and completely revamped their defense, adding Khyree Jackson, Tysheem Johnson and Evan Williams to the secondary, moving safety Jamal Hill to linebacker to improve underneath coverage, picking up Edge Rusher Jordan Burch from South Carolina to improve the pass rush, and adding two mobile linebackers, Jestin Jacobs from Iowa and Connor Soelle from Arizona State, all from the transfer portal.
Some of the talent in the 2023 recruiting class should help immediately also. Edge Rusher Matayo Uiagalelei, 6-6,275, has the mature body and agility to play right away, a 5-star recruit from St. John Bosco High in Bellflower, California. In the secondary, Cole Martin, Kodi DeCambra and Rodney Pleasant all have four-star talent. All three should push the veterans ahead of them towards more accountability while contributing immediately on special teams, another area where the Ducks suffered in 2022.
Last November Michael Penix found easy pickings in the Oregon secondary. He torched them for 408 yards passing, dialing up backbreaking big plays whenever he needed them. With 3:07 left to go in the game trailing 34-27, the Huskies faced third and seven on their own 38. Penix found wide receiver Taj Davis wide open on the left sideline, lasered an absolute strike as senior safety Bennett Williams took a bad angle and gave up an easy 62-yard touchdown.
Asked about the play after the game, Lanning graciously said, “We had a guy that looked like he was right there, didn’t make a play on the ball, we’ve got to get better at playing the ball in that situation. I don’t think it’s one thing here or there, just some moments we have to go and evaluate.”
Midway through the third quarter Washington's Ja'Lynn Polk got behind the coverage for a 76-yard touchdown. For the game Penix was 4-4 for 88 yards on third down, for three first downs and the Davis touchdown. On the first series of the game he faced 3rd and 14, broke out of the pocket and scrambled for 15 yards and a first down. The defense didn't have the will or the talent to stop him.
Coaching decisions also figured in the loss. On their second possession trailing 10-3, the Ducks drove 65 yards to the Washington 4-yard-line, third and one. Offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham called a bizarre Swinging Gate play where the Ducks spread wide all over the field and then hurriedly assembled in a power formation with Nix taking a direct snap from center. The timing was off, the snap fell on the ground and Washington recovered, no points on a 65-yard drive and a huge momentum swing to the visitors.
After the Oregon defense produced its only three and out of the game Washington punted from the end zone, giving the Quack Attack great field position at the UW 47. Bucky Irving ran for 14, then 8. Irving took the ball again off the left side for three yards and another first down. On third and 5, Bo Nix kept and ran for 7, then kept again for a 10-yard touchdown to tie the score at 10-10 with 4:03 to play in the first half.
On the ensuing kickoff the Ducks tried an onside kick which the Huskies recovered easily. That led to a go-ahead field goal, 13-10.
In the fourth quarter leading 31-27 Nix and the Oregon offense put together a 20-play drive that took 10:23 off the clock. They reached the Washington 10 but then stalled. On third and five Nix ran a keeper to the left side, a similar play to the one he scored on in the first half. This time Dawg safety Alex Cook easily smelled it out and stuffed it after a two-yard gain, driving his helmet directly into Nix's lower leg.
Oregon had to settle for a field goal, and Nix would be hobbled for the rest of the season.
After Penix's long TD throw tied it at 34-34, the Ducks got the ball with three minutes to play at their own 25. With Nix getting examined on the sideline little-used redshirt freshman Ty Thompson took over at quarterback. He handed off three times, each play going for three yards.
On 4th and 1 from own 34, Lanning elected to go for it. The Ducks ran left. Washington got a tremendous surge inside and Noah Whittington slipped for a one-yard loss, a turnover on downs.
Four plays and 35 seconds later, Peyton Henry connected on a 43-yard field goal that gave Washington a 37-34 lead and the victory.
Nix came back into the game for a desperation drive in the final minute, but the Ducks ran out of time after reaching the Washington 38.
"Our guys played the entire game, they certainly didn't quit, they didn’t throw in the towel," Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. "You have to give Washington credit; they played a complete game and we made more mistakes at the end of the game that hurt us. This game 100% falls on me. Our players gave a phenomenal effort, and I thought we shot ourselves in the foot a few times in the first half and were able to move the ball much better in the second half. That being said, we weren't able to get a stop defensively, things we have to attack going forward."
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