By Jonah Bruneau
Eugene, OR - The Ducks looked to bounce back at home against the other Washington school out of the PAC-12, this time facing off with the Cougars of Washington State who were 4-2 coming in. Heading into the game as heavy favorites, Oregon was playing in front of their home crowd for the first time since September 23 when they ran Colorado out of Autzen Stadium. This battle was much closer for most of the sixty minutes, but the Ducks dominated the second half and were able to improve to 6-1 on the season with a 38-24 victory over Washington State. On a day where Oregon threw it back to the nineties "UO" green-on-yellow uniforms, Quarterback Bo Nix also officially made NCAA history by setting the highest number of games started with 54, passing Kellen Moore and Colt McCoy.
Oregon came out of the gates slow in the opening quarter, only able to tally a lone field goal in the first 15 minutes. Before the made kick, Camden Lewis had missed his first try from 47 yards out, marking the third consecutive game where Lewis has failed to convert at least one attempt. The big eye opener was the ground attack for the Ducks being stifled by Washington State, who allowed just 10 yards to Bucky Irving in the first. Jordan James never made appearance in the backfield for Oregon until the second quarter, but the fire got started for the Ducks once James finally checked in during the second. On just his third carry, James busted out a 37-yard run deep into Cougar territory which soon led to the Ducks' first endzone trip of the day: A Bucky Irving two yard run. From there, the pivotal and electrifying run attack that Oregon faithful have become accustomed to seeing returned. Irving ended up with 15 touches, going for 129 rushing yards and two touchdowns and another through the air, along with Jordan James' 13 carries for 103 yards.
As for Nix, his Heisman-like numbers stayed on track as he went 18 of 25 through the air with 293 yards and two scores along with a goal line touchdown run. Tez Johnson had the most receptions for Nix with six, accumulating 94 yards and a Randy Moss-like 17-yard touchdown grab that really put the game out of reach for Washington State in the middle of the fourth quarter.
For the Cougars, Quarterback Cameron Ward had a very solid performance and was a crucial factor as to how Washington State kept it a close game for at least one half. Ward threw for a big 438 yards, going 34 for 48 with a touchdown and zero turnovers. His leading target was Lincoln Victor by a wide margin. He reeled in 16 catches for 160 yards and was seemingly unguardable for much of the contest. Victor missed two games against Oregon State and UCLA due to a high-ankle injury, so the Cougars and Head Coach Jake Dickert had to have been ecstatic from the production of their Senior wideout.
The Cougars drop to 4-3 with the loss, extending their losing streak to now three, and will get ready to head south to the desert for a match-up against a struggle Arizona State team.
The now 6-1 Ducks meanwhile will head to a raucous Rice-Eccles Stadium next weekend to take on a top-25 Utah team, a game that could very well create a massive shake-up not only in the PAC-12 standings, but across the College Football Playoff and New Year's Six bowl picture as well.
Audio Story - By Liam Baker