Oregon hasn’t had much luck in the Palouse lately, so when victory is within its grasp in Pullman, the Ducks aren’t going to care what it looks like.
For the first time since 2014, Oregon returned to Eugene with a 43-29 win over a pesky Washington State team.
Tyler Shough threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 81 more.
Oregon was able to run the ball almost at will against the Cougar defense, especially in the second half as the WSU defenders were more than tired.
CJ Verdell powered his way to 118 yards and a touchdown as the Ducks pounded out 269 yards on the ground.
Oregon was able to outscore the Cougars 29-10 in the second half after what could be considered a sub-par first half.
The Ducks turned the ball over three times in the first half, which led to a 19-7 WSU lead.
The Cougars’ Blake Mazza kicked a 49-yard field goal with just 24 seconds before halftime for that 12-point lead. But then momentum quickly switched sidelines as Mychal Wright returned the ensuring kickoff to the 40-yard line with 15 seconds left.
That proved to be plenty of time for Shough and Company.
The sophomore quarterback found Jaylon Redd down the right sideline for a 57-yard pass down to the Cougar three-yard line.
After a quick timeout, Verdell scored on the next play and Oregon was down just five, 19-14 at the halftime break.
Realistically, it should have been much worse for the Ducks with those turnovers, an interception and two fumbles. But the Oregon defense kept forcing field goals, keeping them in the game.
Oregon eventually took a 21-19 lead with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Travis Dye that was on the money. Besides the interception, Shough’s passes in the first half weren’t exactly on target as many of them were behind receivers.
Whatever adjustment was made at halftime, it worked. Shough’s accuracy was on point in the second half. He was 21-of-30 for the game.
Oregon took command of the game early in the fourth quarter as it completed a seven-play, 80-yard drive that ended on a two-yard touchdown pass to Johnnie Johnson III to make it 28-19.
Mazza’s third field goal made it 28-22, but Oregon quickly made it a two-score lead when Shough hit Dye on a wheel route on a thrd-and-two and the tailback did the rest, going 71 yards to the house.
The Ducks converted the two-point play to make it 36-22 with 8:25 left in the game.
To the Cougars’ credit, they didn’t just go away. Washington State marched 74-yards down the field in nine plays and scored its last touchdown with 4:40 left to make it 36-29.
With just one defensive stop, the Cougars could have given themselves a change to force overtime. Their offense under quarterback Jayden de Laura would have been more than up to the task. The true freshman was 25-of-39 for 321 yards and two scores.
That defensive stop never happened.
Oregon sealed the deal with a 75-yard drive on six running plays that chewed up three minutes off the clock to account for the final tally.
Now with two wins under their belt, the Ducks will look to go 3-0 next Saturday as old friend Chip Kelly brings in his Bruins team to Eugene.
The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but because of Covid concerns, UCLA has to play Cal tomorrow morning.
So in order the give the Bruins as much recovery time as possible, the Oregon game was pushed back a day.