It was 14-14 and Washington State had all the momentum in the world. That’s when Oregon decided to show its might along the offensive line and push the Cougars around and then push them around some more.
The Ducks outrushed WSU 306-91 and held quarterback Jayden de Laura to 280 yards, 77 of those yards coming on one play, to cruise to a 38-24 win. Oregon is now 9-1 overall and 6-1 in conference play. It also solidified it’s No. 3 ranking in the College Football Playoff for another week.
Oregon Duck quarterback Anthony Brown rushed for a career-high 123 yards and one touchdown. Travis Dye added 88 yards and a score with Byron Cardwell going for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
Brown didn’t need to use his arm all that much, but he was still 17-of-22 passing for 135 yards a touchdown through the air. A lot of the credit has to go to the five offensive linemen for the Ducks’ rushing success. They pushed the Cougars around, especially in the second half when Oregon needed to show its dominance.
After the Cougars scored twice in the second quarter to come back and tie the game, the Ducks came out of the locker room with a purpose. Mykael Wright took the second-half kickoff and returned it 56 yards and gave the Ducks great field position. In just five plays and a little over two minutes.
Oregon regained the lead on a 17-yard touchdown run from Brown. He managed to dive for the pylon for the score. It was nearly the same maneuver de Larua attempted on WSU’s opening drive, but unlike Brown, he fumbled the ball as he stretched out for the orange pylon and caused a touchback, not a touchdown.
The Ducks went up 27-17 on a 22-yard field goal and it looked like Brown made it 34-17 Ducks early in the fourth with another running touchdown.
But the officials ruled he fumbled before he crossed the goal line and the Cougars managed to return the ball past midfield.
After that disputed call, Oregon could have folded, but the Ducks didn’t.
Oregon held Washington State to a field goal to make it 24-17 and then proceeded to march down the field 66 yards in five plays as Cardwell capped off the drive with a 27-yard score to make it 31-17 with 5:52 left.
Thanks to a Bryan Addison interception that gave the Ducks great field position at the Cougar 32-yard line, Cardwell put the game away with a 22-yard touchdown for the 38-17 lead. Only a late touchdown for the visitors accounted for the final tally.
Now Oregon can turn its attention to Utah, the leaders of the Pac-12 South, for next week’s meeting. It will most likely be the first game of two between the teams with the second coming in the Pac-12 title game in Las Vegas Dec. 3.
( POST GAME ) MARIO CRISTOBAL DISCUSSES WIN OVER WASHINGTON STATE