The Pac-12 title game was destined to be a classic and it didn’t disappoint.
Washington scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and was able to eventually run out the clock to beat Oregon 34-31 in the last Pac-12 football game ever.
With the win, the Huskies are now 13-0 and on their way to the College Football Playoff, while the Ducks will sit at home on Sunday to see what bowl game it will be headed to.
It was an epic battle between two rivals and ultimately, it was won in the trenches, as most football games are. Washington bullied its way down the field, especially in the fourth quarter. Running back Dillon Johnson was delivering the hits to the Duck defense and not the other way around. He ended up with 152 yards and two touchdowns.
The Huskies second fourth-quarter touchdown came with just over two minutes remaining to make it 34-24. Oregon scored in 30 seconds on Traeshon Holden’s 63-yard score. Unfortunately for the Ducks, it was too little, too late.
But at least the Ducks gave themselves a chance with three timeouts remaining. After a failed onside kick, Oregon needed to hold the Huskies from getting a first down and somehow get the ball back into Bo Nix’s hands.
It wasn’t meant to be.
The loss negated a good game from the offense, but on this night, it needed to be great.
Oregon found itself down 20-3 in the second quarter, but was able to mount a comeback. The Ducks scored right before halftime on a one-handed catch from tight end Terrance Ferguson to make it 20-10.
Since the Ducks won the toss at the beginning of the game and deferred, they essentially had two straight possessions and they capitalized with another touchdown to Ferguson.
Oregon actually took a brief 24-20 lead in that third quarter on Jordan James’ six-yard run. It would take the Ducks almost 12 minutes to score again and it was too late by then.
Washington was able to extend drives and keep the ball out of Nix’s hands for a lot of the game. They were 10-of-15 on third downs and won the time of possession by a good 14 minutes. Oregon also couldn’t get consistent pressure on Washington quarterback Michael Penix. For a lot of the contest, he was able to sit in the pocket and pick the Duck secondary apart.
Oregon was able to get more pressure on Penix as the game went along, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Receivers Rome Odunze (102 yards) and Jalen McMillan (132 yards) were difficult to stop for the Ducks, who were playing without their two top corners.
The Ducks will play in either the Alamo Bowl or another trip to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl. But before that, Nix will head to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Unfortunately with this loss, odds are LSU’s Jayden Daniels will take home the most prestigious trophy in college football.
Right now, none of that matters for the Ducks as this loss with sit with them for quite some time.