The #11 Oregon Ducks (2-0) trailed early, but ended up beating the Washington State Cougars (1-1) by a score of 43 to 29.

Oregon was lucky to be trailing by only five points after a sloppy first half resulted in three Duck turnovers and 19 Cougar points. Tyler Shough and the Oregon offense put together a 15-play, 92-yard drive to score the game’s first touchdown—a 13-yard pass to tight end DJ Johnson—but then failed to score again until very late in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Jayden De Laura seemed unstoppable early on, connecting with Lucas Bacon and Renard Bell for consecutive scoring drives that gave them the lead. Blake Mazza tacked on two field goals to put the Cougs up 19 to 7 (Washington State failed to convert on a two-point attempt) but Shough found Jaylon Redd for a 57-yard gain that set up a CJ Verdell rushing score from the three-yard line.

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One of the reasons why Washington State was able to take the early lead was Oregon’s three first-half turnovers, all of which were in large part due to Ayden Hector. Travis Dye fumbled the ball on 2nd-&-1 near midfield, which was recovered by Hector; Shough was picked off by Hector on the following drive; and on the drive after that a mishandled option-run resulted in Hector scooping up another fumble.

But the second half was a completely different story. After missing their only field goal attempt of the game to end their first drive of the second half, the Ducks scored four touchdowns on their next four drives. The Cougars, who had blown past Oregon’s secondary in the first two quarters, were held scoreless in the third, allowing the Ducks to pull away for the win.

Tyler Shough overcame his slow start by finishing 21-of-30 for 312 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. The quarterback added to Oregon’s successful running game by picking up 81 yards on nine carries, while the tandem of Verdell and Dye proved to be the wining combination against an outmatched Cougar front seven.

Verdell finished with 118 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Dye redeemed his early blunder by tallying 141 total yards: 54 yards on five carries, 87 yards and two scores through the air on just two receptions. Jaylon Redd was the other standout Duck receiver, finishing with 99 yards on five catches. Eight different Oregon players caught a pass from Shough. Johnny Johnson III made just one catch, though it was an important one—a two-yard reception for a touchdown.

The Duck defense looked better as the game went on, though they’ll have plenty to study in the film room back at Autzen. The game was over when Cyrus Habibi-Likio strolled into the end zone from a few yards out, late in the fourth.

Jayden De Laura and Deon McIntosh made a handful of impressive plays that both exposed the Duck defense and fired up the Wazzu offense. De Laura had 321 yards and two touchdowns on 25-of-39 passing, and McIntosh finished with 92 yards on 16 carries while adding a single reception for 29 yards.

Washington State will travel to take on Stanford next week, and Oregon will defend their home turf against Chip Kelly and the UCLA Bruins on Saturday.

OREGON - 7/7/7/ 22 - 43

WASHINGTON ST - 13/6/0/10 - 29

Tyler Shough: 21/30 - 312 YDS - 1 INT - 4 TD - 9 Car - 81 YDS

Jayden De Laura: 25/39 - 321 YDS - 2 TD - 8 Car -11 YDS

TD SCORERS: (UO) Tyler Shough {4}, DJ Johnson, CJ Verdell, Travis Dye {2}, Johnny Johnson III (WSU) Jayden De Laura {2}, Lucas Bacon, Renard Bell

DUCK YARDS: 581 yards - 312 passing - 269 rushing

COUGAR YARDS: 421 yards - 321 passing - 100 rushing

TURNOVERS FORCED: Ducks: 0 - Cougars: 3 (Int: 1 - Fum: 2)

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1ST QUARTER NOTES

• A series of missed tackles from the Duck defense on 2nd down allowed Travell Harris to convert for Wazzu’s first 1st down.
• Pressure forced Jayden De Laura to scramble and throw an incompletion on 3rd-&-long.
• Jaylon Redd carried the ball and gained five yards to begin Oregon’s opening drive.
• Tight end DJ Johnson earned Oregon’s first 1st down with a 15-yard catch and run on the next play.
• Tyler Shough nearly threw an early pick when a Cougar defender tipped the ball and another Cougar nearly came down with it.
• On 3rd-&-5, Shough took the option and picked up three yards.
• True freshman Kris Hutson converted on 4th-&-2 with a nine-yard gain.
• On 2nd-&-4, Shough finds Johnson for a 13-yard touchdown.

Ducks 7 - Cougars 0

(15 plays, 92 yards, 5:50)

• Big plays from Harris and Deon McIntosh picked up a combined 30 yards for the Cougars to start their second drive.
• A 29-yard run from McIntosh got the Cougs to the Oregon 18-yard line, and on the next play De Laura hit Lucas Bacon for an 18-yard touchdown near the pylon.
• Washington State’s two-point conversion was unsuccessful

Ducks 7 - Cougars 6

(6 plays, 77 yards, 3:48)

• Wazzu tried the surprise pooch kick but Oregon recovered at the Oregon 45.
• On 2nd-&-1, Travis Dye fumbled the ball. Washington State’s Ayden Hector recovered and returned it to the Washington State 47.
• A play-action pass to Renard Bell picked up 44 yards to reach the Oregon 9. Three plays later, Bell caught a pass in the back of the end zone.

Cougars 13 - Ducks 7

(4 plays, 53 yards, 1:33)

• Oregon’s bad first quarter performance then took a turn for the worse when Shough threw an interception on 2nd-&-10 from the Oregon 38. Hector came down with the pick to force his second turnover of the night.

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2ND QUARTER NOTES

• The Duck D was able to force a three-&-out after a second down completion was out of bounds and Adrian Jackson was able to stop De Laura from scrambling for a first.
• A couple of nine-yard runs from Verdell and Shough kicked off Oregon’s first drive of the second quarter.
• The Ducks picked up momentum with an impressive 19-yard reception from Redd.
• But after a handful of good plays, Oregon committed its third turnover when Shough mishandled the mesh in the read-option. Hector, once again, came up with the ball.
• A 20-yard gain from McIntosh got the Cougars in the red zone, but a fumbled handoff and a pair of incompletions forced the Cougars to settle for the 39-yard field goal attempt from Blake Mazza, which was successful.

Cougars 16 - Ducks 7

(7 plays, 35 yards, 3:00)

• Shough converted on 3rd-&-4 with an 11-yard pass to Redd to sustain their proceeding drive. But failed to repeat his succes on the next 3rd-&-intermediate. Oregon was forced to punt after the incompletion.
• Starting at their own 10-yard line, McIntosh picked up 15 on first down to give the drive some breathing room.
• On 3rd-&-3, De Laura found Harris for a 14-yard gain.
• De Laura continued Wazzu’s third-down success by passing to Bell for a 20-yard pass on 3rd-&-4.
• The final Cougar drive of the half eventually stalled at the Oregon 21, but Mazza was able to connect on a 49-yard field goal attempt to add to the lead.

Cougars 19 - Ducks 7

(13 plays, 59 yards, 6:19)

• Mykael Wright returned the proceeding kick to the Oregon 40.
• With under 20 seconds left before the half, Shough connected with Redd on a busted assignment that resulted in a 57-yard gain.
• On the next play, with nine seconds remaining, CJ Verdell pounded in the score from three yards out.

Cougars 19 - Ducks 14

(2 plays, 60 yards, :17)

• The Cougs ran out the clock

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3RD QUARTER NOTES

• After electing to start on defense, Oregon received the ball in the second half.
• Josh Delgado had to leap high in the air to catch his first catch of the season, and 11-yard reception, and keep Oregon’s first drive of the second half alive by converting on 3rd-&-7.
• A 24-yard run from Shough got the Ducks to the Washington State 34.
• A pass to Verdell in the flat on 3rd-&-11 set up a 4th-&-inches, which Verdell then converted with a 7-yard carry.
• The Ducks’ first drive of the third quarter stalled at the Washington State 19-yard line, where Camden Lewis missed his 37-yard field goal attempt.
• Noah Sewell had a big hit against McIntosh to start Wazzu’s opening drive of the second half.
• On 3rd-&-7, De Laura connected with Bell for a 14-yard gain.
• Bennett Williams destroyed McIntosh on a pitch play. The play was also flagged for offensive holding. resulting in 2nd-&-15. Two incompletions later, the Cougs were forced to punt.
• Verdell found a huge stretch of open space and gained 40 yards on first down to reach the Wazzu 28.
• Shough converted on 3rd-&-4 with a 6-yard carry on the read-option.
• Travis Dye with the 16-yard touchdown reception on the following play.

Ducks 21 - Cougars 19

(5 plays, 68 yards, 2:09)

• On 3rd-&-2 at the Wazzu 22, Nick Pickett came in with a monster hit that was reviewed for targeting. Fortunately, it was deemed a clean hit, resulting in a fourth down and a punt from the Cougs.
• The Cougar defense bit hard on the read-option, so Shough pulled the ball and picked up an easy 33 yards.
• USC transfer Devon Williams continued the third-quarter success by gaining a fresh set of downs with a 10-yard reception.
• Oregon was facing a 3rd-&-2 at the Washington State 23-yard line. A pitch from Shough was tipped by a Cougar defender, but Johnson still managed to catch the tipped ball for a 10-yard gain that ended the third quarter.

Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images

4TH QUARTER NOTES

• Redd reached the Cougar 13 off a sweep that picked up 11 yards.
• Johnny Johnson III caught the quick two-yard pass for the score.

Ducks 28 - Cougars 19

(7 plays, 80 yards, 3:06)

• De Laura found Bell for a 24-yard gain on his first pass of the fourth quarter. Deommodore Lenoir appeared to be injured on the play.
• An underthrown ball was nearly picked off by McKinley, but Williams was called for the pass interference.
• De Laura connected with Harris over Pickett near the boundary for a 28-yard gain to the Oregon 13.
• A tackle-for-a-loss by Thibodeaux set up a 3rd-&-7, which De Laura was unable to convert. Mazza made the proceeding 25-yard field goal attempt.

Ducks 28 - Cougars 22

(7 plays, 79 yards, 4:20)

• Washington State had the Cougars in a compromising position—3rd-&-6 at their own 29—but another Shough deep throw added to the Oregon lead. Dye caught the ball behind the Cougar secondary and took it 71 yards to the house. Shough then kept the ball to score the two-point conversion.

Ducks 36 - Cougars 22

• A Pickett tackle was again reviewed for targeting after De Laura passed to Bell for a 20-yard gain to midfield—this time he was ejected from the game.
• Bell came up with another big play during the drive, when he juked McKinley on 3rd-and-3 to pick up a chunk of yards after the catch, gaining 23 yards to reach the Oregon five-yard line.
• McIntosh made it a one-score game by reaching the end zone on 3rd-&-goal from the one-yard line.

Ducks 36 - Cougars 29

(9 plays, 74 yards, 3:45)

• Verdell ran for a 22-yard gain on first down to reach the Duck 47.
• Consecutive carries from Verdell brought the game to a 3rd-&-3 with 2:35 left in the game. Verdell was then subbed in for Dye, who sprinted for a pickup of 24 yards.
• On the very next play, Dye reached the one-yard line with a 21-yard carry.
• Cyrus Habibi-Likio walked into the end zone for one of the easiest scores of his career.

Ducks 43 - Cougars 29

• The Cougars failed to score on the final drive of the game.

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