College Football

Oregon Run Game Powers Through Washington State, Ducks 38 - Cougars 24

Two more regular season games to go!

By Mariotasmustache Nov 13, 2021, 11:28pm PST

NCAA Football: Washington State at Oregon

EUGENE, OREGON - The No. 3 Oregon Ducks (9-1, 6-1) utilized a powerful run game to defeat the Washington State Cougars (5-5, 4-3), 38 to 24, in a crucial contest for the PAC-12 North.

It appeared the Ducks would fall behind 7-0 early, but after some meddling from the PAC-12 refs and a fumble out the end zone from Wazzu quarterback Jayden de Laura, the Ducks were able to reclaim the momentum with back-to-back scores from Travis Dye before the Cougs punched back with a couple of TDs to tie it 14-14 at the half.

Oregon responded by scoring 10 unanswered points in the third quarter, which included a powerful 17-yard TD run from quarterback Anthony Brown Jr. to reclaim the lead. A pair of long rushing touchdowns from freshman Byron Cardwell put the game out of reach before the Cougs ended the game with a feel-good score for the travelling WSU fans.

The Ducks will take on the No. 24 Utah Utes this Saturday in Salt Lake City.

GO DUCKS!

Anthony Brown: 17/22 - 135 YDS - 1 TD - 17 Car - 123 YDS - 1 TD

Jayden de Laura: 20/36 - 280 YDS - 2 TD - 2 INT - 6 Car - (-7) YDS - 1 TD

TD SCORERS: (UO) Travis Dye {2}, Anthony Brown Jr. {2}, Byron Cardwell {2} (WSU) Jayden de Laura {3}, De’Zhaun Stribling, Travell Harris

DUCK YARDS: 441 yards - 135 passing - 306 rushing

COUGAR YARDS: 371 yards - 280 passing - 91 rushing,

TURNOVERS FORCED: Ducks: 3 (2 INT - 1 FUM) - Cougars: 2 (2 FUM)

1ST QUARTER NOTES

The Ducks won the coin toss and decided to defer to the Cougs.
Wazzu’s first play of the game was a three-yard run from Max Borghi.
Quarterback Jayden de Laura connected with Calvin Jackson Jr. for a 70-yard gain. The play originally appeared to end with Jackson in the end zone, however, after further review it was clear that the receiver stepped out of bounds at the Oregon 7.
Then, on the third play of the drive, De Laura attempted to run in the game’s first score - instead, the QB fumbled the ball out of the end zone as he extended thanks to a hard hit from Jamal Hill, resulting in a turnover and a touchback.
The Ducks started at their own 20 and then were penalized 5 yards after a false start on first down. A pair of 4-yard runs from running back Travis Dye and quarterback Anthony Brown Jr. set up a third-and-7.
Brown connected with tight end Terrance Ferguson for 6 yards, and Cristobal elected to punt on 4th-and-short on the Oregon 29.
A gain of seven yards on a pass from de Laura to Travell Harris was wiped out by a 7-yard loss on a sack by edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux on the next play. The Cougs were forced into a three-and-out.
The Ducks started their next drive with a 5-yard run from Dye, then moved the chains with an 8-yard keeper from Brown on third down.
Brown continued his success on the ground with gains of 13 yards on the next play and 12 yards a couple plays later.
Brown passed to receiver Devon Williams for a gain of 20 yards to the Washington State 13.
On third-and-7 in the red zone, Brown connected with Johnny Johnson III for a gain of 9, and on the next play Dye ran in a 1-yard score to take the lead.

Ducks 7 - Cougars 0

(11 plays, 75 yards, 5:45)

On the first and only play of Wazzu’s third drive, de Laura was picked off by safety Verone McKinley III.
The Ducks started at the Cougar 40 and earned 24 yards on first down with a run from freshman Byron Cardwell.
Brown earned 5 yards with his legs on first down, then passed to a wide open Dye in the middle of the field for an 11-yard score on third down.

Ducks 14 - Cougars 0

(4 plays, 40 yards, 1:40)

The Cougs started at their own 7 after an illlegal black on the kick, but were able to earn a first down with a 17-yard run from Deon McIntosh on third-and-long. However, three consecutive incompletions led to another punt from Washington State to end the first quarter.

2ND QUARTER NOTES

Brown was able to earn a first down on Oregon’s next drive with a 6-yard pass to Williams and a 6-yard keeper to reach Washington State territory, but the drive stalled on the next three plays and the Ducks were forced to punt from the Wazzu 47.
An 11-yard run from Borghi on first down started Washington State’s next drive.
Then de Laura passed to De’Zhaun Stribling for a gain of 8 on the next play, but a tackle-for-a-loss by safety Jordan Happle on second down proved too much to overcome for the Coug offense. Once again, WSU punted.
On the second play of Oreogn’s next drive, Dye fumbled the ball, which was recovered by defensive back Jaylen Watson at the Oregon 46.
De Laura passed to Harris on first down for a 9-yard gain to the Oregon 37, then McIntosh earned the first down with a short run two plays later.
Harris caught back-to-back passes of 15 and 6 yards to reach the Oregon 14, then de Laura found Stribling in the end zone on a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Ducks 14 - Cougars 7

(6 plays, 46 yards, 2:16)

The Ducks started at their own 28-yard line on their following drive. Cardwell picked up 3 yards on first down, but a sack by Brennan Jackson on second down essentially doomed the drive to a three-and-out.
Jayson Jones sacked de Laura for an 8-yard loss on first down, but Borghi erupted for a 23-yard gain on the next play to earn a fresh set of downs.
On second-and-7, de Laura passed to Stribling for a 17-yard gain that placed the Cougars at the Duck 38-yard line.
Then, three plays later, Borghi earned another first down with an 8-yard run on third-and-7.
The third down success continued for the Cougars when on third-and-6 at the Oregon 23, de Laura passed to Harris for a 22-yard gain.
McIntosh was unable to pound in the score on the next first-and-goal, but on second down de Laura pounded it in himself for a 1-yard score.

Cougars 14 - Ducks 14

(12 plays, 73 yards, 4:38)

The Ducks ran out the clock to reach the half.

HALFTIME SCORE

COUGARS 14 - DUCKS 14

3RD QUARTER NOTES

Mykael Wright returned the second half kick 56 yards to the Washington State 43-yard line.
Oregon’s first play of the drive was a 7-yard pass to Dye, then the running back earned the first down on the next play with a 6-yard run.
Brown connected with receiver Jaylon Redd for a 9-yard gain on first down, the Dye again earned the first with a short run on the next play.
Brown then ran in a 17-yard touchdown to reclaim the lead.

Ducks 21 - Cougars 14

(5 plays, 43 yards, 2:08)

Wazzu’s next drive picked up early momentum with passes to Calvin Jackson Jr. and Joey Hobert for gains of 10 and 11 yards, respectively, to reach the Duck 41.
Despite a delay of game called on the Duck defense on third down that set up third-and-2 at midfield, the Cougars were unable to gain the necessary yards. Washington State elected to punt from midfield on fourth-and-short.
The Ducks earned back-to-back first downs with 12-yard runs from Brown.
The Cougar defense was called on a delay of game, which set up a second-and-5 that Brown converted on with a 10-yard run.
Brown then connected with Johnson for a 31-yard gain to the Wazzu 21.
Runs from Brown and Dye earned the Ducks another first down, but a false start on first-and-goal eventually resulted in Oregon settling for the field goal at the Cougar 4-yard line.

Ducks 24 - Cougars 14

(13 plays, 91 yards, 7:03)

The Cougars were only able to gain 4 yards on their next drive - a Borghi carry on first down - and were forced into a three-and-out.
The next Duck drive began with two Dye carries for a net gain of 14 yards.
Brown tossed to Ferguson for a gain of five, then Dye closed out the quarter with a 4-yard run to set up third-and-1.

4TH QUARTER NOTES

The next drive began with three consecutive carries from Dye for a net gain of 14 yards to reach the Wazzu 32.
Brown earned a first down with his legs on third-and-short, then Cardwell reached the enemy 10-yard line on a 12-yard run on third-and-4.
On the next play, it appeared Brown powered his way into the end zone from 10 yards out, but the PAC-12 refs (widely known as the worst refs in the galaxy) declared that the QB actually fumbled just before the goal line. The “fumble”, forced by defensive back George Hicks, was then recovered by Jaylen Watson and returned 49 yards to the 50-yard line.
On the next play, after a lengthy review of the previous play, de Laura found Harris for a 39-yard gain to reach the Oregon red zone.
On second-and-7 at the Oregon 8, Thibodeaux sacked de Laura for a loss of 9, forcing the Cougs to settle for the field goal.

Ducks 24 - Cougars 17

(5 plays, 33 yards, 1:57)

Oregon’s next drive started with a 2-yard loss from Dye, but an 18-yard pass to Kris Hutson on second down made up for the early blunder.
A face mask called on Justus Rogers placed the Ducks at the Wazzu 27, and on the next play Cardwell ran up the gut, untouched for the long touchdown.

Ducks 31 - Cougars 17

(5 plays, 66 yards, 2:39)

Washington State used a couple big runs from Borghi and de Laura to race towards midfield in crunch time, but due to ever-building pressure form Thibodeaux and company de Laura was picked off by safety Bryan Addison and returned 23 yards to the Washington State 32.
Oregon put together a drive in an attempt to kill the clock, but the easy success of the Duck run game resulted in a 22-yard touchdown run from Cardwell.

Ducks 38 - Cougars 17

(4 plays, 32 yards, 1:46)

The Cougars gained 35 yards on back-to-back runs from McIntosh.
A pass interference called on the Ducks set up Wazzu at the Oregon 2.
Harris caught the short touchdown pass with nine seconds remaining in the game.

Ducks 38 - Cougars 24

(6 plays, 61 yards, 1:58)

The Cougars went for the onside kick, but Oregon recovered.
The Ducks ended the contest in victory formation.

DUCKS BEAT THE COUGARS, 38 to 24!