PULLMAN, Wash. — With three minutes, 40 seconds left in the fourth, Oregon’s defense needed to stop No. 25 Washington State from scoring to give the offense a chance to tie game at 27 and go to overtime.
Oregon put Washington State in a fourth down situation, but quarterback Gardner Minshew II remained on the field. After a successful fourth down conversion, Minshew II sealed the deal with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Dezmon Patmon.
Due to a poor start in the first half by the Ducks, and defensive breakdowns on key plays, No. 25 Washington State (6-1) upset No. 12 Oregon (5-2) 34-20.
It was a tale of two halves for Oregon, and it almost worked out. After getting severely outplayed in the first half, with just 39 total yards of offense while Washington State had 299, the Ducks outscored the Cougars 20-7 in the second half.
Head coach Mario Cristobal said if Oregon had been able to produce any sort of rhythm in the first half, the end result would probably have been different.
“They executed better than we did,” Cristobal said. “We missed some tackles, and they were moving the sticks better.”
Oregon looked like a different team after halftime, scoring 17 unanswered points in the third. Herbert started the second half aggressively, throwing 20 and 27-yard passes to tight end Jacob Breeland. Then Herbert ran for an 8-yard score, finally putting the Ducks on the board.
Minshew II looked comfortable for most of the game. He finished 39-of-51 with 323 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He had a lot of time in the pocket, and his protection was consistent the entire game. He was not sacked once all game, and by halftime, Minshew II had led the Cougars to 27-0.
“They were doing a lot that confused us,” Jaylon Redd said. “I guess we wasn’t prepared enough but we will be coming up.”
Meanwhile, Oregon’s offensive line struggled against the shifting defense line. The offense also had an extremely loud crowd a Martin Stadium which disrupted the snap count, according to left guard Shane Lemieux. The Cougars’ defense held Oregon to just 58 rushing yards all game.
“They were dialing up some really good blitzes that messed with our pass protection,” Lemieux said.
Following the Ducks first touchdown, the defense put pressure on Minshew II by forcing more incompletions. The offense looked much more balanced, and Herbert was able to connect with Dillon Mitchell.
After hitting his most reliable receiver on multiple slant routs, Herbert found a wide-open Jaylon Redd in the back on the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. Herbert now has 22 straight games with a touchdown pass, the longest streak in the nation.
Against a passing offense as good as Washington State, it’s a tough task to hold them down for an entire quarter, which is what the Ducks did in the third. Twice in one drive, defensive linemen got hands on the ball as Minshew II released it on third down, which forced the Cougars to punt.
After forcing Washington State to punt to start the fourth quarter, the Ducks almost made it a three-point game, but Herbert’s 8-yard pass to Breeland fell incomplete, and Oregon had to kick a field goal to cut the lead 27-20.
Despite the loss, Cristobal believes there will be opportunities to get back in the hunt for a conference title.
“The conference, the way it’s structured, the competitive nature of it, there’s gonna be opportunity,” Cristobal said.
Follow August Howell on Twitter @howell_august