On the first kickoff of Oregon’s game Saturday, Oregon State kicker Kirk Yliniemi aimed hard for the ground, hoping to drive the ball onto the Autzen Stadium turf.
The ball bounced, bounced again and bounced some more. It bounced so much that it eluded the hands of Oregon returner Kenny Washington and into the end zone for a touchback.
Such was the day of Washington and the rest of Oregon’s return corps. The group returned four kicks for 104 yards, highlighted by Washington’s 67 yards. His long was a 48-yarder that put the Ducks on Oregon State’s 35-yard line with seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Oregon ended that drive with a 15-yard touchdown by fullback Dante Rosario.
“Kenny Washington is so confident right now and so aggressive,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It’s really fun to watch him return kicks.”
It looked to be a long day with Oregon’s kick returners. The Beavers hoped to take the Ducks’ special teams out of the game by driving the ball short or away from Washington and Ryan Shaw.
They succeeded, to an extent. Shaw and Washington combined for 33 yards of returns in the first half, but in the second, the Ducks exploded.
It started with Washington’s run and was accentuated by an unlikely returner. Linebacker David Martin, who normally blocks for the returning duo, caught the ball at the Oregon 20 and returned it 23 yards.
“We did a great job of creating field position,” Bellotti said.
For Washington, his performance was a continuation of his efforts against UCLA the previous week. He returned a kick 97 yards against the Bruins and was most likely the impetus for the Beavers to focus on taking out the Ducks’ special teams.
“I was juiced,” he said. “I’ve been preparing for this game the entire season.
“Basically, I just want the ball to be in my hands.”

Bruised shoulder
Linebacker Jerry Matson was key to Oregon’s win Saturday, but he came close to not enjoying it as much as he should have.
Oregon State’s Harvey Whiten caught the kickoff at his own 11-yard line. Sixteen yards later, Matson found him and leveled the kick returner.
Whiten appeared to catch Matson’s shoulder, knocking his head back on the way down to the ground. He laid there for about 15 minutes before being carted off the field.
Whiten later returned and joined his teammates in the waning moments of the game with what was categorized as a concussion.
“I just want to play hard and hit,” Matson said. “That just ruins the whole game for you when that kind of stuff happens. You just go from an emotional high. It takes the wind out of your sail.
“I was just so happy when he got up.”
Matson said he didn’t really know how he hit Whiten.
“I was just running as fast I could,” Matson said. “I knew how the return was set up. I could see the same thing he was seeing. I’m not a return guy, but I was thinking the same thing he was thinking. He didn’t see me and his eyes were just like, ‘Oh, you’re here.’
“I just kind of smelled it out. I don’t know where I hit him at, it was just more of an impact. You don’t remember that kind of stuff. But I’ve got a big black mark on my right shoulder so that might have been it.”

The end
“That this team had more heart, more character and more desire than anybody gave us credit,” Kellen Clemens said when asked what he knew before the game. “That’s what we relied on all season and that’s what we came and showed up with today.”