SEATTLE — Big plays.
That was the theme of Saturday’s game at Husky Stadium as Oregon (5-5, 2-5) failed to hang with No. 12 Washington (8-1, 5-1), falling to their rivals from the north for the second straight year, 38-3. All five of the Huskies’ touchdowns came on plays of more than 30 yards as the Ducks succumbed to the potency of Washington’s offense.
“Gave up too many big plays,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “Against a good football team, you can’t give up that many explosive plays.”
It started off promising for the Ducks, who took a 3-0 lead on their opening drive, which lasted more than seven minutes. That was followed by a missed 45-yard field goal attempt by Huskies kicker Tristan Vizcaino.
On Washington’s next drive, Vizcaino converted a 34-yard field goal to even the score at 3-3. Washington took over from there.
Oregon went three-and-out on the next drive and was forced to punt. Dante Pettis was waiting. He took it all the way for a touchdown — the ninth punt return touchdown of his career, and an NCAA record.
With Pettis getting a run at Oregon, it was then running back Myles Gaskin’s turn. On the second play of a Washington drive, the running back danced around Ducks defenders and into the end zone to give the Huskies a 17-3 lead that they would carry into halftime.
“They made a little bit of adjustments on the sidelines when they’d seen how we came out in the first half,” safety Tyree Robinson said. “We just got to be ready to make adjustments too.”
After the half, it continued to go downhill for the Ducks as Washington outscored Oregon 21-0 to end the game.
Oregon’s offense was quiet, but still managed to put up the most rushing yards on Washington this season, 247 — surpassing Rutgers’ mark of 131 yards on September 1.
Washington knew the run game was coming with Braxton Burmeister starting for a fifth straight game. He threw one interception, which came midway through the fourth quarter, and finished 7-of-13 for 31 yards.
“It just seemed what we were doing early wasn’t working,” center Jake Hanson said. “We’ve just got to find a way to take those rushing yards and translate them into points. You can run the ball all day, but if you can’t put points on the board, it’s all for nothing.”
The freshman fumbled the ball twice on third down snaps, which haunted the Ducks’ offense that ended the game 7-of-16 on third downs.
“We can’t make the mistakes we’re making,” Taggart said. “We’ve got to get better, and he’ll continue to get better.”
Despite allowing 38 points, the defense had its moments. Safety Brady Breeze recorded his first career interception toward the end of the second quarter while the scoreless fourth quarter was a bright spot for Oregon’s defense, which was highlighted by a 4th-and-1 stop on Oregon’s own 1-yard-line.
“They kept playing really hard,” tight end Jacob Breeland said. “They showed character how they stopped them at the 1-yard line with two minutes left in the game. Just shows that they care, and they want to show people that they can be good.”
The Ducks return home for the final two games of the season after next week’s bye. Oregon needs to beat either Arizona or Oregon State to be eligible for a bowl game.
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow