As a sub-.500 football team trying to take down one of the best in the nation, Washington State had to capitalize on opportunities and get off to fast start. On Saturday against No. 7 Oregon the Cougars did neither and suffered the same fate most teams do when they visit Autzen Stadium nowadays.
The Ducks grabbed the momentum of the game early on by holding the Cougars to a three-and-out before Oregon defenders Avery Patterson@@CE@@ and Boseko Lokombo@@CE@@ combined to block a punt and return it for a touchdown. From that point on, the road team was playing catch-up against a program renowned for suffocating opponents in the second half.
Special teams stung Washington State on multiple occasions. The Cougars missed a chip-shot field goal in the first half and also allowed a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown by Oregon’s freshman sensation De’Anthony Thomas@@CE@@. That lapse gave the Ducks a 16-point lead and near complete control of the game.
On offense, the Cougars did a great job of moving the ball, racking up 462 total yards@@changed from 463: http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205266631@@ (eight more than the Ducks@@changed from seven@@) and controlling possession throughout. However, poor execution in critical field position and inefficiency on third down nullified any positive developments.
“We played hard and controlled the clock, did a lot of things we wanted to do,” Washington State head coach Paul Wulff@@CE@@ said. “It’s just in the first half, going into the red zone and turning the ball over — those miscues and then 14 points off of special teams. To play this good of a football team and make those mistakes and even be close to them, I think it shows how we played in the other areas of the game.”
The Cougars’ offensive line performed well all day, opening up gaps for the running game and giving senior quarterback Marshall Lobbestael@@CE@@ plenty of protection in the pocket. Lobbestael, however, threw two untimely interceptions that halted deep drives for Washington State. Lobbestael took responsibility for the missteps, saying that he simply needs to improve his decision-making abilities close to the goal line.
“Down in the red zone, you’ve got to be smarter with the ball,” Lobbestael said. “It’s a team game, but at the same time the quarterback has total control over forcing it in there and making good decisions. Today in the red zone, I didn’t, and it dramatically affected our offense.”
The high point for Washington State came right before the second half when sophomore cornerback Damante Horton@@CE@@ picked off Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas@@CE@@ and returned the ball 76 yards for a touchdown. The big-time defensive play made the score 15-10 and quieted a typically raucous Oregon crowd. Horton now has an interception in each of his last four games@@http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/102911aaa.html@@.
Near the end of the sprint, the Oakland, Calif., native was nearly tracked down by a pair of Oregon offensive lineman. Horton said his legs were giving out but that he knew he had to pass the lumbering big men.
“I would have been upset; (all of my teammates) would have talked about me,” Horton said.
While Oregon took a 15-10 lead into the break, its offense really started to click when redshirt freshman backup Bryan Bennett replaced Darron Thomas in the second half. While Bennett definitely took the Ducks’ attack into another gear, Horton said the Cougars weren’t worried about who was leading the Oregon huddle.
“Our game plan stayed the same,” Horton said. “It didn’t really change depending on who the quarterback was.”
Washington State — now mired in a four-game losing streak — can certainly feel proud that it went toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s most dangerous teams for more than two quarters. That being said, the team is now 1-4 in Pac-12 play, and everyone involved with the program knows that the team’s season is slowly slipping onto thin ice.
“There’s no moral victory,” said Wulff. “We came here to win, and we couldn’t get it done.”