SEATTLE — The Ducks proved they could win in a hostile environment on the road on Saturday afternoon, coming back from a 14-point second-half deficit in front of 70,000 people at Husky Stadium to beat Washington for the second consecutive year.
Justin Herbert threw four touchdowns and Cyrus Habibi-Likio added 81 yards and a score on the ground to propel No. 12 Oregon (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) over No. 25 Washington (5-3, 2-3 Pac-12) by a final score of 35-31.
“Incredible rivalry,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “For us to continue to achieve some of the goals that we’ve set out for ourselves, we [were] gonna have to go to the home of the defending conference champs. …this is a huge moment.”
Despite the frigid Lake Washington air circulating throughout the confines of Husky Stadium, Oregon came out of the gates hot. The Ducks capped their opening drive with a touchdown strike from Herbert to freshman tight end Spencer Webb — his first touchdown reception since his highlight-reel score against Auburn in Week 1.
The Huskies immediately answered with a Salvon Ahmed touchdown from 9 yards out, and the game remained a back-and-forth contest for the rest of the first half.
Immediately out of the locker room at halftime, Washington freshman receiver Puka Nacua was the recipient of a 33-yard strike from Jacob Eason to put the Huskies up by 14. The moment that immediately followed was truly the make-or-break point in the game, and everybody knew it.
“We knew that we didn’t come out the way we wanted to,” offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton said. “We knew the type of team that we are, and we weren’t gonna let something like that beat us.”
Troy Dye, who played through a broken thumb sustained in the game and completed his post-game interviews with a cast on his hand, echoed Throckmorton’s sentiment.
“I think we did a great job of coming together at the end and finishing strong in the fourth quarter,” he said. “That’s a real team win.”
In response to the Nacua score to put Washington up by 14, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo dialed up a receiver screen to true freshman Mycah Pittman on fourth and 3, and Pittman took it to the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown — the first of his career.
“I knew when that play was dialed up for me, I said, ‘you need to make this play,’” Pittman said.
It was by far the biggest play of Pittman’s young career, and it came at a point in the ballgame for the Ducks when a touchdown was almost a necessity. Trailing by just seven after the Pittman score, the defense beared down after uncharacteristically struggling for much of the game.
An Oregon stop in the red zone held Washington to a field goal to stretch the Husky lead to 10 with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter, and the defense pitched a shutout from then on out to complete the comeback.
The final blow in the game came on a Herbert-to-Redd connection from 5 yards out to put the Ducks up 35-31. It bookended an eight-play, 70-yard drive with 3:26 left and was Redd’s eighth touchdown in his last six games.
“Because of the numbers we had out there — it was two on two — I felt like I was gonna be that third guy to get there,” Redd said of the game-winning score. “I didn’t see that safety come over, but I was able to get in the end zone.”
After the Redd score, the Huskies did have one final possession to march down the field and win the game. On the game-deciding fourth and 3 with under a minute remaining, it was true freshman cornerback Mykael Wright who made the play. That’s been one of the stories of the season — the depth on defense — and Wright making the clinching play in the absence of Deommodore Lenoir exemplified that perfectly.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s the starting 11, whether it’s the next 11, whether it’s the 11 after that, each guy is ready to play,” Dye said. “When it comes to the last play and they go towards the freshman, the freshman steps up big time. It shows a lot [about] the program.”
For the second consecutive year, Oregon-Washington came down to the wire. And for the second consecutive year, the Ducks came out on top.
“It’s a huge rivalry for our fans, it’s a huge rivalry for our state, and it’s one of the best ones in college football,” Cristobal said. “Everyone feels it. Our players feel it, and our players found a way to get it done.”
