Comeback Comes Up Short For Ducks

Saturday, October 20

Pullman, Wash.

4:30 PM

University of Oregon

5-2 , 2-2

Washington State

6-1 , 3-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Oregon

Washington State

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

10/20/18 | Football

Box Score FINAL STATS: No. 25 Washington State 34, No. 12 Oregon 20 Oregon Postgame Notes Oregon Season Stats

Oregon scored 20 straight points in the second half but ultimately couldn't dig out of a deep deficit and lost 34-20 at WSU on Saturday.

By: Rob Moseley

PULLMAN, Wash. — The Oregon football team mounted a furious rally back from a deep halftime deficit but ultimately couldn't pull off the comeback in a 34-20 loss to Washington State before 33,152 fans in Martin Stadium on Saturday.

On the heels of their win the week before over Washington, the Ducks looked out of sorts in the first half and trailed 27-0 at halftime. They then scored 20 straight points to open the second half before dropping their fourth straight to the Cougars.

"It was a tale of two halves," UO coach Mario Cristobal said. "We certainly played a different brand of football in the second half, but it wasn't enough. … As a staff and as players, we need to play an entire game like we did in the second half, and things will work out how we want. But we have to create that and make that happen."

118258

Oregon fell to 5-2 overall this season and 2-2 in the Pac-12. Washington State improved to 6-1, and is the lone remaining one-loss team in the conference.

The Ducks were outgained 295 to 39 in the first half, struggling early with a raucous environment that included the presence of ESPN's College GameDay on the WSU campus. The comeback was sparked by a gutsy fourth-down call early in the third quarter, when Justin Herbert ran in an eight-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-one play to make it 27-7.

"Our communication just wasn't right," said UO left guard Shane Lemieux, of a first half that began with errant snaps on Oregon's first two plays. "It was loud and our communication was off, and that led to some big plays. The second half we regrouped and calmed ourselves down."

118254

Oregon's defense then earned the first three-and-out of the game by WSU, and the Ducks made it 27-10 on a 32-yard field goal by Adam Stack. Deommodore Lenoir kept the momentum with Oregon by grabbing his second interception of the game, which the Ducks converted into an 11-play, 77-yard scoring drive capped by a Herbert touchdown pass to Jaylon Redd.

That gave Herbert a touchdown pass in each of his last 22 starts, the longest active streak in the country.

"We really weren't able to get no rhythm on the offensive side of the ball (in the first half)," Redd said. "… We started to call different plays, and find gaps and open space in the defense. We just weren't able to finish it."

118257

After forcing a punt, the Ducks mounted another long drive, which yielded another field goal by Stack. The ensuing WSU drive was kept alive by a critical 50-50 ball that Oregon freshman safety Jevon Holland appeared to win initially, before the Cougar receiver came down with it. That extended what ended up being a game-sealing touchdown drive for WSU.

"It was a tough loss," Lenoir said. "We fought hard, and we always fight to the end. But tomorrow we've gotta get better."

A point of emphasis going forward for the defense will be tackling. Senior linebacker Kaulana Apelu had a career-high 14 tackles to lead the Ducks on Saturday, and Troy Dye added 12. But missed tackles contributed to the big first-half by the Cougars.

"We just didn't come out ready to play," Apelu said. "We've got to tackle. … We were in position. We've just gotta make the play. That's our fault; that's the players' fault."