Ducks Rally Past Washington State, 44-41

Saturday, September 24

Pullman, Wash.

1:00 PM

University of Oregon

3-1 , 1-0

Washington State

3-1 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Oregon

Washington St.

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

09/24/22 | Football

Box Score Game Book: #15 Oregon 44, WSU 41 Oregon Postgame Notes

Trailing by 12 with less than four minutes to play, Oregon scored three times in a span of 2:47 to storm back at Martin Stadium.

PULLMAN, Wash. — Games at Washington State rarely lack for drama. On Saturday afternoon, the Oregon football program scripted an epic ending to the latest chapter in the matchup.

Trailing by 12 with less than 4 minutes to play, the Ducks scored three times in a span of 2:47 to storm back and win, 44-41, at Martin Stadium. The UO football team has now won three straight, and on Saturday provided head coach Dan Lanning his first win in Pac-12 Conference play.

Oregon won its fourth straight over the Cougars, despite only leading for the final 81 seconds of the game.

"They came out ready to compete, and they caught us off-guard; in a lot of ways they outperformed us a lot of the day," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "But there was enough time on the clock. … Our guys got a win. And they earned a win. They battled all the way to the end."

Bo Nix completed 33-of-44 passes for 428 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, overcoming an early pick-six that helped put the Ducks in a 17-9 hole at halftime. But Nix rallied them back in the fourth quarter, completing touchdown passes to Cam McCormick with 3:48 left and Troy Franklin with just 1:21 to play.

"To respond the way he responded, and for our team to respond to Bo the way they responded, I think that shows the ultimate confidence our team has in Bo," Lanning said.

Franklin gave the Ducks their first lead of the day with a 50-yard scoring reception, catching the ball around the 25-yard line, stumbling at the 23 but keeping his feet before racing to the end zone. Just 20 seconds later, Mase Funa picked off a WSU pass and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown, putting Oregon up 44-34 — enough cushion to absorb one last Cougar touchdown with 1 second left.

"That was just Mase — that was all Mase," UO linebacker Noah Sewell said of the game-clinching play. "I was like, oh yeah, that's game. That's game right there."

The comeback capped a game that saw Oregon struggle to convert in the red area early, and struggle to contain WSU quarterback Cameron Ward in the second half. After the Ducks scored early in the second half, Ward led the Cougars to a 27-15 lead through three quarters, and it was 34-22 after Ward's third touchdown of the day, with 6:42 left in the game.

But Nix ultimately had the better day, with a more explosive and efficient performance, and ultimately with the win.

"He did a great job, got us the dub," Franklin said. "He basically told us this was a situation we work on in practice every week, so we know what to do. And we executed."

The first half was one of frustration for Oregon, particularly offensively. The Ducks made it into the red area four times but those four trips yielded a net of two points — nine for Oregon on three Camden Lewis field goals, and seven for Washington State on a pick-six with 4:36 left in the half.

All of that added up to a 17-9 halftime deficit.

"Our locker room never wavered," Lanning said. "They were composed and ready to finish, the entire game. I think we knew that a lot of the issues that we were facing were self-inflicted wounds."

The offense showed immediately after halftime that it had cleaned things up, driving quickly to the Ducks' first touchdown, a pass from Nix to Bucky Irving. But from there, some self-inflicted wounds on defense threatened to prove critical.

Washington State capitalized on two UO penalties on the way to the score that made it 27-15. After the Ducks closed within 27-22 on a touchdown by Jordan James out of Oregon's new jumbo formation featuring an extra lineman and a fullback, WSU scored again with help from two UO penalties — personal fouls on star defenders DJ Johnson and Brandon Dorlus.

But after the defense kept Oregon in the game through the offense's struggles in the first half, the offense had the defense's back in the fourth quarter and rallied Oregon into the lead.

"That was an incredible team win," Nix said. "Our defense got us the ball back with plenty of time. And from then on, we just let our players be players."