RECAP: Oregon 52 - Washington 21

As I previously stated in Thursday's blog post, I said Marcus Mariota would pick the Washington defense apart. He did just that last night. I also said Kenjon Barner would have a great run game (that's almost guaranteed). Call me a prophet, I guess. Barner finished with 122 rushing yards and Mariota was poised in the pocket all night, spreading the ball out to 7 different receivers. The interception on the first drive didn't seem to shake him at all. Oregon looked stale on their second possession and were forced to punt, but recovered the kick from a fumble on the Washington 20 yard line. After that fumble recovery, it was cruise control for the Oregon offense. De'Anthony Thomas scored on a beautiful 16 yard run to make it 7-0 and the Ducks would not look back from that point. Oregon regained possession with 5:04 left in the first and drove down the field, capped off with a Mariota to Keenon Lowe TD good for 21 yards. What really got Ducks fans excited was Washington's next drive. Safety Avery Patterson read Keith Price perfectly and intercepted the pass and took it 43 yards to the house in a classic "The Pick"-esque fashion. At the end of the 1st, yes the 1st, the Ducks were sitting pretty with a 21-0 lead.

WR Josh Huff scores on a 34 yard reception.

The second quarter opened up with the Huskies stringing together a decent drive and scoring on a 1 yard run to make it 21-7. Oregon answered by driving straight down the field and finished it with a 10 yard reception by TE Colt Lyeria. LB Boseko Lokombo forced a fumble on Washington's next drive and the ball was recovered by Brian Jackson. The Ducks wasted no time with the ball, as usual, and scored in 50 seconds with a finesse touchdown by WR Josh Huff. Huff caught the ball and turned down the field, fended off a defensive back, and dove into the front corner of the endzone, good for 34 yards. That would be Oregon's last score in the 2nd (Beard missed a 41 yard FG) and the Ducks went into the locker room with a 35-7 lead.

TE Colt Lyeria 

Washington opened the 2nd half with a three-and-out and kicked it away. Oregon slowly made their way down the field with a 4:06 drive (longest of the game) and finished it with a 28 yard field goal. The Huskies answered with a rushing touchdown on their next drive. The score was now 38-14. Washington must have been getting aggravated and started playing pretty bush league, dishing out late hits to Oregon receivers. The rest of Oregon's next drive rested mainly on Thomas, who had 32 yards off of 4 carries. This possession was extended into the 4th quarter. The drive was capped off with another Mariota-Lyeria touchdown good for 13 yards. Washington's next possession fell apart when LB Kiko Alonso forced a fumble and recovered it himself. Chip Kelly brought in the bench from this point forward. True freshman RB Byron Marshall carried the ball three straight times (his first being an impressive 32 yard run) and scored with 11:39 left in the game. The Huskies pieced together an impressive drive the whole way down to Oregon's 8 yard line, but CB Issac Dixon intercepted Price's pass on the 2. It was once again the Marshall show. Five straight carries for 39 yards gave the Ducks good movement but they ultimately couldn't finish and punted away. The Huskies scored in garbage time, then Oregon took a knee to finish the game. Final score: 52-21 in favor of Oregon.

Oregon Statistics:
Time of Possession: 24:42
Total Yards: 497
Total Rushing: 52 attempts for 299 yards (5.8 ypc)
Total Passing: 15/24 for 198 yards
Penalties: 7-74

Washington Statistics:
Time of Possession: 35:18
Total Yards: 353
Total Rushing: 46 attempts for 208 yards (4.5 ypc)
Total Passing: 19/31 for 145 yards
Penalties: 8-102

Player of the Game: QB Marcus Mariota. Mariota showed excellent decision making all night. His passes were locked on target and his arm strength showed. He also turned a lot of sacks or no-gains into positive yards. He added 7 rushes for 40 yards to his total. Mariota passed for 4 touchdowns in the game (tying his career high) and ended the night with a 178.5 passer rating. I really can't say enough about this kid. If he doesn't pull a Masoli or Thomas and stays for all 4 years, he can be something truly special to this offense. He's learning a lot about the game as the season goes on, and he's learning to put the ball where it needs to go and let his teammates take it from there. "I just really have to trust them, and trust my ability to get them the ball," Mariota said. "I think today was a really good example of a team effort." Rock on, Mariota.

Oregon gets a week off and looks to improve to 7-0 this season against Arizona State at Sun Devil Stadium two Thursdays from now. The game will be aired nationally on ESPN at 6pm PST / 9pm EST.

Useful Links:
Complete Box Score
Chip Kelly Post Game

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