Oregon falls to Washington, 34-31, in final Pac-12 title game
LAS VEGAS — The No. 3 Washington Huskies and No. 5 Oregon Ducks are underway at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The Ducks have nearly their entire offensive and two-deeps available — with the exception of starting cornerback Jahlil Florence.
Follow along throughout the evening for offensive and defensive observations from Allegiant Stadium as Oregon looks to capture the Pac-12 title and secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Oregon vs. Washington — live updates
First Quarter
— Khyree Jackson and Dontae Manning are Oregon’s starting cornerback pairing with Tysheem Johnson at nickel
— Oregon star defensive end Jordan Burch went down injured on Washington’s opening drive but appeared to be OK and walked off the field under his own power.
— Khyree Jackson nearly picked off a Michael Penix Jr. pass for an interception.
— The Ducks forced UW into third-and-5 at midfield and got pressure on Penix, with Jeff Bassa blitzing up the middle, but Penix linked up with Odunze for a first down.
— Three plays later, popo Aumavae came up with a massive sack on Penix to force 2nd-and-15. The Huskies couldn’t move the chains later in the drive and were forced to settle for a 38-yard field goal from Grady Gross.
Washington 3, Oregon 0 — 7:34 Q1
— Oregon started with a wide receiver trio of Troy Franklin, Tez Johnson, and Traeshon Holden. No sign of Gary Bryant Jr. on the opening drive.
— Bo Nix threw three straight incompletions on Oreogn’s opening drive and the Ducks were forced to punt.
— Dontae Manning was flagged for defensive holding to push UW into the red zone.
— Washington scored rather easily on its second drive of the day. Dillon Johnson capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run.
— The Ducks’ offense must answer on their next drive.
Washington 10, Oregon 0 — 3:46 Q1
— Oregon’s offense looked sluggish once again on its second drive of the day. the Huskies brought a ton of pressure on 3rd-and-1 to force a Nix throwaway.
— The Huskies nearly blocked the ensuing Oregon punt.
Second Quarter
— Jordan Burch is back on the Oregon sideline with a brace on left knee and a heavily taped left foot. He’s got his helmet on and looks like he still is available to play.
— On third down, Micahel Penix had a wide-open man downfield but overthrew Jalen McMillan on what might have been a game-breaking touchdown. Evan Williams was in coverage on the play.
— Tez Johnson gave Oregon a much-needed spark with a 17-yard catch-and-run for the Ducks’ first first down of the day.
— Troy Franklin and Tez Johnson have brought Oregon’s offense to life. Both made multiple big catches on the Ducks’ most productive drive of the day thus far.
— Oregon’s offense stayed on the field for 3rd-and-9 at the UW 23 and Jabbar Muhammad broke up a pass from Nix to Franklin. Franklin stayed down injured after the play but eventually walked back to the Oregon sideline.
— Camden Lewis nailed a 36-yard field goal to get Oregon on the board.
Oregon 10, Washington 3 — 8:46 Q2
— Penix found Odunze with an absolute dime to the far side of the field for a 22-yard completion on UW’s first play of its fourth drive to get across midfield.
— Two plays later, Penix threw an incredible 45-yard completion to McMillan off his back foot to set up another Huskies touchdown. UW is terrorizing the Ducks’ secondary.
Washington 17, Oregon 3 — 6:48 Q2
— After going down injured on Oregon’s last drive, Troy Franklin is back in the game.
— Oregon’s offense cant get absolutely nothing going. Washington is swallowing up run plays. Short throws over the middle have been ineffective.
— The Ducks were forced to punt for the third time today and Washington will have a chance to put the game away before halftime.
— Oregon’s defense bent but didn’t break, despite a couple of incredible throws from Penix, and held UW to a field goal.
Washington 20, Oregon 3 — 1:39 Q2
— Nix found Tez Johnson for a 39-yard completion to open Oregon’s drive and produce the Ducks’ first explosive play of the day.
— Terrance Ferguson made an incredible one-handed grab for Oregon’s first touchdown of the day, and might just have saved the Ducks’ season in the process.
Washington 20, Oregon 10 — 0:09 Q2
HALFTIME
Third Quarter
— Oregon opens the second half with Jordan James at running back
— The Ducks opted to go for it on 4th-and-5 at their own 45 and Nix found Franklin in a tight window to move the chains. That catch kept Oregon’s season alive.
— Nix moved the chains again on 3rd-and-9 with a deep completion to Jordan James up the sideline.
— Washington is giving Nix the toughest looks he has seen all season.
— Dan Lanning rolled the dice on 4th down once again at the UW 2-yard line and Nix scrambled and found Ferguson for his second touchdown of the day. A gutsy, gutsy drive from the Ducks.
Washington 20, Oregon 17 — 9:39 Q3
— Khyree Jackson and Dontae Manning are still the cornerback pairing for Oregon
— Still no sign of Jordan Burch for Oregon on UW’s opening drive of the second half
— Khyree Jackson grabbed an interception on 3rd-and-10 to give Oregon back the ball — and all of the momentum
— Bo Nix made his worst throw of the season to give the ball back to UW. He stared down a receiver along the sideline and hit Washington’s Michael Powell right in the numbers for an interception.
— Washington continues to gash Oregon on the ground; the Ducks have no answer for the UW run game.
— On 4th-and-2, Nikko Reed chased down Michael Penix from behind and sacked him to force a significant turnover on downs. The Ducks’ reserve cornerback makes a game-changing play with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
— Bo Nix broke loose for a 44-yard run to get the Ducks down to the UW 11 and provide a major spark for the UO offense.
— Jordan James scores from five yards out, and Oregon has scored 21 unanswered points. The final game in Pac-12 history is shaping up to be a classic.
Oregon 24, Washington 20 — 1:51 Q3
Fourth Quarter
— Tysheem Johnson nearly forced a fumble on a Penix pass attempt, but after the Ducks were initially given the ball on the play, the call was overturned and UW kept possession.
— Jeffrey Bassa stayed down after that last play, but is back up now. The Ducks have quite a few key defenders dinged up at the moment; Bassa, Khyree Jackson, and Tysheem Johnson, in addition to Jordan Burch and Jahlil Florence.
— Dillon Johnson scores on a 1-yard TD run to give the Huskies back the lead.
Washington 27, Oregon 24 — 12:23 to go.
— Oregon opened its next drive with true freshman Iapani Laloulu at left guard.
— On 3rd-and-9, Washington’s Bralen Trice brought Nix down in the backfield to force an Oregon punt.
— The snap on the ensuing punt was abysmal, but Ross James saved the day and fielded a two-hopper before booting it to the UW 18.
— Washington’s Ja’Lynn Polk made an incredible grab despite some good coverage from Nikko Reed to get UW to its own 41 on a 25-yard gain.
— Oregon CB Khyree Jackson is back on the sideline with an apparent injury. Nikko Reed and Dontae Manning are at cornerback for the Ducks currently.
— The Huskies delivered a back-breaking drive. They went 82 yards on 12 plays and ate up 6:20 of game clock.
Washington 34, Oregon 24 — 2:44 Q4
— Traeshon Holden has, somehow, kept the Ducks alive. He took a pass over the middle from Nix and beat a bunch of UW defenders to find the endzone.
Washington 34, Oregon 31 — 2:13 Q4
— True freshman safety Cole Martin is in on Oregon’s most important drive of the season.
— Washington picked up the first down it needed to kill the game. But one play later, it was charged with a holding call to set up 1st-and-20 with under two minutes to go.
— With UW facing 3rd-and-9, Dillon Johnson knifed through the right side for an 18-yard gain to seal the game.
