Huskies Pull Out Game for the Ages at Autzen, Upset Ducks 37-34
EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Washington football team offers an overabundance of offense at all times. No one has stopped these Huskies yet this season. Not Oregon, not anyone.
The problem for Kalen DeBoer's team has been finding a defensive stop.
On a cool evening in the Willamette Valley, the 24th-ranked Huskies came up with one, make that two, when they needed them most.
Peyton Henry's 43-yard field goal with 51 seconds — redeeming a fateful miss on this field four years earlier — and some long overdue defense heroics sent DeBoer's team to a program-rattling 37-34 victory over the No. 6 Ducks on Saturday before a shocked Autzen Stadium gathering.
"Program-wise, it's a huge win," DeBoer said. "We just beat a Top 10 team. On the road. For us, it's just another step."
In a wild, wild shootout, everything came down to the final 4:04 when Oregon quarterback Bo Nix first hurt a knee while trying to cement the game and the Huskies made a big move. The Ducks settled for Camden Lewis' 26-yard field goal and a 34-27 lead and begin eyeing a third consecutive win against their rivals.
But, as everyone knows, four-plus minutes is a lifetime for the Husky offense,
UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who was sensational outside of a goal-line interception, hit reserve wide receiver Taj Davis with a 62-yard scoring strike and the game was knotted at 34 with 3:07 remaining.
With Nix unavailable, the Ducks turned to backup quarterback Ty Thompson, stalled out and tried to go for it on a fourth-and-1 play at their 34 — and the Huskies, for a change, stuffed it.
Four plays later, Henry sent the game-winner through the uprights, a kick six yards longer than one that failed in 2018 to beat Oregon at the end of regulation here and led to a 30-27 overtime defeat.
It was Henry's second-game winning kick in two weeks, following his 22-yarder to beat Oregon State 24-21 at Husky Stadium.
"I was ready," Henry said. "I think everything happens for a reason. I'm glad it came full circle."
Yet this game wasn't quite over. Nix bravely came back to play on a final series and the Huskies still had to keep them out of field-goal range and they did, though just barely as the Ducks' late bid died at the UW 38. A Nix pass bounced in front of receiver Troy Franklin at the 10 and it was over.
The Huskies (8-2 overall, 5-2 Pac-12) once more were unstoppable on offense and found defense a struggle throughout this entertaining battle. Safety Asa Turner led his team with 12 tackles, but might have whiffed on five others.
DeBoer became one of two Husky coaches with Chris Petersen to win eight games in his first season, normally a rebuilding year. Petersen finished 8-6 in his debut season in 2014. DeBoer still has three games to stand alone in this win column.
For all that happened at the end, Oregon (9-2, 6-1) nearly wrapped this one up with a huge defensive play to begin the fourth quarter.
On first-and-goal at the Oregon 1, Penix tried to force one to tight end Jack Westover in the end zone for a go-ahead score. However, the ball was deflected up in the air and it came down in the hands of linebacker Jeffrey Bassa with 14:47 left in the game and the Ducks leading 31-27.
Other Husky teams would have wilted after that missed opportunity. Not this one. On this breakthrough night, the miscue only served to make things more interesting.
Penix finished with a 26-for-35, 408-yard, 2-touchdown passing night, the yardage second only to his 516-yard showing against Arizona.
"Man, it was amazing," Penix said. "I knew this team was going to fight all the way to the end. We had no doubt in our minds we were going to come here and do what we did."
Nix was 19 of 27 for 280 yards and two scores, and ran 10 times for 55 yards and a TD, and he had a lot of help on the ground, too. Bucky Irving rushed 19 times for 143 yards and Noah Whittington chipped in 108 on 20 carries. Yet it wasn't enough to avoid defeat.
The Huskies won the coin toss and were ready to go in this one from the outset. Rather than defer, they took the opening kickoff and impressively moved 75 yards in 12 plays for Wayne Taulapapa's 13-yard touchdown run. This happened even with a pair of dropped Husky passes. There was no awe of Autzen.
Under a heavy rush, Penix was masterful in getting the ball down the field. On the first snap, he hit on a 13-yarder to Rome Odunze while throwing on the run.
On third-and-14 at his own 41, he cleverly spun away to the right away from two blitzing Ducks and sprinted 15 yards for a first down — his longest run of the season by three yards.
Penix next found tight end Devin Culp for a 17-yarder, Odunze again for 11, getting the Huskies close.
Taulapapa finished off the crisp opening series by taking a handoff on second-and 10 at the UW 13 and slipping through the right side of the line untouched for his eighth rushing touchdown of the season. The rowdy Eugene faithful were muffled and a little stunned in how quickly this happened, with the Huskies taking 5:14 off the clock.
UW coach Kalen DeBoer and running back Cam Davis share a few words on sideline at Autzen Stadium.
Troy Wayrynen/USA TODAY Sports
The Ducks came back with Camden Lewis' 43-yard field goal on a 9-play, 65-yard drive that proved costly for both teams.
On consecutive plays, Oregon lost left guard Ryan Walk to an injury that left him prone on the ground and the Huskies saw cornerback Jordan Perryman get injured again. Perryman's injury looked serious as he gingerly held onto his left arm while leaving the field, suggesting it might have been fractured. He was replaced with freshman Jaivion Green, with redshirt freshman corner Davon Banks not on the trip.
The Huskies responded with a field goal of their own, a 25-yarder from Henry, to push the lead back to seven. Yet they turned surprisingly conservative here. Twice DeBoer eschewed fourth-and-1 opportunities at the Oregon 7 to take the three points.
Henry purposely moved toward the line the first time, drawing a false-start penalty to put the ball back to the 12, presumably to give him a more normal kicking distance. Once he converted the kick, Oregon was flagged for offsides, moving the back back to fourth-and-1 at the 7 if the UW chose to take it. The Huskies went with the field goal and a 10-3 lead three seconds into the second quarter.
Mishael Powell brings down Oregon's Bucky Irving.
Troy Wayrynen/USA TODAY Sports
Oregon needed two series to tie the game at 10, bumbling away the initial opportunity with a costly fumble that was recovered by linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala at the UW 1.
On third-and-1 at the Husky 3, Oregon lined up in a fragmented formation that consisted of three chunks of players spread out, then had everyone hustle back to a conventional set for a quick snap. It was too quick. Nix dropped the ball and it got kicked to the 1 and into Tuputala's arms.
After the Huskies played it cautiously on the next possession and went 3-and-out, Nix personally delivered the ball to the end zone himself this time. He ran up the middle for a 10-yard score that pulled the teams into a 10-10 tie with 4:03 left in the half.
That was more than enough time, of course, for the Huskies to reclaim the lead, while getting a little assistance from Oregon in the process. The Ducks tried an onside kick that the UW recovered at midfield.
Penix threw a 34-yard pass that was caught simultaneously by Jalen McMillan and Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez, but possession went to the offense. After three plays didn't go anywhere, Henry converted a 27-yard field goal with 1:46 left for a 13-10 halftime advantage.
Oregon, after playing catch-up for those first two quarters, came out of the break a more determined host. The Ducks needed just four plays to take the lead for the first time.
Nix stood in the pocket and threw deep for wide receiver Dont'e Thornton and badly beat hybrid Husky defender Dominique Hampton with a high-arching 46-yard touchdown strike for a 17-13 lead. The Ducks needed just 1:44 to reach the end zone.
Yet on this night, the Huskies weren't going to roll over because of one defensive lapse. Or two or three.
They zipped back up the field to reclaim the lead at 20-17 on Cam Davis' 3-yard plunge over the right side. Penix's 17-yard pass to tight end Jack Westover got the UW close, putting the ball at the Oregon 5, and it took Davis two carries to score his 11th touchdown of the season.
Unfortunately, the Huskies still can't stop anyone with any consistency.
Oregon came roaring back for a 29-yard touchdown run by Noah Whittington, who stuttered-stepped inside and bounced outside without anyone touching him and it was 24-20 for the Ducks. The drive took all of five plays covering 76 yards.
By now, the game was a pinball machine, with balls rattling all over the place and bells going off.
Penix found Ja'Lynn Polk behind the Oregon secondary and hit him in stride with a 76-yard scoring dart. Beat on the play was nickelback Bennett Williams, who made a futile dive at Polk's legs at the 15. The Huskies led 27-24. The drive took two plays.
The Ducks said we'll match you for instant points, flipping only the digits on the scoring strike and adding couple more plays. Nix found Troy Franklin 10 yards behind the Huskies' Green and hit him for a 67-yard TD and Oregon went back in front 31-27. It took four plays.
There was still 3:40 left in the third quarter. It was onto a high-scoring and a legendary win that required just enough defense to get it done. The Huskies ended Oregon's 23-game home winning streak. The regained a little more respect from their rival that's been hard to come by. That made everything unforgettable.
"They're going to be talking about this game 15, 20, 30 years from now," DeBoer said.
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