No. 6 Oregon beat Washington 26-14 on Saturday at Husky Stadium.
Here are 10 takeaways from the game as the Ducks (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) prepare for the College Football Playoff.
1) Exorcising demons
Oregon was supposed to win. Washington was no match, didn’t have the talent to hang and didn’t coach aggressively enough to make up the difference.
However, the Ducks still faced the pressure of needing to win, on the road, or face the possibility of the next month being about the Holiday Bowl. As Dan Lanning said postgame, there’s the teams that get to keep playing in “the real one” and those that don’t.
Given Lanning’s first two years in this rivalry, another loss given the talent gap and what was on the line would have been devastating. This wasn’t a bad Washington team, but not a particularly good one either. Kalen DeBoer isn’t on that sideline. Nor are Rome Oduze or Michael Penix Jr.
But the Ducks have been and were again limited by injury, particularly on offense. Yet they scored more than any team against Washington this season, and could have had far more. Oregon was turnover free and made more big plays.
The criticism Lanning received in loss to UW in 2022 and 2023, particularly about his aggressiveness on fourth downs, was countered with effective fourth downs and taking points when necessary to secure one of the most meaningful wins of his tenure.
2) Malik Benson’s catch will live in lore
Benson has been on the receiving end of the biggest plays of Oregon’s season. The 64-yard touchdown to seal a playoff spot should stand the test of time.
Washington had all the momentum after cutting the deficit to 19-14. Third and nine from the UO 36 and Benson finds an opening in UW’s zone, then turns on the jets to blaze past defenders and break the game.
For a player who admittedly knew nothing about the rivalry when he got here, Benson had the kind of performance that can and should be remembered long into its future.
3) Moore settled in for a big performance
It was a slow start for both quarterbacks, but once Moore settled in he made some big throws and smart decisions when running. He just missed on an early throw to Jeremiah McClellan and completely didn’t see a corner blitz that was obvious. After that, Moore was nails, going 17 of his next 20, with two incompletions to Kenyon Sadiq that were off his hands and just out of bounds.
If Moore’s statline were had by Fernando Mendoza, Julian Sayin or Ty Simpson in their respective rivalry games, it would be celebrated as Heisman worthy.
4) Will Stein’s creativity is masking deficiencies
Stein was again deep into his playbook. Oregon’s wide use of personnel packages is nothing new, but Stein used even more formations, played more receivers and tight ends in the backfield, covered receivers and did plenty of other things to make for a difficult game of chess.
Given how handcuffed Oregon’s offense is by injuries at receiver, then having two tight ends each briefly go out, the production it’s been getting is fairly remarkable. It won’t be remembered as the best offensive day because of four field goals, but there are lots of lesser play-callers who would not have gotten nearly as much out of what Stein has to work with right now.
5) Atticus Sappington is making people forget
Sappington had another big game on the road and deserves every bit of accolades that come his way.
He’s the first Oregon player with four made field goals in a game since Aidan Schneider on Oct. 29, 2016, vs. Arizona State, and first to go 4-for-4 in a game since Schneider on Sept. 19, 2015, vs. Georgia State. Add his career-long 51-yarder as context and Sappington is the first UO player to go 4-for-4 on field goals with a long of at least 50 yards since at least 1996.
Sappington’s misses earlier in the season are long forgotten about.
6) Dillon Thieneman delivered again
Teams didn’t test Thieneman early in the season. But again two of the top three opposing quarterbacks of the season he’s had two of his best games. Thieneman made plays all over the field and was once again one of Oregon’s best defenders. Given the caliber of matchups ahead in the playoffs this is the kind of play the Ducks need from their best safety.
7) Washington’s two best plays were touchdowns
The Huskies didn’t move the ball particularly well. But once inside the red zone, even they managed to find the end zone against the Ducks.
Demond Williams Jr. found Denzel Boston on both scores, the first on a pick play and the second on a long crossing route, each with Theran Johnson in coverage. It’s hard to fault Johnson in either instance, as even the crossing route had a pick of sorts.
Oregon later countered on UW’s late fourth and three by having Brendon Finney Jr. on Boston, who was stopped just shy of the first down.
8) Kenyon Sadiq had a better blocking day than receiving
By any measure, this was a tough game for Sadiq in terms of receiving. He had two balls go off his hands and a diving catch that was out of bounds. His offensive and receiving grades were brutal.
But the junior tight end did not allow that to impact his blocking, which was still effective and at times critical. He walled off the safety on Benson’s touchdown and created other lanes as well.
9) Devon Jackson’s role is declining
Jackson played his fewest snaps of the season and wasn’t on special teams. He’s in his second game back from injury, but hasn’t been the same player as a year ago.
Jerry Mixon Jr. is clearly LB2. Jackson’s spot as LB3 can’t be secure with what Dylan Williams and Brayden Platt have each shown.
10) Teitum Tuioti is quietly having a big year
Tuioti is on his way not only to a career season, but an all-Big Ten year. He’s up to 57 tackles, one shy of his career best, with 13.5 for loss including seven sacks. That’s tied for second in the Big Ten in TFLs and fifth in sacks.
It could be argued that Tuioti is having a better season than Matayo Uiagalelei did last year. Because there is no Jordan Burch on the other side to take attention away from Tuioti. Uiagalelei is being schemed out by some opponents and simply not generating havoc in other instances.
11) Jamari Johnson is showing extreme upside
Johnson’s November to remember continued. He had 14 catches for 187 yards over the last four games. He should pass Sadiq’s production from last season, which is good for this season and potentially enormous for the future.
12) The run game has to adjust to loaded boxes
It came as no surprise that Washington loaded the box. Ryan Walters was utilizing five-man lines a lot this season with good results. Still, Oregon didn’t have great answers for it and will need to as better teams will look to capitalize on this.
Other times, UO’s gains were limited by good tackling in space that prevented longer runs.
13) Effort penalties
Oregon had two discipline-related penalties that are a matter of perspective. Lanning wasn’t thrilled with either postgame.
Daylen Austin was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for a late shove of a Washington gunner on a punt. However, the ball was bouncing and UO rightly tried to get the UW player to touch the ball. Washington’s player pushed Jadon Canady, understandably, and Austin pushed him back. In plenty of other rivalry games this would go uncalled and chalked up to the intensity of the moment.
Alex Harkey’s personal foul for blocking a player well out of bounds was obvious as far as calls go. But even Gary Danielson said he wouldn’t fault an offensive lineman who found a second defender to block on a play for taking that defender for a ride. It’s also completely on brand for Harkey, who has shown all season that he’s a nasty run blocker.
14) The future of the rivalry appears bright
With most of the top jobs filled and Jedd Fisch still in Seattle it appears Washington has stability. If he can retain Williams and the freshmen who made several huge plays, particularly on defense, the Huskies are trending towards being more competitive.
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