WSU (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) traveled down to Eugene, Oregon, one last time to take on the then-No. 9 Oregon Ducks (6-1, 3-1) in a matchup of a College Football Playoff contender and a team tied for the most ranked wins in the country. In a beautiful uniform matchup of all white and the Ducks throwbacks, Oregon came out on top 38-24.
Autzen Stadium was filled with 58,886 fans and surrounded by beautiful late fall greens of the Pacific Northwest. Unlike the wheat fields of Pullman, Washington, the adjacent Willamette River had several actual ducks before and after the game.
The QB battle between Bo Nix and Cam Ward did not disappoint, as each had a fantastic performance that kept their respective teams in the game. Ward finished 34-of-48 for 438 yards and a TD, with his Cougs out-passing the Ducks 438–293. Not completely outdone, Nix finished 18-of-25 for 293 yards and two TDs. Ward’s performance was good for a QB rating of 154.4 while Nix had a QB rating of 196.8.
Nix had a rushing TD while Ward gained more yards on the ground with 30. Both QBs did their best for their team and thankfully both had great performances.
The Cougs got the first TD of the game, a second-quarter Nakia Watson rushing TD with 9:22 in left in the quarter, their biggest and final lead of the game, 10-3. Watson finished with just 20 yards rushing as WSU abandoned the run early for an air-raid offense.
Oregon had a different offensive philosophy, as Bucky Irving and Jordan James torched the Cougs all day on the ground. Irving led the way with 129 yards and two TDs on 15 attempts and James had 103 yards on 13 attempts. Despite getting out-gained through the air, the Ducks had out-gained the Cougs on the ground 248–57.
For WSU, Lincoln Victor broke a program record for most catches in a single game. He finished with 16 catches for 161 yards on the night. Kyle Williams had five catches for 102 yards and Josh Kelly had five catches for 48 yards. Isaiah Hamilton had just one catch on the night, but his one catch was for 16 yards and the sole WSU passing TD of the game.
As for the Ducks, Tez Johnson had six receptions for 94 yards and a TD, Troy Franklin had four receptions for 79 yards, Terrance Ferguson had three receptions for 53 yards but consistently fought for extra yards and finally Irving added three receptions for 51 yards and a score on top of his triple-digit rushing total.
Defensively for WSU only one defensive back had a pass breakup: Chau Smith-Wade, who had just one to go along with his five tackles. Ron Stone Jr. had seven tackles with one tackle for loss, Jaden Hicks had four tackles and Kyle Thornton led the Cougs with nine tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss, but overall the defense was spotty.
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