Cougs run out of steam against 15th-ranked Ducks

Sep. 25—PULLMAN — Against wave after wave of Oregon offense and rapidly accumulating yardage, Washington State held on for almost four hours Saturday at Gesa Field.

With more than a minute remaining, the dam finally broke.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix hit receiver Troy Franklin over the middle, the sophomore broke a shoestring tackle attempt by WSU safety Jaden Hicks, then scampered for a 50-yard touchdown and a one-point Ducks' lead with 1:21 left in the game.

Franklin blew kisses to a stunned sellout crowd whose Cougars (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) had led by double digits just moments earlier.

No. 15 Oregon (3-1, 1-0) would go on to win 44-41.

"It hurts. ... We've got a lot of kids who are disappointed in there, but they should be really proud of the way they played and the way they fought," WSU coach Jake Dickert said. "Sometimes, to win big football games you gotta execute in the biggest moments, and Oregon did and we didn't."

There was prolific offense, multiple defensive stands in the red zone, big turnovers and confused officials.

Here are four takeaways from a wild Pac-12 opener:

Quarterbacks have a field day

Despite the two starting quarterbacks tossing interceptions that were returned for touchdowns, it was a prolific day for Oregon's Nix and WSU's Cam Ward, who combined for 802 passing yards.

Nix, a senior transfer from Auburn, went 33-of-44 passing for 428 yards with one interception and three touchdowns, including two in a two-minute span late in the fourth quarter, the latter of which gave the Ducks their first and final lead of the contest.

Ward was 37-of-48 for 374 yards passing, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Pick-6 X 2

Moments after Oregon took its first lead of the game, 37-34 after a Nix two-point conversion run, disaster struck again for WSU.

Ducks defensive lineman Mase Funa stepped in front of a Ward screen pass and ran it in for a 27-yard pick-6 to put the game out of reach.

In the span of 20 game seconds, the Ducks had taken the lead and iced the game.

WSU would score a last-second touchdown thanks to a 60-yard circus catch by Donovan Ollie in double coverage (which set up a 1-yard Nakia Watson run), but it was too little too late.

While Funa's interception silenced the fans and sent them to the exits, the Cougars had one in the first half that drew the loudest cheers of the day.

Right after the Ducks converted a fourth down in the red zone, WSU linebacker Francisco Mauigoa dropped back and picked off Nix, then raced 95 yards up the sideline for the second-longest interception return in Cougar history. That put WSU up 17-6 late in the second quarter.

"It was all part of the game plan," Mauigoa said. "We practiced it throughout the whole week, I saw it coming and we executed it well."

As far as his thoughts in the moment?

"I'm gonna take it to the crib, that's what I thought," Mauigoa said. "I'm gonna take it to the house."

The only WSU interception return longer than Mauigoa's was a 98-yarder by Will Derting against Nevada in 2002 in a game played in Seattle.

Red-hot red-zone defense sizzles out

WSU stopped Oregon from scoring a touchdown on the Ducks' first four trips to the red zone — quite the feat against a team that averages just under 40 points per game.

Three of Oregon's first four trips to the red zone ended in Camden Lewis field goals despite the Ducks making it to the 6-, 2- and 7-yard lines. The other was Mauigoa's interception return.

"Our guys have a heart and a passion. If you give them an inch to defend, they're going to defend that inch," Dickert said. "They made some big plays when they had to and kept us in this football game early, we just couldn't sustain it for four quarters."

The Ducks scored their first touchdown on their first drive of the second half. It took just 49 seconds for Oregon to drive down and score on a 12-yard scoring pass from Nix to Irving that cut the lead to 17-12.

The Cougars later would go back up by 12 — they led 34-22 midway through the fourth quarter — but the Ducks had the feel of a team that always was still within striking distance.

A snafu by the officials

In a bizarre sequence midway through the second quarter, officials skipped a down for WSU, forcing the Cougars to punt on what actually was third down.

Ward was called for intentional grounding, which calls for a loss of down, but the Cougs somehow lost two downs.

That led to a third-and-long that WSU couldn't convert, then a Nick Haberer punt before officials headed to the replay booth and corrected their mistake.

WSU got the ball back, this time with a second-and-long, and couldn't get anything going with a pair of short run plays, so the Cougs punted again.

"We knew the down was wrong, we told them, they said they were going to review it but they let the (punt) play run," Dickert said. "But I give them credit for (correcting it).

"I was disappointed in the moment. It messed with the flow of the game and how we would call that situation, but at the end of the day we got it right."

Oregon 3 6 6 29 — 44Washington St. 10 7 10 14 — 41

First Quarter

WSU: C.Ward 5 run (Janikowski kick), 11:41.

ORE: FG Lewis 24, 7:36.

WSU: FG Janikowski 38, 4:31.

Second Quarter

ORE: FG Lewis 29, 14:56.

WSU: Mauigoa 95 interception return (Janikowski kick), 4:36.

ORE: FG Lewis 28, 1:33.

Third Quarter

ORE: Irving 12 pass from Nix (pass failed), 14:11.

WSU: FG Janikowski 38, 8:50.

WSU: Stribling 15 pass from C.Ward (Janikowski kick), 4:16.

Fourth Quarter

ORE: J.James 1 run (Lewis kick), 14:56.

WSU: Ferrel 1 pass from C.Ward (Janikowski kick), 6:42.

ORE: McCormick 1 pass from Nix (Lewis kick), 3:48.

ORE: Franklin 50 pass from Nix (Nix run), 1:21.

ORE: Funa 27 interception return (Lewis kick), 1:01.

WSU: Watson 1 run (Janikowski kick), :02.

A: 33,058.

ORE WSU

First downs 28 28

Total Net Yards 624 428

Rushes-yards 32-178 25-53

Passing 446 375

Punt Returns 0-0 0-0

Kickoff Returns 1-16 1-25

Interceptions Ret. 2-27 1-95

Comp-Att-Int 34-45-1 37-48-2

Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 4-34

Punts 2-37.0 3-38.333

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 8-87 5-27

Time of Possession 28:58 31:02

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Oregon, Irving 11-81, Whittington 11-69, Nix 6-30, J.James 3-0, (Team) 1-(minus 2). Washington St., Watson 12-36, Jenkins 4-13, C.Ward 9-4.

PASSING: Oregon, Nix 33-44-1-428, Irving 1-1-0-18. Washington St., C.Ward 37-48-2-375.

RECEIVING: Oregon, Cota 7-84, Franklin 5-137, Hutson 5-72, Irving 5-38, Ferguson 3-22, McGee 2-18, McCormick 2-6, Dollars 2-1, Thornton 1-42, Nix 1-18, Matavao 1-8. Washington St., Watson 8-68, Ferrel 8-50, Bell 6-84, Stribling 5-84, Ollie 5-80, Smithson 1-12, Jenkins 1-4, Riviere 1-4, Nunnally 1-2, C.Ward 1-(minus 13).

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.

Oregon 44, WSU 41

Stars of the game

Oregon quarterback BO NIX threw for 428 yards and three touchdowns. The senior moved the ball effectively through the air all game, culminating in a 50-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to TROY FRANKLIN with 1:21 left. His only blunder was a big one — a 95-yard interception return touchdown by WSU linebacker FRANCISCO MAUIGOA in the second quarter. It was the second-longest interception return in Cougar history. The sophomore also had three tackles and a quarterback hurry.

Key plays

On fourth-and-7 near midfield, Nix completed a pass to running back Bucky Irving for a 21-yard gain up the middle. The clutch play kept the drive alive and led to an Oregon touchdown that cut WSU's lead from 12 to five points with less than four minutes remaining. After WSU went three-and-out on its next drive, Nix hit Franklin for the 50-yard go-ahead touchdown on Oregon's drive and the Ducks led for good.

Up next

WSU (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) hosts Cal (3-1, 1-0) for homecoming at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (Pac-12 Network) at Gesa Field in Pullman.