Ducks Digest

What Went Wrong in Oregon's 37-34 Loss to Washington

The Ducks dropped the first of three games in the most difficult stretch of their 2022 schedule.

Max Torres

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Is it time to recalibrate our expectations for this team? Well, not necessarily.

But the Oregon Ducks did play their first ranked opponent after facing two weak teams and they didn't show up when it mattered most on Saturday night.

Following Oregon's 37-34 loss to the Washington Huskies, let's take a look at what went wrong in Eugene.

Miscues in crucial moments

Once this game became a shootout, you could feel it was likely going to come down to the wire. In instances like that, the game becomes a game of inches, of momentum swings and big plays.

The inability to move the chains, get off the field on defense and convert on big opportunities can ruin a game. For me, three crucial moments come to mind in this game. 

1. Bo Nix fumbles inside the red zone (2Q 10:10)

This may not seem like a crucial moment because it happened earlier in the game, but the Ducks were inside the Washington five-yard line and on the verge of scoring their first touchdown of the day. Red zone issues have popped up on and off this season, but the Ducks lost their first fumble of the year at an awful time in a big-time game.

2. Ducks come away with three instead of seven on 20-play, 91-yard, 10:33 drive in fourth quarter 

The Ducks finally forced an elusive turnover and needed to score a touchdown to put the game away. At least that's how it felt: the first team to get a stop wins.

And that's what it looked like was going to happen, but Bo Nix's quarterback keeper came up short on third-and-five. Not only was the play predictable and sniffed out, but he also got hurt. The Ducks settled for a field goal and kept the door open for Washington.

3. Noah Whittington slips on crucial fourth down with no threat of a pass

I want to be clear I'm not blaming Whittington here. More than anything it felt like the play calling on this drive set the Ducks up for failure. 

In a tie ballgame with 3:07 to go, the offense needed to move the ball from their own 25-yard line to at least get Camden Lewis in field goal range. Most teams can't cover that kind of ground without passing the ball--yet Oregon called four consecutive run plays that netted just eight yards. 

When they had Nix in, it felt like it didn't matter who was handing the ball off. There was still the threat of the pass even though they were running the ball at will. But when Ty Thompson came in it was a different story.

It's fair to say that he hasn't been effective in his limited opportunities this year. That said, most of his reps have been handoffs with the game out of reach. But even when he has thrown, the offense has sputtered. 

That's why Washington had to know the Ducks weren't comfortable with him passing the ball. Four consecutive run plays basically took the ball out of his hands, and you need to at least give your quarterback a chance to move the ball in that situation.

Injuries

These were completely out of Oregon's control, but they certainly didn't help. Injuries to Ryan Walk, Alex Forsyth and especially Bo Nix late were a hurdle the Ducks had to overcome.

You don't need me to tell you that Oregon would've rather had Nix in than Thompson, but the one drive he missed went a long way in determining the outcome of the game. When Nix was able to return on the last drive, it basically turned into hail maries due to field position and time working against them. 

Fortunately for Oregon, their depth on the offensive line allowed Jackson Powers-Johnson to fill in for both Walk (guard) and Forsyth (center) and we also saw Faoope Laloulu play some important snaps.

However, the divide between Thompson and Nix was too much to overcome with the game on the line.

Pass rush

Oregon's defense has been able to skid by all season without getting consistent pressure on the quarterback. On Saturday the Ducks registered just one quarterback hurry against Michael Penix Jr.

When you give one of the nation's leading passers that much time, he's going to pick you apart and find the open man. Oregon held Washington to just 114 yards on the ground  and it didn't matter. DeBoer had no problem asking Penix to throw the ball 35 times because he had all the time he needed en route to 408 passing yards.

Soft coverage

It looked like Christian Gonzalez was the only defensive back that was consistently lining up less than five yards in front of his assignment for most of the game. 

I'm not sure if that was the plan just because he's fastest DB, but that resulted in a lot of natural space being created between the Washington wide receivers. It felt like they were catching the ball with nobody around them all night and Penix didn't have to throw into tight windows.

Washington was also doing a good job finding the pockets and sitting down in them, but seeing plays like the one that had DJ Johnson dropping back in coverage had me scratching my head. 

I'd like to see more jamming and physicality from the defensive backs, but a pass rush that's nowhere to be found certainly hasn't made their job any easier all year.

LOOK: Photo gallery from Oregon Ducks vs. Washington Huskies

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Max Torres
MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.

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