Gold: Oregon gambles away Battle in Seattle as Huskies take control of Pac-12
It was billed as the Game of the Year, but in the historic and heated rivalry between the two Pacific Northwest powers, Saturday’s Battle in Seattle between No. 7 Washington and No. 8 was more like the Fight of the Century.
And like any of the great title bouts of our time, this one had a bevy of body blows, plenty of gambling and one fitting knockout blow by the Man Who Would Be Heisman, Michael Penix Jr.
It’s not fair to say Washington outlasted Oregon, as the Ducks had their chance to put the Huskies away at the end.
No, this one was slugged out in last-punch-wins fashion.
Kalen DeBoer and the Huskies are left standing. Dan Lanning and the Ducks are left second-guessing.
And Pac-12 fans are left wanting — wanting to see these two heavyweights slug it out in Las Vegas for the final conference title game.
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Two snippets of coverage from Saturday’s slugfest tell the tale.
As Bo Nix and the Ducks offense marched down the field for what would have been the kick that sent the game into overtime, ABC’s cameras caught Camden Lewis, the fifth-year Oregon kicker with more than 40 field goals under his belt, pacing on the Ducks sideline, looking like he’d eaten some bad clams.
We can’t say for certain that it was nerves that caused Lewis to push the ball wide right, but the snap looked good and the hold looked good, and even the kick looked good before veering.
It was an unceremonious ending to what would have been a terrific comeback by the Ducks, who trailed Washington by 11, 29-18, midway through the third quarter.
But you can’t blame Lewis entirely.
The Oregon offense had its chances, none more than on fourth-and-3 from the Washington 47-yard line with 2:11 left. Rather than try to pin the Huskies deep, Lanning let it fly, with Nix’s pass attempt to Tez Johnson falling to the ground.
Washington got the ball back with just over 2 minutes left and made a mockery of the 2-minute offense. Call it the 40-second offense.
First Penix hit one of his star wideouts, Ja’Lynn Polk, for a 35-yard gain. On the next play, Penix hit his favorite target, Rome Odunze, for the 18-yard score.
Which leads us to our second snippet.
There aren’t many quarterbacks in the country who can tell a tale like Penix.
From Tennessee commit under Butch Jones, where he expected to run the Spread offense, to scholarship pulled once Josh Heupel became Volunteers head coach and didn’t believe Penix fit in his system. From Indiana’s promising future to the surgeon’s table, not once, but many times. From Hoosier castoff to Husky hero, leading a proud program back from the depths with a 7-win turnaround last year.
And all the way to current Heisman frontrunner.
Watching him sniffle his way through his on-field interview with ABC’s Holly Rowe as she asked him about the game-winning score — his fourth of the day — while it rained in Husky Stadium as Prince’s “Purple Rain” played over the loudspeakers? That was a special moment.
But not as special as moments later, when the camera lingered on the lasting image of Penix and three family members, including mom, Takisha, hugging and dancing to the music.
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Those might be the lasting snippets, but the lasting sentiment will undoubtedly be: What was Lanning thinking?
Oregon fans will forever remember two fateful fourth downs that told the tale, one at the end of the 1st half, one at the end of the second.
On fourth-and-goal from the Washington 3-yard-line with a chance to trim the Huskies’ halftime lead to one, Lanning opted to go for it, even though the Ducks would get the ball to start the second half.
The play call was curious, a sprint out right, and with Nix’s primary target, Troy Franklin covered, he had nowhere to put the ball. Oregon failed to score, failed to get any points, then managed just 2 yards on the first drive of the second half.
In a halftime on-field interview, he said, “We’re an aggressive team. We’re going to play to win the game.”
He tried that same tack with a chance to end the game, but again Nix could not connect.
Now his Ducks need to pray they go undefeated the rest of the way while DeBoer’s Huskies are in the Pac-12 driver’s seat, with a chance to run away with the league if they can win at USC on Nov. 4.
“We just know we have to keep playing and keep playing and keep believing,” DeBoer said after the game. “We’re built for this. … We’ve been tested many times. We just know how we respond. There’s a lot of trust in each other.”