4 takeaways from Oregon football’s loss to Washington in the Pac-12 championship

LAS VEGAS – No. 5 Oregon football just can’t get over the Washington hump.

For the second time this season, and for the third consecutive game, the Ducks (11-2, 8-1 Pac-12) came up short to the No. 3 Huskies (13-0, 9-0 Pac-12) by three points in the Pac-12 championship game at Allegiant Stadium Friday, 34-31.

The Ducks fell behind by three scores in the first half, trailing 20-3, before a 21-0 run helped them take the lead in the third quarter. Oregon quarterback Bo Nix connected on a couple of deep shots right at the end of the half, capped off by a toss to Terrance Ferguson in the back of the end zone to cut the UW lead to 20-10 with nine seconds remaining.

Out of the half, the Ducks scored on their opening possession, converting on two separate fourth downs to pull within three without the Huskies and Michael Penix Jr. even taking the field.

A fourth down stop then led to another Ducks score at the other end, and in the blink of an eye, Oregon had taken a three-point lead. The Huskies responded with a score of their own, and after taking a 10-point lead with minutes remaining, the Ducks couldn’t overcome another double-digit deficit.

Bo Nix connected on 21 of his 34 throws for 239 yards and three touchdowns with an interception and was Oregon’s leading rusher with 69 yards. Outside Nix, the Ducks ran for just 55 yards on 14 carries.

Penix threw for 319 yards en route to Pac-12 championship MVP honors, and Dillon Johnson ran for 152 yards on 28 carries for two touchdowns. Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze both totaled over 100 receiving yards.

Here are three takeaways from Oregon's dramatic loss to the Huskies in the final Pac-12 championship game.

Ducks can’t overcome slow start

Washington put up the first 10 points of the game, and after Oregon seized some momentum with a field goal to cut it to seven, the Huskies responded with a four-play scoring drive that put them ahead 17-3 in a blink.

That poor start, and the offense being that out of rhythm, was tough to overcome for the Ducks.

“They were just really good,” Nix said. “We didn’t get a first down; we didn’t get a momentum play … the explosive plays weren’t there for us tonight.”

The Ducks had a trio of three-and-outs in the first half, tying a season-high in just one half against the Huskies. Entering Friday night, the Ducks had just 18 three-and-outs all season.

Playing behind the sticks most of the night without a consistent run game, the Ducks converted just 3 of their 10 third down chances.

“They had a good plan,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “They had hats in the box, there were sometimes I thought we could’ve been running the ball and had positive looks and for whatever reason we weren’t able to do that. They played well, you have to give credit to them.”

The run game got a spark in the third quarter, when Jordan James stepped in and took five carries for 35 yards and a touchdown, but Bucky Irving was held to 20 yards on nine carries.

It’s Irving’s lowest rushing total of the season and his lowest since a 20-yard outing against Utah last November.

Terrible time for Ducks to struggle with injuries at corner

The Ducks’ luck against these Huskies has been brutal in each game this season. Though Lanning won’t make an excuse about injuries, starting corner Jahlil Florence did not make the trip to Las Vegas, and Khyree Jackson was hobbled and didn’t play for most of the fourth quarter against one of the best passing offenses in the country.

Both corners got hobbled in Oregon’s 36-33 loss to the Huskies in October, as well.

“That’s a cop-out for us,” Lanning said of the injuries. “We have guys who practice hard and prepare all week. You’re banged up – it’s that point in the season.”

Regardless, the Ducks turned to Dontae Manning, Nikko Reed, and at times true freshman Cole Martin for a large chunk of the game and got burned for over 300 yards through the air and 150 yards on the ground.

Jordan Burch, a standout defensive lineman that has emerged in recent weeks after transferring from South Carolina last season, was also hurt in the first quarter.

“Jordan Burch is a great player and he certainly makes us better, but that would be an excuse,” Lanning said. “There’s nobody that’s playing healthy at this time of the season. They’re banged up too. We didn’t finish.”

What comes next for Oregon?

Likely Phoenix and the Fiesta Bowl. Despite the loss, Oregon players and coaches that were made available to the press expressed optimism for the future and a potential New Year's Six bowl in late December and January.

That said, some players still must make decisions on their futures, including Nix – a projected first round NFL draft pick.

“That’s not today – that decision,” Nix said. “I have no idea. I’m looking forward to whatever bowl game is chosen for us and I’m just trying to get over that loss. I’m not really thinking about anything today.”

Nix won’t be the only one with a decision, with other players like Irving, Troy Franklin, Brandon Dorlus and more that could potentially sit out or play, as well as any potential players that could enter the transfer portal.

“There’s going to be guys that have to make decisions to leave and go to the NFL, and there’s going to be guys that are going to leave and head into the portal,” linebacker Jeffrey Bassa said. “This team might look different, but we have to rally the guys that are going to be here and want to be in this program and get them ready to go.”

Despite ending their season on a sour note, Lanning, Bassa, and Nix were grateful for the season the Ducks had and are optimistic about the future.

“Yeah, we want the standard to be that expectation,” Lanning said of Oregon’s eighth-ever 11-win season. “We have a high expectation for ourselves. There's nobody outside of this room that wants us to do better than those guys in that locker room, these coaches. They know what we had this year. We have a special group this year … and we've got an opportunity to go play in a really good bowl game, right, and cap this thing off the right way.”

The Ducks will find out their postseason fate on Sunday during the College Football Playoff Selection Show.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Dan Lanning, Bo Nix on Oregon football's loss to Washington Huskies