7 major takeaways from No. 8 Oregon’s gut-wrenching 36-33 loss to No. 7 Huskies

For the record, I would have punted.

My opinion on the matter is worth what you paid for it, though. I’m not the one in a position to have my decisions criticized or praised by millions of people across the nation every weekend.

That’s why I understand what Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks were trying to do, going for it on 4th and 3 from the Washington 47 with 2:11 on the clock, looking to ice the game and pick up the statement win of his career. Instead, the Ducks turned the ball over on downs, allowed a go-ahead touchdown from Michael Penix, and lost the game after a 43-yard FG from Camden Lewis sailed wide right as time expired.

The end result? Oregon’s first loss of the season and a tougher road to the Pac-12 Championship going forward.

There are a lot of things to take away from this game, and a lot of little nitpicks to make if you care to. But there is also a lot to celebrate — the Ducks proved that they are incredibly elite in certain aspects of the game, and one of the best teams in the nation.

Let’s try and wade through what we just saw unfold over the past four hours and attempt to make sense of it.

In Hindsight...

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After the way that the Oregon Ducks lost their final two games of the 2022 season, there was a lot of speculation about the way that Dan Lanning coached games, and the aggressive nature in which he chose to do things. It often worked, but there have been numerous times in his career where it’s come back to bite him.

That was certainly the case on Saturday vs. Washington.

The Ducks went 0-for-3 on fourth down conversions, two of which came within the Washington 10-yard line. That happened in a game that Oregon lost by three points.

In hindsight, a field goal on at least one of those drives looks pretty smart right now.

At the end of the game, the Ducks held a 33-29 lead, with the ball at Washington’s 47-yard line, and just 2:11 on the clock. It was 4th and 3. They could have punted, giving Michael Penix, at worst, a 75-yard field to drive with zero timeouts in the bank.

In hindsight, maybe that would have been the call. Instead, the Ducks failed to convert, and Penix drove 53 yards in 28 seconds and put the Huskies on top with his fourth TD pass of the game.

Hindsight is 20-20, but after over a year sample size of these aggressive decisions coming back to bite you in critical moments, it feels like we might air on the safer side occasionally.

“It didn’t work so obviously, it’ll be second-guessed,” Lanning said after the game.

It’s a tough one to assess because part of what makes Lanning such a good coach is his aggressive nature. He is good at recruiting largely because he is good at building relationships and relating to a younger generation. I’m sure his aggressive energy plays into that. He has won a lot of games as a head coach because decisions to go for 2 instead of kick a PAT, or kick it onsides instead of boot it down the field often pay dividends.

Then there are the moments where they come back and bite you.

Lanning isn’t Lanning without taking the risks. Unfortunately, one of the biggest parts of his resume now is having those risks blow up in his face.

The Season Isn't Over

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The Ducks no longer control their own destiny in the Pac-12, which is unfortunate. But to say that this loss ended their season is very far from the truth.

It was always going to be a near-impossible task to get through the Pac-12 conference with an undefeated record. It has never been done since the league expanded to 12 teams, and the likelihood that it could be done in 2023 — a season where as many as 8 teams have been ranked inside the top 25 at the same time — was a fallacy.

In reality, there’s a good chance that this ends up being the first of two meetings between Oregon and Washington. With Washington now having an inside track to getting to the Pac-12 title game, it will be on Oregon to take care of business and find their way to Las Vegas. On top of that, a one-loss Pac-12 Champion has an incredibly strong case to get a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The margin for error has now been stripped away, but the Ducks still have a lot to play for going forward. They need to bounce back as quickly as possible, too, with a pair of top-25 matchups in the next two weeks.

“I think if we take care of business on the rest of our wins, our destiny, we absolutely control our destiny,” Lanning said. “If we win out, then we’re going to put ourselves in a situation to play for exactly what we think we should play for.”

The Jordan/Bucky Combo

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It’s getting increasingly harder and harder to not tout the combo of Bucky Irving and Jordan James as the best duo of running backs in the Pac-12 Conference. On Saturday against the Huskies, they were magnificent.

Irving ran the ball 22 times for 127 yards and 1 TD, while James added 13 rushes for 63 yards and another score. More than the stats, though, it was the combination 1-2 punch that they were able to hit Washington with that made it a masterpiece performance to watch.

Irving is shifty, and capable of breaking tackles before scampering upfield. James, on the other hand, will run it down your throat and not care who tries to stop him.

It feels like a new-age version of Travis Dye and CJ Verdell, but more improved.

In all, the Ducks rushed for 204 yards on the day, and were largely able to get what they wanted to on the ground. While it’s always unfortunate to not have Noah Whittington available, there is a silver lining present that his season-ending injury did allow us to get a bigger sample size from James, and show us what he is capable of. Going forward, the Oregon backfield is going to be something incredibly impressive to watch.

A Defense Stepping Up

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The stats won’t show it, but this was an incredible performance from Oregon’s defense, particularly in the second half.

When you face a quarterback like Michael Penix Jr., with the arsenal of weapons that he has at his disposal, then you’re going to give up points. However, when it really mattered in the second half, the defense stepped up and got a trio of pivotal stops.

After falling behind 29-18 and missing a fourth-down conversion, the Ducks forced a Husky 3-and-out. Following an Oregon TD to make it a 29-26 game, Oregon forced another 3-and-out punt from Washington. Then, once Oregon had a 33-29 lead, the Ducks led a goal-line stand, stopping four-straight runs from inside the 5-yard-line, turning Washington over on downs and taking control of the game.

Regardless of the final score, and the game-winning drive that Washington went on, I left this game really impressed with the Ducks’ defense. When things got tough, they found a way to step up and keep their team in this game. That’s not something that we could have said about this team a year ago.

Elite QB Play

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This game was billed as an elite matchup with two Heisman-leading quarterbacks squaring off, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Bo Nix and Michael Penix put on an absolute show Saturday afternoon, throwing haymakers at each other back and forth until the very finish.

Penix ended on top, throwing for 302 yards and 4 TD with 1 INT, completing 22-of-37 passes. Nix was arguably even better, throwing for 337 yards and 2 TD on 33-for-44 completions.

In this season of college football which has been billed as one of the best classes of QBs that we’ve seen in quite a while, both Nix and Penix entered the year getting overshadowed by the likes of Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Shedeur Sanders. After Saturday’s showdown, though, I think it will be hard for anyone to argue against the fact that these two are among the very best of the best in the nation.

Patrick Herbert

Can we just give a really quick shoutout to TE Patrick Herbert? I don’t feel like he gets enough praise, especially after getting out to a career year in 2023.

On Saturday, Herbert was responsible for a couple of great plays, one of which was a successful 2-point conversion attempt in the first quarter, and the second of which was a highlight-reel TD catch where he went up and high-pointed the ball, coming down with the score.

Terrance Ferguson has been all the rage in Eugene, and rightfully so. However, it’s been clear that Herbert is right on his level, and one of the top playmakers in this offense.

A Plea to National Media

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For a second, I’m going to get on my soapbox and offer a plea to national media members, and the AP voters, in particular.

Please don’t make more of this than it actually was. Please don’t simply look at the final score of the game, and see that No. 7 Washington beat No. 8 Oregon, going onto move the Huskies up a few spots in the polls and dropping the Ducks down amongst all of the one-loss teams in the nation now.

Take a second to recognize that this was a game between two incredibly well-matched teams, and someone had to win. That someone deserves to be considered among the top 3-5 teams in the nation. The other team shouldn’t be dropped to one of the top 13-15 teams in the nation.

I would be saying the same thing about Washington had they lost this game, too. It was such a tightly-contested game where a decision here or there completely changed the outcome. That doesn’t mean that they are much worse than they were entering this game.

I have a feeling that the Ducks will drop down to No. 11 or No. 12 in the AP Poll when it comes out on Sunday. In reality, I think they should stay about where they are at No. 8 or No. 9.

We will see what the national media members think of the loss, but I think we should feel a bit better about the Ducks after this game than we did before.

Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire