After Further Review: Oregon football's lack of spark dooms Ducks in loss to Washington

Oregon literally did not participate statistically during the first and fourth quarters of the last Pac-12 championship game. It cost them the same result of their in-season loss to Washington, 36-33 in Seattle, this time losing to the Huskies again, by three points in Las Vegas, 34-31. The Ducks’ performance in their first loss may have been more impressive than this one as Oregon failed to show the fire that was their mantra in winning six straight coming into the game.

Before the game, Oregon coach Dan Lanning observed that “energy doesn’t win games—execution does.” With all due respect, this proved to be wrong as nearly all Ducks, save their kickers, lacked the fire and enthusiasm. In the first quarter, the Ducks, behind Heisman hopeful quarterback Bo Nix, ran six plays, gained nine yards, no third-down conversions, and no first downs. The Huskies, coolly directed by Michael Penix Jr., the new leading Heisman candidate, had 26 plays, eight first downs, and four-of-five third-down conversions. The time of possession was 13:13 for Washington and 1:47 for the Ducks who were lucky to only be trailing, 10-0.

Husky head coach Kalen DeBoer attacked Oregon’s defense with a masterful offensive plan: mixing inside runs with a host of outside plays that hurt the Ducks’ previously impregnable edge defense, play after play. Half their first period plays were passes to a variety of receivers, a group that from top to bottom are the best in the conference. Last year, the Ducks couldn’t cover the Dawgs’ speed, and it was apparent that Oregon still lacked the ability to cover the Huskies’ track-speed ball catchers, especially slower linebackers attempting to cover receivers deep in the secondary; all made worse by an ineffective pass rush.

Oregon lacked speed, energy to take on Washington

For all the significant improvement by the Ducks’ defense this season, that speed issue was still glaring against the Dawgs. The Washington play caller had the Ducks on their heels the entire game with a variety of plays that were balanced between pass plays everywhere and powerful runs directly at the heart of Oregon’s previously formidable front seven.

DeBoer had his players shifting every play. It might get easy to be mesmerized by the constant movement and adjustments of the offensive formations thrown at the defense. Several times, Washington lined up in a slot, and with the corner covering the outside receiver bump-and run, Oregon’s safety, aligned on the inside receiver, was 10-12 yards deep. The Huskies would run the outside receiver deep, dragging the defender with him and sometimes getting in the way of the safety trying to come up and cover the slot receiver running to the flat, wide open. It was like stealing candy from a baby: an easy five or more yards every time. Lanning’s quandary was that if he brought the safety up closer to cover, the slot had a speed advantage and could get open on a deeper route — a recipe for disaster.

A showdown between Heisman hopefuls Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr.

Nix, who looked a bit dazed in TV closeups, completed only one-of-five passes in the first stanza, but became his normal self in the second: 11-of-14 and one touchdown, eight first downs, and Oregon edged closer on the scoreboard, 20-10. It was like old times: Nix drove the Ducks 75 yards in 1:30 and sailed a scoring pitch to Terrance Ferguson with only nine seconds left in the half. The offense, and Nix, might have been better going at a two-minute pace for the whole game, if the defense could stop Penix.

With the Ducks due for the kickoff at the beginning of the third quarter, there was room for confidence, and the Huskies looked a little grim coming out of their locker room. Although the Ducks were not dominating, a guy named “Mo” was now roaming Oregon’s sideline. Invigorated, Nix was now at his best, completing four passes on a 16-play drive; and he threw a laser to Ferguson on fourth-down to edge closer to the Dawgs, 20-17. A pivotal play in the game came the next series: Penix threw deep to the best receiver in the Pac-12, Rome Odunze, and Khyree Jackson intercepted, giving the ball to Nix and the Ducks at Oregon’s 41-yard line.

“Mo” now was totally on Oregon’s side, but Nix blew it, rolling to his left and throwing an interception. Nix may not have seen the defender, a Husky who had run out-of-bounds and came back in as Nix threw the ball. Nix had more bad passes in this game than he had in the previous four, and many of them were to his left. However, not deterred, the Duck defense was playing with new energy and got one of their two sacks on Penix, taking over on the Oregon 38; no disaster came from Nix’s interception.

Two plays later, Nix took off, sprinting down the sideline for 44 yards and the Ducks were in business at the Husky 11-yard line. Two plays later, a powerful touchdown run by Jordan James brought the heat up in Allegiant Stadium. Husky fans pinched themselves— they were now behind 24-20, Nix was in the Heisman lead, and “Mo” was now seen smoking a cigar on the Ducks’ sideline.

Unfortunately, the Huskies would gather themselves, and, crushing Oregon’s proud defense, drove for a score that put them ahead in the game, 27-24. The Heisman race was now neck and neck and Nix was unable to move the Ducks beyond one first down. Bucky Irving, once the reliable spark to Lanning’s offense, was a shadow of his former self, looking morose and lacking his routine spark and speed. He was stopped on short run and pass plays, devoid of the crushing blocking that made Oregon previously the second-best offense in the country.

Oregon’s offensive line looked anemic, rather than destructive, and Irving looked injured — it was a discouraging sight. The Ducks were getting punished in the trenches because the pad level of Washington’s offensive and defensive linemen was nearly always lower than Oregon’s. The old adage “low man wins,” was never more appropriate and spoke to the superiority of the Huskies, all based on “leverage.”

Looking at the Oregon bench, “Mo” was missing, leaving only a cigar butt, and Penix put the final touch on his Heisman application with a 12-play scoring drive that ate up most of the quarter, hitting Quentin Moore with a short pass extending their lead to 34-24 with 2:44 left in the game.

Although “Mo” was now sitting next to Penix on the Washington bench, Nix, the great competitor that he is, drove the Ducks 75 yards for a score in a mere 30 seconds. Washington’s lead was slim: 34-31 with 2:14 still left in the game — an eternity when you have to defend Nix when he’s hot. It could be debated it would have been the right thing to kickoff deep, hold the Huskies, and use their three timeouts to force a punt. But Lanning chose to try an onside kick, which, given the restrictions now on the play, make it almost impossible to recover it given a decent “hands” team waiting to receive it.

It didn’t matter. The Huskies covered the kick and the Duck defense, looking exhausted, could not force a punt and “Mo” lit another cigar and joined Penix on the field with the rest of his jubilant teammates.

Washington outplayed, outcoached Oregon

The Ducks were outplayed and outcoached. Oregon’s offense showed no creativity and any wrinkles built off what they had run all year were left on the shelf. Fans were left wondering about exciting plays run over the season, like screen passes to the tight end while Oregon’s wide receivers often were covered on crucial passes, acting as though it was the first time they had come up against bump and run coverage. Nix struggled to get the rhythm he so often displayed in previous games. Sometimes the quarterback can be no more successful than the play sent him by the coach.

You can tell when a defense is cooking by the hustle and pursuit of the players. Do they look like they want to be in on the tackle? How do they rush the passer, are they running over blockers and getting their hands up even when they know they can’t get to the passer in time? Any similarity of Oregon’s nationally-ranked defense to their performance against Washington was strictly coincidental.

Coach Lanning was not correct in his statement on the correlation between energy and execution. The Ducks had neither in this historic opportunity. It’s a long season and players get worn down, many managing bumps and bruises along the way. Without energy, you don’t have passion and the determination you need in a toe-to-toe physical brawl between two bitter rivals. You need energy to execute, otherwise you look like Oregon did in the first and fourth quarters. The Dawgs owned the ball 15 minutes longer than Oregon.

No player ever wakes up on game day thinking, “I’m not going to play my best.” Players do the very best they think they can do — but it’s a lot easier to dream and play big if you have energy, and show it. Energy comes from within, and execution naturally follows. It also attracts “Mo” to sit with your team and not the other.

After playing at Oregon, Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and as a head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He has been a commentator on Oregon football on Fox, Prime Sports Northwest and KCPQ. Woody will conduct a free, coaching clinic at the 6th Street Grill at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Plays from Oregon games are analyzed, there are scouting reports for opponents, and highlights from referees; all to learn about football and understand why the Ducks win or lose.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Pac-12 championship: Oregon football lacked energy vs. Washington