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College Football

3 takeaways from Oregon’s beatdown of Washington to cap perfect regular season

Derek Peterson

By Derek Peterson

Published:

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning has finally beaten Washington.

After losses in his first 3 games against the Ducks’ PNW rivals, Lanning left no doubt on Saturday inside Autzen Stadium. His Ducks won 49-21 to cap a perfect regular season and move one step closer to the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.

Oregon will face Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game next Saturday. A win would tie the program record for victories in a single season. As things stand, the Ducks are 12-0 for just the second time in program history.

Here are 3 takeaways from the game.

Belt. To. A…

As the regular season has wound down, a common narrative has been that college football doesn’t have a truly elite team this year. Every team seems to have a major flaw. For Oregon, folks have often pointed to the run defense. Per Game on Paper, the Ducks went into Saturday’s game ranked 77th in rushing success rate allowed. Folks like to point to Ashton Jeanty’s 192-yard, 3-touchdown day against the Ducks.

Concerns about the run defense are fair. That might even prove to be Oregon’s fatal flaw in the national championship discussion.

It absolutely was not an issue on Saturday against the Huskies.

Jonah Coleman, the Huskies’ bowling ball of a running back, finished with 3 yards on 11 carries.

Demond Williams Jr., the Huskies’ spark plug backup quarterback, had 17 yards on 22 carries.

Washington finished with 43 rushing yards on 37 carries as a team.

Remove Oregon’s 10 sacks, and UW still finished with just 92 rushing yards on a 3.4 yards-per-carry average.

Oregon had 16 tackles in the UW backfield. And it ran for 226 yards at 6 yards per carry when it had the football. Washington did not stop a single Oregon play for a loss. Washington was credited with only 2 quarterback hurries all game. Oregon whipped Washington on the line of scrimmage to end this losing streak. After UW took its opening drive 65 yards for a field goal, the Huskies never really felt like a threat.

The Wisconsin game was what we thought

Oregon had to rally on the road to beat a disappointing Wisconsin team back on Nov. 16. They trailed 10-6 at the half and through 3 quarters, averaged just 5.6 yards per play with a turnover and only 80 rushing yards. The Ducks looked flat.

Was it a concerning sign? Or was it simply just a product of the schedule? Oregon was playing its eighth game in 8 weeks. The Ducks hadn’t had a break in the schedule since Sept. 21.

After a bye week, Oregon looked refreshed against Washington. The pass game was crisp, with completions on 19 of 26 overall pass plays. The run game was productive. The pass protection was clean. The defense was flying all over the field.

There should be no concern moving forward. The Ducks squashed all that. And, in doing so, perhaps they offered a sign of what’s to come. Should Oregon win the Big Ten title game next week, it’ll get a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. An extra week for this staff to prepare? An extra week for this roster to get healthier? Oregon already looks like a scary team, it doesn’t need help. But that’s on the table next week.

Terrance Ferguson makes history

In the fourth quarter, Ferguson tied the all-time program record for career receiving touchdowns by an Oregon tight end. Dillon Gabriel rolled to his left and found Ferguson all alone in the back of the endzone for his 15th career touchdown.

Ferguson also became the program’s all-time leader in career receptions by a tight end during the game.

The 6-foot-5 senior ends the regular season with 35 receptions for 490 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had 48 yards on 4 catches against Washington. On Senior Day, Ferguson ended strong.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.