Oregon Football: 3 takeaways from tight win over Washington State
3. Washington State’s miscues were too much to overcome
It took Oregon’s offense a bit of time on Saturday night to find its comfort zone, which gave Washington State an opportunity to potentially build a lead in the first half. Unfortunately, two first half interceptions by Anthony Gordon allowed the Ducks to get to the locker room with the game tied at 17.
The first interception Gordon threw could hardly be classified as his fault. Trailing 9-3 early in the second quarter, the Cougars embarked on an 8-play 56-yard drive that got all the way down to the Ducks 15-yard-line.
Gordon threw a strike into the endzone for reliable senior receiver Brandon Arconado, but he couldn’t corral it and it ended up bouncing off of his hands and into the waiting arms of Oregon’s Verone McKinley, ending a promising drive that should have resulted in some form of points.
Perhaps the most back-breaking play of the half, however, occurred near the end when Mike Leach and his quarterback got far too aggressive when backed up near their own goal line. On third-and-25 from their own five-yard-line, the Cougars foolishly tried to push the ball down field, and Gordon threw a ball well behind his intended receiver that was intercepted by Jevon Holland and returned 19-yards for a touchdown.
The Cougars lessened that damage by embarking on a touchdown drive right before the half to tie the game at 17, but the pick-six was still quite damaging.
In a back-and-forth game, an underrated miscue that might’ve been overlooked was a bad snap on Wazzu’s first drive of the second half. The center snapped the ball over Gordon’s head, leading to a 15-yard loss that ended any kind of chance the Cougars had of getting points on that drive.
Instead, the Cougars were forced to punt and Oregon took the lead for good on the next drive. In a close game, you can usually find the difference in the box score by looking at the turnover margin. Oregon’s +2 advantage proved to be the difference.