Okay, so I was a bit off from my pre-game prediction of 28-17 to the Ducks (not on this site); both offenses played very well to blow past that point total by midway through the third quarter. In fact, some of the offensive numbers that Oregon put up were staggering....
. 465 rushing yards, a new team record, beating the record of 446 set in a game versus Washington State in 2001.
. 1 yard away from having 3 players with 100 yard rushing games (Jonathan Stewart finished with 251 yards on 32 carries, third string tailback Andre Crenshaw had 113 on 15, and quarterback Dennis Dixon had 12 carries for 99; it was funny to hear midway through the first quarter that Fox Sports Seattle announcer Brian Davis announce early on, after Stewart was limited to a three yard gain, that "maybe the Huskies have figured out" how to defend the running back. No further comment necessary)
. 39 first downs and 92 snaps for the offense.
I'd figured that the Huskies weren't going to lie down for this game against their southern rivals, and even though the Ducks marched down the field fairly easily for 2 touchdowns in the first quarter, Washington quarterback Jake Locker responded with an 82 yard touchdown pass to Anthony Russo to bring the Dawgs back to within a one-score distance. The ballyhooed fact of Washington being outscored 56-0 in the third quarter was quickly put to rest as Locker successfully answered a Ducks blitz package by hitting Louis Ranking on a screen pass that wound up, 43 yards later, for a Huskies touchdown that knotted the score at 24 early on in the third quarter.
The Ducks then responded with their defense, Jairus Byrd intercepting a Locker pass, on a Husky drive that might've nette them the lead, near the goal line that spurred the Duck offense on a 94 yard drive for which they took the lead for good toward the end of the third quarter. The Ducks continued to grind out the yards on the ground as the Washington offense continued to stall. Locker is very good, but is still a sophomore; there were more than a couple of plays that he which had me realize what the Ducks opposition was facing with his running skills. Best of all was holding Washington to a field goal after Locker had busted out a 47 yard run deep into Oregon territory, which made the score 41-34 with just under 6 minutes to play. Husky coach Ty Willingham then attempted an onside kick which gave the Ducks excellent field position, and less than a minute later the Ducks had scored, and the game was over, for all practical intents and purposes.
I was very happy to see senior receiver Garren Strong make his first career touchdown reception, the first score of the game, as Dixon distributed the ball evenly amongst his receivers (even though Derrick Jones was suspended for violation of team rules, and Dixon overthrew his targets a couple of times, there was nothing to suggest that the he was about to revert into his form from the latter part of last year, even after Washington had tied the score in the third quarter).
Oh yeah, another number to make everyone smile: apparently the 465 yards rushing that the Ducks accumulated in the game is 192 more than Notre Dame has..........in an entire year. Now that's a tangible stat I can get behind.
ESPN RECAP
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