Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s first-year honeymoon ended as a result of some ill-advised decisions, penalties and rare turnovers in a back-and-forth brawl with the wiling Washington Huskies who made their mistakes early while the Ducks wilted in the end, 37-34. A roaring Autzen Stadium crowd could never get a sense that the good guys were going to win; there were seven lead changes in the game that produced 1,114 yards of total offense.

The Huskies’ main executioner was quarterback Michael Penix, who put on a Heisman show of his own in winning a one-on-one duel with Oregon’s Heisman hopeful, Bo Nix. Penix was 26-of-35 pass attempts, with one interception, two touchdowns and a staggering 408 yards gained. Nix did not start the game in sharp fashion, as is his customary standard, but completed 19-of-27 throws for two touchdowns and a total of 280 yards.

Lanning was forced to lead with the run game in the second half (239 yards), primarily because his defense could not stop Penix or cover his gifted receivers who were faster than the Ducks trying to cover them. Husky receivers caught ten passes of over 15+ yards and a total of 160 yards after the catch. It didn’t help that the Ducks, trying hard but looking sluggish and undisciplined, could not sack Penix or keep him for running on two key third-down situations where Oregon’s secondary had receivers covered. Washington was gifted on third down tries (5-of-9) while the Ducks converted 7-of-14, which was not bad, but not good enough for this game.

Big games are settled by penalties and one crucial call came in the first quarter and cost the Ducks four points. After the Huskies scored on their first possession, Nix drove the offense steadily and Noah Whittington rushed up the middle for a 17-yard gain to the Husky 5-yard line. Check that-- a personal foul penalty negated the rush and with the penalty, the ball was placed on the Husky 37-yard line, a penalized total of 32 yards, not just 15. The Ducks ended up settling for a field goal by Camden Lewis, which was not the touchdown you would anticipate first-and-goal from the 5-yard line. The quarter ended 7-3 Dawgs and it was the only the third time this year that Oregon did not score a touchdown in the first frame.

In the second quarter, from the Husky 4-yard line, third-and-one, the Ducks came out in a funky spread-out formation and then shifted into their conventional formation, having to hurry to avoid a delay of game penalty. Nix fumbled what appeared to be a faulty snap and Washington recovered on their own one-yard line. It was the first fumble lost this season and it couldn’t have come at a worse time—it cost the Ducks seven points. There was absolutely no reason to get fancy in that situation.

Later, Nix ran 10 yards for a score, tying the game at 10-10. Lanning chose to onside kick as he did in the UCLA game, although this time the Huskies were a little smarter than the Bruins and recovered the ball. There was still 4:02 left in the half, and the Ducks had gifted Washington with 25-yards free field position. The defensive unit gave up a 34-yard pass and then dug in to force a field goal that put the Huskies ahead 13-10 going into the locker room.

Oregon scored first drive of the second half on a beautiful, arching 46-yard beauty from Nix to Dont’e Thornton and the Ducks were up 17-13.  Kicker Andrew Boyle was out-of-bounds with the kickoff, of which he had two this game, gifting the Huskies with the equivalent of two first downs of field position. Ten plays later, the Huskies turned the tables, 20-17.

Not to be outdone, Noah Whittington broke free for a 29-yard touchdown and like that, Oregon regained the lead, 24-20. Two plays later, Penix made his presence known, hitting Ja’Lynn Polk for a 76-yard rope that the Ducks’ main secondary playmaker, Bennett Williams couldn’t get to and now the Dogs were in front 27-24. Speed burns and it showed on that play, one of several that Oregon defensive backs were outclassed in footspeed.

Spectators were straining their necks trying to keep up with the fast-paced touchdown drives by both teams. This time, the Ducks shook off a holding penalty and Nix completed a 67-yard bomb to Troy Franklin and the Webfoots went in front, 31-27. The Huskies answered, driving to the one-yard line and then the Huskies got fancy and rather than running the ball, had Penix roll out to his right and under pressure, tried to throw the ball away. It was tipped by Noah Sewell and then intercepted by Jeffrey Bassa at the one.

The game was there for the Ducks’ taking. Nix drove the offense 91 yards in 20 plays but was injured on an ill-conceived third-down run, forcing Lanning to settle for a field goal and a short-lived 34-27 lead, the longest for either team. With only 3:54 left in the game, Boyle had his second out-of-bounds kickoff and the Huskies were ten yards closer to tying the game. It only took 47 seconds for Penix to do so with a 62-yard pass and now Oregon was in trouble: Nix was out and backup Ty Thompson, who has not accomplished much over the course of the season, was now at the helm.

The Ducks ran three times for nine yards and, for what would result in a gift victory for Washington, Lanning decided not to punt, fourth-and-one from his own 34-yard line, with only 1:26 left in the game. Husky fans who made plenty of their own noise this night, howled with delight; they were mere yards away from field goal range when Whittington slipped and fell for a one-yard loss with Nix next to Lanning begging to be back in the game. The Duck defense, unbowed, gave up nine yards on first down and then bludgeoned the Huskies, forcing a 43-yard field goal that brought Lanning’s eight-game winning streak to an end and a lot of dreams for playoffs that now had drifted into the night.

It wasn’t even ironic, as a 15-yard illegal touching penalty to an Oregon receiver prevented a Duck first down on the Husky 23-yard line, with still time for one more play, which obviously would have been a successful field goal to force overtime.

Lanning is now left with some serious learning opportunities: when to razzle dazzle and when to punch it out; when to punt or not, consideration of potential field position gifts to a high-octane offense; and how to get better performance from a defense that might not have a higher ceiling than the low one displayed against Washington.

The offense surrendered their first fumble of the season and it couldn’t have happened at a worse place on the field, a high snap from center lead to a jammed-up run in the red zone, the offensive line gave up a sack, had several costly penalties and looked tired in the fourth quarter. The defense needs more quickness and discipline in rushing the passer and there has to be an improvement in man-to-man pass coverage. All season, Oregon has won the critical ‘middle eight’ minutes of the game and established dominance. Against the Dawgs, they won the middle eight 21-10, but when it counted most, lost the final four minutes decisively, 10-0.

This one hurt—coach Lanning got knocked off his surf board by the Huskies. With rugged Utah coming next week, he and the battered Ducks need to get back on the wave.