PULLMAN, Wash. — Tyler Shough threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns and No. 11 Oregon came back to beat Washington State 43-29 on Saturday night.
Travis Dye caught two second-half touchdown passes to help Oregon improve to 2-0. The Ducks piled up 582 yards of total offense.
Freshman Jayden de Laura threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns for Washington State (1-1), which led at halftime but could not stop the Ducks in the second half. Freshman defensive back Ayden Hector recovered three Oregon turnovers in the first half.
Oregon went 92 yards in 15 plays on its first possession, and Shough hit tight end DJ Johnson with a 13-yard scoring pass for a 7-0 lead.
Washington State replied with an 18-yard touchdown pass from de Laura to Lucas Bacon. The Cougars attempted a 2-point conversion but de Laura’s pass was incomplete.
Dye fumbled on the next possession and Hector recovered for the Cougars near midfield. De Laura hit Renard Bell with a 44-yard reception and, three plays later, connected with Bell on a 4-yard touchdown pass for a 13-7 lead.
Hector intercepted Shough’s pass on Oregon’s next possession but the Cougars had to punt.
Oregon’s CJ Verdell was stripped of the ball on their next possession and Hector pounced on the fumble for his third recovery. But the Cougars had to settle for Blake Mazza’s 39-yard field goal.
Mazza added a 49-yarder for a 19-7 lead with 20 seconds left in the first half.
Oregon was not done. Shough completed a 57-yard pass to Jaylon Redd to the Oregon 3, and Verdell ran in for the touchdown to cut Washington State’s halftime lead to 19-14.
The Ducks shut down Washington State’s offense in the third quarter, holding the Cougars to 30 yards.
Meanwhile, Shough threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Dye late in the third to lift the Ducks to a 21-19 lead. He added a short touchdown pass to Johnny Johnson in the opening seconds of the fourth to push the lead of 28-19.
Washington State put together a drive to Oregon’s 8, but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Mazza to cut Oregon’s lead to 28-22.
Oregon replied immediately as Shough fired a 71-yard scoring pass to Dye, and then ran in the conversion, to lift Oregon to a 36-22 lead with just over 8 minutes left.
Deon McIntosh scored on a 1-yard-run with 4:40 left to cut Oregon’s lead to 36-29.
THE TAKEAWAY
Oregon: The Ducks have won 17 of their past 19 games, and are on track to claim a second consecutive Pac-12 championship. They overcame three consecutive turnovers in the first half to win their first game in Pullman since 2014.
Washington State: The game marked the home opener for new WSU coach Nick Rolovich. The Cougars were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 North, but have looked better than that in their two games so far.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Oregon may break into the Top 10.
UP NEXT
Oregon hosts UCLA on Saturday.
Washington State plays at Stanford on Saturday.
