by Steve Mims
EUGENE, OREGON
Oregon rallied from an 11-point second half deficit before No. 7 Washington beat the eighth-ranked Ducks 36-33 Saturday at Husky Stadium.
The Ducks fell to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12, but a close loss on the road to a Top-10 team only dropped them one spot to No. 9 in the AP poll. Oregon would still likely make the Pac-12 Championship game if it can win its final six conference games and will remain in the hunt for the national championship as long as it doesn’t drop a second game.
Oregon’s Bucky Irving ran for a 12-yard score and Patrick Herbert caught a 11-yard touchdown pass from Bo Nix to put the Ducks up 15-14 early in the second quarter. Camden Lewis got Oregon within 22-18 at halftime before Washington stretched the margin to 29-18 early in the third quarter.
Nix thew a 30-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin and Jordan James added a 10-yard scoring run as the Ducks went up 33-29 early in the fourth quarter.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning elected to go for it on fourth down three times in the game and failed each time, the final occurrence giving Washington a short field before Michael Penix Jr. threw a 18-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze with 1:38 left to play. Oregon had a chance to tie the game, but Lewis missed a field goal in the final seconds.
Nix completed 33-of-44 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns, including eight catches of 154 yards and a score by Franklin. Irving ran for 127 yards and a touchdown.
Oregon returns to Autzen Stadium to host Washington State Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Fifth-ranked Oregon dropped just its third match of the season when No. 19 Arizona State swept the Ducks 27-25, 25-18, 25-19 Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena.
Mimi Colyer had 11 kills and two blocks for Oregon while Gabby Gonzales and Morgan Lewis each added eight kills. Karson Bacon had six blocks for the Ducks.
Oregon opened the weekend with a 26-24, 25-8, 25-15 win over Arizona. Colyer had 14 kills and Gonzales added 12 kills while Hannah Pukis had 36 assists and three blocks.
The Ducks (16-3) are tied with Arizona State for third place in the Pac-12 at 6-2 as they prepare to visit Cal and Stanford this weekend.
CROSS COUNTRY
The Oregon women finished fifth at the Pre Nationals in Charlottesville, Va. as Maddy Elmore led the way with a runner-up finish. Izzy Thornton-Bott placed 14th and Klaudia Kazimierska was 26th.
SOCCER
Oregon fell to 0-12-2 with a 2-0 loss against Arizona State on Friday.
Steve Mims has spent 25 years as a sportswriter, including 21 years at The Register-Guard. He covered University of Oregon athletics from 2013-2020. He works in Eugene as a registered representative and insurance agent at PBC Insurance. He can be reached at smims@pbcins.com.