Herbert rallies No. 12 Ducks past No. 25 UW
SEATTLE — For all he’s accomplished in his Oregon career, Justin Herbert had never faced the challenge of rallying from this much of a deficit, on the road and against the Ducks’ most hated rival.
Doing so would all but lock up the Pac-12 North, keep Oregon on the very fringes of the College Football Playoff conversation and put a nail in Washington’s hopes of repeating as conference champs.
“I don’t even think we did that in high school. It was a lot of fun today and glad we got the win,” Herbert said.
Herbert capped Oregon’s rally from a 14-point secondhalf deficit with a 5-yard TD pass to Jaylon Redd with 5:10 left, and No. 12 Oregon rallied to beat No. 25 Washington 35-31 on Saturday.
What was expected to be a defensive showdown turned into an offensive shootout with both Herbert and Washington quarterback Jacob Eason taking the spotlight. Eason was great. Herbert was better. Down 28-14 after Puca Nacua caught a 33-yard TD pass from Eason on the opening drive of the second half, Oregon’s touted defense finally showed up and gave Herbert a chance to rally the Ducks. The Ducks pulled within 31-28 on the final play of the third quarter when a well-designed screen pass on fourth-down found Mycah Pittman, and the freshman raced untouched 36 yards for the score.
The Ducks’ defense forced consecutive three-and-outs, and Oregon marched its way to the go-ahead score. Between Travis Dye and Cyrus Habibi-Likio, the Ducks went 70 yards in 3 ½ minutes, and Herbert found Redd in the flat for the final 5 yards and the lead. It was the last of Herbert’s four TD tosses.
“We talk about the harder it gets the better we play and that showed up in the second half,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said.
Herbert finished 24 of 38 for 280 yards. He threw TDs of 12 yards to Spencer Webb and 16 yards to Redd in the first half.
The victory gave Oregon (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) complete control in the North Division. Four of the five other teams already have three conference losses, with Oregon State at 2-2 the closest to the Ducks.
Washington (5-3, 2-3) reached the Oregon 38 with 2 ½ minutes left, but Eason was sacked on second and 6 by Popo Aumavae and lost 12 yards. It was the first sack of the game by either team.
The Huskies faced third and 23 after a false start but got 20 yards back on a pass to Marcus Spiker. On fourth and 3, Eason’s pass for Nacua was high and the Ducks celebrated a second straight win over their rivals. Washington argued there should have been pass interference on the throw to Nacua.
“What did it look like to you guys? You guys got a better vantage than me. I think we know,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said.
Whether it was interference on not, Washington helped give away the game with its stagnant fourthquarter on offense. After exposing Oregon’s defense in ways it hadn’t during its five-game win streak since dropping its season opener to Auburn, the Huskies had just 52 yards of offense and two first downs in the fourth quarter.
“It’s pretty frustrating given the fact we were playing pretty well on offense,” Washington center Nick Harris said.
Eason was 23 of 30 for 289 yards and three touchdowns. He was nearly perfect for a stretch of the second and third quarters when he threw TD passes of 48 yards to Jordan Chin, 5 yards to Andre Baccellia and his strike to Nacua through a tiny passing window.
But the Ducks made the plays they needed to in the fourth quarter to get Washington off the field and the ball back in Herbert’s hands.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The plan was for Wisconsin to roll into a showdown with Ohio State next week unbeaten, with a defense putting up historic numbers and a Heisman Trophy contender at running back. Illinois had other plans. James McCourt kicked a 39-yard field as time expired and the Illini pulled off the biggest upset of the college football season, knocking off No. 6 Wisconsin 24-23 on Saturday.
“Our program, we needed to get a signature win. I was just hoping today was the day, and the day came,” said Illini coach Lovie Smith, the former Chicago Bears coach who entered the game 11-31 overall and 4-26 in the Big Ten since taking over Illinois in 2016.
“Against the No. 6 team in the country, we played them toe-to-toe,” Smith said. “We saw so much fight. We learned an awful lot about ourselves. We’re pumped up. One of the best wins we can possibly have at this stage in our program.”
Tony Adams picked off a pass by Jack Coan for the Illini (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten), who were 30 ½-point underdogs, at midfield with 2:33 remaining that set up the winning drive.
Dre Brown’s tacklebreaking 13-yard run got Illinois (3-4, 1-3) to the Wisconsin 25 with 34 seconds left and then the Illini set up McCourt to attempt a winner. The junior kicker was down the middle with the field goal to give Smith the most significant victory for Illinois in years.
“No matter if it’s an extra point or a game-winner you kind of have to take the approach that every kick is the same because if you take a different approach you might get thrown off or something might be a little different,” said McCourt, who missed a 40-yard attempt in the first quarter.
Fans rushed the field when it was over and “Jump Around” — a signature song at Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium — blared through the speakers at Memorial Stadium.
“It was amazing,” Adams said. “It was an amazing feeling.”
After the first six weeks of the college football season produced few surprises at the top of the rankings, there have now been major upsets in consecutive weeks. Last week it was then-No. 3 Georgia losing at home to South Carolina in double overtime. Wisconsin becomes the second-highest ranked team to lose to an unranked foe this season.
This was even more stunning.
The Badgers had not trailed this season, allowing only 29 points with four shutouts in six games. Illinois lost to Eastern Michigan earlier this season and has not even been bowl eligible since 2014. Instead, the Badgers (6-1, 4-1) blew a nine-point lead in the final 9:46 of the fourth quarter on Saturday.
Illinois beat a ranked team for the first time since 2011 and knocked off a ranked Big Ten team for the first time since 2007, when the Illini beat No. 1 Ohio State in November on their way to a Rose Bowl appearance. The last time Illinois beat a ranked Big Ten team at home was October 2007, a 31-26 victory against No. 5 Wisconsin.
Heisman contender Jonathan Taylor rushed 28 times for 132 yards and one touchdown for Wisconsin, but he also lost a fumble in Illinois territory in the fourth quarter to help fuel the comeback.
“We had two drives late in the game that ended in turnovers,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said. “It’s always hard to win on the road, and that made it even harder. We just have to move on and learn from this.”
Coan was 24 of 32 passing for 264 yards and a touchdown, but his second turnover of the season came at a crucial time. He sailed a pass on third-and-5 that Adams grabbed to give Illinois a short field against the No. 1 defense in the nation.
Illinois had cut Wisconsin’s lead to 20-14 late in the third quarter on a 43-yard touchdown run by Reggie Corbin.
Illinois 24, No. 6 Wisconsin 23
Wisconsin had opportunities to pad its lead, but settled for a field goal after a first-and-goal from the 3 and then Taylor fumbled at the Illinois 25.
After the fumble, the Illini ripped off a 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by Brandon Peters’ 29-yard pass to Josh Imatorbhebhe to make it 23-21 with 5:53 left.