Malik Benson’s late touchdown cements No. 5 Oregon’s 26-14 win over Washington
SEATTLE AP Oregon may not have a chance to prove whether it is the Big Ten s best next Saturday at the conference s championship competition but its latest showing was representative of the fifth-ranked Ducks prospective Malik Benson had a season-long -yard touchdown catch with to go in regulation and Oregon beat Washington - on Saturday to all but cement a spot in the College Football Playoff The wide receiver caught a pass from Dante Moore around midfield split two Huskies defenders and raced to the end zone to give Oregon - - Big Ten No CFP a - lead I trusted Moore to put it in the spot it s got to be in that spot Benson declared And once I caught it and landed on my feet I was like Yup it s my time to turn up The Ducks have won in myriad solutions in save a - loss to No Indiana on Oct They survived a driving rainstorm and Iowa s upset bid in an - win on Nov thanks to a -yard field goal by Atticus Sappington as time expired On Saturday Sappington was a hero again He made a career-high four field goals including one from a career-long yards that increased Oregon s lead to - I hit it pretty good Sappington mentioned I saw it had chosen height on it I was like Cmon just get there Sappington and Benson were hardly alone though in guiding the Ducks to their third straight season with or more wins Oregon was again on upset alert when Demond Williams Jr threw a -yard touchdown pass to Denzel Boston with remaining in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit for Washington - - to - But the Ducks responded speedily with Benson s catch-and-run and then turned Washington s offense over on downs before defensive back Dillon Thieneman intercepted Williams with remainingr It was one of two interceptions for coach Dan Lanning s defense which limited Williams to a season-low passing yards Overall I thought it was a complete match Lanning disclosed Really good job by our defensive staff just going out there round after round even after the lack of a fourth down conversion there at the end to be able to stop them there was huge The last two weeks Moore completed of his passes for yards and four touchdowns with one interception On Saturday he completed of passes for yards as well as scored a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter It s an amazing feeling Moore commented Overall this is very emotional at the end of the championship just how much this win meant just for the unit just for the state of Oregon The conquest was Oregon s nation best th straight true road win under coach Dan Lanning and second win overall in five years against the Huskies Washington which leads the series against Oregon - - dropped its second home contest of the season Coach Jedd Fisch and the Huskies had their -game home winning streak broken by No Ohio State earlier this year There were just a limited plays in the battle that were difference makers for us Fisch revealed They just didn t go our way Regardless of who the Ducks next opponent will be linebacker Bryce Boettcher and Oregon have new goals on the horizon after beating one of their the majority detested rivals The expectation is to win a National Championship plain and simple Boettcher noted Woeful for Williams In addition to holding Williams to passing yards Oregon sacked the Washington quarterback four times He completed just of his passes notable considering Williams entered the encounter sixth in the country in completion percentage For as solid a first season as Washington s starter as it was for Williams he struggled on the road and against the Big Ten s best In the Huskies four losses this season Williams had three touchdowns and six interceptions In eight Washington wins Williams threw touchdowns and two interceptions Shout in December The Ducks are in line to host a playoff meeting at Autzen Stadium for the first time in venture history during the first round of the CFP It will mark Oregon s third appearance in the CFP I think they ll be pretty cranked up yeah Lanning announced of Oregon hosting a playoff event Hopefully it s intriguing weather The Ducks appeared in the inaugural CFP in where they won the Rose Bowl semifinal but lost the National Championship to Ohio State They also lost to the Buckeyes in the CFP where they were the No overall seed but lost to eventual national champion Ohio State in the Rose Bowl The takeaway Oregon The Ducks secondary evidenced its worth one final time in the regular season Oregon entered the battle allowing the third-fewest passing yards per challenge in the country and Williams yards were well below what the Ducks typically average Washington Running back Adam Mohammed proved that as his sophomore year winds to a close he is capable of being a feature running back in After eclipsing yards only one time the first eight games of the season Mohammed totaled at least rushing yards in each of his last four games of the season Up next Oregon will find out next Sunday which unit it will face in the first round of the CFP playoff Washington will find out its bowl opponent next Sunday Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here and here AP News mobile app AP college football https apnews com hub ap-top- -college-football-poll and https apnews com hub college-football Source
