Oregon may not have a chance to prove whether it is the Big Ten’s best next Saturday at the conference’s championship game, but its latest showing was representative of the fifth-ranked Ducks potential.
Malik Benson had a season-long 64-yard touchdown catch with 7:55 to go in regulation and Oregon beat Washington 26-14 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 (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten, No. 6 CFP) a 26-14 lead.
“I trusted (Moore) to put it in the spot, it’s got to be in that spot,’” Benson said. “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 ways in 2025, save a 30-20 loss to No. 2 Indiana on Oct. 11. They survived a driving rainstorm and Iowa’s upset bid in an 18-16 win on Nov. 8, thanks to a 39-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 51 yards that increased Oregon’s lead to 19-7.
“I hit it pretty good,” Sappington said. “I saw it had some 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 11 or more wins. Oregon was again on upset alert when Demond Williams Jr. threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Denzel Boston with 8:54 remaining in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit for Washington (8-4, 5-4) to 19-14.
But the Ducks responded quickly with Benson’s catch-and-run and then turned Washington’s offense over on downs before defensive back Dillon Thieneman intercepted Williams with 1:27 remainingr. It was one of two interceptions for coach Dan Lanning’s defense, which limited Williams to a season-low 129 passing yards.
“Overall, I thought it was a complete game,” Lanning said. “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 82% of his passes for 563 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. On Saturday, he completed 20 of 29 passes for 286 yards, as well as scored a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Moore said. “...Overall, this is very emotional at the end of the game, just how much this win meant, just for the team, just for the state of Oregon.
The victory was Oregon’s nation best 12th 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 63-50-5, dropped its second home game of the season. Coach Jedd Fisch and the Huskies had their 22-game home winning streak broken by No. 1 Ohio State earlier this year.
“There were just a few plays in the game that were difference makers for us,” Fisch said. “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 most detested rivals.
“The expectation is to win a National Championship, plain and simple,” Boettcher said.
Woeful for Williams
In addition to holding Williams to 129 passing yards, Oregon sacked the Washington quarterback four times. He completed just 50% of his passes, notable considering Williams entered the game 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 18 touchdowns and two interceptions.
‘Shout!’ in December?
The Ducks are in line to host a playoff game at Autzen Stadium for the first time in program 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 said of Oregon hosting a playoff game. “Hopefully it’s interesting weather.”
The Ducks appeared in the inaugural CFP in 2014, where they won the Rose Bowl semifinal but lost the National Championship to Ohio State. They also lost to the Buckeyes in the 2024 CFP, where they were the No. 1 overall seed but lost to eventual national champion Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
The takeaway
Oregon: The Ducks’ secondary showed its worth one final time in the regular season. Oregon entered the game allowing the third-fewest passing yards per game in the country, and Williams’ 129 yards were well below what the Ducks typically average (145.7).
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 2026. After eclipsing 25 yards only one time the first eight games of the season, Mohammed totaled at least 50 rushing yards in each of his last four games of the season.
Up next
Oregon will find out next Sunday which team it will face in the first round of the CFP playoff.
Washington will find out its bowl opponent next Sunday.
