3 reasons why Washington was able to outlast Oregon

2023-10-15 09:52

Washington beat Oregon in a shootout of a game that came down to the closing seconds. What are the three reasons that they won this game?

The Washington Huskies were able to beat the Oregon Ducks in a college football shootout that lasted till the closing seconds.

While Washington still has a trio of great Pac-12 teams to beat, the team has just beaten the hardest opponent that they will most likely face all season.

From QB play to playmakers, Washington's offense has tons of reasons why they were able to put up 35+ points in this game.

3. Ja'Lynn Polk

Ja'Lynn Polk had a lot of amazing plays in this game but his most impactful was on the last offensive drive for the Huskies. Polk was able to make an amazing catch to move the team from midfield to the red zone.

Polk ended up with 118 yards on six receptions for the entire game. The sophomore was able to be a strong option for the Huskies in this game like he has all this season.

2. Rome Odunze

If Polk had an amazing day of work then Odunze was phenomenal in this one.

The junior caught the game-winning TD while being face-guarded by his defender. For the entire game, Odunze ended up with 128 yards on eight receptions. He caught another TD while being face-guarded in the third quarter of this game.

As a whole Odunze is one of the wide receivers in the country and this game further showed that.

1. Michael Penix

Yes, this entire list is just the QB and two leading playmakers in the game. When both defenses end up giving more than 33 points, this will happen. It's also important for the majority of the game that neither defense was able to stop either offense. And yes, a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter allowed Washington to take control of this game. Still, when both teams threw for more than 300 passing yards easily, the reasons why Washington won the game had to be the playmakers on the offense.

With all of that being said, Michael Penix is the No. 1 reason the Huskies were able to win this game. The QB ended up with 302 yards and four touchdowns. He's made another case to be the Heisman Trophy frontrunner going forward. Penix is a great story and Desmond Howard certainly had fun with his name in the morning.

Howard will probably not have anything bad to say about his performance in this game as he only threw one pick for the entire game. In a one-score game, the former Indiana Hoosier was able to take control of the ball and let it loose in this game.