On this episode of the Emerald Football Podcast, Sports reporters Jack Butler and GMorris review Oregon’s 38-3 loss to Washington. They then take advantage of Oregon’s bye week to look at how the season has progressed thus far, discussing how injuries have impacted the team and how Oregon’s bowl chances look heading into the final two games of the season.

This episode was produced by Alec Cowan.

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SEATTLE — Earlier this week, Oregon head coach Willie Taggart dismissed the idea of not punting to Dante Pettis, Washington’s star wide receiver who doubles as one of the best punt returners in the nation. He’s so dangerous on special teams that several other Pac-12 teams have elected not to punt to him at all.

“We are going to punt the ball, and we are going to cover, and we are going to tackle,” Taggart said on Wednesday.

Taggart probably should have reconsidered his approach.

Pettis returned an Oregon punt in the second quarter 64 yards for a touchdown that ultimately doomed the Ducks. The score was not only Pettis’ ninth punt return for a touchdown in his career, an NCAA record, but it also turned the tide of the game. Washington went on to score 28 unanswered points en route to a 38-3 win at Huskies Stadium.

9th career punt return TD.

Welcome to the NCAA record books, Dante Pettis. pic.twitter.com/9QSiCkjL7n

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 5, 2017

Pettis caught a touchdown in the second half as well, part of a four-catch, 87-yard performance, but it was his punt return touchdown that ultimately decided the game.

“I thought it really got them going. It got the crowd into it and it really was a big momentum change,” Taggart said after the game.

Before the return, Oregon and Washington had a 3-3 tie. The Ducks took almost eight minutes off the clock with their first drive which ultimately netted a field goal. Oregon then forced Washington to kick a 45-yard field goal on its ensuing drive that missed wide right. Washington went on to convert a field goal at the start of the second quarter, but the Ducks were in a much better place compared to last year’s matchup with Washington.

“We were feeling good,” center Jake Hansen said.

Then, Pettis struck.

Freshman punter Adam Stack kicked a line-drive, 32-yard punt that Pettis fielded at Washington’s 36-yard line. Pettis strode into the end zone ten seconds later.

“I’ve been preaching all week he’s a dangerous guy in open space,” safety Tyree Robinson said. “You gotta tackle him, and we didn’t do a good job of that on that play.”

Despite the big play, one of many that Oregon allowed, the Ducks didn’t feel like it was the deciding factor in the game. They actually felt motivated after Brady Breeze intercepted Jake Browning to close out the first half.  

“That’s just part of the game — you can’t let that phase you at all,” center Jake Hansen said. “So even after that, we were ready to go out there and try to score, but it didn’t happen for us.”

Oregon entered the second half trailing 17-3 but remained optimistic. Pettis quickly extinguished any thought of an Oregon rally when he took a 47-yard pass from Washington quarterback Jake Browning to the house to extend the Huskies’ lead 24-3.

Whatever momentum Oregon thought it had vanished in that instance.

From that point on, it was all Washington. The Huskies scored two more times in the third quarter to put the finishing touches on Washington’s second straight rout of Oregon.

The game officially ended at 9:59 p.m., but it was over long before then. Pettis made sure of that.  

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

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Coming into its game against Utah, Oregon hadn’t scored in the second half in almost a month.

That changed on Saturday, as Oregon scored 24 points in the second half to rout Utah, 41-20. True freshman quarterback Braxton Burmeister threw only 12 passes, completing nine, for 47 yards, but Oregon rushed for 347 yards and scored three touchdowns in the second half.

In his return to Autzen, Darren Carrington II caught nine passes for 130 yards in a losing effort.

Key plays

— Big man touchdown alert! On fourth down at Oregon’s one-yard line, Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley’s pass gets tipped but falls directly to offensive lineman Darrin Paulo, who makes the catch while on his back in the end zone. The call would stand after a review to make it 17-13 Oregon.

Oh my pic.twitter.com/ZNJSfIQMko

— Gus Morris (@JustGusMorris) October 28, 2017

— Oregon’s ensuing drive yields a 38-yard field goal to extend Oregon’s lead to 20-13. The field goal is the first time Oregon’s scored in the second half of a game since its 45-24 win over Cal back on Sept. 30.

— Utah took its next drive all the way down to Oregon’s 25-yard line. But a 43-yard field goal attempt missed wide left to preserve Oregon’s 20-13 lead.

— An already wild game got wilder as the third quarter wound down. Oregon ran a reverse to Charles Nelson, who, after stumbling from a missed tackle, fired a pass to tight end Jacob Breeland in the endzone. Breeland came down with the ball to put Oregon up 27-13.

— Tony Brooks-James scores on a 23-yard run to give Oregon a commanding 34-13 lead.

— Utah’s comeback effort gets off to a good start following Brooks-James’s score. Huntley connects with Siaosi Wilson for a 29-yard touchdown pass to make it 34-20.

— Oregon tightened its grip on the game when Kani Benoit ran for a 21-yard touchdown with two minutes left in the game. That score extended Oregon’s lead to 41-20.

Oregon passing 

Braxton Burmeister — 9-of-12 for 47 yards and one touchdown.

Charles Nelson — 1-for-1 for 22 yards and one touchdown.

Oregon rushing

Royce Freeman — 20 carries for 139 yards

Tony Brooks-James — six carries for 105 yards and one touchdown

Kani Benoit — nine carries for 71 yards and one touchdown

Oregon receiving

Charles Nelson – Two receptions for nine yards

Jacob Breeland — one reception for 22 yards and one touchdown

Utah passing

Tyler Huntley — 25-of-43 for 293 yards and two touchdowns

Utah rushing

Zach Moss — 10 carries for 53 yards

Utah receiving

Darren Carrington — nine receptions for 130 yards

Siaosi Wilson — two receptions for 40 yards and one touchdown

Darrin Paulo — one reception for one yard and one touchdown.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

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Oregon tipped off its exhibition schedule Saturday morning with an 81-57 win over Idaho at Matthew Knight Arena. Elijah Brown scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half and freshman Victor Bailey Jr. added 17 of his game-high 20 in the second as the Ducks outscored the Vandals 49-28 over the final 20 minutes to pull away for the victory.

“It was a little better than I thought it was going to be,” said head coach Dana Altman, who said ahead of the game that he thought the Vandals should be favored in the matchup.

The Ducks outrebounded Idaho 37-27, shot 14 percentage points better from the field (50 percent to 36 percent), and held the Vandals to 30.6 percent shooting after the first quarter.

Paul White finished the game with 12 points and three rebounds, while true freshman Troy Brown swiped four steals to go along with his 11 points. Payton Pritchard scored five points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists in his 24 minutes of play.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. Troy Brown looks as good as advertised.

Troy is one of Oregon’s highest-rated recruits ever and he showed exactly why on Saturday. He doesn’t force his game on offense and plays solid all-around defense. He altered shots and jumped in passing lanes, as he helped lead Oregon’s resurgent charge in the second half. Other than his steals, his numbers don’t jump off the page. But his talent is very apparent. Give him time to learn Altman’s system and he’ll shine.

2. Oregon’s halfcourt offense needs work

Oregon’s talent the last several seasons made up for the fact that it doesn’t run a revolutionary halfcourt system, and while the Ducks still have talented players, they’ve only been running organized practices for about a month.

Yes, Oregon did score 81 points, which it should do against a team like Idaho. But there were a number of instances where ball movement dragged and Oregon forced a difficult shot near the end of the shot clock. Oregon did improve in the second half — the Ducks shot 63 percent over the final 20 minutes compared to 38 percent over the first 20 — but its halfcourt offense will be something to watch in the coming weeks.  

3. MiKyle McIntosh is Oregon’s most aggressive rebounder.

What Oregon lacks in size it’ll need to make up for with effort. Three players, including McIntosh, grabbed five rebounds. No player had more than that. McIntosh is listed at 6-foot-7, 240 pounds, which is little undersized for a power forward or center. But he was all over the boards in his 19 minutes of play. Oregon will need that with a much smaller front line this year.   

4. Rim protection will be an issue, but Kenny Wooten looks up to the challenge.

Wooten is already drawing comparisons to Jordan Bell, who is Oregon’s all-time leading shot blocker, and Saturday only reinforced those notions. Wooten blocked a game-high three shots on Saturday and used his length and athleticism to alter others. With Roman Sorkin as Oregon’s returning leader in blocks with 12, Wooten figures to be Oregon’s best rim-protector this year.

5. V.J. Bailey will be fun to watch this season.  

Bailey put on a show Saturday. After only scoring three points in the first half, Bailey erupted for 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting (2-of-4 from three) in the second. He played aggressively but under control. His teammates said that that’s the kind of player he is.

“V.J. is definitely someone who can provide instant offense for us, even as a freshman,” Elijah Brown said. “We’re still working with him in terms of finding his shot, where can he find it in the offense. But in terms of him and his ability, he can do it all.”

He also tried a highlight dunk attempt on a fastbreak in the second half that, if converted, would have been on every highlight reel for the next week.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

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For the past several seasons, Utah and Oregon have been very different teams. The Utes rely on a grind-it-out, physical style, while the Ducks use their flash and speed to leave teams in the dust.

But Saturday’s matchup between Utah and Oregon will feature two teams that have taken very similar paths this season. Most importantly, it will feature two teams that are in the midst of a devastating losing streak, desperate to change the course of its season.

Utah enters Autzen Stadium on Saturday as losers of three straight, all in conference play. The Utes opened their conference schedule with a 30-24 win over Arizona, but lost starting quarterback Tyler Huntley in the process because of a shoulder injury. Up until that point, Huntley led a dominant Utah offense to the tune of 966 passing yards, completing over 76 percent passing with 6 touchdowns.

Granted, Utah played a relatively weak non-conference schedule, but those are the kind of numbers that a Pac-12 quarterback should put up against North Dakota, BYU and San Jose State.

Utah went onto to win its game against Arizona with backup quarterback Troy Williams, but it’s been all downhill for Utah ever since. The Utes dropped their next two games, in albeit close fashion. A 23-20 loss to Stanford was followed by a 28-27 loss to USC, and while there were many positives to draw from each game, losses are still losses.

Huntley returned to action last weekend against the suddenly resurgent Arizona State Sun Devils. His presence was supposed to give Utah that needed edge back to close out those narrow games. Instead, Huntley and the Utes struggled to find rhythm and the Sun Devils took advantage, intercepting Huntley four times.

“Nothing was good,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told reporters after the game. “We are disjointed. There is not a lot of flow. We do not have an offensive rhythm.”

That’s where the Utes stand entering Saturday, with a “disjointed” offense and a quarterback who’s trying to get his feel for the game back.

Doesn’t all of that sound familiar?

Oregon enters Saturday’s game having experienced much of the same road and many of the same issues that Utah has. Injuries, specifically to its quarterback, derailed Oregon’s early season success. The Ducks have lost three straight games since Herbert went down and haven’t won since their conference opener against Cal.

The difference in the two teams, though, is that Utah’s struggles boil down to the fact they lack an identity on offense. Oregon, on the other hand, runs the ball at a much higher rate than it throws. That was true even when Herbert played.  

“We have an identity,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “We’ve just got to add onto that identity.”

Linebacker Troy Dye said that while Utah is struggling, Oregon can’t look overlook any team at this point in the season, given its own current struggles.

“Guys have bad games, so you can’t really hang your hat on the one bad game or two bad games that they’ve had,” Dye said. “We’ve just got to go out there and treat them like they were at the beginning of the season.”

Follow Gus on Twitter @JustGusMorris

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PASADENA, Calif.  — A major factor in Royce Freeman’s decision to return to Oregon for his senior season was his pursuit of LaMichael James’ record of 5,082 career rushing yards, the most ever by a Duck.

Well, the second-most ever now.

With a little over eight minutes remaining in Oregon’s matchup with UCLA on Saturday, Freeman surpassed that mark with a 16-yard run. He finished the game with a season-high 160 yards rushing on 29 carries. The new Oregon career rushing record stands at 5,103 yards and counting.

But the effort was all for naught as the Ducks lost their third consecutive game, falling to 4-4 on the season and 1-4 in the Pac-12. This game will simply be added to the growing list of great Freeman performances wasted in a loss.

“He’s a great player that’s for sure,” center Jake Hanson said. “Obviously that’s great to get the record. I just wish we could’ve got it with a win.”

Freeman will go down as one of the best — if not the best — running back that has ever donned an Oregon uniform. His name will sit atop the Oregon career rushing list for years to come.

But Saturday’s game just adds more frustration to a season that feels like it’s slipping away, despite historic performances like Freeman’s.

Much of that frustration stems from the fact that Justin Herbert, the motor that powers Oregon’s offense, is sidelined with an injury that could keep him out at least several more weeks, and his replacement, freshman Braxton Burmeister, has made Oregon’s once-stellar offense unrecognizable and one-dimensional. Saturday showed that as Oregon rushed for 246 yards but managed only two touchdowns, both in the first half.

“I appreciate Royce so much. He’s a guy that chose to come back to school and really wanted to get this program back in the right direction,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “I think we all see him out there playing his tail off to help this football team.”

Freeman kept his comments about breaking the record to a minimum and instead focused on moving on from the loss.

“It’s very special,” he said. “It’s really a blessing.”

Those brief comments are not all that surprising given that another Oregon season is starting to turn sour. The Ducks, with Freeman’s help, came out of the gates this season with a roaring start. He amassed 460 yards in the Ducks’ first three games and began to generate Heisman buzz.

It appeared that his decision to return to school, instead of jumping ship after last year’s disastrous season, was going to pay off. But then Herbert went down and Oregon hasn’t been the same since.

Freeman holds himself somewhat responsible for the change in trajectory.

“I feel like I just need to better myself as a player,” Freeman said. “I gotta give more.”

Maybe that could be said after Oregon’s loss to Washington State, a game where Freeman only rushed for 62 yards and had only accounted for 194 yards over the previous three games.

But without Herbert, Oregon’s reliance on the run game has skyrocketed, as have Freeman’s numbers. Saturday’s game was another example of that. 

“Well, like I told him: I believe in him and I believe in this football team and I’m going to ride or die with them,” Taggart said. “I’m not giving up on this football team.”

Neither is Freeman. But with the situation Oregon is currently in, it won’t matter much.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

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Halftime rapid reaction video. Oregon 14, UCLA 14 here at the Rose Bowl. Joined by @JustGusMorris. pic.twitter.com/1zG9FQ48iw

— Jack Butler (@Butler917) October 21, 2017

Key Plays

— True freshman running back Darrian Felix fumbles on Oregon’s first drive. The ball is recovered by UCLA on Oregon’s 45-yard line. The Bruins scored 11 plays later on a four-yard touchdown run from Soso Jamabo.

— Josh Rosen finds Christian Pabico for a 31-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 UCLA.

— Braxton Burmeister finds Charles Nelson on a 22-yard pass that gives Oregon field position inside UCLA’s 10. Oregon scores on the following play, a seven-yard run from Burmeister to make it 14-7.

— Oregon evens the score at 14 with 37 seconds left in the first half on a four-yard rushing touchdown from Burmeister, his second rushing score of the game.

Oregon passing

Braxton Burmeister — 4-of-8 for 48 yards

Oregon rushing

Royce Freeman —  13 carries for 41 yards

Burmeister — 10 carries for 37 yard and two touchdowns

Oregon receiving

Charles Nelson — one reception for 22 yards

UCLA passing

Josh Rosen — 10-of-15 for 110 yards and one touchdown

UCLA rushing

Soso Jamabo — seven carries for 29 yards and one touchdown

UCLA receiving

Jordan Wilson — three receptions for 31 yards

Christian Pabico — one reception for 31 yards and one touchdown

Total offense

Oregon — 171 yards (48 passing, 123 rushing)

UCLA — 140 yards (110passing, 30 rushing)

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

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Sports reporters Jack Butler and Gus Morris review Oregon’s 49-7 loss to No. 23 Stanford. They then preview the Ducks’ upcoming game against UCLA with another review of injuries, important matchups and some predictions.

This episode was produced by Alec Cowan.

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STANFORD, Calif. — Whatever could go wrong went wrong for the Ducks.

Saturday night at Stanford Stadium No. 23 Stanford (5-2, 4-1) trounced Oregon 49-7  in one of Oregon’s worst passing and lowest scoring games in over a decade. Freshman quarterback Braxton Burmeister threw two interceptions and completed only 3-of-8 passing attempts for 23 yards, while the Cardinal racked up 504 yards of total offense (248 rushing and 256 passing) to hand the Ducks (4-3, 1-3) their third loss in the last four games. 

“I don’t think we played well enough. I don’t think we coached well enough,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “That’s on all of us. We didn’t do enough.”

The seven points are the fewest Oregon has scored since UCLA shut the Ducks out 16-0 in 2007.

If there was any bright spot, it was that Oregon rushed for 276 yards, led by Royce Freeman’s 143 yards on 18 carries. Freeman did most of his damage in the first half but was matched step-for-step by Stanford’s Bryce Love. While Freeman’s line of 121 first-half yards on 12 carries certainly was impressive, it was Love who broke away for two early touchdowns to get the Cardinal off to a roaring start. Before five minutes passed, Stanford led 14-0 thanks to Love’s 115 yards on his first five carries.  

Love finished the first quarter with 136 yards on 11 carries and Stanford rushed out to a 21-7 lead.

“We knew we were going up against a really good back, and we had to gang tackle in order to stop him, and we didn’t do a good job of that in the first quarter,” Taggart said.

Burmeister accounted for the Ducks’ sole touchdown of the game — a 1-yard rushing touchdown with 8:43 left in the first quarter — but played abysmally otherwise. Taggart pulled him for Taylor Alie on Oregon’s last drive of the third quarter in hopes of generating “a spark.” None came as Alie went 2-of-5 for 10 yards in his stint.

Oregon passed the ball 13 times the entire game with only five completions for 33 yards — all season-lows. The Cardinal, on the other hand, proved incredibly efficient with their passing game. The two-quarterback system of Keller Chryst and K.J. Costello picked apart Oregon’s secondary for 256 yards on 21-of-28 attempts for four touchdowns. The four scores were divided evenly amongst J.J Arcega-Whiteside and Colby Parkinson, who stand at 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-7 respectively, taller than any member of Oregon’s backline.

“They game-planned us really well,” Tyree Robinson said. “We were worried about stopping the run and stopping little stick routes, but we didn’t do a good job on 50-50 balls — balls in the air. We gotta win those battles.”

Arcega-Whiteside finished with six receptions for 112 yards and two touchdowns — both game highs — while Parkinson finished with three receptions for ten yards and two scores.

The Cardinal recorded touchdowns — one on a blocked punt — in the second and third quarters and took a 35-7 lead into the fourth. Penalties once again dogged the Ducks, who committed 9 for 101 yards.

“We gotta limit the penalties,” Freeman said. “That is a big factor.”

To make matters worse for Oregon, running back Tony Brooks-James and offensive linemen Jake Pisarcik and Tyrell Crosby all exited the game with injuries and didn’t return. Taggart said they all suffered concussions.

A combination of injuries, poor quarterback-play, penalties and lackluster defense make it difficult to win against any team. The Cardinal had Oregon’s number on Saturday night, and the Duck’s could do little to stop them.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

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SAN FRANCISCO — Oregon guard Elijah Brown was such a renowned flopper while playing at New Mexico that USC created a drill ahead of its matchup with the Lobos back in 2015 specifically designed to guard him without fouling.

Brown, then a sophomore, had mastered the art of drawing fouls while shooting, just like James Harden or Kobe Bryant. He finished that season with 217 made free throws, third all-time in New Mexico single-season history.

“It’s something he does and he does it very well, and it works for him,” USC senior Jordan McLaughlin said. “But you learn how to play defense without fouling, just trying to make shots tough for him.”

The Trojans’ drill worked. Brown shot 6-of-21 from the field (4-of-12 from three) and only took two free throws in 36 minutes of play. USC won 90-82.

Not PAC-12 media day without a photo with Bill pic.twitter.com/9AC7YER101

— Gus Morris (@JustGusMorris) October 12, 2017

Brown deployed a similar playstyle the following season, his last with the Lobos, but teams caught onto his tricks. He shot 35 fewer free throws and his shooting percentages plummeted.

Now, entering his last year of collegiate eligibility, Brown finds himself on a more team-oriented Oregon program with a similar, but slightly altered role. 

“We lost our five leading scorers, so we’re going to have to get him to score,” Altman said. “But we want him to do it a little bit more efficiently than he has in the past.”

That was part of the reason why Brown elected to transfer to Oregon rather than Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, Iowa State or Northwestern. Brown said that Altman “seemed really genuine” as a person and in what he wanted Brown to do. Oregon won 90 games over the past three seasons and was coming off arguably its greatest year of hoops ever. Brown wanted to be a part of a team that competed for championships. He saw the opportunity he had at Oregon and took it.

“I just feel like it was a good situation for me,” Brown said. “The timing just happened to be convenient.”

Playing for Altman, though, will be much different than playing for former New Mexico coach Craig Neal, who favors a much more single-player-centered offense. Only two players averaged double-figures for the Lobos last season: Brown (18.8) and Tim Williams (17.4).  As a team, the Lobos averaged only 13.5 assists per game, ranked tied for 165th in the nation.

Brown described Oregon’s style of play as “way different.” It’s something he’s still adjusting to as Oregon’s enters its third week of official practices.

“I think it’s all just part of getting used to being in the system and getting used to the players that are around me,” Brown said. “Just knowing what you’re looking for and just letting the game come to you rather than forcing it and letting it fly. I think that’s the biggest difference.”

Brown said he kicked his flopping habitat this summer, much to the delight of his father, Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown, who’s been trying to get his son to stop the habit for years. Elijah said it was a combination of trying too hard to draw fouls and the new style he’d play at Oregon that ultimately led to the change.

Aside from the flopping, Brown showed incredible talent in his two seasons at New Mexico. He averaged over 20 points per-game and was one of the premier scorers in the Mountain West.

But with the flopping habit behind him, he feels his game can take the next step.

“We’re probably going to have that drill again sometime this year,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin obviously hasn’t gotten the memo, yet.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

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