Oregon was lucky to be trailing by only five points after a sloppy first half resulted in three Duck turnovers and 19 Cougar points. Tyler Shough and the Oregon offense put together a 15-play, 92-yard drive to score the game’s first touchdown—a 13-yard pass to tight end DJ Johnson—but then failed to score again until very late in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Jayden De Laura seemed unstoppable early on, connecting with Lucas Bacon and Renard Bell for consecutive scoring drives that gave them the lead. Blake Mazza tacked on two field goals to put the Cougs up 19 to 7 (Washington State failed to convert on a two-point attempt) but Shough found Jaylon Redd for a 57-yard gain that set up a CJ Verdell rushing score from the three-yard line.