Although Oregon lost a heartbreaker on the road to Washington, there were so many things the Ducks did wrong in the final minutes that allowed the Huskies to essentially steal one from them. Going for it on fourth down midfield already up on Washington was so beyond stupid. And do not even get me started on going for it on fourth down right before the half deep in Washington territory...
However, there was one play in particular that was not a good look for Dan Lanning's team at all. It came on a big completion by star quarterback Bo Nix to tight end Terrance Ferguson. It helped get the Ducks within striking distance of the end zone, or at the every least, in a position to attempt a game-tying field goal as time expired. What appeared to happen was Ferguson faking an injury.
The Washington crowd booed Oregon relentlessly for Ferguson's attempt to stop the clock. He caught the pass and then rolled to get down. He initially grabbed the back of his left leg. Mid-roll, he then proceeded to grab his right knee. So which leg is it then? Regardless, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit sniffed that out very quickly during the replay of the play during the national telecast from Seattle.
Be the judge for yourself, but something looked especially fishy on how the end of that play looked.
Apparently right after the game, Ferguson looked totally fine walking off the Husky Stadium turf.
Washington would go on to win the game in question 36-33 after Oregon missed the field goal try.
Did Oregon player fake an injury during the final drive in Washington loss?
Look. If somebody actually gets hurt during the final minutes of a game, I do not really have a problem with it. However, anything that resembles the type of nonsense we typically see out of a soccer match is not acceptable. This may be college football, a game featuring mostly 18 to 23-year-old men, but could you imagine if that happened in the pro game? Oh, that player would be so chastised.
There are a lot of reasons why the NFL and college football are America's two favorite sports by a significant margin, but none of them have to do with faking injuries. Some people who are about association football have gotten used to it, but this is America! What I loathe about this particular play the most is it does not help the narrative of Oregon being soft, one that Lanning is trying to change.
Lanning has brought a tougher mentality to Eugene than we have probably ever seen. I do not have a problem with the Ducks defense giving up a bunch of points because that is just how Pac-12 football is played. However, that was the kind of nonsense you would have expected out of a Chip Kelly Oregon team or to make people squirm even more, something we might see out of Prime in Boulder...
Oregon will need to win out to have any realistic shot at making the College Football Playoff now.
