October 14, 2023 Week 7 · Regular Season Belt defended

Washington defends the belt, 36–33, at home over Oregon.

Home · Defending Holder

WashingtonAP No. 7 36

Away · Challenger

OregonAP No. 8 33

AP poll, week 7: Oregon No. 8 at Washington No. 7 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Washington came in 336 days into reign #321, which began with a win over Oregon, with 8 defenses already behind it; this was its 9th defense. Washington went on to defend it 8 more times before Michigan took it on January 8, 2024, 422 days after the reign began.

For Oregon this was its 20th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.

It was the 5th of 6 belt games between the two; going in, Washington led the belt series 4–0; all-time Washington leads 6–0. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Washington's high-powered passing attack proved too much for Oregon to overcome in this back-and-forth Pac-12 battle, as the Huskies held onto the belt with a 36-33 victory in Eugene. Michael Penix Jr. was the star of the show, orchestrating several crucial scoring drives and connecting with his receivers repeatedly, including a go-ahead touchdown pass to Rome Odunze for 18 yards with just 1:38 remaining in the game. Oregon kept pace throughout, with Bo Nix leading impressive drives and Troy Franklin making several big plays, but the Ducks couldn't capitalize in the final moments when Camden Lewis's 43-yard field goal attempt missed as time expired. The turning point came late in the fourth quarter when Washington's defense forced Oregon into a critical situation, and Penix's last-minute precision passing sealed the belt-holding victory.

Penix's early touchdown passes to Giles Jackson and Ja'Lynn Polk in the first quarter gave Washington an early 14-6 lead and set the tone for a strong offensive performance
Bo Nix's touchdown pass to Troy Franklin for 30 yards in the third quarter, coupled with a two-point conversion to Tez Johnson, kept Oregon competitive and showed the Ducks could answer Washington's scoring
Penix's go-ahead 18-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze with 1:38 left proved to be the game-winner when Oregon's final field goal attempt missed
Washington's turnover margin advantage (1 turnover vs Oregon's 0) was offset by Oregon's superior third-down conversion rate (10-16 vs 5-11), but Washington's late-game execution sealed the belt retention

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

WashingtonOregon

Total yards415541

Rushing yards99204

Passing yards316337

First downs2431

3rd down conv.5/1110/16

Turnovers10

Penalties–yards5–455–55

Time of possession25:3934:21

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 11:11	Washington	+43 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 43 yds to the ORE 26 for a 1ST down
Q1 10:49	Washington	+26 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Giles Jackson for 26 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q1 10:49	Washington	+20 yd	Grady Gross kickoff for 65 yds , Gary Bryant Jr. return for 20 yds to the ORE 45 Oregon Penalty, Offensive Holding (10 Yards) to the ORE 10
Q1 4:54	Oregon	+12 yd	Bucky Irving run for 12 yds for a TD (P. Herbert Run For Two-point Conversion)
Q1 0:46	Washington	+26 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 26 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q2 12:55	Oregon	+24 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Tez Johnson for 24 yds to the WASH 27 for a 1ST down
Q2 11:44	Oregon	+11 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Patrick Herbert for 11 yds for a TD (Camden Lewis KICK)
Q2 5:12	Washington	+7 yd	Dillon Johnson run for 7 yds for a TD (Michael Penix Jr. pass to Jack Westover for Two-Point Conversion)
Q2 2:04	Oregon	+45 yd	Camden Lewis 45 Yd Field Goal
Q2 0:55	Washington	+0 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass intercepted Jahlil Florence return for no gain to the ORE 49
Q2 0:21	Oregon	+22 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Tez Johnson for 22 yds to the WASH 10 for a 1ST down
Q3 10:31	Washington	+17 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 17 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q3 1:36	Oregon	+30 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Troy Franklin for 30 yds for a TD (Bo Nix pass to Tez Johnson for Two-Point Conversion)
Q4 14:16	Oregon	+49 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Troy Franklin for 49 yds to the WASH 14 for a 1ST down
Q4 12:58	Oregon	+10 yd	Jordan James run for 10 yds for a TD (Camden Lewis KICK)
Q4 12:58	Oregon	+32 yd	Camden Lewis kickoff for 57 yds , Germie Bernard return for 32 yds to the WASH 40
Q4 8:42	Washington	+7 yd	Dillon Johnson run for 7 yds to the ORE 1 Dillon Johnson fumbled, recovered by WASH Dillon Johnson
Q4 3:33	Oregon	+25 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Troy Franklin for 25 yds to the ORE 46 for a 1ST down
Q4 1:49	Washington	+35 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 35 yds to the ORE 18 for a 1ST down
Q4 1:38	Washington	+18 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 18 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q4 0:00	Oregon	+43 yd	Camden Lewis 43 yd FG MISSED

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Washington

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Michael Penix Jr.	22/37	302	8.2	4	1	89.2
Germie Bernard	1/1	14	14.0	0	0	97.9

Oregon

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Bo Nix	33/44	337	7.7	2	0	82.0

Rushing

Washington

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Dillon Johnson	20	100	5.0	1	17
Will Nixon	1	5	5.0	0	5
Tybo Rogers	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Michael Penix Jr.	1	-5	-5.0	0	0

Oregon

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Mar'Keise Irving	22	127	5.8	1	15
Jordan James	11	63	5.7	1	10
Bo Nix	7	14	2.0	0	13

Receiving

Washington

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Rome Odunze	8	128	16.0	2	43
Ja'Lynn Polk	6	118	19.7	1	35
Giles Jackson	6	58	9.7	1	26
Dillon Johnson	2	10	5.0	0	5
Jack Westover	1	2	2.0	0	2

Oregon

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Troy Franklin	8	154	19.3	1	49
Tez Johnson	7	71	10.1	0	24
Terrance Ferguson	5	50	10.0	0	19
Mar'Keise Irving	6	34	5.7	0	9
Traeshon Holden	2	16	8.0	0	13
Patrick Herbert	2	15	7.5	1	11
Jordan James	3	-3	-1.0	0	1

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Washington

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Edefuan Ulofoshio	11	9	1	1	0
Alphonzo Tuputala	9	8	0	0	0
Elijah Jackson	8	5	0	0	1
Asa Turner	7	4	0	0	0
Dominique Hampton	7	2	0	0	1
Kamren Fabiculanan	5	5	0	0	0
Mishael Powell	5	5	0	1	0
Carson Bruener	5	3	0	0	0
Bralen Trice	5	2	0	0	0
Sekai Asoau-Afoa	4	2	0	0	0
Jabbar Muhammad	3	2	0	0	1
Ralen Goforth	2	2	0	1	0
M.J. Ale	1	1	0	1	0
Faatui Tuitele	1	1	0	0	0
Drew Fowler	1	1	0	0	0
Voi Tunuufi	1	1	0	0	0
Jaivion Green	1	1	0	0	0
Thaddeus Dixon	1	1	0	0	0
Zion Tupuola-Fetui	1	0	0	0	0
Makell Esteen	1	0	0	0	0
Maurice Heims	1	0	0	0	0
Tristan Dunn	1	0	0	0	0

Oregon

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Steve Stephens	7	5	0	0.5	0
Evan Williams	6	4	0	0	0
Brandon Dorlus	5	3	1	1.5	1
Trikweze Bridges	4	2	0	0.5	0
Tysheem Johnson	4	1	0	0.5	0
Jahlil Florence	3	3	0	0	0
Jeffrey Bassa	3	2	0	0.5	0
Bryce Boettcher	2	2	0	0	0
Jamal Hill	2	1	0	0	0
Mase Funa	1	1	0	0	0
Jake Shipley	1	1	0	0	0
Dontae Manning	1	1	0	0	0
Devon Jackson	1	1	0	0	0
Nikko Reed	1	1	0	0	0
Cole Martin	1	1	0	0	0
Teitum Tuioti	1	1	0	0	0
Khamari Terrell	1	1	0	0	0
Popo Aumavae	1	0	0	0	0
Sam Taimani	1	0	0	0.5	0
Jordan Burch	1	0	0	0	1
Matayo Uiagalelei	0	0	0	0	1

Fumbles

Washington

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Dillon Johnson	1	0	0

Oregon

No recorded stats in this category.

Interceptions

Washington

No recorded stats in this category.

Oregon

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jahlil Florence	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Germie Bernard	2	49	24.5	32	0

Oregon

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Gary Bryant Jr.	1	20	20.0	20	0
Nikko Reed	1	16	16.0	16	0

Kicking

Washington

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Grady Gross	0/0	0.0	0	4/4	4

Oregon

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Camden Lewis	1/2	50.0	45	2/2	5

Punt Returns

Washington

No recorded stats in this category.

Oregon

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tez Johnson	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jack McCallister	3	129	43.0	0	0	50

Oregon

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Ross James	2	90	45.0	0	0	52

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401524034) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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