Dan Lanning was going to do it his way. But there is a fine line between being aggressive ... and being imprudent.
Doing it the Oregon coach's way meant never backing down Saturday. It meant projecting strength. It meant showing no weakness going into the belly of the beast that was Husky Stadium in what was being called the biggest game in Pac-12 history (since 2011).
But going 0 for 3 on fourth-down risks may have meant the difference against No. 7 Washington as the programs battled for Pac-12 supremacy and a potential College Football Playoff berth.
Each time one was attempted, the fourth-down gamble didn't succeed. The last time, it cost No. 8 Oregon the game, 36-33.
"I think this game is 100% on me," he said after the contest.
Lanning went for it twice inside the 10 -- once from the Washington 3 right before halftime and once from the Washington 8 in the third quarter. Both attempts failed, eventually leaving Oregon eventually trailing by 11.
However, it was Lanning's last decision that live in this rivalry's lore.
Washington was in position to win largely because Lanning went for it one .. more … time. This time with 2:16 left. This time with the result of the game, conference picture and maybe that CFP berth clearly at stake.
Those stakes might be exactly why Lanning went for it on fourth-and-3 from Washington's 45. The Huskies had used all their timeouts. A first down would have all but won the game getting the Ducks close to kneel-down time.
But there is a difference between being pugnacious and judicious.
The alternative action, a punt, would have pinned Heisman Trophy frontrunner Michael Penix Jr. and Washington deep in their own territory. That alternative would have required Lanning to trust his defense, whic at that point had held Penix to 150 yards passing below his average.
Lanning rolled the dice. Oregon fans may be rolling their eyes. With all that at stake, Ducks quarterback Bo Nix rolled left and threw off his back foot -- incomplete.
You could almost predict what would happen next. Given a short field, Penix threw the ball twice, covering the 53 yards needed for the win. The 18-yard touchdown pass to a tightly covered Rome Odunze will be immortalized in this game's lore as well.
Washington fans blitzed the Husky Stadium turf celebrating what should only be interpreted as their team's return to the big time. It was another sad reminder of how good the Pac-12 has looked in its final season.
The Huskies did blow a double-digit lead, but they had help late as Ducks kicker Camden Lewis pushed a potential game-tying 42-yard field goal at the buzzer.
Still, Washington mostly won because of Penix. Again. The celebrated QB was able to convert Lanning's daring into the game-winning TD throw with 98 seconds left.
That's half the story: Penix the hero and Heisman frontrunner.
The secondary angle? Oregon's coach visiting Washington with a clear mind set: Don't. Give. An. Inch.
For most of the game, it worked. The Ducks held the ball for almost 9 minutes more than the Huskies. Oregon ran for 204 yards and outgained Washington by 126 yards.
By any metric, that should have spelled victory. Nix lifted the program on his back, throwing for 337 yards. The Auburn transfer had one of the best games of his life – in the second half alone completing 21 of 26 passes (33 of 34 overall).
Oregon has owned the series this century. For only the third time since 2003, the Huskies have won consecutive games against the Ducks. Penix was arguably the difference in back-to-back three-point wins.
By the look of these two teams Saturday, there will be a rematch in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Oregon was on the brink of becoming 6-0 for the first time since 2013. Washington's winning streak (13) continues to be the second-longest in the country.
Let's not make Lanning's fourth-down calls out to be Mario Cristobal's failure to take a knee against Georgia Tech. It's not even in the same ballpark as Deion Sanders' role in whiffing on two fourth-down calls as Colorado blew a 29-0 halftime lead to Stanford on Friday night.
Oregon came into the game tied for eighth nationally in fourth-down conversion rate (8 of 10); Washington's defense was tied for 88th in that category.
But one doesn't need "the book" to know to kick that field goal at the end of the first half when down four on the road.
"It's something I'm going to assess. Go evaluate for me," Lanning said of that call. "We checked to see if we liked the look. We liked the look before we ran the play; we just didn't execute."
You don't need metrics to take a second look at this call: On fourth-and-3 from the Washington 8, Nix threw incomplete to the Ducks' best receiver, Troy Franklin. At that point, Oregon needed points. At that juncture, the game looked to be out of reach with Washington up 29-18.
But Oregon wasn't going away. The Ducks scored the next 15 points despite that failed conversion, ready about to announce themselves as the Ducks of old. They were playing like Lanning had coached the whole game. Aggressive.
But there's a difference between being bellicose and imprudent.
