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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A Grip on Sports: It was a lost Saturday for the Inland Northwest’s college football teams, which doesn’t happen often

Oregon players celebrate with Camden Lewis (49) after the freshman kicker booted a 26-yard field goal as time expired to give No. 11 Oregon a thrilling 37-35 victory over Washington State on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. (Serena Morones / AP)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It was a pretty fun day of college football yesterday for those football fans in the Inland Northwest. Well, up until the second half in Missoula. And the last couple seconds in Eugene. But until then, it was all good.

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• Only three of the four Inland Northwest college football teams played yesterday. Idaho had the weekend off, which is always nice. Mainly because there is no way to lose while you are on a bye.

Which makes the Vandals unique. Everyone else from around these parts lost.

Whitworth got beat up a bit at Puget Sound. Eastern Washington got beat up a lot after halftime against Montana. And the Cougars?

They never really got beat up at all. In fact, their 37-35 loss at Oregon – the first loss to the Ducks in five years – was more of death by a thousand paper cuts, many of which were self-inflicted.

Oh sure, CJ Verdell running for a thousand yards didn’t help. (It was 259 on 23 carries, but who’s counting?) However, many of those yards were due to poor run fits as much as they were built upon great blocking.

And, sure, the officiating didn’t help, but it didn’t help both ways, though I’m not sure why anyone was whining about a late illegal procedure call on the Ducks when replay showed the left tackle’s left leg flinched before the snap. The rest of the plays that made fans lose their minds were just business as usual.

This was a game, as most college football games do, that came down to turnovers. The Cougars had two killer ones. The Ducks? None. Two turnovers. Two-point road loss. The math works.

The first mistake was a WSU touchdown that should have been. Anthony Gordon threw a pass that was, as draft analyst-turned-commentator Todd McShay called it, perfect. But it hit Brandon Arconado’s hands, clanked off them and his helmet and into the arms of the beaten Duck defensive back. Instead of seven points, the Cougars didn’t even have the ball. And Arconado, who would redeem himself later, was caught banging his helmet with both hands.

The second was even more damaging, a late first-half turnover that turned into seven points for Oregon. Directly. A late first-half interception run back for a touchdown. Heck, it’s not as if the Ducks needed any help.

They are pretty darn good. Playoff worthy? After watching LSU, Auburn, Ohio State and Penn State play yesterday, probably not. Heck, even Utah, especially a healthy Utah, may be better, though the Utes are in tough spot. USC has to lose for the Beehive State’s second-favorite team to even have a shot at Oregon.

It would be just like the Trojans to continue to win. Just to spite the rest of the conference brethren. And then lose by 37 in a rematch with  the Ducks after already having ruined their playoff chances.

• Speaking of spite, there was plenty of it in Missoula yesterday afternoon. What was missing however, besides Montana’s starting quarterback, was a team that could challenge for an FCS title.

The two programs have produced many of those type of teams in the past. Not this season.

Eastern Washington won’t even make the playoffs, which is a terrible comedown for a school that reached the finals last season and returned a lot of experience. Montana still might be in the postseason but the Griz aren’t going very far if they play a first half like they did Saturday. The second-half team? OK, that team could win a game or two.

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WSU: Theo Lawson was not alone in Eugene, which helped. Especially for a game that ended after deadline. Still, Theo himself churned a bunch out the stories for you. He has his analysis of what happened. He has difference makers. He had, before the game even began, a story on missing Duck. He also had a story on a first-half targeting call. … Dan Thompson was also there and he put together a story on the two key mistakes as well as one on Justin Herbert. … I’m guessing, though, if you watched on ESPN, you had your fill of words about the Oregon quarterback. That, and the looooooong replay reviews (some of which I still don’t understand), are all part of my TV Take. … The guys in the office put together a recap with highlights. … Finally, we have a photo gallery to pass along. … When The National Review has a story about a football player, you know that player is special. Ladies and gents, I give you Gardner Minshew. … For the Ducks, the losing streak is over. And it was ended in a dramatic way. Though Verdell’s running was their biggest weapon, especially after another injury. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the Oregon/WSU contest was the best game of the year in the conference. … Utah just walloped California as the Bears were hapless on offense. The Utes do that to just about everyone, however. It may have been their best game of the season. Zack Moss also set another record. … Stanford welcomed K.J. Costello back. His presence helped mightily in a home win over Arizona. That and the Wildcats not being able to get anything done late. … UCLA dominated the first half, heck the first three quarters, and upset No. 24 Arizona State in the Rose Bowl. The Sun Devils had no answers defensively until Dorian Thompson-Robinson was hurt..  … For Colorado, the loss to USC came despite a solid performance from Steven Montez.

EWU: Ryan Collingwood traveled over Fourth of July and Lookout passes to Missoula. He watched a game in the largest Big Sky venue there is. And he wrote a game story as well as a notebook. … James Snook also made the trip and has this photo gallery. … Before the game, Ryan posted his picks for the day. … The Griz made some adjustments at halftime and they worked. … Around the Big Sky, The key game was in Davis, where Weber State stifled No. 22 UC Davis for a 36-20 win. The fourth-ranked Wildcats are playing well. … Sacramento State is also playing and pounded Cal Poly. … Montana State gave away the game at North Dakota late. … Northern Arizona got past Portland State on a late field goal. … Southern Utah took off against Idaho State, winning 59-34.

Whitworth: The Pirates are no longer undefeated in Northwest League play after the loss across the Cascades.

Preps: There were Idaho state titles in soccer decided yesterday. We have a roundup. … We also have a roundup of district slowpitch.

Chiefs: It was a lost weekend for Spokane, as the Chiefs fell to Prince George on Saturday night. Kevin Dudley was in the Arena and has this game story.

Golf: Three local golfers earned honors this past week. That is just part of our local briefs for this Sunday.

Seahawks: The Hawks are in Atlanta today – chicken and waffles today anyone? It will be the last time a Falcon team coached by Dan Quinn faces off with Pete Carroll’s Hawks. … Both teams are dealing with injuries. … The Hawks need to force turnovers. … Will they make a trade as well?

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• Hey, we were right about the over in the WSU game last night, but just barely. As per usual. Anyone who bets on college football has a masochistic streak. Wait, you can end that sentence at “bets” and resume it on “has” and still be correct. By the way, the Seahawks are winning by 11 today. Book it. Until later …