What an ending to a game.
And what an ending to a fabulous college football career.
Chase Cota will forever live on in the history of Oregon football bowl wins.
It was a no-brainer of a decision for Oregon to go after the former UCLA receiver – and it was a no-brainer of a decision for Chase Cota to return home to play for the team his father, Chad, helped lead to a Rose Bowl appearance in the 1994-95 season.
The former South Medford High Schooler probably should have been a Duck all along, but instead, Cota flew south to play for Chip Kelly and the Bruins.
But considering how his career ended, all’s well that ends well for Cota.
Down 27-21 with 25 seconds left and faced with a 4th-and-2 from the 4-yard line, quarterback Bo Nix went to his trusty possession receiver to make the catch on the goal line and ultimately win the Holiday Bowl 28-27 over North Carolina.
And it was no easy catch.
Nix could have gone to all-conference receiver Troy Franklin or any number of tight ends, but he threw a sidearm pass that went just over the umpire’s head right into Cota’s hands.
It was just his ninth career touchdown, but it will be a touchdown Cota will remember for the rest of his life.
According to Cota, the Ducks had practiced this exact same play against this exact same defense and it didn’t work.
They faced what’s called a ‘house blitz.’ The Tarheels were sending the ‘house’ to get to Nix and both Nix and Cota saw it coming which led to the game-winning score.
“Bo said if they were bringing house blitz … we never got that look once, but then we got it here on our practice site for the goal one time,” Cota said.
“(We) missed it and went over it, and sure enough in the game, it was the same exact one. It was perfect.”
And just like Cota’s transfer was a no-brainer, this particular play call was also a no-brainer, according to Nix.
“That’s one of our just go-to plays. We feel really good about that play. We’ve run it multiple times,” Cota said.
“It’s hard to stop against guys and good situations. It puts Troy and T-ferg (Terrance Ferguson) and Chase and those guys in situations to do what they do best. Chase knows over and over that’s the three.
“If he gets housed, he is going to get a natural pick there going across the middle, and we thought he did a great job of picking up the protection, and we threw it over the middle and had a completion for a touchdown.”
It was a mistake to let Cota leave the State of Oregon coming out of high school and just like the game-winning play that didn’t work in practice, Oregon was able to correct a wrong when it mattered most.
And just like his father did, Cota made a play that Duck fans will remember for decades to come.