QUICKIE RECAP
To restore any credibility with its fanbase, and college football in general, the No. 11 Oregon Ducks needed a win over in-state rival Oregon State.
And they got it!
After getting completely humiliated one week ago in Salt Lake City, the Ducks returned home to Autzen Stadium to win the 125th meeting of this rivalry against Oregon State by a score of 38-29 catapulting the Ducks into its third consecutive Pac-12 Championship game.
The Ducks offense generated 506 yards of total offense using three rushing touchdowns and two passing scores to get the win. Leading the way was quarterback Anthony Brown who completed 23 of 28 passes for 275 yards and two aerial scores. Brown also rushed for one touchdown.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It appeared in the first few moments of this Civil War match-up, that Oregon was simply in a focused groove and was going to run away with this much-needed win early.
The Ducks scored two first-quarter touchdowns and took a 14-3 lead into the second stanza. At the 10:53 mark, the Ducks offense capped off a 9 play – 75 yard drive when running back Travis Dye sprinted 20 yards for the games first score.
Six minutes later, Duck QB Anthony Brown lofted a 50 yard scoring toss to Devon Williams to put the Ducks up 14-0 with 4:07 remaining in the first.
In the second quarter, and after both teams converted field goals, Brown engineered another stellar drive that took 10 plays over 70 yards and ended with Brown himself scoring on a 10 yard keeper up the middle giving the Ducks a 24-3 lead going into the halftime break. The rushing score was the 9th of the season for Brown.
In just their first two-quarters of play, the Ducks offense racked up 307 total yards and controlled the ball for more than 20 minutes of play. Even more impressive was the fact that the Ducks converted a total of 17 first downs.
Going into the break it appeared the Ducks were on their way to a blowout win, but rivalries never end in the way you might expect.
In the 3rd quarter, the Beavers took the opening drive straight down the field which ended with a 4 yard scoring toss to TE Luke Musgrave. The touchdown pass came on a 4th and goal when Beaver head coach Jonathan Smith decided to go for the touchdown and not the field goal. Smith, trying to quickly make up the deficit, tried and failed on the two-point conversion. Oregon led 24-9 with 10:33 left in the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Ducks extended their lead to 31-9 at the 12:00 minute mark when Brown found freshman receiver Kris Hutson on a 7 yard crossing route for the score. It was Brown’s second TD pass of the game and Hutson’s first scoring catch of his short Oregon career.
But then the Beavers reeled off 14 straight points to pull within ten at 31-21 with 8:28 left in the game. The Ducks gave up a 4-yard rushing score to B.J Baylor and a 15 yard scoring pass from Chance Nolan to Trevon Bradford. In both cases, Smith would again choose to go for the two-point conversion, but both attempts failed.
Brown and the Oregon offense went back to work and put together an outstanding drive that lasted 9 plays and 75 yards and ended with a Travis Dye 1 yard plunge into the endzone giving the Ducks some breathing room at 38-21 with 3:14 left in the game.
But as expected, OSU didn’t give up.
On the ensuing drive the Beavers marched 75 yards in 12 plays that culminated with a Chance Nolan 1 yard run for the score pulling the Beavers to within 38-29 after a successful two-point conversion.
But that’s as close as the Beavers could get.
The Ducks went on to win 38-28 and catapulted themselves into the Pac-12 Championship game for the opportunity to win a third consecutive league title.
MOST VALUABLE PERFORMANCE
The MVP award for this game goes to Anthony Brown who ended the game with a passer rating of 188.2 Brown was decisive in his decision-making throughout the game completing 23 of 28 passes for 275 yards and two scoring passes. In addition, Brown carried the ball 14 times for 83 yards and put one of those carries into the endzone.
Where the Ducks and Brown really shined was on third-down conversions. For the game, the Ducks were successful on third down 10 of 13 times and were a perfect 5 of 5 in the red zone.
UP NEXT
Up next, No. 11 Oregon gets another opportunity for a Pac-12 Championship next Friday in Las Vegas. It will be the Ducks third consecutive championship attempt. Even more important, the Ducks get another crack at Utah who won the Southern Division and humilated Oregon last Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Friday’s championship contest is being played in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and will kickoff at 5:00 pm pacific time and will be televised on ABC.
POST GAME; MARIO CRISTOBAL DISCUSSES 38-29 WIN OVER OREGON STATE