College coaches like to say any road win is a good win and if that’s the case, Oregon just managed to get a very good win early in this season.
For the first time since 2004, the Ducks traveled to a Big XII school and were able to leave with a victory, this time a 38-30 win over Texas Tech and former Oregon quarterback Tyler Shough.
But it certainly wasn’t easy or how Dan Lanning would draw it up as the Ducks were flagged 14 times for 124 yards, many of which curtailed scoring drives. In the scoring drive that absolutely had to have, Oregon cut out the mistakes and got the game-winning field goal with just over a minute left.
The Ducks were down 30-28 with just over four minutes to go Bo Nix led Oregon down the field 64 yards that set up Camden Lewis’ 34-yard boot. Even with the slimmest of leads, the Duck defense needed to step up one last time, and fortunately for Oregon, they did.
Oregon put pressure on Shough and forced him into an interception that landed in linebacker Jeffrey Bassa’s arms, which wound up in the end zone 44 yards later for the Pick-6.
With the win, Oregon is now 2-0 and comes home to play a Hawaii team that has already lost to teams such as Stanford and Vanderbilt. Assuming the Ducks defeat the Rainbow Warriors, it sets up a huge matchup and Pac-12 opener the following week with Colorado coming to Eugene.
But first things first.
Oregon needed to find a way to defeat the Red Raiders. Nix threw for 359 yards on 28-of-40 passing, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Troy Franklin had six catches for 103 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown.
The Ducks found themselves up 18-13 at halftime, but after a subpar third quarter, Oregon was down 27-18 with 15 minutes to go.
Oregon was reeling, but somehow found a way to pull themselves together and score when it absolutely needed to.
Bucky Irving’s three-yard touchdown pulled Oregon to within two points at 27-25 and Lewis’ first of three field goals gave the Ducks a brief 28-27 lead. But Texas Tech answered with a field goal of it own and the home Raiders took a 30-28 lead.
After the teams traded possessions, the Ducks found themselves in a now-or-never situation as they had the ball with just over four minutes to go.
Thankfully for the Ducks and their fans, Oregon converted when it needed to and came out victorious.
QUICKIE GAME NOTES
With one catch in the first half, Oregon TE Terrance Ferguson moved into a tie for 10th in program history for career catches by a tight end (53).
Troy Franklin’s 72-yard TD catch in the 1st quarter was a career-long. Franklin has now caught a TD in six straight games, dating back to last season, and has a reception in 19 straight games.