It wasn’t exactly how Mario Cristobal and the coaching staff drew it up on the chalkboard, but a win is a win and the Ducks will take it.
Oregon’s defense bent, but didn’t break and the offense scored just enough as the Ducks came away with a 38-35 win Saturday afternoon inside Autzen Stadium.
Now at 3-0, Oregon will now look at a date with the Beavers up in Corvallis on Friday. OSU managed to secure its first victory of the season, a 31-27 win over Cal.
For now, the rivalry game is scheduled for a 4 pm kickoff on ESPN Nov. 27.
But between now and then, some major adjustments have to be made with the Duck defense as they let UCLA go up and down the field for most of the game.
The Bruins racked up 462 total yards, 267 of those coming on the ground.
One major adjustment they’ll have to make is figuring out how to scheme without middle linebacker Noah Sewell.
The true freshman was on his way to an outstanding season until his ankle was rolled on by one of his own teammates.
“Well, we got to run some more tests on him,” said Cristobal after the game.
“I feel like it’s got a chance where he’ll be okay. But, that’s all I can comment on right now until we run some further things. But, and again, I want to stay along with the policy we don’t disclose all this stuff, but hopeful
that things aren’t as bad as they originally seemed.”
The defense did, however, improve where it comes to forcing turnovers as the Ducks came up with four miscues, four more than in the first two games.
Their first interception of the year came on the last play of the first half when safety Jordan Happle picked off Chase Griffin and took it 58 yards the other way for the touchdown as the clock ran out.
That interception gave the Ducks a 24-21 halftime lead and momentum, which Oregon took advantage of right away in the third quarter.
“They finally came,” said Cristobal. “A couple went in our favor. Certainly, we lost one the other way as well that resulted in seven points right away. But our defense has been really working hard at it and we ended up, it ended up paying dividends today a little bit.”
The Ducks scored on their opening possession of the second half on a CJ Verdell four-yard run for a 31-21 lead.
After the Bruins cut the lead back to a field goal, 31-28, Oregon answered late in the third when Tyler Shough found Hunter Kampmoyer for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
It was white-knuckle time for the Ducks in the fourth as they continually held off the Bruins. Chip Kelly’s offense did manage to make it 38-35 with 3:43 remaining.
After forcing the Ducks to punt, UCLA got the ball on its own 19 with just 1:24 to play to either tie the game with a field goal or take the lead with a touchdown.
UCLA was able to drive down to the Oregon 41-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
POST GAME; TYLER SHOUGH DISCUSSES THE DUCKS 38-35 WIN OVER UCLA
While the running game wasn’t quite there, Shough did have a career day throwing for 334 yards, three touchdowns, and running for another 31 yards.
Devon Williams showed what an asset he’s going to be to this team as the big 6-5 receiver caught six passes for 123 yards and a score.
His first-half touchdown was the first of his young Oregon career.
Williams was a highly touted recruit who played for USC for a season before transferring. It looked like he might wind up in Corvallis, but at the last minute, decided to become a Duck and right now, everybody in Eugene is glad he did.
NEXT UP; Oregon @ Oregon State – Friday, November 27th – 4:00 PM on ESPN.