BOWLING GREEN 10/7/7/0 - 24
OREGON 7/30/14/7 - 58
EUGENE, OREGON - Duck fans were excited to see new head coach Mario Cristobal in his first regular season game, but after falling behind 10-0 in the first the excitement turned to fear that the era would begin in back-to-back losses after he took and led the program in a loss to Boise State in the Vegas Bowl. But the Ducks found their groove late in the opening quarter and were able to score 37 unanswered points to commemorate Cristobal’s first game at Autzen.
Jusin Herbert’s first two passes of the 2018 season looked to be easy touchdowns for Oregon, the first to Johnny Johnson III and the second to Jaylon Redd, but both were dropped. The Falcons took advantage of the home team’s short drive by marching 42 yards to set up a 36-yard field goal attempt which Nate Needham nailed to give Bowling Green an early three-point lead. The Oregon offense didn’t look much better on their second attempt when a well-defended pass on third-and-short ended the drive before they could reach a first down, and again, the Falcons were able to turn the momentum into points - this time a six-yard touchdown pass to Scott Miller after using 10 plays to travel 73 yards for the score. Early in the game, sophomore tight end Cam McCormick broke his fibula, ending his season after just one quarter as a starter.
Turns out, the third drive was the charm for the Ducks, as junior quarterback Justin Herbert used two big plays to kick-start the offense: first a 37-yard run that put the ball at the Bowling Green 29-yard line, then a 33-yard dart to Redd in the end zone on fourth-and-14.
The score started an offensive onslaught from Oregon, made possible by a drastically improved effort from the Duck defense. A turnover on downs at the Oregon 32 resulted in a 12-play, 67-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a nine-yard pass to Dillon Mitchell to put the Ducks up 14 to 10. Then on third-and-8, Doege fumbled the ball after being sacked by Justin Hollins, the ball was recovered by Jalen Jelks, and five plays later Justin Herbert was in the end zone on a two-yard carry.
Things quickly got out of hand for the visiting team when a 12-yard punt from Bowling Green was followed by a 40-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Johnson III. A bad snap at their own 19-yard line resulted in a Bowling Green safety, then carries from Tony Brooks-James and Cyrus Habibi-Likio got Oregon back in the end zone, finishing the Ducks 37-0 run.
Freshman Jevon Holland fumbled a punt which was recovered by Bowling Green’s Jerry McBride III. Quarterback Doege converted on fourth-and-short on a drive that started at the Oregon 43 and ended with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Clair. It was the final score of the opening half, 37-17.
Senior safety Ugo Amadi took the wind out of Bowling Green’s sails early in the second half by picking off Doege and returning it 38-yards for a touchdown. Then, after an Amadi sack forced the Falcons to punt from midfield, Taj Griffin took a tunnel-screen 83 yards to give Oregon a 51-17 lead.
Bowling Green’s final score came with 2:53 left in the third quarter, when Scott Miller burned the Duck defense on a go-route, cutting the lead to 27 with a 63-yard touchdown. The Falcons had an opportunity to save some face in the fourth quarter, Justin Herbert threw two interceptions in the final frame, but were unable to capitalize off Oregon’s mistakes. The game felt truly over when the Duck offense responded to a Troy Dye interception with a 48-yard pass to Jaylon Redd. Braxton Burmeister took over in garbage time and was successful at killing the clock.
In a game that started with two receivers dropping the ball and a new head coach seemingly doing the same, Duck fans were relieved to witness Redd, Johnson III and Cristobal atone for their early blunders.
"We stepped up and handled adversity well, that's something I really liked, because it's something we needed to focus on this year."
- Troy Dye
Oregon Offense (total: 504 - pass: 292 - rush: 212)
Bowling Green Offense (total: 389 - pass: 253 - rush: 136)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 2 - INT: 2)
Bowling Green Defense (forced turnovers: 2 - INT: 2)
UO (1-0) BG (0-1)