OREGON 0/8/0/7 - 15
ARIZONA 10/13/14/7 - 44
TUCSON, ARIZONA - The Oregon football team lost their second consecutive game of the season when they traveled down to Arizona Stadium and were outscored 44 to 15. The Ducks went in as heavy favorites, ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll despite having already suffered losses to Stanford and Washington State, but the Oregon offense scored just 15 points on a defense that allowed an average of 29 points in there previous eight contests. Running back J.J. Taylor out-rushed Oregon 213 to 84, and also tacked on two touchdowns against a slowly eroding Duck defense. while Justin Herbert completed only 50-percent of his passes.
Both of Oregon’s touchdowns came at the 9:17 mark, the first in the second quarter to make it a one-score game, and the second in the final quarter to cut the lead to 22. Before Dillon Mitchell crossed the end zone and Justin Herbert ran in a two-point conversion to score Oregon’s first touchdown, the Ducks offense put together a miserable run of drives that proceeded as follows: Three consecutive three-and-outs, a fumble from Travis Dye on first down, a punt, a deep interception from Herbert to Scottie Young Jr, then a blocked punt.
Fortunately for the Ducks, the Wildcats weren’t as adept at turning a bad Oregon opening-half into points. After ending Oregon’s opening drive with a three-and-out, Arizona raced down the field in a 75-yard, seven-play drive that was capped off with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Poindexter. Four consecutive punts were traded between the Ducks and Wildcats, but Travis Dye’s fumble at the Oregon 21 gave Arizona an opportunity to add to their lead, and to the Duck defense’s credit the Wildcats were forced to settle for a field goal.
In the second quarter, Herbert’s interception from deep in Oregon territory to midfield turned into another Wildcat field goal when Khalil Tate was able to travel 37 yards to set up the 32-yard attempt from kicker Josh Pollack, who added three more points after the next drive ended deep in Oregon territory thanks to a blocked punt by Chacho Ulloa. Thanks to some praiseworthy damage control from the Duck defense, Herbert’s second quarter touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion was able to put Oregon back in striking distance of the home team, 8 to 16, but J.J. Taylor fueled an 18-play, 88-yard touchdown drive that finished with him in the end zone from the Oregon one-yard line.
Taylor’s touchdown gave the Wildcats a 23-8 lead that they would take with them at the end of the second quarter, and the Ducks slapped together a similar performance in the second half.
The first play of the third quarter appeared to be just what Oregon needed to stage the comeback, an interception from Khalil Tate made by cornerback Thomas Graham Jr., but Justin Herbert and the offense once again failed to pick up a first down and were forced to punt the ball back to the Wildcats, who scored off of an eight-yard touchdown pass to Poindexter seven plays later.
Again, the Ducks and Wildcats traded punts after the Arizona score, but with 4:43 left in the third, Charles Sudduth was touched by the ball on a punt return and Lorenzo Burns was able to recover it to give the Wildcats the ball. Arizona added to their momentum by adding a 27-yard touchdown pass to Shun Brown to the lead after the Oregon turnover, giving the underdogs a 37-8 lead late in the third.
Brenden Schooler (brother of Arizona linebacker Colin Schooler) cut the lead to 22 late in the game by collecting a touchdown pass intended for Jacob Breeland, but a long Wildcat drive iced the game by running down the clock to 3:32 in the final quarter, capping off the beatdown with an acrobatic touchdown from Taylor that made the score 44-15.
"Schematically, the things that we were successful at the first six weeks are things we felt we could lean on... We had a really good identity, and we certainly did not have that tonight, or even last week."
- Mario Cristobal
Oregon Offense (total: 270 - pass: 186 - rush: 84)
Arizona Offense (total: 465 - pass: 189 - rush: 276)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 1 - INT: 1)
Arizona Defense (forced turnovers: 3 - INT: 1 - FUM: 2)
UO (5-3, 2-3) UA (4-5, 3-3)