NEBRASKA 7/7/14/7 - 35
OREGON 21/21/0/0 - 42
EUGENE, OREGON - After taking a 42-14 lead, the Ducks survived a scoreless second half to earn new coach Willie Taggart a 2-0 record at Oregon thanks to four interceptions forced by the Duck defense. Former instate foe Mike Riley was in his third and final year as head coach of the Cornhuskers and once again felt the bitter sting of a loss at Autzen.
The Ducks traveled 75 yards in five plays to score the game’s opening touchdown, a 32-yard pass to Brenden Schooler who plucked the ball out of the air over a Nebraska defensive back. Duck fans at Autzen continued the celebration during the Cornhusker’s first possession, which ended after just one play when quarterback Tanner Lee was picked off by Tyree Robinson and returned to the Nebraska 20. Justin Herbert took advantage of the sudden change by finding Charles Nelson for an eight-yard touchdown; the sophomore quarterback finished the contest 25-of 33 for 365 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and 32 yards on the ground.
Down 14 to 0, Nebraska marched 95 yards to cut the lead to seven with a 23-yard touchdown pass to De’Mornay Pierson-El, but Oregon responded by adding another touchdown to their lead, this time a two-yard run from Royce Freeman set up by a 42-yard pass to Charles Nelson earlier in the drive. Royce Freeman finished the game with 153 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Nebraska used three big plays to reach the Oregon five-yard line, and then scored on a Tre Bryant run to make the score 21-14 in favor of the Ducks, but Oregon scored on their final three possessions to build a 28-point lead at the half: a one-yard TD run from Freeman that was set up by two passes to Johnny Johnson III for 72 yards, a five-yard TD run from Kani Benoit with 2:40 left before the half, and a 17-yard TD pass to Dillon Mitchell after Thomas Graham Jr picked off Tanner Lee on the previous Nebraska possession.
Despite being down big at the half in the hellish confines of Autzen, neither the Nebraska football team nor their thousands of fans that made the trip to Eugene gave up. The Cornhusker offense scored on their first two drives of the second half to cut the lead to 14, and the defense kept the Ducks scoreless in the final two quarters.
Both third-quarter touchdowns were the result of passes from Tanner Lee to Morgan Stanley, and Nebraska’s defense forced an interception and a turnover on downs to fuel their comeback bid. Oregon failed to capitalize off of another Thomas Graham Jr interception when they missed a 44-yard field goal, but the Cornhuskers took full advantage of a rare Freeman fumble by cutting the lead to seven with a two-yard Mikale Wilbon rushing touchdown.
Nebraska forced Oregon into a three-and-out on the next drive, and with 2:17 left in the final quarter the Huskers had an opportunity to tie. Fortunately, junior Ugo Amadi ended their drive on the first play with Oregon’s fourth interception of the game. The Ducks’ uniforms were designed by three young cancer patients to benefit OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital, which perhaps gave them the extra boost needed to survive the comeback bid.
Oregon Offense (total: 566 - pass: 365 - rush: 201)
Nebraska Offense (total: 361 - pass: 252 - rush: 109)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 4 - INT: 4)
Nebraska Defense (forced turnovers: 2 - INT: 1 - FUM: 1)
UO (2-0) UN (1-1)