OREGON 8/12/6/6 - 32
NEBRASKA 7/7/14/7 - 35
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA - Once again, Mike Riley and Mark Helfrich squared off, only this time Riley was the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and they had home-field advantage against Oregon. During his fourteen-year career as Oregon State’s head coach, Riley had beaten the Ducks just four times, but Helfrich’s squad led by grad transfer quarterback Dakota Prukop failed to protect a 17-point lead, and would go on to lose by three points in a game in which they attempted five two-point conversions but only succeeded on the first one.
The Ducks were dealt a huge blow when early in the opening quarter injuries to star running back Royce Freeman and left tackle Tyrell Crosby took them out of the game. Freeman would resume his role as a starter later in the year, but Crosby would miss the remainder of the season, as would receiver/olympian Devon Allen after tearing his ACL in the fourth quarter.
Early on, the Ducks put together a 10-play, 65-yard drive that was capped off with a 20-yard touchdown run from Tony Brooks-James. Charles Nelson successfully converted the two-point conversion to give the Ducks an eight-point lead and, perhaps. a false sense of security. Quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. got his team on the board with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Westerkamp, though Oregon’s lead remained intact because Mike Riley went the safe route and went for the point-after.
Nebraska nearly lost possession on a fumbled punt return, but after recovering the ball and then reaching the Oregon 36-yard line Nebraska ended up turning over possession on downs when Armstrong threw an incompletion on fourth-and-8. Prukop then connected on passes of 18 and 23 yards to help fuel a drive that finished with another Brooks-James touchdown, this time from the Cornhusker two-yard line, and it was followed by an unsuccessful two-point conversion.
The Cornhuskers reached the Oregon 12 on their next drive, but a fumble from Armstrong Jr was brought back to the 50 by a Duck defender, and on the next play Taj Griffin took it to the house for a 50-yard score. Once again, Helfrich elected to go for the two-point conversion and failed. With under a minute remaining, Nebraska trailed by fourteen points, but a 45-yard punt return from De’Mornay Pierson-El placed the ball at the Oregon 19, and with five seconds before the half Westerkamp caught his second touchdown of the game.
The Cornhuskers scored back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 28-20 lead at the 6:13 mark; Armstrong Jr. found Bryan Reimers for a 22-yard touchdown pass and Devine Ozigbo ran in a seven-yard score on their next possession. The Oregon offense suffered consecutive penalties that put them at second-and-27, but Prukop picked up 25 yards with a pass to Nelson, and on the next play running back Kani Benoit found a gap in the defense that he exploited for a 41-yard touchdown. Oregon went for their fourth straight two-point conversion, but failed, meaning the Ducks trailed 26 to 28.
A sack by Tyree Robinson led to a Nebraska punt, then Oregon traveled 97 yards in 10 plays to take the lead with a short touchdown run from Brooks-James. Benoit had a 46-yard run that helped fuel the Duck scoring drive, and after a failed two-point conversion Oregon had a 32-28 lead in the fourth. The Cornhuskers appeared to be on the ropes with 3:14 to play at around midfield, but on fourth-and-9 Westerkamp found a gap in coverage and collected a 14-yard pass to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Armstrong Jr. scrambled into the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown that gave Nebraska the lead with 2:29 on the clock.
Down by three, Nelson helped push the drive to midfield by collecting back-to-back passes for a combined 27 yards, but an offensive holding call on first down ultimately doomed the Ducks. The penalty was Oregon’s 13th of the game for a net loss of 126 yards, and after an incomplete pass on second down, Prukop fumbled after being sacked by Kevin Maurice. The ball was recovered by the Ducks, meaning the crucial drive was still alive, but on fourth-and-18 Prukop fled a collapsing pocket and was brought down after picking up just three yards.
Nebraska fans erupted when the Cornhuskers formed their victory formation, while Duck fans across the country pined over the extra-points that could have been.
"That's a good lesson for him to learn. Fourth-and-the-ballgame, you've got to give somebody a chance."
- Mark Helfrich
Oregon Offense (total: 482 - pass: 146 - rush: 336)
Nebraska Offense (total: 428 - pass: 200 - rush: 228)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 1 - INT: 1)
Nebraska Defense (forced turnovers: 0)
UO (2-1) NEB (3-0)