GEORGIA ST 7/0/21/0 - 28
OREGON 13/20/14/14 - 61
EUGENE, OREGON - The Duck defense forced four turnovers and scored 14 points, yet still felt disappointed after Oregon’s 33-point victory over Georgia State at Autzen Stadium. A 21-point third quarter from the visiting team marred an otherwise dominant performance from Oregon, and while regular starting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. rested on the sideline, Jeff Lockie shined in his first career start, finishing with 228 yards and two touchdowns on 23-of-31 passing. The Oregon rushing game racked up 311 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown run from third-string quarterback Taylor Alie, and kicker Aidan Schneider was a perfect 4-of-4 on field goals during, what felt like, a bounce-back game.
Tyree Robinson ended the Panthers’ opening drive early when on third-and-7 the sophomore safety picked off Nick Arbuckle and returned it 41 yards for the game’s first score. Georgia State picked up 38 yards on a couple of receptions from Penny Hart during their next possession, but a failed field goal from 50 yards out led to a successful field from Schneider going the opposite direction, giving the heavily-favored Ducks a 10-0 lead.
Juwaan Williams forced a fumble to end Georgia State’s third drive, and once again, Oregon was able to turn the sudden change of possession into three points with a Schneider field goal. The Panthers got on the board with their only touchdown of the first half, a short quarterback run late in the first, but the Ducks put away the game early by tallying 20 unanswered points and another interception from Robinson in the second quarter: a 22-yard touchdown from Royce Freeman, a 35-yard scoring pass to Dwayne Stanford, and two additional field goals by Schneider to end the half with a 33-7 lead.
The third quarter provided plenty of tape for head coach Mark Helfrich and the Duck defense to review over the coming week.After beginning the second half by forcing a fumble from Oregon’s Kirk Merritt on the opening kick, Georgia State scored touchdowns on their first three possessions: a 14-yard touchdown reception to Todd Boyd to cap off a two-play scoring drive, a 75-yard touchdown pass to Robert Davis, and then a short run from Keith Rucker that ended up being the Panthers’ final trip into the end zone.
Oregon scored two touchdowns sandwiched between Georgia State’s scoring run (a short rushing touchdown from Taj Griffin and an 11-yard reception from Johnny Mundt), and wrapped up the contest in spectacular fashion with a Joe Walker 52-yard scoop-and-score and an 87-yard touchdown run from third string QB Taylor Alie, which was the longest run from a quarterback since 1938.
"Sloppy… even though we got a couple touchdowns, which was good for us, it was still sloppy. We let them have big plays. We let them score too much.”
- DeForest Buckner, senior defensive end
Oregon Offense (total: 539 - pass: 228 - rush: 311)
Georgia State Offense (total:431 - pass: 318 - rush: 113)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 4 - FUM: 2 - INT: 2)
Georgia State Defense (forced turnovers: 1 - FUM: 1)
UO (2-1) GSU (1-2)