The cloest this game ever got was 7-3 at the end of the 1st Qtr with Oregon on top—a position they never relinquished the entire game. The Wildcats should have been ahead 10-7 at that point but after a 9 play 64 yard drive down to the Oregon 7 on the first possession of the game Junior WR Jacob Cowing, in his only rush of the day, lost four yards and fumbled the ball over to the Ducks. Maybe next time hand it to someone trained to hang onto the ball in heavy traffic like one of your RB’s—just a thought. I know, cheap shot—but this is me entertaining myself while I write. But give the Arizona defense some credit because after that disaster they forced a punt, got the ball back, and actually drew first blood in this game—leading 3-0 on a Tyler Loop 38 yard field goal with 5:13 left in the 1st Qtr. But that was the only time the Wildcats had their heads above water as Oregon scored a TD on their next seven consecutive possessions with the Ducks up 28-13 at the half and 49-22 when it was over.
Oregon’s Senior QB Bo Nix displayed a surgical precision connecting on 80% of his passes for 265 yards and no interceptions. Although he didn’t connect with any of his receivers in the end zone, he moved the chains and put the Ducks in position time-after-time to run it in which he did himself three times. Add to that four other TD’s by Sophomore RB’s Noah Whittington and Bucky Irving, TE Moliki Matavao, and Freshman RB Jordan James, and seven extra points by Junior Place Kicker Camden Lewis and there’s your 49 points in just three quarters. Not even needing any more points the rest of the way for the blowout.
With the Ducks pass rush slipping in for 2 sacks and 5 tackles for loss Arizona’s QB Jayden de-Laura wasn’t nearly as efficient, connecting on less than 60% of his passes for 241 yards, 1 TD to Freshman WR Tetairoa McMillan, and 1 interception down near their own red zone that led to an Oregon TD three plays later. On the ground they rushed 25 times for 115 yards and 1 score by Senior RB DJ Williams. They fumbled twice and lost both with one leading to another score by the Ducks. The other 10 points for the Wildcats were provided by Tyler Loop who kicked two more field goals and an extra point after their one sole TD.
Arizona Head Coach Jedd Fisch had this to say about the game; “We couldn’t keep up. They were going and we weren’t stopping them. Then we got stopped a couple times in a row, pinned them back, but couldn’t get the stop. Wasn’t the type of game we wanted, but they played a complete game. We tell the players all the time, ‘You win or you learn.’ In this case, we learned.”
If you were thinking that UCLA has an advantage being on a bye this coming week while they prepare to take on the Ducks in Eugene, think again. Oregon also has the week off to get ready and with the Ducks and Bruins sitting fifth and sixth in the country in total offense with just a half-point difference in average points per game–42 to 41.5–it should be a good one. Arizona hits the road to Alaska Airlines Husky Stadium where they’ll take on a Washington team that will be desperate for a win.