This one was a mess for the Ducks and after posting 14 penalties for 124 yards they were very lucky to get out of Lubbock, Texas with a win that took three interceptions and two fumbles by the opposing quarterback as well as a 45 yard interception return to the house in the final minute to make it happen. After being held to just three points in the 2nd and 3rd Qtrs and trailing 27-18 going into the 4th, Oregon rallied for two TD’s and two FG’s in the final 15 minutes to pull off the 38-30 victory. For the Ducks QB Bo Nix was Bo Nix, connecting on over 70 percent of his passes for 359 yards, 2 TD’s, and no interceptions while picking up another 46 yards on 9 rushing attempts. Nix connected with seven different receivers multiple times as Junior WR Troy Franklin was the beneficiary of the most as well as one of the scores while collecting 103 yards on just six receptions, a 17+ yard average per catch. On the ground the Ducks collected 113 yards on 31 attempts with RB Bucky Irving picking up 38 of those along with the only rushing TD for Oregon.
For the Texas Tech Red Raider QB it was a tough day at the office as Senior QB Tyler Shough, although connecting on 24-of-38 for 282 yards and three TD’s and rushing 23 times for 101 yards and their only score on the ground, also threw up 3 interceptions and fumbled the ball twice in a game in which those miscues led to ten Oregon points without which the Red Raiders could have won this one. After getting the ball to start the game Oregon had to punt it away after their 8th play of the drive and sitting on 4th and 10 at their own 49 yard line. Texas Tech came back 85 yards and just six plays later to take the early 7-0 lead on a Tyler Slough 18 yard TD pass to Senior WR Myles Prices. Two plays later Oregon tied the score up on a 72 yard catch-and-run to the house by Bo Nix to Troy Franklin to tie it up at seven a piece with less that half of the 1st Qtr gone.
After holding the Red Raiders to a three-and-out on their next drive Bo Nix would take the Ducks down the field again for another TD, this one a 13 yard toss to Tez Johnson and after a successful 2-point conversion Oregon found themselves up 15-7. But back came the Red Raiders on a clock eating 15 play 75 yard drive to make it 15-13 on a Tyler Shough 7 yard TD pass to Junior TE Mason Tharp and a missed 2-point conversion. After holding the Ducks to back-to-back three and outs Texas Tech got an opportunity to go ahead but fumbled the ball on first and 10 at the Oregon 12 yard line leading to a field goal three minutes later for the Ducks to go up 18-to-13 with less than a minute left in the half. Sitting on 1st and 10 on the Oregon 38 yard line with time expiring the Red Raiders attempted a 56 yard field goal and missed.
The second half started out all Red Raiders as they held Oregon scoreless in the 3rd Qtr while going ahead 20-18 within two minutes after getting the opening half kick-off from the Ducks on a Tyler Shough 5 yard run into the end zone. Holding Oregon to a three-and-out on their next possession and getting a chance to extend the lead, instead Shough threw up an interception on the very first play. In spite of that the Ducks had to give up the ball on downs eight plays later when they couldn’t convert a 4th and 1 at the Texas Tech 17 yard line. Three plays later the Red Raiders finally did extend that lead on back-to-back-to-back throws by Shough culminating in a 34 yard TD pass to Jerald Bradley to go up 27-18 with just over six minutes left in the 3rd Qtr. Oregon came right back on a 17 play, 6:30 minute, 75 yard drive with a mix of Bo Nix passes and Bucky Irving runs including one into the end zone right at the start of the 4th Qtr to get within two points, 27-25.
With the Red Raiders making a head scratching decision on their next possession to go for it on 4th and 2 instead of punting at their own 33 yard line Oregon got the ball back and finally the lead again at 28-27 after a Camden Lewis 23 yard field goal. The next nine minutes of play would see back-to-back field goals, one by Texas Tech to go back up 30-28 and one by Oregon to recapture the lead at 31-30 with just a little over a minute left in the game—exactly 70 seconds in which Tyler Shough would make his final critical mistake on the third play of the drive, throwing a 45 yard interception return to the house by Jeffrey Bassa to put the Ducks up 38-30 for the win.
The AP in their recap for ESPN pointed out some interesting NFL connections: Nix passed former Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a two-time Super Bowl winner with Kansas City, on the career list for yards passing. Nix is at 11,490 to Mahomes’ 11,252. Oregon tight end Patrick Herbert, the younger brother of former Ducks and current Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, converted a 2-point conversion with a toss to Terrance Ferguson out of the swinging gate formation. The play put Oregon up 15-7 late in the first quarter.” Oregon should have an easier time of it at home this next week as they play host to Hawaii.