Oregon Ducks Defense Stands Tall, But Night Belongs to Marcus in Pac-12 Championship Win
The Pac-12 Championship game had plenty of folks chomping at the bit on Twitter for the start of the game. Arizona entered the game winning the last two games against the Oregon Ducks and Oregon would start with the ball. Running Back Royce Freeman and Quarterback Marcus Mariota started Oregon with positive momentum quickly entering Arizona territory.
Oregon would be stopped and Aiden Schneider would add a field goal giving Oregon a 3-0 lead over Arizona. The Wildcats would fumble the ball on their first return of the game as Cornerback Ifo Ekpre Olomu knocked the ball away and Tyree Robinson recovered for Oregon. The drive would get to the Arizona five yard line before Schneider added another field goal giving Oregon a 6-0 lead.
The Wildcats gained positive yardage on their first drive of the game but ended up punting into the endzone giving the Oregon Ducks the ball back. Mariota and Freeman would again take the field.Oregon would be held on their third drive of the game.
The Oregon Defense came to play on the third drive for Arizona as Tony Washington started off on first down and DeForest Buckner finished up on fourth down. Oregon would run into the kicker causing another kick on fourth down. Johnathan Loyd would take the ball to the Oregon 45 yard line on the rekick. Mariota would go for a long third down and miss Wide Receiver Darren Carrington. Arizona would again get the ball back with a chance to put points on the board.
The Wildcats would again he held on third down by the Oregon Defense and forced to punt. Returner Johnathan Loyd would take it to the fifty yardline as the Oregon Offense again took the field looking for points.
Freshman Running Back Royce Freeman would get t he first carries of the drive picking up a first down. After that it was easy going down the field. Oregon would get to fourth and goal from the one, and get a false start penalty causing a field goal attempt that had a false start ending in a missed twenty-eight yard field goal, but the Oregon Defense would again stand getting a sack on Arizona Quarterback Alu Solomon giving the ball right back to the Oregon Offense.
Oregon would break through on the next possession as Marcus Mariota took it in from seven yards out. The Oregon Defense midway through the first half held Arizona to just nineteen plays and under seventy-five yards on Offense including the next drive.
Oregon would have a penalty filled Offensive Possession which is very uncharacteristic this seson. Several false starts and a passing the ball past the line of scrimmage call against Mariota would lead to a punt. Arizona would have issues on the next drive as Tony Washington brought Solomon down for a sack on second down leading to a fourth down and another Wildcats punt. The Ducks would again get the ball back.
Oregon would break through on the next series with a seventy three yard pass to Charles Nelson on third and long to the fifteen yard line. Mariota would take it in for his second score of the game. The first half statistics were insane. The Oregon Ducks front on Defense played an outstanding first half.
The Oregon Defense held Arizona to just twenty-five yards of total offense, which includes -9 yards rushing. The Oregon Offense put up three hundred eighty two yards of Offense, including one-hundred and ninety-yards through the air. Arizona would have quite the hole to work out of in the second half and they would start with the ball.
Arizona would start the second half with a new quarterback in Junior Jesse Scroggins. Arizona would pick up a first down before being shit down on fourth down as Alex Balducci led the charge to get the ball back to Oregon.
Mariota would find Devon Allen who was blocked out of the endzone, but he caught the ball and landed in the endzone for the score. That was the kind of night it was for Arizona as Oregon’s lead continued to grow to 30-0.
Arizona would get on the scoreboard on their next drive with a busted play by Troy Hill allowing Wildcats Wide Receiver Caleb Jones to take it in for six cutting Oregon’s lead to 30-7. On the next drive Oregon Quarterback Marcus Mariota would escape the Arizona Defense to throw two consecutive passes to Darren Carrington, the second was for a touchdown. The first will be a Heisman-like play that will likely be replayed over and over next week in New York.
Everything came together for the Oregon Ducks on Friday Night. Mariota also set a new mark for total yards in a season with over forty-four hundred yards in a season. The night belonged to the Oregon Quarterback. He was accoutable for five touchdowns and had three on the ground, but another Oregon Ducks Starter had a great night. Oregon Running Back Royce Freeman would go over one-hundred yards for the game.
The Oregon Defense was the star of the game holding Arizona’s Offense to under one-hundred yards on the ground. Oregon had over five-hundred yards of Total Offense and over two-hundred twenty-five on the ground for the game. Now, Oregon awaits the final numbers for the College Football Playoff Committee, which will be announced on Sunday at 9:30am Pacific Time on ESPN.