Oregon Ducks Comeback, But Colorado Holds On To Win 41-38
The Oregon Ducks comeback effort fell short in the worse way possible, an interception in the endzone to end the game against Colorado
The Oregon Ducks and Colorado Buffaloes both came off losses on the road last weekend. The Buffs continued their road trip to Eugene as the Ducks opened Pac-12 play at home. Both teams came in averaging about the same, 42 points per game. The Buffaloes had built a trend of scoring points by the plenty in the first half.
In three games the team put up 101 points in the first half. With both teams at 2-1, Pac-12 play is a good reset for the season. Colorado won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half.
Kani Benoit would start a Running Back and get the ball two straight times with the third, a pass attempt missing forcing an Oregon punt. Steven Montez and Colorado would not waste any time getting down the field with their first possession.
Colorado started with their backup Quarterback who completed two passes, followed by a 30+ yard run through the Oregon Defense from Phillip Lindsay. He would score the three plays later giving the Buffaloes a 7-0 lead.
A solid return from Charles Nelson was negated by a penalty and instead of starting at the 20, Oregon would begin at the 10. The first play of the drive saw Oregon Quarterback Dakota Prukop sacked at the 3 yard line leading to the second punt of the game for Oregon.
The Oregon Defense started their second series with a sack DaQuan McDowell got to Montez. The Ducks Defense would give up yards on the drive, but limit Colorado to a field goal and a 10-0 lead.
A 50 yard run from Tony Brooks-James would put Oregon right back into it with Taj Griffin taking it in for a touchdown three plays later. The Ducks went for the extra point and were down 10-7. Special teams stepped up with a big tackle at the 13 yard line where Colorado would start their third drive.
The Buffaloes would again go down the field and score. Steven Montez found Shay Fields over the middle in the endzone from the 10 yard line. The extra point was blocked, but Colorado had a 16-7 lead.
On their next possession, the Buffaloes were stopped on first down, but then completed a 61 yard pass play from Steven Montez to Devon Ross. Montez walked into the endzone two plays later to extend their lead to 23-7.
The Oregon Ducks would appear to stall on their next drive, but a fake punt gained 29 yards. Darren Carrington caught a touchdown over the middle flying into the end zone for a score pulling Oregon within 11 at 23-14. They would kick and make the extra point.
Aiden Schneider would tack on a 41 yard field goal to make it 23-17 with just over two minutes left in the first half. Defensively, Oregon did not force a Colorado punt in the first half. Colorado would start the second half with the ball.
Colorado started the second half the same way they started the first, with a touchdown. A 48 yard pass from Montez to Ross extended the Colorado lead to 33-17. Colorado Quarterback Stephen Montez was playing he game of his life. To that point he was 18 for 21 for 265 yards and three touchdowns.
The Buffaloes would see the first interception of the day land in the hands of Oregon’s Brandon Schooler who returned the ball 31 yards leading to an Oregon touchdown by Tony Brooks-James after a pass from Prukop to Charles Nelson. Oregon was down nine with 7:02 left in the third quarter.
Momentum can change in a hurry and for Oregon it did. On the next drive, the run game kicked in all the way to the end zone as Kani Benoit pulled Oregon within 2. Stephen Montez would throw his second intereception of the day to Troy Dye and the Ducks were again in business on Offense.
Three plays is all it took. Darren Carrington found the end zone off a pass from Dakota Prukop and Oregon had a 38-33 lead entering the 4th Quarter.
The Defense had their best stop of the day with the crowd behind them stopping the Utah Offense as the Oregon Offense looked to extend their lead. Tony Brooks-James broke the 100 yard mark on the day and continued to push the tempo along with Taj Griffin and Kani Benoit for the Ducks Rushing Attack.
Oregon would again punt the ball and Colorado would look to answer. Quarterback Steven Montez ran the ball for 40 yards on back to back plays forcing a timeout. The Buffs had the ball at the Ducks 35 yard line. Three plays later Montez would throw the ball toward the end zone for a touchdown. Bryce Bobo would haul in a 31 yard pass for a 41-38 lead after a successful two point conversion.
The Ducks would have a final shot to win the game as the clock wound down. Prukop found Darren Carrington, but Ah Witherspoon intercepted the pass. It was Prukop’s first interception throw of the year as the momentum came to an end and Colorado took a knee and the three point win sending Oregon to 0-1 in the Pac-12 and 2-2 overall in 2016.
Oregon will begin preparation for a road trip to face Washington State next Saturday and look to get back on the winning track in Pullman.