Oregon Football: Ducks Celebrate Autzen Stadium With Record Win
Oregon Football celebrated a new era of College Football with a 77-21 win over Southern Utah.
The Willie Taggart Era was about to get started at Autzen Stadium on a smoky day from all the Wildfires in the State. It was the 50th Anniversary of Oregon Football’s home and it got started off in a big way. Tony Brooks James opened the game and took the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown giving Oregon an early lead on Southern Utah.
Southern Utah would use just over three minutes of game clock and a nine play 70-yard drive to tie the game at 7. Quarterback Patrick Tyler took it into the end zone after several Ducks missed tackles. It was time for Justin Herbert, Royce Freeman and the Ducks Offense to get the ball.
Oregon started from their own 26-yard line. It did not take long for the home team to respond. It took 1:26 off the game clock and Herbert found Tight End Jacob Breeland for the score. Charles Nelson had a nice reverse sweep for a first down on the drive giving fans a different look at what the Taggart Offense will look like.
The Oregon Defense found the ball on Southern Utah’s next drive. Ugo Amadi picked off a Patrick Tyler pass at the 7 yard line and the Ducks were again in business on Offense. Kani Benoit found the end zone after 9 plays and 87 yards giving Oregon a 21-7 lead with over six minutes to go in the first quarter.
Royce Freeman added a second touchdown to go over 100 yards on the day and it wasn’t halftime yet. Kani Benoit also had two scores for the Ducks Ground Game. The Oregon Defense give up a 64-yard touchdown before halftime and had a 42-14 lead.
Oregon fumbled on the kickoff at the 24 giving the ball back to Southern Utah with a chance to pick up back to back scores and further cut the Ducks lead. James Falila added a Touchdown for the Thunderbirds cutting the Ducks lead in half at 42-21.
Four minutes into the third quarter, Running Back Royce Freeman scored his third touchdown of the game pushing Oregon’s lead to 49-21 over Southern Utah. The Running Game had five touchdowns in the game. Freeman was putting together quite a night with 128 yards on 20 carries and three scores.
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The scoring continued for Oregon on their next drive. Justin Herbert dropped a 50-yard dime to Charles Nelson and two plays later he cashed it in for a Touchdown adding to the lead 56-21. Royce Freeman added his fourth touchdown of the game before Taylor Alie took over for Justin Herbert.
Alie handed the ball off three times to Kani Benoit who also added to the Oregon Ducks point total with his third score of the game making it 70-21. Oregon Football racked up over 600 yards of Offense against Southern Utah, but the highlight of the night was the first play of the game, the kickoff return for a score by Tony Brooks-James.
The Oregon Defense played well and Troy Dye stood out as he did last season with 10 tackles, 5 for a loss a sack and a pass breakup. It was a big day for Oregon Football, a new beginning and a record setting day.
Oregon will face a more prepared opponent next week with Mike Riley and Nebraska coming to Autzen Stadium(Saturday, September 9th, 1:30 pm PT FOX)