Oregon Football Flies Over Bowling Green, Justin Herbert Throws Five Touchdowns
Oregon Football opened the season with a win over Bowling Green as Justin Herbert threw with precision and accuracy in a 58-24 win.
Oregon Football opened the 2018 season under sunny skies and a stiff breeze. On the first Offensive Possession of the game the Ducks were forced to punt. Three passes from Quarterback Justin Herbert went errant of their intended receivers, which could have been affected by the wind. Bowling Green started their first possession from their own 39 yard line.
Everyone knows the first few series of any given game can be scripted. Fans were left speechless after two Oregon Football Offensive series and no points. The Falcons put up 3 points early in the first quarter. The Ducks forced a third and seven with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter and Bowling Green converted with a pass to Scott Miller at the Oregon 40 yardline. Two plays later it was another first down at the Ducks 29 yard line as Bowling Green was working their way toward the endzone.
Miller scored the touchdown with 5:10 left in the first quarter giving Bowling Green a 10-0 lead over the Oregon Ducks. It was a 10 play, 73 yard drive for the Falcons.
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Oregon got back on track on the next series highlighted by a 35-yard run. The drive stalled at 4th and 14, but the Ducks went for it. Herbert threaded the needle between two defenders hitting Jaylon Redd for the touchdown making it 10-7 Bowling Green.
The Defense stepped up on the next possession as Justin Hollins and Jordan Scott gave possession back to the Oregon Offense at the 33 yard line. CJ Verdell saw his first carry in an Oregon uniform for 8 yards just before the first quarter came to a close. It was 10-7 Bowling Green.
It did not take long for Oregon to take the lead. It took 12 plays to get down the field as Justin Herbert found Wide Receiver Dillon Mitchell for the score to give Oregon a 14-10 lead. CJ Verdell was the lead Running Back for the entire drive picking up 32 yards on six carries.
The Oregon Defense forced the first turnover of the game. Justin Hollins forced the fumble off Quarterback Jarrett Doege. It was recovered by Jalen Jelks setting Oregon up just outside the 10 yard line.
The Running Back Rotation appeared to keep one guy in per series in the opening half. Darrian Felix helped get the ball to the one-yard line before Justin Herbert scored with 9:47 left in the first half to make it 21-10 Ducks.
On the next Offensive series, Oregon Quarterback Justin Herbert hit Johnny Johnson III over the middle. Johnson fought two defenders off for 7 yards to get to the endzone and the score. Oregon led 27-10 with 7:07 left in the first half.
Bowling Green had a miscue on their next Offensive possession on the punt with Oregon Football getting a Safety to make it 30-10. The Ducks again took over on Offense and Tony Brooks-James used his footwork for a 53-yard gain to the Bowling Green 10-yardline.
The next Offensive possession was five plays as Tony Brooks-James ran 53-yards and Cyrus Habibi-Likio added six points to make it 37-10 Ducks. On the drive, Justin Herbert hit the 4000 passing yard mark tying Marcus Mariota in the amount of games it took to get there with sixteen.
Oregon took a 37-17 lead into Halftime.
It did not take long for Oregon to add to the lead to open the second half. Ugo Amadi picked off Bowling Green Quarterback Jarrett Doege to help Oregon to a 44-17 lead.
Taj Griffin was the sixth Oregon Running Back to touch the ball and he ran 82 yards to add to the Ducks lead at 51-17. The formula for the game was unique. Each Running Back played a full series. 50,112 came out to watch Oregon and Bowling Green – not far from a sellout for the Season Opener.
In the end it was a win to open the season for Oregon Football. While Justin Herbert played into the fourth quarter and had fans, including myself nervous, the team committed just two penalties for the game, far better than last season when they were the most penalized team in the country.
Oregon Football will enjoy the win briefly but begin preparation for their next game on September 7th against Portland State. (11 am Pacific Time, Pac-12 Network)