Oregon football cruises to blowout win over Arizona with explosive plays
Oregon football got off to a fast start against Arizona as Anthony Brown needed just three plays to find Jaylon Redd for an explosive 63-yard touchdown to start the game before cruising to a 41-19 win.
On the other side, Arizona’s offense saw just one play on their first drive as an interception by Bennett Williams gave the ball back to the Ducks. Oregon was able to add a field goal off the leg of Camden Lewis to make it 10-0. Oregon scored twice in the opening four minutes of the game.
The Arizona Wildcats did find their rhythm, adding a touchdown to make it 10-7.
Brown did not have the best first half with his attempts, completing 6-for-13, but he did throw two touchdowns in the first half. The Ducks had 144 yards on the ground, led by Travis Dye with 92 yards, Brown used his legs for 32 yards. Oregon averaged over 21 yards per play in the opening 30 minutes compared to Arizona which was just over 12 yards per play.
Arizona quarterback Jordan McCloud was 10-for-15 for 127 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, including one in the endzone, picked off my Mykael Wright which could have made the score a lot closer at the break.
On the first drive for Arizona State in the second half, the Wildcats worked their way downfield to the Oregon 17-yard line. On the next play, Verone McKinley intercepted Jordan McCloud at the 2-yard line giving the ball back to the Ducks deep in their own territory.
Brown would be tackled in the end zone on the third play of the drive resulting in a safety and 2 points for Arizona making the score 24-12 with just over 7 minutes left in the third quarter.
Arizona would go on a 75-yard drive, completing their second fourth down play for a first and goal. They scored on the next play as Drake Anderson ran it in to cut into the deficit making it 24-19 Oregon.
Oregon struggled to get the offense going on their next drive, but Camden Lewis came through with a 43-yard field goal giving the Ducks an 8 point lead 27-19 over Arizona with just over 13 minutes left in the game.
The Oregon Defense was able to get a stop on the next Wildcats drive giving the ball back to the Ducks and putting the ball in the hands of Micah Pittman who made the fair catch at the Oregon 40-yard line. The Ducks went to the ground game with CJ Verdell who picked up two first downs before a false start penalty. It was another game where penalties on Oregon reared their ugly head. Chris Hudson had one that he heard about after a catch and spinning the ball celebrating. It was near mid-field and a clear taunting penalty.
Oregon forced a few penalties on the Arizona Defense and found themselves just inside the redzone on the 20-yard line of Arizona. Brown would find Spencer Webb streaking toward the end zone for a touchdown putting the Ducks up 34-19 with just over eight minutes to go.
On the next Arizona drive, Jordan McCloud was picked off for the fourth time. It was a 65-yard touchdown for Bennett Williams on the runback. It was his second interception of the game after picking off McCloud’s first pass. It made the score 41-19, which is how it ended. Arizona finished the game with more yards overall than Oregon, 435-393.
In the end, Oregon won the game as the Duck defense stepped up in the second half. Oregon is 4-0 on the season and still remains the only undefeated team in the Pac-12. They will head to the Farm next weekend to take on Stanford who lost to UCLA earlier in the day.
Oregon and Stanford will kickoff at 12:30 p.m. PT next Saturday on ABC.