ANDREW GREIF | SPORTS EDITOR
Oregon’s offense made its statement quickly in the first half, but getting the chance to seal the win, however, took a little bit longer.
The Oregon defense was on the field for nearly 42 minutes of Saturday’s game, allowing Arizona (6-4, 4-3 Pacific-10 Conference) all the time it needed to score 28 second-half points to nearly pull off the improbable come-from-behind win at Autzen Stadium.
The Ducks (8-3, 6-2) finished with the 55-45 win because of quarterback Jeremiah Masoli’s monster first half and LeGarrette Blount’s well-timed heroics in the second half for the second consecutive week.
Just as against Stanford, LeGarrette Blount scored the Ducks’ final touchdown, this time a 40-yard run down the Arizona sideline with 3:38 left in the fourth quarter.
The way it came – on a two play drive that lasted 12 seconds – was typical of Oregon’s oft-dominant night on offense, where the Ducks scored four first-half touchdowns on 33 plays, then watched as Patrick Chung ran back an interception for another.
With Masoli as its ringleader, Oregon held a 45-17 lead at halftime, passing for 274 yards with two touchdowns at a remarkably efficient rate, completing 17 of his 19 passes.
For the game, he passed for 298 yards, completing 21 passes.
On the ground, 66 of his 89 total rushing yards in the game came on his touchdown run on the third play from scrimmage.
Oregon scored on eight of its first nine possessions of the game.
“Masoli came out firing on all cylinders,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “No question that he played well and was a catalyst.”
As a whole, the Oregon offense averaged 1:19 on its six scoring drives in the first half, which took an average 4.7 plays to cover an average 66 yards.
Even with time on its side, Arizona had hardly any luck in the first half, scoring points three times with the fastest lasting 2:12. That all changed in the second half.
Oregon amassed 93 yards in the second half while Arizona racked up 339. Key to their scoring was tight end Rob Gronkowski, who finished with 12 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown.
When he or his brother, Chris, who finished with three catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, would get the ball close, running back Keola Antolin punched in four touchdowns on the ground.
“I kind of felt like it was going to be a shootout,” said Oregon offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said.
Wildcat Willie Tuitama was 17-of-25 passing in the second half to finish with 328 yards and two touchdowns. Like the first half, it didn’t take long to score when Oregon had the opportunity, averaging 3.5 plays per scoring drive.
The problem was Oregon failed to score on its other six drives, punting five times and fumbling on another. It wasn’t just a question of inefficiency, but time. Oregon had offensive possession for 8:15 in the second half, while the Wildcats ran 21:45 off the clock, tiring down Oregon’s defense.
“I felt like we did leave those guys on the field too much,” Kelly said.
“Even that last drive we didn’t plan on him breaking it. There’s a catch-22 there. We’d like to hold on the ball a little bit longer,” he continued.
The wait took its toll on the Oregon offense, which sat on the sideline waiting to get its next chance.
The offense that moved with ease in the first two quarters looked like the one that had sputtered against California and Stanford.
“What got us out of rhythm was sitting on the bench the whole third and fourth quarter pretty much, we couldn’t get anything done,” center Max Unger said. “Three and outs are pretty much the worst possible thing to do for the defense – they get no break.”
Players and coaches agreed after the game that dry, crisp weather for the first time in three weeks played a major role in opening up the playbook.
“We opened it a lot throwing the ball down the field a bit,” said wide receiver Terence Scott, who caught six passes for 87 yards and ran the ball once. “It wasn’t raining so we definitely had an opportunity to run out spread offense today.”
Oregon also saw a familiar face in the passing game with the “return” of Ed Dickson. The tight end set Oregon’s school record for catches in a season last year with 43.
Coming into Saturday’s game, he had 24 but found himself the recipient of seven catches for 84 yards. Oregon will wait a week before playing Oregon State in Corvallis on Thanksgiving weekend.
The Ducks stand a game behind Oregon State, which beat Cal 34-21, in the standings. Kelly had no problem with the pressure.
“That’s the way it should be,” he said.
ANDREW GREIF
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