The No. 17 Oregon Ducks fell just short of their second late comeback in as many weeks, falling 37-32 to the visiting Boise State Broncos Saturday in front of 58,713 at Autzen Stadium.
Oregon trailed 37-13 after three quarters but mounted an offensive surge in the fourth quarter behind true freshman quarterback Darron Thomas, who made his first appearance for the Ducks as the third quarter came to a close and led the Ducks to 19 fourth-quarter points on 13-of-25 passing for 210 yards and three touchdowns to one interception.
“He’d been a scout team quarterback up until Monday,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said of Thomas. “But he had shown tremendous improvement so I felt very comfortable and we just didn’t get him in the game soon enough.”
Thomas connected with junior tight end Ed Dickson five times for 87 yards and two scores in the fourth quarter, and Dickson finished as the Ducks’ leading receiver with seven catches for 103 yards and the two late touchdowns.
Senior kicker Matt Evensen missed both of his field goal attempts and an extra point in the game, though the second missed field goal was the result of a bad snap.
“Those are significant points in the game,” Bellotti said. “It’s frustrating because we’re actually pretty good at times, and you take some of those things for granted.”
Oregon’s offense had sputtered for much of the first half and into the third quarter under true freshman Chris Harper, who was alone in leading the offense after a helmet-to-helmet collision in the first quarter sidelined sophomore transfer Jeremiah Masoli with a mild concussion.
Oregon was decidedly one-dimensional with Harper behind center, as Harper passed the ball just three times through the first three quarters, two for interceptions. Masoli threw the ball four times in his limited action, completing three passes for 27 yards with no interceptions.
Before Thomas took over for Oregon, the Ducks ran the ball 56 times for 250 yards and threw the ball seven times for 27 yards and two interceptions.
“We were probably too stubborn offensively and I should have made the call to get Darron in there sooner,” Bellotti said.
Oregon was led in rushing for the third consecutive game by junior transfer running back LeGarrette Blount, who hurdled a defensive lineman to set up his 16-yard touchdown run in the first quarter on his way to 99 yards on 18 carries.
“He’s a load,” Bellotti said of Blount. “He does some great things, and he does some things instinctively that are very exciting to watch as a coach.”
The Oregon defense held Boise state to just 38 yards rushing on the day but surrendered several big plays, including a 73-yard pass from Bronco freshman quarterback Kellen Moore to Vinny Perretta early in the third quarter.
Moore threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns to one interception on 24-of-36 passing, distributing the ball to 11 different receivers in the game.
“They threw the ball up and their receivers made some really good plays,” Bellotti said. “And they fooled us several times with the play action, our eyes were not in good position on defense.”
Oregon out-gained Boise State by 40 yards (464-424) and had 29 first downs to the Broncos’ 16, but lost the turnover battle again with four (three interceptions and a fumble) to Boise State’s two (one interception, one fumble).
“We gave them a bunch and we didn’t play very well,” Bellotti said. “We obviously weren’t ready to play and I take that all on me.”
Senior defensive tackle Ra’Shon Harris led the defense with 11 tackles, with 2 tackles-for-loss, followed by Spencer Paysinger and Will Tukuafu with 10 each. Tukuafu was a menace to the Bronco offensive line all day, tallying 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Oregon’s lone interception was made by Talmadge Jackson, starting in place of injured cornerback Walter Thurmond III (groin).
Moving forward, Bellotti said that the quarterback position is still up for grabs.
“We have three quarterbacks and I assume that they’ll all be ready to play,” Bellotti said. “It’ll be open competition and we will utilize and probably evaluate from there.”
Oregon resumes Pacific-10 Conference play, traveling to Pullman, Wash., Saturday to face the Washington State Cougars.