The No. 9 Oregon Ducks’ hopes of a Rose Bowl appearance ended in a 16-0 loss to the UCLA Bruins, in Pasadena, Calif., Saturday.
Starting quarterback Brady Leaf injured his right ankle (his left ankle was injured against Arizona) late in the first quarter and would not return, leaving freshmen Cody Kempt and Justin Roper to lead the offense. The offense never got going behind either quarterback, and gained just 148 yards in the game. Still, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said he was proud of the way the two freshmen competed.
“I’m pleased with the way (Kempt) responded to that challenge, both of them. We don’t have time for them to get more experience, they’ve got to learn on the fly,” Bellotti said. “They handled certain situations pretty well and others they did not and that’s going to happen.”
“I gave it my best effort, and I wish there were some things I could change, but that’s in the past now,” Kempt said. “I’ve just got to get focused on Oregon State and really help this team pull out a victory at home in the Civil War.”
The Oregon quarterbacks went a combined 11-of-39 for 105 yards and three interceptions. The running game produced just 43 yards, including some direct-snap, option plays to sophomore running back Andre Crenshaw. Both totals were season lows in yardage.
“It was sort of painful to watch,” Bellotti said.
“I think we just lost focus. We weren’t able to execute on certain things,” Crenshaw said. “We didn’t play as well as we should have.”
The shutout of the Ducks by the Bruins was the first time Oregon has been held scoreless since a 63-0 loss to Nebraska in 1985.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been shutout … but the shutout doesn’t matter,” Bellotti said. “The loss of the game bothers me and not being able to move the football like we’ve been accustomed to.”
One positive outcome for the offense was the emergence of a future playmaker in freshman defensive back-turned-wide receiver Jeffrey Maehl, who caught two passes for 30 yards in his first start at receiver and ran the ball twice for 14 yards.
Sophomore tight end Ed Dickson led the Ducks with five catches for 31 yards, and junior receiver Jaison Williams caught four passes for 44 yards to become the eighth Duck receiver all-time to pass the 2,000 yard marker with 2,017 in his career.
An all-time single-game Oregon record was set by punter Josh Syria, who punted the ball 12 times on the Ducks 17 total possessions. The other five drives ended in three interceptions, a fumble (by Kempt, on his second career snap), and the end of the game.
“Our offense failed to show up today, and I don’t mean that negatively, it’s just that we’re down a little bit,” said Bellotti. “We’re going to find ways to move the ball … alternative ways.”
The one bright spot on the day was the Duck defense, which held the depleted UCLA offense to 220 yards of offense and sacked UCLA quarterbacks Osaar Rashaan and Ben Olson five times while intercepting one pass from each. Defensive linemen Jeremy Gibbs and Will Tukuafu each recorded two sacks and cornerbacks Walter Thurmond III and Jairus Byrd recorded the interceptions.
Four times the Duck defense was put in short-field situations by turnovers, and they continued their sturdy red-zone resolve by allowing just nine points on three field goals as a result of the turnovers.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen our defense play better, and I’ve been here for 19 years, as they did today,” Bellotti said. “They played inspired football.”
“I know that we were put in tough positions today and we didn’t give up a lot of points,” said defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti. “It was ugly, but it could have been uglier.”
Aliotti took a moment to reflect on the recent freefall of Oregon offensive production, and what could have been for this season’s team.
“Our offense was incredible. It was incredible. Not good – incredible. Nobody was going to stop us and nobody did stop us… little by little guys got hurt and little by little we became less and less effective,” he said. “We could have went to the Rose Bowl… and we really could have. It’s not like it was some pipe dream.”
Reporter Ryan Knutson contributed to this report.
[email protected]