Autzen Stadium public address announcer Don Essig called that wet stuff coming down during the game, “liquid sunshine.”
And the more that the “sunshine” kept pouring down, the louder the charged-up opening game crowd of 43,371 would get.
Think about it, what better way to welcome back the Nevada Wolfpack to Eugene than with an early September downpour.
The weather, which nobody can admit was rain because “it never rains in Autzen,” certainly took a toll on the visitors’ offense, which could never find their flow in its 36-7 defeat to the Ducks (1-0).
But hey, at least Nevada (o-1) didn’t fall on its face and lose 72-10 as it did last year at Autzen. And at least they all get to charter a flight back to Reno where the five-day forecast has sun, sun and more sun with a high in the 80s.
“Ha, yeah, we just wanted to treat them to a football game – Eugene style,” said wide receiver Keenan Howry, who had three receptions for 66 yards, including a crisp 48-yard gain.
The victory gave the Ducks its school-record 15th straight home win, which is the longest such streak in the Pacific-10 Conference.
Not all of Oregon’s game was bright, however, as the Ducks’ offense didn’t always capitalize on what the Nevada defense was giving them. Oregon starting quarterback Joey Harrington was admittedly off Saturday afternoon and finished with a passing line of just 10-of-22 for 151 yards and an interception.
“I have high expectations of myself, so yeah, of course I’m disappointed,” Harrington said. “The weather wasn’t really a factor in my play.”
Head coach Mike Bellotti tried his best to speak optimistically about his starter’s performance, but slipped a few times.
“I was not happy with our offense, and I feel we shot ourselves in the foot too much,” Bellotti said. “Joey wasn’t extremely sharp for some reason. I’m not surprised by that, but maybe a little bit disappointed. I think his emotions were sky high and I also know that he is capable of playing better than he did.”
The best pass of the day didn’t even come from Harrington or back-up A.J. Feeley – who only completed one pass in his limited fourth quarter duty. It came from Howry, on the very first play of the game.
Harrington threw a lateral pass to his left to Howry, who then launched a decent bomb downfield that seemed to stay in the air forever. It was finally brought in by tight end Justin Peele for a 53-yard gain.
“I didn’t get the zip on the ball that I wanted to,” Howry said. “But it was nice to be like a QB out there.”
With Harrington not on his “A” game, some fans worried about the game possibly slipping away. But luckily, Harrington didn’t have to be the star on the offensive side. Newly recruited junior college running back Maurice Morris took care of that role.
The hype on Morris had been building for months and all eyes were certainly on the 6-foot, 205-pound player with the number 9 on his back when he took the field for the first time. His first carry came right after Howry’s pass, but was only a three-yard gain. Then he wowed some folks when he picked up 12 on a pitch from Harrington that gave the Ducks a first-and-goal from the seven-yard line.
But then just like that, he fumbled the ball over to Nevada. As Morris said afterwards, it was a “humblin’ fumble.”
“I was a little too nervous and excited in the beginning,” Morris said. “That crowd was crazy. So after that fumble, I relaxed a bit and got going.”
He sure did, to the tune of 166 yards on 20 carries. His highlight reel officially began against Nevada, and he produced a touchdown run with 8:40 to play in the first half that will surely avoid the cutting room floor.
Oregon faced a daunting second and 16 from its own 34 yard line. Harrington took the snap, pitched it to Morris and let his running back do the rest.
Morris followed one blocker and appeared to be closed in by three defenders. But then as if he switched to warp speed, Morris scampered past everyone in sight, eventually outrunning Nevada secondary members Domonic Cruz and Brad Linstrom to safe haven. He even had time to ease up with five yards to go and coast into the end zone.
The result was a 66-yard touchdown run – Oregon’s longest such scoring run since Rueben Droughns went for 67 in a game versus Stanford on Sept. 26, 1998.
“I think he showed the full gamut out there,” Bellotti said. “But I don’t even think that was his best run of the day. I was more impressed with his four-yard run near the goal line where he carried four Nevada guys on his back.”
So Maurice, you feeling it now? You ready to be the man?
“It just feels good to get the first game out of the way,” said the modest kid from Chester, S.C. “And also to get all the hype out of the way.”
The two reasons the Ducks ran away with this one were Morris and its defense, which came into this game with some question marks.
Nevada quarterback David Neill, however, can certainly attest to the prowess of the Duck defense. The junior, who ranked fourth in the country in total offense a year ago, was held to only eight-for-30 passing for 106 yards and three interceptions.
Oregon defensive players Ryan Mitchell, Rasuli Webster and Rashad Bauman – in his first game back since the 1998 season due to a knee injury – all picked off Neill. The Ducks also sacked the Nevada quarterback seven times with defensive end Saul Patu and Jason Nikolao leading the way with two apiece.
“The success today was definitely not a surprise to us,” Nikolao said. “We have a lot of D-line pride. It all starts with us. We just came out and fired into their O-line.”
Nikolao was responsible for the Ducks’ first points of the game at the 7:19 mark of the first quarter. The senior from Tacoma, Wash., charged hard toward Nevada running back Adrien Dugas and tackled him in the Duck end zone for the two-point safety. Oregon would then tack on two field goals by Josh Frankel to extend the lead to 8-0.
Nevada’s lone scoring drive came right after Morris’ 66-yard TD run. Thanks in large part to a couple of clutch third down plays, the Wolfpack completed an 11-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 21-yard touchdown pass to Nate Burleson with 5:10 left in the first half.
But that would be all Nevada could muster as Oregon would score three more times. First there was Harrington’s one-yard touchdown plunge to push the lead to 22-7. Then came Adam Kennybrew’s two-yard scoring run at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
And finally, true freshman tailback Kenny Washington closed out the scoring with his four-yard rumble that left Washington a bit in awe.”When I first got in there, I was like, ‘Wow, this was not what I expected’,” said the Brea, Calif., native, who finished with a respectable 15 yards on three carries. “I was trying to keep my eyes on the big green Oregon letters on the ground and then all of a sudden I was in. Pretty awesome feeling.”
Obviously, the attitude after the game was a positive one, but now focus shifts to Saturday, when the Ducks head to Madison, Wisc., to face the fifth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers.
“Now that this one’s over with, we can begin to talk about Wisconsin,” Bellotti said. “Hopefully today gave us a sense of confidence because that’s going to be a big challenge and a great opportunity.”
Indeed it will, as the Ducks will leave the friendly confines of Autzen Stadium and enter Camp Randall Stadium and its 76,129 die-hard fans.It will be then that the true test will come.