The scoreboard read 37-32, Boise State (3-0, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference), as the final seconds ticked off the clock. Boise State players pumped their fists at their first win on the road against a Pacific-10 Conference team. Oregon players looked on, wishing they had just one more minute left on the clock.
It was a frustrating game from an Oregon standpoint. The defense spotted the opponent another big lead going into halftime, turnovers led to points for the Broncos, and yet another injury occurred at the quarterback position.
It didn’t take long for the injury to occur either. With roughly 11 minutes left in the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Masoli got hit after the play and drew a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty on Boise State. He hit the turf hard, but didn’t show any signs of injury as he finished out Oregon’s last drive of the first quarter. But from the second quarter on it was only freshman Chris Harper who played, drawing doubts as to the health of Masoli.
Coach Mike Bellotti confirmed those doubts and the injury report after the game.
“He suffered a mild concussion in the first quarter,” he said. “On the play when he got roughed with the helmet-to-helmet hit.”
That’s bad news for the Ducks, who are now down to just Harper and freshman Darron Thomas at quarterback.
Bellotti recently said that the depth at quarterback was a strength for the Ducks, but now that strength has been negated. Oregon is down to two fully healthy quarterbacks, and one that is 50-50 after the hit.
But Bellotti is still confident Masoli will be ready Monday, saying that he expects to have three quarterbacks to work with for the upcoming game against Washington State.
“We will evaluate and go from there,” Bellotti said. “I assume they will all be ready to play.”
One bright spot is the play of Thomas. The true freshman’s play in the fourth quarter was almost perfect. He completed 13 of 25 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns, and his one mistake was an interception with just under three minutes to go in the game that allowed Boise State to eat half a minute off the clock.
“I wanted to get in their and play,” he said. “After Jeremiah went down it was just me and Chris, and we just had to go out there and play football.”
Play he did. Thomas ignited a stagnant offense that fell victim to the inability to throw the football. Harper was no threat to pass the ball, going 0-for-3 with two interceptions, and Oregon rushed the ball 52 times.
“We were playing to Harper’s strengths,” Bellotti said of the conservative play calls. “It was unfortunate that Masoli was hurt so early. Harper is still learning, and I like the things he brings to the table.”
Add Thomas to that list as well. The Autzen crowd was almost non-existent at the end of the third quarter, thanks to 13 points by Boise State to widen the lead. But as soon has Thomas completed his first pass to Ed Dickson for 41 yards, the crowd was reenergized and stayed boisterous until the final seconds.
After the first pass to Dickson went for big yards, Thomas hit Jaison Williams on second down for 13 more before connecting with Jeff Maehl for a 24-yard touchdown. The next series Thomas hit Dickson in the end zone for his second touchdown, and he hooked up with him one more time in the closing minutes to get the Ducks within five points.
“I was just trying to get it into the hands of our playmakers,” Thomas said. “Dickson and Williams are big guys and catch most everything; I was just throwing it to them when they were open.”
Easier said than done for the former redshirt quarterback. He’d been a member of the scout team until Monday when Bellotti moved him up with the varsity unit. The biggest concern was his knowledge of the offense, according to the head coach. There was some thought about Thomas losing his redshirt as well, but the decision to put him in came at halftime.
“I was very comfortable with putting him in,” Bellotti said. “I’ve said for weeks that he is the most improved quarterback on our roster, by far.”
The mistake with the handling of Thomas’ playing time came from when he was put in. Bellotti wishes he could’ve gotten Thomas in before he did, and he takes full blame for it.
“I made the decision at half time to use him,” Bellotti said. “But unfortunately we didn’t get to it until the fourth. That’s a mistake and I take all the blame.”
After the game, Harper didn’t seem upset at all with the coaches decision to put in Thomas.
“I just didn’t take advantage of opportunities,” Harper said. “We got in the red zone and I threw an interception. We have to play fast and that was my fault. In the running game I did good, but the passing game was different. I threw two picks. That speaks for itself.”
The road doesn’t get easier either for Oregon. After traveling to Washington State next week, they head down to Los Angeles to play the No. 1 USC Trojans. There they will get a good look at their chances of winning the Pac-10 this year.