Henderson, Nev. – The Oregon Duck football team truly hopes that ‘whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.’
The Ducks (7-6, 4-5) 2006 season culminated in a 38-8 loss to No. 19 BYU (11-2, 8-0) in the Las Vegas Bowl Thursday night in front of a record crowd at UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium.
BYU outgained Oregon by 288 yards. Over 200 of those yards came in the passing game.
“We didn’t play very well. I think we got out-coached, out-played and out-hustled. We did not win the battle at the line of scrimmage,” Bellotti said. “I give great credit to BYU, they played with great discipline and they did some very, very good things.”
Oregon junior Brian Paysinger gained more yards than any of the other eight Ducks that caught a pass in the game. Paysinger’s lone catch was a 47-yard touchdown strike from junior Dennis Dixon in the fourth quarter.
The eight points the Ducks got on Paysinger’s grab and Jeremiah Johnson’s two-point conversion came with 10:27 left in the game. Any hope the Ducks had rested on the foot of junior kicker Luke Bellotti and the ability of the “hands-team.”
Coach Bellotti said that his players thought they had recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the referees disagreed. Four plays later, Cougar senior John Beck completed his second touchdown pass on the night, a 17-yard completion to sophomore Manase Tonga.
Beck capped his career by completing 28-of-46 for 375 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. The quarterback was 115 yards shy of 4,000 for the season. Beck’s coach Bronco Mendenhall couldn’t have asked for more from his signal-caller.
“John played an incredible football game, in keeping the offense in control until it got into a rhythm,” Mendenhall said.
Contrast Beck’s quality performance with Oregon’s duo of Dixon and junior Brady Leaf. Leaf got the start but completed only 6-of-14 passes for 44 yards and an interception. Dixon – who rotated in and out of the game with Leaf – completed half of his 20 passes, throwing for 122 yards a touchdown and an interception.
“I think we were probably a little impatient in terms of dumping the ball off,” Bellotti said. “I think both quarterbacks took a very long time to get started in this game.”
Leaf admitted he could have done a better job against the Cougars. He did feel the team got away from the game plan early and dug themselves a very deep hole.
“We didn’t win first downs. Either there was a sack or a three-yard loss on a run play and it puts you in a tough position when it is second and 13. You kind of have to dig deep in your play book,” he said.
Oregon struggled to establish the running attack against BYU’s defense. Dixon finished as the Duck’s leading rusher, scrambling for 51 yards on 10 carries.
Sophomore Jonathan Stewart entered the final game of the season only 40 yards short of 1,000 yards rushing for the season. Stewart’s seven carries accumulated 21 yards on the night.
Stewart was not the only Duck to fall short of a 1,000-yard season. Sophomore Jaison Williams needed only 16 yards to reach the mark receiving on the season. Williams was held off of the stat sheet with no receptions.
Coach Bellotti said that BYU did a good job of taking the Ducks out of their passing game.
“I think we dropped several passes,” he said. “They did a great job of cutting us down the field.”
Mendenhall echoed Bellotti’s feelings that the Cougar defense did a lot to limit the Pac-10 conference’s top-rated offense.
“I didn’t hear much about our defense, only about the No. 8-ranked offense this team has, but I think the story has turned,” Mendenhall said. “People seem to forget, this is a defense that allowed just (15.2) points a game all season.”
While Mendenhall was able to praise his team’s performance stopping the Ducks, Oregon’s defense can be looked to as Duck fans try to figure out what went wrong during the last four games of the season.
In the Ducks last four games -all losses- opponents averaged 35 points. The last time the Ducks ended a season on a four game skid was 2002. That season they lost six of their final seven, culminating in a 38-17 loss to Wake Forest in the Seattle Bowl.
Bellotti said the Oregon fans should expect better next season.
“Come back next year. We’ll be better.”