One stop, the Wisconsin offense driving from left to right, the toughest defenders in the country on the field in pursuit.
One snap of the ball separating the two, the ball weightlessly rolling down through the cold midwest air with a truckload of consequence driving it down.
One intercepted pass by Matayo Uiagalelei, all the goodwill and big plays and tireless execution gone, another Oregon win clinched, another gutsy victory completed.
No.1 Oregon’s (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) defense clinched its ticket out of Madison with a 16-13 victory.
And one more example of why, seemingly no matter what happens, and how nerve-racking the Ducks make it, Oregon games this season will end the same way.
Saturday was certainly more dramatic, Jamaree Caldwell tipped quarterback Braedyn Locke’s pass in the air, with Uiagalelei corralling the ball down to seal the victory. The celebration swallowed Uiagalelei, near the Wisconsin 25-yard line, all while the Ducks’ sideline bounced in celebration.
That resolution wavered and wobbled throughout the win at a raucous Camp Randall Stadium, as quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s Ducks were equally dynamic and confounding at different times..
Uiagalelei’s interception capped off a game that the Ducks shouldn’t have won, the No.1 team in the nation showing once again that they hit hardest and heaviest when it matters most.
To scare Oregon fans for as long as they did, the Ducks struggled to push the ball down the field in the first half. After the first of three long drives into the red zone fizzled out with a field goal, the Ducks forced the second of four Wisconsin punts. But some of that erraticness from Gabriel (22-31, one interception) showed yet again, as Gabriel threw a pass behind Justius Lowe which resulted in a tipped interception at the Badger four-yard line.
More chances were squandered after that. Oregon committed one of its six penalties on a Badger fourth-and-one opportunity, setting up a Badger touchdown.
Oregon, for most of the game, shot itself in the foot. Backbreaking mistakes gave way to scores. The Ducks’ long drives would fizzle out in the red zone.
Gabriel was 15-20 at the end of the first half but each of those incompletions seemed to have come at an awful time. Overthrows and dropped passes were parlayed together to put the Ducks on upset watch with a half remaining.
Oregon’s offense continued a similar sentiment in the third quarter, with miscues stalling out otherwise positive opportunities.
The Ducks faced a fourth-and-nine before Gabriel found Terrance Ferguson for the first down — the first play after Camp Randall shook with “Jump Around” playing. Gabriel keyed in his skills when it mattered most, scampered for first downs and used his pinpoint passing acumen to thread the tightest of needles.
But it was James who once again proved to be the steadying hand even as his quarterback flirted with inconsistency. James ran amok for 121 yards on 25 carries to go with two catches for 25 yards. He punched in a touchdown on the same drive as Ferguson’s big completion to knot the score at 13.
The game-winning points came in a scenario that was every kid kicker’s dream and millionaire coach’s nightmare scenario, a fateful flash of seconds defining their team’s narrative (and playoff chances) for at least the next week.
Oregon kicker (the man they call Automatticus) Sappington lined up behind his holder and measured his kick. With the crowd of 76,298 standing and straining their necks to follow the trajectory of the ball, Sappington earned his nickname anew, knocking the ball through the uprights and giving the Ducks the lead.
It wouldn’t entirely be enough, and two more stops would be needed
With just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Ducks had the ball deep in Wisconsin territory up three after a fourth-down stop— everything going right in a place where everything was about to go wrong.
First, the Ducks went three-and-out, a Jordan James six-yard gain being followed up by nothing. Then, head coach Dan Lanning decided to double down, faking a field goal and coming up short on fourth-and-five before Uiagalelei’s pivotal interception sealed the game two plays later.
The win caps of the Ducks string of eight-straight Big Ten games taking place since the beginning of September.
The win will likely do little to Oregon’s standing as the clear No.1 team in the Nation, same as it will do little to hinder the Ducks’ postseason hopes. But Saturday was quite the reminder for Oregon, nonetheless, that its new conference is always looming week after week, eager for a chance to bully the new kid on the block.
