Even in the 10th game of the season, it’s never easy to pinpoint which Jeremiah Masoli will show up at quarterback for the Ducks. “After the ASU game everybody thought he was the second Dennis Dixon,” offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said, “and then after the Cal game they thought he was Dennis Miller.”
On Saturday, it was a quarterback who shook off an uneven game to lead Oregon on the game-winning, 11-play, 74-yard drive with just over two minutes left in the game that helped beat Stanford 35-28 on a drizzly afternoon at Autzen Stadium.
On what may be the signature drive of Oregon’s season thus far, Masoli confirmed why the Oregon coaches haven’t wavered on their belief in his abilities.
Masoli was 11-of-21 passing for 144 yards to seven different receivers Saturday, but he will be remembered for his 25-yard scramble down the Stanford sideline on third-and-eight to put the Ducks eight yards away from the eventual winning touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount.
Masoli completed three passes for 39 yards and ran for 28 more on two carries on the drive, which Oregon entered down 28-27.
“No pressure, I knew we had the tools,” Masoli said afterward.
It’s designed by the coaches not to be a pressure situation.
Masoli practiced several times this week against a two-minute offense situation, and he said the offenses and defenses were about equal in scoring and stopping one another.
“Right before they kicked the ball off, coach B (Bellotti) was saying, ‘This is just like practice,’ and he’s right,” Masoli said.
Third-down success was a barometer for Oregon’s win. Against Cal, the Ducks were 4-of-18, routinely shut down by a mixture of miserable weather and the Cal defense.
Against the Cardinal, Masoli was responsible for five of Oregon’s six third down conversions on the night – the Ducks were 6-of-11 overall – and three kept drives alive that resulted in Oregon scores for 17 points.
His near-flawless performance in the game’s final minutes doesn’t mean he didn’t play mistake-free the entire game.
Masoli threw the ball into the ground with open receivers on several occasions, such as Malachi Lewis in the second quarter and one in front of Terence Scott on the fourth play of the Ducks’ final possession, both of which drew boos.
If not for his final-drive heroics, Masoli most likely would have been remembered for his fumble on a scramble inside the Stanford 20-yard line, which was Oregon’s fourth lost fumble of the day and stopped the Ducks’ momentum for what looked like at least three points.
The boos only got louder.
Then came Masoli’s turn for redemption.
Against California last week with a chance to cut into the Bears’ 10-point lead, Masoli ran out of bounds on fourth down to give Cal the ball back. This time, Masoli’s 25-yard run made the winning touchdown only eight yards away.
“He made the big run that got them down there into field goal range,” Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. “That was outstanding.”
Kelly lauded Masoli afterward for his ability to shed criticism, which he faced plenty of last week.
“I don’t think he listens to critics out there, and I think that’s a very, very admirable quality to have,” Kelly said. “Jeremiah isn’t Dennis (Dixon) and Dennis wasn’t Kellen (Clemens). You just have to be your own person.”
Flint converts when he gets the call
Junior placekicker Morgan Flint learned he would take over the field goal kicking duties Friday before practice, the first start of his career.
Matt Evensen still handled kickoffs for the Ducks, but it was Flint who went 2-for-2 in the game with field goals of 37 and 26 yards.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti afterward said he opted to score a touchdown to win the game rather than kick with Flint because he wanted to run as much time off the clock as possible.
Flint, even in his first start, wanted the chance.
“Obviously, I was more than happy for us to win the game,” he said. “I was just hoping I could be the one to win it.”
He earned his start after Evensen didn’t stand out in practice last week after going 1-of-2 for field goals against Cal. At Monday’s practice, Evensen missed a 45-yard kick to end an extra conditioning period of practice, only to have Flint convert it five minutes later.
Flint met with Bellotti before Friday’s practice with Evensen, and he told the pair who would earn the start.
The head coach said neither has won the job yet, however; the competition for next week’s Arizona game is still open this week.
“I don’t feel like I won this job,” Flint said. “Matt would have gone out and made every kick today, too. If Matt comes out and has a great week next week and I struggle, then I’ll be fine watching him kick.”
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