Autzen Stadium is known for getting loud.
The loudest it got on Saturday might have come when former Duck Darren Carrington II was hit and fumbled the ball, which Ducks’ cornerback Ugo Amadi scooped up and returned for a touchdown in Oregon’s 41-20 win over Utah.
“That was big time because we harp on that so much in practice,” head coach Taggart said. “We have coaches running after our guys all the time in practice telling them to ‘strip the ball, strip the ball, strip the ball.’ That was a huge play for us and that was a big momentum change in the football game for us. That was big.”
Carrington’s return loomed over the Ducks’ game against the Utes after Taggart dismissed him following a DUII in July. Carrington had nine receptions for 130 yards; Oregon managed to contain its former star wideout.
Carrington had a difficult time going up against some of his old teammates in the end zone and on jump balls.
“It was real good going against a highly-drafted player here to come, we’re just competing,” Amadi said. “It’s really hard so you’ve gotta have fun and make plays.”
Arrion Springs was one of the players tasked to slow down Carrington.
“It was a fun time. We heard throughout the week ‘Darren this, gonna do this,’” Springs said. “Overall I felt we did great and we stopped him from scoring. Because, you know, ‘I wonder what he’s gonna do when he scores a touchdown.’ We’ll never know.”
Tyler Huntley managed to go 25-for-43, tallying 293 yards. But the Utes’ quarterback couldn’t find Carrington for a touchdown.
“I thought they did a good job, and all week long we said we weren’t gonna make this game about Darren Carrington coming back here,” Taggart said. “We had to play total defense and play the entire offense and I thought our guys did a great job of containing their offense.”

Former Oregon wide receiver Dwayne Stanford II voiced his displeasure on Twitter regarding the fans’ treatment of Carrington, tweeting, “Can’t believe ya’ll booed Darren.”
“It’s too bad,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said of Carrington’s reception at Autzen. “He’s an athlete trying hard, playing hard but that’s the nature of the world I guess. That’s how we operate. It’s too bad, but he’s a good kid and he played hard.”
Like Stanford, some Ducks, including Taggart, showed that they are still fond of the ex-Duck, meeting with him on the field after the game.
“I told him I was proud of him and keep working hard and keep his nose clean and learn and keep growing, you know,” Taggart said. “And that’s probably more than anything is to keep growing and learn from his mistakes and work hard.”
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow