The pre-game hype may have been appropriate for Saturday night’s game in Eugene between No. 23 Fresno State (1-1) and Oregon (3-0), but not even college football analysts the likes of Lee Corso could have predicted the game would be as explosive and tense as it was.
Quarterbacks Paul Pinegar of Fresno State and Kellen Clemens of Oregon both surpassed the 300-yard mark in passing yards, but it was Clemens and the Ducks who came away from this 37-34 shootout the victors.
“Fresno State is pretty darn good,” Clemens said. “We did what we had to do against them. We played sound offensively and the defense made plays.”
Clemens, a senior from Burns, passed for four touchdowns and added 58 net yards on the ground to his all-purpose yards totaling 390.
Oregon’s defense made big plays when the Ducks needed them most. Cornerback Aaron Gipson led the charge on defense, intercepting a pass Pinegar threw in the second quarter.
Gipson’s third pick of the season boosted the Ducks’ confidence after they surrendered 17 early points to the Bulldogs.
“We spotted them 17, but stayed consistent,” Gipson said. “We made stops and plays when we had to.”
Head coach Mike Bellotti praised his team for achieving the narrow win.
“I was very proud of this group of kids, especially the seniors,” Bellotti said. “We kind of felt like we had been called out during the week by Fresno and the media and I thought we responded well to that. Fresno State is a good football team and they gave us a battle.”
On its first offensive play from scrimmage, Fresno State went for the jugular as Pinegar connected with junior wideout Paul Williams for 43 yards, silencing the sellout crowd of 58,201 at Autzen Stadium. It was Williams’ longest of five receptions totaling 122 yards.
Although Williams outdueled Gipson on the play, he did not shake the four-year starter’s confidence.
“I don’t get rattled, it’s as simple as that,” Gipson said. “It was a rude awakening for me and I knew I had to step it up out there.”
Pinegar’s three touchdown passes helped the Bulldogs keep pace with the Ducks. Fresno State ran an ample amount of play action, as Bellotti expected, and threw deep often, challenging Oregon’s cornerbacks, who found themselves in one-on-one situations regularly.
“(Oregon) definitely likes to match on the outside,” Pinegar said. “We thought we would have the ability to have big plays throwing the ball.”
Fresno State’s also executed its running game well. Senior tailback Wendell Mathis churned out 70 yards against the Ducks and rushed for a first-quarter touchdown from three yards out to put the Bulldogs up by 10. Pinegar’s first touchdown pass followed one quarter later giving Fresno State a comfortable 17 point lead. That’s when the Oregon offense found its rhythm.
The Ducks struck back on their ensuing possession when Clemens found senior wide receiver Demetrius Williams for a 23-yard touchdown pass. Clemens later connected with receiver Cameron Colvin, who, after catching Clemen’s pass, scampered toward the endzone past a trio of Fresno State defensive backs. Clemens completed a pass to Williams again in the second quarter for his second touchdown reception of the game putting the Ducks ahead 20-17. Oregon never trailed again.
Oregon’s senior tailback Terrence Whitehead showed that he is comfortable running out of the Ducks’ newly instated spread offense. Whitehead came within four yards of 100 on the ground on a season-high 20 carries. His 42-yard touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter was perhaps the biggest play of the game. Whitehead bounced off of a slew of would-be tacklers before cutting back across the field and crossing the goal line. Whitehead scored earlier in the game, running out of Oregon’s formerly used I-formation for a 20-yard touchdown run on a fourth down and inches situation.
“It felt good running out of the I (formation) again,” Whitehead said. “We knew we had to get in the endzone and I took what they gave me.”
Penalties proved critical in the game for both sides. The Bulldogs’ 155 penalty yards surrendered were a blessing for the Ducks and an un-doing for head coach Pat Hill and Fresno State.
“I don’t believe we’re an undisciplined team,” Hill said. “I just can’t swallow 16 penalties, but obviously if the penalties are called, they must have been.”
The loss was tough for Hill and his formerly undefeated team, nicknamed the pride of the San Jouquin Valley, Calif. In recent history, Fresno State has often won games played on the road at hostile stadiums.
“We came up short,” Hill said. “Give Oregon a lot of credit, it is a tough place to play. We have a good football team. We just have to move forward. It was a tough loss. We’ll recover. This is a good football team.”
The win for Oregon leaves the Ducks unbeaten for at least another week and heading into Saturday’s game against No. 1 Southern California. Oregon seniors such as Gipson, Clemens, Williams and Whitehead are the only Ducks who have experience playing the Trojans. They remember Oregon’s last meeting with USC in 2002 when the Trojans, then led by future Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Carson Palmer, strolled into Autzen Stadium and topped the Ducks 44-33.
“We have been wanting to play them for two years now, and for the seniors, it’s huge,” Whitehead said. “We want to go out with a bang.”
Bellotti feels that USC is the next level for his team. The two-time defending national champion Trojans have not lost a conference game in one and a half years, so Oregon will need to play its best game.
“It’s great to sit here 3-0 and see where we need to improve,” Bellotti said. “We took the next step today beating a ranked team. Next week we take another step – the biggest step, playing a number one team.”
