With about a minute to go in the Oregon-Arizona game and the Wildcats up 31-24, Arizona’s student section started spilling onto the sidelines. It was a sight reminiscent of 2007, when the same student section in Tucson, Ariz., started jumping the barrier to get a prime location to celebrate a 34-24 over the No. 2 Ducks.
But this time, Oregon was in the middle of a game-tying drive, and instead of walking off the Arizona Stadium turf with a loss, the No. 10 Oregon Ducks came away with a double-overtime, 44-41 win Saturday night, beating the Wildcats in front of 57,863 red-clad fans.
“This is great … we really finished,” redshirt freshman LaMichael James told the media after the game. James finished with 117 yards on 19 carries, but had no touchdowns.
It didn’t matter for the Ducks, who got 284 yards passing, 61 yards rushing and six touchdowns (three passing, three rushing) from junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. The San Francisco native rallied Oregon from a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter and squeezed in a touchdown to tight end Ed Dickson with six seconds left in the game to tie the game at 31 and force overtime.
“We still had perseverance, you know,” Masoli said. “That’s one of the characteristics of this team, and everybody believes ’til the end.”
But it wasn’t easy getting to the end. With the score 24-14 after Arizona quarterback Nick Foles found William Wright for a five-yard touchdown a minute into the fourth quarter, Oregon hadn’t scored since the 10:10 mark in the second. Masoli then engineered a 10-play, 79-yard drive that culminated in the quarterback walking in from one yard out to put Oregon within three points with 10:57 left in the game.
Three minutes later, senior place kicker Morgan Flint bounced a 43-yard field goal off the cross bar and through the uprights to tie the game at 24 apiece. However, the first play of scrimmage for Arizona after the kickoff went 71 yards for a score when Foles found receiver Juron Criner on a screen play.
That ultimately led to Masoli’s game-tying drive and the Arizona student section climbing back into the stands.
“They had a lot of great schemes for us, their athletes made plays on us in space,” Masoli said in his post-game interview. “But it was just one of those days where you just have to keep chipping away and eventually we cracked them.”
In the first overtime, Oregon lost the coin toss and went on offense first. Masoli again worked his magic and hooked up with receiver Jeff Maehl — who had 12 catches, 114 yards and two touchdowns — in the end zone, to force Arizona to score a touchdown in its side of overtime. But Foles again connected with Criner, this time from three yards out, to tie the game at 38 points.
Then Oregon got a break when the defense held in the second overtime and the Wildcats had to settle for a 41-yard field goal. With the score 41-38, Masoli passed to Dickson for 23 yards down to the Arizona two yard line. Three plays later, Masoli split to Arizona defenders for the game-winning — and Rose Bowl-saving — touchdown.
“I haven’t felt like this after a game in some time,” Maehl said of the emotions after the game. “Just the effort and the fight that our team had shows the true character of our team.”
Oregon finished with 459 yards of total offense, compared to 441 for Arizona. Foles led the Wildcats with 314 yards passing and four touchdowns, and head coach Chip Kelly doesn’t want anyone to believe for a second that Arizona isn’t a good team.
“Take nothing away from Arizona,” he said. “That’s an unbelievable football team. They have tons of speed and are tough to defend, and they really gave us some problems.”
However, the Ducks showed that they, too, have a little magic in them. They ruined Arizona’s Rose Bowl hopes and kept alive their own. It was evident on the players’ faces post-game. Maehl, James and the rest of team were smiling on-camera and relieved.
“I’m just amazed. Amazed that we won,” James said, although he didn’t lose faith in his teammates. “We fell behind but we didn’t falter. We never panicked or quit.”
Now Oregon has a bye week before its Dec. 3 meeting with the Oregon State Beavers in the 113th edition of the Civil War. This will arguably be the biggest of all of them, with the Pac-10 title and the Rose Bowl on the line. The Beavers haven’t been to the Rose Bowl since 1965, while it has been 15 years for Oregon. But one thing is on Oregon’s side: it’s at Autzen Stadium.
“I think our home field is a huge advantage,” Kelly said. “Our fans are the best in college football.”
[email protected]