A game full of momentum swings saw the pendulum swing in Oregon’s favor late Saturday night as the No. 1. 7 Ducks beat Boise State by a field goal as time expired in the Autzen Stadium, 37-34.
After Tez Johnson’s fumble return gave the Ducks a 27-20 lead in the third quarter, the Broncos took the lead with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns set up by OU fumbles. But Oregon tied it with another special teams score, on a kickoff return, and special teams had success again when Atticus Sappington made a 25-yard field goal on the final play.
“We tried to shoot as much as we could — that’s for sure,” said OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who completed 18 of 21 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, ran for a score, but also lost a fumble. it’s definitely a lot to clean up. But it’s about responding to adversity and seeing guys come together in a game, (despite) the emotional roller coaster that some might experience. I like the way they stay consistent, and I like the guys and the way they play.”
Gabriel’s layup set up Ashton Jeanty for his third of the night — and ninth in two games this season — giving Boise State a 34-27 lead with 10:15 to play. Noah Whittington took the ensuing kickoff for Oregon, and although he dropped the ball crossing the goal line, teammate Jayden Limar recovered it in the end zone for the tying touchdown. The teams traded punts, and Oregon’s defense took a three-and-out to give the Ducks possession with 3:36 left. Gabriel completed three passes to move the ball to midfield, Jordan James ran a few yards to get the ball to the 10-yard line and Sappington finished the game for the win – on a night where he also missed an extra point and missed a touchdown. . go out of bounds.
“I think special teams probably made the difference for us,” UO coach Dan Lanning said. “I’m really proud of our guys for showing resilience. It was kind of a comeback game in a lot of ways.”
The win was Oregon’s 34th in a row in non-conference home games, extending the longest active streak in the nation. The Ducks will go 2-0 in next week’s game against rival Oregon State.
Saturday’s game continued some of the issues from Oregon’s season-opening win over Idaho. Boise State tackled Gabriel on the first possession of the game — one of four times he was tackled in the game — and a defensive stop on that drive preceded a Broncos field goal for the game’s first points. But on Saturday, Oregon also rattled off some upsets from the opener. After some explosive plays against the Vandals, the Ducks had some on Saturday, including a 67-yard pass from Gabriel to Evan Stewart that set up Gabriel’s touchdown for a 7-3 lead in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, after Jeanty’s first touchdown put Boise State in front, Gabriel completed a 34-yard pass to Stewart for a 14-10 lead. The Broncos led at halftime, 20-14, but the Ducks tied it in the third quarter on another explosive play — Traeshon Holden’s 59-yard reception from Gabriel that the PAT was no good — and Johnson arrived. 27-20 later in the third quarter with an 85-yard punt return.
“It was really good to make some big plays today,” Johnson said. “Because everyone mattered.”
Up until that point, Oregon had largely contained Jeanty, limiting him to 96 yards on 18 carries — a week after he ran for a school-record 267 yards at Georgia Southern. But after an OU fumble early in the fourth quarter Saturday, Jeanty ran 70 yards for a touchdown on the next play. And when Gabriel fumbled the ball on a run play because of a snap count mixup, Jeanty scored again three plays later to give the Broncos a 34-27 lead with 10:15 to play. But he averaged just three yards per carry on his final three drives, finishing with 192 yards on 25 carries. The win was Oregon’s first against Boise State in four all-time meetings. “He’s very low to the ground, runs hard and doesn’t go down on first contact,” said OU linebacker Jordan Burch, who had eight tackles, two pass breakups and a sack. “We had to block, stay in our areas. I think we did so well in the beginning; “We slipped a little in the middle of the game, but I feel we did well throughout the game.”
Jeanty’s final carry came on a three-and-out for the Broncos that gave Oregon possession with 3:36 left after tying the game on Whittington’s long punt return and fumble recovery. fumble by Limar in the end zone. The Ducks moved the chains twice and drove into BSU territory on three passes and one run, and got into the high red zone after a pass interference penalty.