University of Oregon
9-4
TCU
11-2
Oregon's Alamo Bowl Loss A Tale Of Two Different Halves
01/03/16 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Photo: Eric Evans
SAN ANTONIO — The best first half in Oregon postseason history was followed by one of the biggest comebacks in college football bowl history, as No. 11 Texas Christian rallied to beat the No. 15 Ducks, 47-41 in triple overtime, in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday before 64,569 in the Alamodome.
How It Happened: The value of graduate transfer quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. to this team, illustrated so starkly while he nursed a finger injury early in the season, was reiterated once again. Oregon scored on its second possessino with a 37-yard Adams pass to Darren Carrington, sparking a 21-point quarter and 31-point half. But Adams took a helmet-to-helmet hit just before halftime and watched in street clothes for the second half, in which the Horned Frogs mounted their rally.
TCU got going with a field goal to open the second half, then made it 31-10 following an Oregon drive spoiled by a bad snap. Another UO mistake — a fumble by Charles Nelson on the ensuing field goal — gave the Horned Frogs the ball at the 16-yard line, and they scored again to make it 31-17 late in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter featured more of the same, with TCU grinding out scoring drives and the Ducks failing to establish any rhythm due to inconsistent center-quarterback exchanges. The Horned Frogs scored a touchdown with 3:32 left to get within 31-28, forced a three-and-out by the Ducks and tied the game on a field goal with 19 seconds to go.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, with Jeff Lockie completing a 17-yard pass to Royce Freeman on fourth down to extend Oregon's drive, which ended in a Freeman rushing TD. Each team kicked a field goal in the second overtime, and TCU went ahead in the third with another touchdown. Oregon had an opening when the Horned Frogs failed on their two-point attempt, but Lockie's final-play pass to Carrington was broken up and the game was over.
That big second half for TCU stood in stark contrast to the first half. After Carrington's TD, the Ducks got two rushing touchdowns from Freeman later in the first half. It was the first time in Oregon's postseason history that the Ducks scored three touchdowns in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, Tony Brooks-James added a rushing touchdown and Aidan Schneider kicked a career-long 47-yard field goal. Oregon led 31-0, its largest halftime lead ever in a bowl game, exceeding the 26-0 lead over Air Force in the 1997 Las Vegas Bowl. But ominously, Adams, center Matt Hegarty and receiver Dwayne Stanford all emerged for the second half in street clothes, robbing the offense of three major contributors. By game's end, the offense also was without Matt Pierson and Tyler Johnstone.
Who Stood Out: In his UO swan song, Adams finished 13-of-19 for 197 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half. Freeman finished with 130 rushing yards to make him Oregon's single-season rushing record holder with 1,836. Carrington caught seven passes for 107 yards. Defensively, Rodney Hardrick led the Ducks with nine tackles in his last game for the Ducks.
What It Means: Oregon lost its second straight postseason game, and fell short of 10 wins in a season for the first time since 2007.
Notable: Linebacker Joe Walker and safety Tyree Robinson returned to the starting lineup after missing time due to injuries. … Byron Marshall, Pharaoh Brown and Christian French all were in pads and participated in warmups, but watched the game in street clothes. Brown plans to return next fall after redshirting this season, but Marshall and French were making their final appearances as Ducks. …. New offensive coordinator Matt Lubick moved to the press box for the game, with graduate assistant Nate Costa coordinating the receivers and quarterbacks on the sideline. The man Lubick replaced, Scott Frost, attended the game.
Team Stats
ORE 7, TCU 0
ORE - Carrington, D. 37 yd pass from Adams Jr., V. (Schneider, A. kick) 8 plays, 81 yards, TOP 2:32
ORE 14, TCU 0
ORE - Freeman, Royce 4 yd run (Schneider, A. kick), 8 plays, 79 yards, TOP 2:19
ORE 21, TCU 0
ORE - Freeman, Royce 5 yd run (Schneider, A. kick), 7 plays, 84 yards, TOP 1:54
ORE 28, TCU 0
ORE - Brooks-James 5 yd run (Schneider, A. kick), 3 plays, 62 yards, TOP 0:43
ORE 31, TCU 0
ORE - Schneider, A. 47 yd field goal 9 plays, 37 yards, TOP 2:47
ORE 31, TCU 3
TCU - Oberkrom, Jaden 24 yd field goal 10 plays, 69 yards, TOP 4:08
ORE 31, TCU 10
TCU - Austin, Jaelan 26 yd pass from Kohlhausen, B. (Oberkrom, Jaden kick) 11 plays, 64 yards, TOP 4:58
ORE 31, TCU 17
TCU - Kohlhausen, B. 2 yd run (Oberkrom, Jaden kick), 7 plays, 16 yards, TOP 3:31
ORE 31, TCU 20
TCU - Oberkrom, Jaden 34 yd field goal 11 plays, 76 yards, TOP 4:13
ORE 31, TCU 28
TCU - Green, Aaron 2 yd run (Jones, Buck pass), 7 plays, 91 yards, TOP 3:08
ORE 31, TCU 31
TCU - Oberkrom, Jaden 22 yd field goal 8 plays, 31 yards, TOP 1:58
ORE 31, TCU 38
TCU - Porter, Emanuel 7 yd pass from Kohlhausen, B. (Oberkrom, Jaden kick) 4 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
ORE 38, TCU 38
ORE - Freeman, Royce 1 yd run (Schneider, A. kick), 6 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
ORE 41, TCU 38
ORE - Schneider, A. 44 yd field goal 4 plays, -2 yards, TOP 0:00
ORE 41, TCU 41
TCU - Oberkrom, Jaden 46 yd field goal 4 plays, -3 yards, TOP 0:00
ORE 41, TCU 47
TCU - Kohlhausen, B. 8 yd run (Kohlhausen, B. passfailed), 3 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
