Herbert's Heroics Lead Ducks in Comeback Win

Saturday, November 19

Salt Lake City, Utah

11:00 AM

University of Oregon

4-7 , 2-6

Utah

8-3 , 5-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Oregon

Utah

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

11/19/16 | Football

Box Score Official Box Score Utah Game Book

The true freshman quarterback accounted for four touchdowns after halftime

By: Andy McNamara

SALT LAKE CITY — Oregon's struggles away from home came to a screeching halt on Saturday against No. 12 Utah, as the Ducks rallied for a 30-28 win in the final seconds on a sun-drenched day at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Oregon improves to 4-7 overall and 2-6 in Pac-12 play.

How It Happened: Justin Herbert accounted for four touchdowns after halftime, none bigger than a 17-yard strike to Darren Carrington II in the corner of the end zone for the clinching score with two seconds to play.

Trailing 28-24 with 2:18 remaining in regulation, the true freshman signal-caller led the Ducks on a 10-play, 75-yard drive, culminating in the dramatic completion to Carrington that was initially ruled incomplete before a replay review clearly showed the junior receiver had control of the ball with a foot in bounds next to the pylon in the back left corner. Following the touchdown ruling, UO downed the ball instead of attempting an extra point to prevent the possibility of a blocked kick.

The Ducks trailed 7-3 at halftime and 14-3 midway through the third quarter before the UO offense got going. Herbert's first touchdown - a 29-yard pass to Jalen Brown - came on a reverse flea-flicker to cut the Utes' (8-3, 5-3 Pac-12) lead to 14-10. Herbert found Royce Freeman for a 1-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter, giving the Ducks their first lead.

The two teams traded touchdowns and the lead two more times before UO's game-winning drive.

Chase Hansen got credit for a Utes touchdown after Oregon's Dillon Mitchell was ruled to have touched the ball on a punt return and the Utah player recovered the ball in the end zone. That gave the home team a 21-17 lead.

Herbert grabbed the lead back briefly for the Ducks with a 1-yard plunge before Utah's go-ahead touchdown on a 30-yard completion from Troy Williams to Evan Moeai with 2:18 to play.

Herbert completed 6 of 9 pass attempts for 63 yards on the game-winning drive. He also had a key 12-yard run on 3rd and 10 from the Utah 29 with 14 seconds to play.

Who Stood Out: Herbert's final line was 30 of 43 for 324 yards and three touchdowns. He added 44 rushing yards and one score on the ground. … Freeman started slowly, but gained 71 yards on 11 carries after halftime to finish with 129 yards on 20 totes. … Johnny Ragin III led the Ducks with 10 tackles, while Troy Dye and Justin Hollins had nine apiece, including one sack each. … J. Brown had a game-high 89 receiving yards on five catches.

What It Means: The Ducks won for the first time away from Autzen this season (1-4) and earned a victory after trailing through three quarters for the first time in the Mark Helfrich era (1-12). The Ducks also earned their first win over a top 25 team in 2016.

Notable: Freeman went over 4,000 career rushing yards and now has 4,040. … Redshirt freshman Alex Ofodile made the first reception of his young career. … The seven points scored by Utah in the first half were the fewest the Ducks have allowed in a Pac-12 game this season. … Oregon's three points in the opening half were its fewest since going scoreless at Stanford on Nov. 7, 2013. … Leading UO receiver and return man Charles Nelson was ejected in the first half for a targeting penalty.

Up Next: The Ducks will finish their 2016 season on the road in Corvallis against Oregon State. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network.