Ducks Rally Before Falling At Utah

Saturday, November 10

Salt Lake City, Utah

2:30 PM

University of Oregon

6-4 , 3-4

Utah

7-3 , 5-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Oregon

Utah

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

11/10/18 | Football

Box Score FINAL STATS - Utah 32, Oregon 25 Oregon Postgame Notes Oregon Season Stats

Oregon came back from a 19-7 deficit to lead in the second half Saturday before losing 32-25 on the road.

By: Rob Moseley

SALT LAKE CITY — The Oregon football team stormed back from a halftime deficit to lead in the fourth quarter Saturday, but Utah rallied to win, 32-25, before 46,275 fans in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Ducks trailed 19-7 at halftime, but made it a one-score game on Dillon Mitchell's second touchdown of the day to cap the opening possession of the third quarter. The teams then traded field goals before Oregon took a 25-22 lead midway through the fourth quarter on a screen to Travis Dye from Justin Herbert, who threw his third touchdown pass of the evening.

The touchdown was set up by a blocked punt deep in Utah territory, with Kano Dillon blocking the kick and Adrian Jackson falling on it inside the 5-yard line.

But Utah quickly responded to go ahead 29-25, then tacked on a field goal when the Ducks failed to answer. Oregon fell to 6-4 this season and 3-4 in the Pac-12, and dropped its third straight conference road game.

"You can see it in guys' faces — it hurts," junior offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton said. "It's a physical pain. It comes down to using that as a driving force in our preparation."

Herbert finished 20-of-33 for 288 yards and three touchdowns, and finished with 24 rushing yards despite being sacked four times. Mitchell caught eight passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns, while defensive backs Nick Pickett and Thomas Graham Jr. each had a team-high nine tackles.

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Slow starts continue to plague the Ducks on the road; Oregon had just four yards in the first quarter and fell behind 10-0. It was 13-0 in the second when Mitchell caught his first touchdown reception of the day, a beautiful over-the-shoulder grab of a tear-drop pass from Herbert.

"Without a doubt it's been a problem," UO coach Mario Cristobal said of the slow starts on the road. "It seemed like we snapped out of it better this time; by the time the second quarter rolled around we started to generate some stuff. ... (But) there's no comfort in progress. It's reality, but it's not the end goal. We have to find a way to start quicker, start better on the road."

Oregon's defense bent but didn't break most of the night, forcing Utah to settle for six field goals — including two in the second quarter that made it 19-7 at the half. That left the door open for a UO comeback, and the Ducks did indeed charge into the lead before Utah responded in kind.

The Ducks played the second half Saturday without starting middle linebacker Sampson Niu, who was injured in the first half. He entered the starting lineup after injuries to Isaac Slade-Matautia and Kaulana Apelu, who didn't make the trip to Utah. The Ducks also played most of the second half without running back CJ Verdell.

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Utah came away victorious despite playing without its primary quarterback and running back, both out due to injury. Redshirt freshman QB Jason Shelley made his first career start and was 18-of-31 for 262 yards, and running back Armand Shyne had a career-high 174 yards.

"We struggled to stop the run tonight," sophomore nose tackle Jordon Scott said. "I was a big part of why they had a big game, and I gotta do better. I've got to get back to playing at a dominant level."

The Ducks return to Eugene for their 2018 home finale next week, against Arizona State. A Civil War date on the road then wraps up the regular season.