Lead Dissolves In Loss To OSU

Saturday, November 26

Corvallis, Ore.

12:30 PM

University of Oregon

9-3 , 7-2

Oregon State

9-3 , 6-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Oregon

Oregon St.

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

11/26/22 | Football

Box Score

Oregon dropped its regular-season finale Saturday in Corvallis, 38-34, after leading 31-10 late in the third quarter.

By: Rob Moseley

CORVALLIS, Ore. — A three-touchdown lead late in the third quarter with a berth in the Pac-12 Championship Game beginning to appear over the horizon instead ended in defeat Saturday for the Oregon football team.

After trailing early to the Beavers, the Ducks used one of their patented surges over the "middle 8" stage of the game to put together a run of 24 straight points. But Oregon State used its rushing game and some timely defensive stops to rally back and win, 38-34, at Reser Stadium.

The Ducks fell to 9-3 overall and 7-2 in conference play, but could still advance to the Pac-12 Championship Game with a win by Washington State in the Apple Cup later Saturday.

"That's a hurting locker room right now," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "I feel for the guys right now. Ultimately a lot of moments led to that result. … We played about a half a game or three-quarters of game; didn't play enough to finish there."

Oregon State scored touchdowns on its final four possessions Saturday, other than the drive that ended the game. The Beavers did so despite not attempting a pass in the fourth quarter; the Ducks, meanwhile, turned it over on downs their last three possessions, once on a muffed punt inside their own 5-yard line and once on an incomplete pass from inside the OSU 5-yard line.

The muffed punt followed a blocked punt earlier in the game, when Oregon State was out to a 10-7 lead.

"They were much better on special teams than us tonight," Lanning said.

After OSU kicked a field goal to open the game, the Ducks went up 7-3 on a miraculous touchdown catch by Chase Cota in his first appearance in nearly a month due to injury. Those were the first points the Beavers had allowed in the first quarter since early October.

Oregon State responded with a go-ahead touchdown, and the Ducks then turned it over on downs for the first of five times in the game. Timely defensive plays kept Oregon within three, including an interception by Christian Gonzalez and a stop on fourth down by Casey Rogers. After that latter play, Oregon drove to a 14-10 lead on a touchdown pass from Bo Nix to Troy Franklin just before halftime.

An interception by Jeffrey Bassa got the Ducks the ball back early in the third quarter, and Jordan James scored to make it 21-10 — and to cap a plus-14 effort for Oregon in the "middle 8." A rushing touchdown by Noah Whittington and a field goal by Camden Lewis got the lead to 31-10 late in the third quarter.

Oregon State needed four run plays to halt Oregon's momentum with a touchdown to get within 31-17. Lewis kicked another field goal to open the fourth quarter, but OSU outscored the Ducks the rest of the way, 21-0.

After the Beavers made it 34-24, the Ducks went three-and-out, and a bobbled snap gave OSU possession at the UO 2-yard line. Two plays later it was 34-31, and after the Ducks opted to go for it on fourth down in their own territory on the next possession, rather than risk another punt, the Beavers got another stop and quickly scored again to take the lead, on four straight run plays.

"We started off this game well, physical," UO defensive back Bennett Williams said. "But the momentum started to swing and I don't think we responded like we're used to. ... We knew they were running the ball, and we couldn't stop it. That's what it came down to."

Oregon's last chance saw the Ducks drive all the way inside the 5-yard line, thanks to a big pass play from Nix to Cota and a couple of penalties on the Beavers. But three runs from the 5-yard line couldn't get the ball across the goal line — Lanning said later the Ducks "probably" got predictable in that spot — and a pass play on fourth down was incomplete.

Nix finished the game 27-of-41 passing for 327 yards and two touchdowns, again operating in a game plan that limited his use as a runner due to the injury he suffered against Washington. Cota caught nine passes for 136 yards, and Whittington rushed 16 times for 81 yards and a score. Williams led the Ducks in tackles for the second game in a row, with eight.

"It's heartbreaking; losing sucks," Nix said. "Losing in that way, there's no fun in it. It's miserable. But there's a bunch of ways you can learn and grow from it.

"It's frustrating, because we had our chances. That makes it tough. You've got to look in the mirror and own it."