Seniors Lament Heartbreaking Finale After Alamo Bowl Loss
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Photo: Eric Evans
SAN ANTONIO — For 30 minutes, it couldn’t have been any better. And then, it couldn’t have been any worse.
A group of Oregon seniors with differing levels of time in the program left the Alamodome nursing the same sting of defeat Saturday night. Long-time contributors like Tyler Johnstone and DeForest Buckner saw their careers end with a 47-41, triple-overtime loss to Texas Christian, while graduate transfers Vernon Adams Jr. and Matt Hegarty could only look on helplessly due to injuries as the Ducks squandered a 31-0 halftime lead.
“That’s just a heartbreaking loss,” said Johnstone, who missed the 2014 season after a knee injury suffered at the 2013 Alamo Bowl, then was hurt again Saturday and wasn’t on the field as Oregon failed to score in the third overtime. “You don’t lose a 31-point lead going into the half.”
That’s the bitter pill the Ducks will have to stomach as they transition into the offseason. With Adams at his elusive best, Oregon scored touchdowns on four straight drives early in the first half, and added a field goal for a school-record postseason halftime lead of 31-0.
But the field goal came after Adams kept the ball on an option run — a bad read on which he should have handed off, he said later — and then dove headfirst at the end instead of sliding. He suffered a helmet-to-helmet collision and didn’t return to the game.
“It just sucks I couldn’t be out there to help the team,” Adams said. “I wanted to get back out there, but (medical staff) hid my helmet.
“It’s just a tough feeling. Especially for me, it being my last game. I got all my crying out during halftime.”
At that point, there didn’t seem much else to concern the Ducks. Oregon had a 376-142 advantage over TCU, which was without suspended quarterback Trevone Boykin. The Horned Frogs were 0-of-7 on third down, and also failed to convert their only fourth down against a UO defense that was inspired to finish an up-and-down season on the right note.
But not only was Adams unavailable for the second half, Hegarty was out with a leg injury, as was receiver Dwayne Stanford. Senior guard Matt Pierson also was unable to finish the game. Backup quarterback Jeff Lockie led the drive to the field goal late in the first half, but issues with snaps between Lockie and backup center Doug Brenner contributed to a second half that featured all of 18 yards of offense.
“It was tough,” Hegarty said. “You wish you could have been a part of it out there. But we had guys step up and kept swinging. (In the first half) we were really moving the ball well. We had great tempo, we were creating lanes. But they made one more play than we did.”
The Horned Frogs made a bunch of them in the second half. TCU got more aggressive with its blitz packages after halftime, and also pushed the tempo when it had the ball. Oregon’s defense ended up being on the field for nearly 22 minutes of the second half, and TCU scored on all six of its possessions to force overtime.
“They came out in the second half ready to play,” Buckner said. “They started tempo-ing us more, trying to wear us down. Even though the offense was struggling, we had to pick it up on the defensive side. But we just didn’t.”
Afterward in the locker room, Adams approached every single one of his teammates for a handshake and a hug. He was only a Duck for about five months, but his impact on the program won’t soon be forgotten, nor the bonds he formed at Oregon.
Hegarty was similarly emotional after leaving a program he only was a part of for one season.
“I’ll remember this as one of my favorite years of playing football in my life,” he said. “For being around a great group of guys, and a great culture.”
