The No. 2 Oregon Ducks could well have cost themselves a shot at the playoff after a 31-24 upset at the hands of Arizona Wildcats at home in Eugene on Thursday night. As a result, quarterback Marcus Mariota's Heisman Trophy chances are fading fast.
This result shouldn't come as a huge surprise, considering Arizona's recent record against the Ducks, per ESPN Stats and Info:
Oregon had a chance to at the very least tie the game in in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter. After surrendering the go-ahead touchdown, the Ducks had two minutes and 54 seconds to go 91 yards. Considering the nature of the Oregon offense, nearly three minutes was more than enough time to travel the length of the field.
What the Ducks didn't plan on was a turnover by Mariota. The Heisman contender fumbled the ball on the Oregon 35-yard line, and Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III recovered with 2:11 to go.
Mariota's fumble was a fitting way for Oregon to pick up its first loss of 2014. The Ducks have leaned on their starting quarterback quite a bit this year, asking him to almost single-handedly lift the team through close games.
Sooner or later, that was bound to backfire.
The offensive line has been one of the team's biggest problems, and the Arizona defense was constantly swarming Mariota in the pocket, per Sports Illustrated College Football:
ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel wondered how much the Ducks O-line affected Mariota's shot at the Heisman:
Mariota finished 20-of-32 with 276 yards and two touchdowns through the air. The lasting image of the game, however, will be his fumble in the fourth quarter.
Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon outshone the heavily hyped Mariota, throwing for 287 yards on 20-of-31 passing. Running backs Nick Wilson and Terris Jones-Grigsby combined to rush for 207 yards and three touchdowns.
Coming into the game, Arizona ranked 77th in points allowed (27.3) and 89th in total defense (430.5 YPG), while Oregon was fourth in scoring (48.5) and 10th in total offense (555.3 YPG). All signs pointed to an electric first half of football.
However, the first two quarters were anything but, with Oregon clinging to a 7-3 lead going into halftime. The Ducks' lone touchdown came via a gadget play and wasn't without controversy.
Running back Royce Freeman hit Mariota for a 26-yard halfback pass. Near the goal line, Mariota fumbled the ball, and Arizona recovered. The officials initially ruled the play a touchdown and upheld the call after a video review. None of the camera angles shown offered conclusive evidence that the ball didn't cross the plane before Mariota fumbled.
NFL.com's Bryan Fischer believes that the time has come for college football to adopt some sort of goal-line technology similar to that in other sports:
Although Arizona likely felt aggrieved by that call, the Wildcats had plenty of reason to be encouraged by their first-half performance. They held one of the most explosive offenses in the country to 210 yards of offense at home, per ESPN College Football:
The Arizona secondary, which has been one of the worst in the country, did a great job of eliminating Mariota's options down the field:
As if the general offensive sluggishness wasn't enough of a concern for Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich, recent history wasn't in the Ducks' favor when they failed to eclipse double digits in scoring before halftime:
The Wildcats started off the second half strong, with Wilson punching it in from three yards out and giving Arizona its second lead of the game, 10-7. According to Chantel Jennings of ESPN.com, that was the first TD the Ducks had surrendered in the third quarter this season:
Between Wilson, Jones-Grigsby and Solomon, 'Zona did a great job of eating up yards on the ground. Matt Moreno of GoAZCats.com tracked how much the Wildcats improved on the ground since their last trip to Eugene:
Stanford, Auburn and LSU have shown in the past that a steady running game is the best way to slow down Oregon's high-powered attack and throw the Ducks off their game.
Oregon offered a quick reply, however. Mariota found wide receiver Devon Allen for a six-yard touchdown reception, putting the Ducks on top once again, 14-10, with 9:58 to play in the third quarter. Although Oregon was helped by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the drive, the quick TD illustrated that the Ducks offense doesn't need much time to get going.
The only problem was that the Ducks defense had no answer for Solomon or the Wildcats' rushing attack. Wilson recorded his second touchdown of the game, which put Arizona back in the lead, 17-14, and Solomon followed up with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Wilson two drives later, increasing the cushion to 10 points, 24-14.
The TD grab was a proper microcosm of how the game unfolded up until that point, with Wilson bowling over Oregon safety Ifo Ekpre Olomu, a first-team All-American in 2013, en route to the end zone:
On the Ducks' next drive, they got down to the Arizona 2-yard line for a 1st-and-goal after a 34-yard reception for wideout Dwayne Stanford. A touchdown would've cut the deficit to three points, but Oregon had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Matt Wogan after failing to move the ball.
The defense held strong for the Ducks on Arizona's next possession, giving the offense a chance to tie the game. Mariota attempted seven passes on the nine-play drive, completing five. None was bigger than his nine-yard touchdown toss to wideout Keanon Lowe, bringing Oregon level, 24-24, with 8:21 to go in the game.
Suddenly, the Ducks were building momentum and bringing the Autzen Stadium crowd back into the contest. This looked like the moment that the No. 2 team in the country would awaken from its slumber.
On the contrary, Arizona embarked on a time-consuming 5:27 drive that went 71 yards and resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by Jones-Grigsby.
The Wildcats were helped out by a controversial unsportsmanlike penalty call on Oregon linebacker Tony Washington Jr., who celebrated after sacking Solomon on a 3rd-and-goal at the Oregon 8-yard line. That call gave Arizona an automatic first down and four more downs to score.
CBSSports.com's Tom Fornelli was less than complimentary about the officiating throughout the game:
Some might argue that Oregon got what it deserved after it had the Arizona offense dead to rights on a 3rd-and-20. The seas parted and Jones-Grigsby scampered 24 yards for the first down. As ESPN.com's Jared Shanker tweeted out, the Ducks never even considered the threat of a run:
Oregon also had a chance to tie the game at the end. So as much as the unsportsmanlike penalty hurt, it was far from the sole reason the Ducks lost.
With the defeat, Oregon's playoff chances are hanging by a thread. It must run the table just to have a shot, and looking at the schedule ahead, that will be extremely tough to do. Dates with Stanford and UCLA loom on the horizon.
Arizona remains unbeaten and has now positioned itself as one of the top teams in the Pac-12. The Wildcats still have USC and UCLA ahead. Their matchup with the Trojans next Saturday will serve as a barometer for how far this team can go.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2219106-arizona-vs-oregon-score-and-twitter-reaction
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