Being a heavy favorite has not been kind to Oregon at the early stages of the 2021 season. Despite the slow starts in earlier games, Oregon opened quick against Arizona Saturday night. Starting with possession, the Ducks needed just three plays to go 75 yards and jump to an early lead on a smooth catch and run by Jaylon Redd for 63 yards to give the Ducks an early 7-0 lead. Following the opening drive, the Duck defense forced a turnover on the first play by Arizona and extended the lead to 10-0 with 10:51 left in the first quarter.
Oregon – who came into the game allowing just 115 rushing yards per game – struggled early against the Wildcats allowing 52 yards rushing on Arizona’s second possession as the Wildcats drove 91 yards to close the gape to 10-7 with just over 6:00 left in the first quarter.
Despite their slow start this season which included a loss to FCS foe Northern Arizona, the Wildcats came out fired up for their Pac-12 opener against presumptive conference favorite Oregon. Though the Arizona defense had struggled mostly against the run, Oregon tested their pass defense early before turning to the reliable duo of Travis Dye and CJ Verdell on the third drive. Two consecutive runs of 53 and 11 yards respectively by Dye and Verdell extended Oregon’s lead to 17-7 with 4:16 left in the first quarter.
Though the Arizona offense had been mostly putrid through their first three games, they seemed all world against an Oregon defense decimated by injuries rolling to 92 rushing and 132 total yards in the first quarter to stay close to the No. 3 ranked Oregon early.
Mykael Wright stopped Arizona with a perfect interception in the endzone to give the Ducks life. The combination of Anthony Brown, Travis Dye and a pass interference on Johnny Johnson put the Ducks near the red-zone; from there the Ducks would punch it in to push the lead to 24-7 with a bullet from Brown to Terrance Ferguson from 9 yards out.
Despite the return of presumptive top five NFL Draft pick Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon struggled to get pressure on the quarterback against an Arizona team that had given up 10 sacks in their first three games this season. The Ducks allowed Arizona to convert their first four third down attempts; when Oregon finally forced a fourth down, Arizona converted with a 35-yard pass from Jordan McCloud to Stanley Berryhill to give the Wildcats life in the redzone. Arizona converted the opportunity into a field goal to close to within two scores with less than four minutes to play in the first half.
The Ducks simply could not establish anything at the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball in the first half as the early lead seemed more like a mirage than offensive prowess. The Wildcats were able to force a three-and-out on Oregon’s last possession of the first half giving the Wildcats an opportunity to close the gap before heading to the locker room. Starting at their own 25, the Wildcats were able to convert one third down before being forced to punt with 1:11 left in the first half.
The Ducks – set to receive the second half kickoff – looked to capitalize on a late first half possession but failed to move the ball beyond midfield. Oregon was outplayed and undisciplined in a first half that should not have been as close as it was; when faced with a third down, Arizona converted 5 of 8 while also converting their sole fourth down attempt. Staying close was the goal for the Wildcats as it allowed hope to lead to momentum in a second half they wanted to make ‘ugly’ against the number three ranked team in the nation.
A first half marred by 9 combined penalties for 78 yards seemed to play right into the hands of the heavy underdog Wildcats. Arizona held the time of possession advantage in the first half 17:40 to 12:20 and controlled the tempo despite trailing on the scoreboard. Opening with possession in the second half, the Wildcats hoped to keep the potent Oregon offense on the sideline; methodically, the Wildcats did just that moving the ball inside Oregon territory following four consecutive first downs – including another fourth down conversion.
Playing most of the night with soft zone cushions, Oregon could not stop Arizona allowing the Wildcats more yards and points than FCS opponent Northern Arizona. Without the services of Thibodeaux, the defense looked lost and inept for much of the evening – until Verone McKinley III stepped in front of an errant pass from McCloud midway through the third quarter to stop a lengthy Arizona drive.
The offense moved backward, gave up a safety and free kicked the ball back to Arizona suddenly looking more like a winless team than the third ranked team in the nation. Arizona outgained Oregon in the third quarter by a margin of 109 to 50 yards and the Ducks seemed to struggle to recover mentally from a questionable roughing the passer penalty as the Wildcats marched inside the five-yard line with relative ease before converting on a fourth-and-one play from just inside the three-yard line. The wildcats would score one play later from the one-yard line to close the gap to 24-19 with 1:36 left in the third quarter.
The Ducks have seemed to “play down” to the level of their opponents of late and the game against Arizona was no different in that regard. A team that came in 0-3 with losses to San Diego State and Northern Arizona challenged the number three ranked team with physicality at the line of scrimmage and a passing game that was far superior to that of the Oregon offense.
After jumping to a 10-0 lead, Oregon was outscored 19-14 over the next two-and-a-half quarters. For much of the second and third quarter Oregon was outcoached, outhustled, outplayed and manhandled as if time had gone back to 2016. The calling card of the Mario Cristobal program was supposed to be the offensive line – and they struggled mightily against an outmanned Arizona team looking unprepared and uninspired through three quarters.
The Ducks were able to turn it up a little in the fourth quarter and pull away from the scrappy Wildcat team. Led by Travis Dye’s 92 rushing yards on 5 attempts and three interceptions by the defense, Oregon was able to walk away with a win that left more questions than answers. Anthony Brown started the game well, but finished completing just 10 of 20 attempts. He has hovered near the 50-percent completion rate all season. Though he connects on some spectacular plays, his inconsistency leaves something to be desired for the Oregon offense.
The final dagger would be provided by Bennett Williams and the Oregon defense on Oregon’s fourth interception of five for the night as Williams turned the play into a 65-yard pick-6 for the Ducks to extend the lead to 41-19 with 7:04 left in the game. Oregon moves to 4-0 with the win and will now face a Stanford team that gave UCLA a tough test Saturday afternoon. The Cardinal feature a freshman quarterback whose mobility is limited, but can make all the throws. Stanford played UCLA down to the wire despite being short handed at running back. The Cardinal will be a difficult opponent as they look to out-Oregon the Ducks next week.
