The 2019 season kicked off for Oregon football in a highly anticipated matchup with SEC foe Auburn. From the beginning this matchup did not disappoint. The Tigers came in favored by three points; Oregon won the toss and elected to receive.
The strategy was very effective as the Ducks marched down the field for a 74 yard scoring drive which ended with a one-yard touchdown run by CJ Verdell. After an initial quarter of flawless play, though, mistakes began to mount in the second quarter with two offsides penalties; two personal fouls; a fumble inside the five-yard line; blown coverages. Yet somehow new Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos was able to keep the Tigers out of the endzone as Oregon held Auburn to just two field goals in the first half.
Oregon left points on the field with a dropped pass in the end zone, a missed field goal and the fumble which was returned inside the five-yard line the other way clouded what could have been a dominant half of football and left the game closer than it could have been headed into the second half.
And it was that second half where Oregon saw the missed opportunities and capitalized early with a 53-yard drive on its first possession with Darrian Felix subbing for Verdell and Dye who were both injured during the drive and taking Oregon out to a 21-6 lead; but Auburn made some adjustments and started to get more pressure on Herbert and clamped down coverage on the receivers.
In just about every facet through nearly three quarters, Oregon was the superior team; Blake Maimone was averaging over 50 yards per punt; Jevon Holland was averaging 55 yards per punt return; the defense was winning battles at the line of scrimmage and the offense was running the ball better than many pundits expected. Yet, with all of their brilliance, it was those early mistakes that left a shadow over the score at 21-6. Coaches, players and fans knew that it could have been much better.
Momentum was fickle in this game as no team could truly take their momentum and run away. The Tigers made a third quarter adjustment and took just four plays to cover 58 yards in just 1:11 off the clock to bring it back to a one score game at 21-13.
Football is a fickle sport; one where wreaking havoc is muted by human errors; where unseized momentum creates momentum for the opponent.
After opening the second half with a 53-yard scoring drive, the Duck offense went cold gaining just 24 yards on 16 plays. With their inability to gain yards continuing into the fourth quarter, Auburn capitalized on a tiring Oregon defense to drive 69 yards in eight plays close the gap to 21-20 with 9:48 left to play in the game.
It was a lead which Oregon could not hold. A stale offense and a tired defense succumbed to Auburn giving up a late touchdown giving Auburn a 27-21 lead with just nine seconds left in the game. The Ducks would have to hope for a miracle that never came. Auburn used a squib kick to take the miracle out of play ending Oregon’s hopes to pull off the upset. Daewood Davis returned the ball inside the the 40-yard line setting up a failed hail mary attempt to end the game.
The pundits said Oregon could not run against the defense of Auburn and they turned out to be correct. The Tigers held Oregon to just 90 total rushing yards; Oregon could never overcome their frequent early miscues to recapture momentum.
Justin Herbert and the Oregon offense simply could not muster enough momentum to hold on to a game that they could have won; it was reminiscent of the Stanford game from a season ago; but there was also the small ounce of hope wrapped up in this loss. Oregon was prepared when they came out of the tunnel. A frequent nemesis to Oregon last season was their inability to play focused on the road. They seemed to have (mostly) solved that issue. They made the kind of mistakes that teams make against elite defenses; some were their own mental miscues and some were forced.
Effort, though, does little to salve the wounds of defeat. Oregon now has to come back in a week to face Nevada in a 4:30 PM tilt at Autzen next Saturday.
