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Oregon Ducks vs Oregon State Beavers Recap

Oregon 37, Oregon State 33

Unlike last year, the Oregon State Beavers played the Oregon Ducks to the final gun, with suspense filling a roused stadium in a high-octane Civil War. But just like the 2008 tilt between these terrific teams, the Quack Attack denied Beaver Nation the opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl.

Yes, it was a devastating dose of deja vu for Mike Riley's roster, foiled again in its bid for Pasadena. That precious plane ticket to the Arroyo Seco for a New Year's headknocker against the Ohio State Buckeyes will instead go to Chip Kelly's Oregon outfit, which outlasted Oregon State by four points to win the 2009 Pac-10 championship. This was no 65-38 rout, no one-sided runaway at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., but the portraits of Orange and Black pain - combined with Green and Gold elation - were just as stirring and striking in the heart of the Willamette Valley.

This contest was everything observers expected... at least when 60 minutes had been completed.

The first half was a ragged, rough-edged repository of foul-ups, bloopers and blunders. From Oregon State's many false starts, to James Rodgers's multiple meltdowns, to Jeremiah Masoli's incredibly lackadaisical ballhandling, the Beavers and Ducks - understandably amped to the point of bursting - lacked focus and concentration in the cauldron of this consummately consequential competition. Two Oregon turnovers created 10 Oregon State points, and on the other side of the divide, the Beavers committed a bust in the secondary that allowed UO receiver Jeff Maehl to produce a 73-yard catch-and-run touchdown for the Ducks. For most of the first half, mistakes led to points more than playmaking excellence. Abundant action filled this fistfight, but the quality of execution left a lot to be desired.

In the second half, both teams - though still not perfect - acquired considerably more polish, even though the point totals didn't reach the stratosphere.

After halftime, both offenses continued to move the ball, but with an increased emphasis on ball control. The first two drives of the third quarter consumed 9 minutes and 15 seconds; touchdowns continued to fill up the stat sheet, but against defenses increasingly unwilling to concede big plays. The hitting became harder and the determination from both sidelines increased, yet Masoli and his opposite number, Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield, continued to generate first downs and clutch plays.

Canfield threw deep-intermediate balls with zip and precision, while Masoli shrugged off his first-half hiccups to execute Kelly's zone-read spread option attack with distinction. Oregon State gained a 30-21 lead with a touchdown on its first drive of the third quarter, but Masoli coolly piloted the Ducks to a touchdown in response. With OSU in front by a 30-28 count, the most important Civil War in the series' 103-year history had found its form, to the delight of the Autzen crowd and a national television audience.

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As the second half continued, the two defenses would continue to remain stingy, thereby placing a premium on a handful of key sequences. In retrospect, one of this game's most important yet overlooked plays - which will haunt Canfield in the coming offseason - occurred when OSU led, 30-28, with just under five minutes left in the third quarter. The OSU signal caller - who went 24-of-36 for 306 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions - had James Rodgers, his favorite target, on a post pattern for a touchdown, but overthrew the ball. There weren't many passes Canfield missed, but that one slip-up, which turned seven points into only three, would cost the Beavers dearly in a game they lost by four.

The other defining moments of this memorably rousing rivalry game occurred at crunch time, as Oregon - leading 37-33 - engaged in multiple fourth-down face-offs with its in-state adversary from Corvallis.

The first fourth down to color this collision came when OSU faced 4th and 15 at the Oregon 27 with just over six minutes left in regulation. A sack by UO's
Kenny Rowe turned 3rd and 9 into 4th and 15, making it unlikely that the Beavers could get a first down. A field goal wouldn't have enabled OSU to tie, but it would have drawn the visitors within one point in Eugene, thereby enabling the Beavers to remain down by only one possession (eight points) in the event of an Oregon touchdown. Nevertheless, Riley went for the first down after calling a timeout, and when Canfield couldn't hit James Rodgers on a deep out pattern, the Ducks took over.

In accordance with the progression of the second half, Oregon would win this game not by running away on the scoreboard, but by holding the ball for the game's final six minutes and change. Two more episodes of fourth-down fulfillment would lift the once-humiliated Ducks from the Boise State outhouse to the Pasadena penthouse.

With 3:29 left and Oregon facing 4th and 3 at the OSU 33, Masoli - the team leader and the man whose season started so miserably on that long-ago September night in Idaho - ran over OSU's Lance Mitchell for a six-yard, shoulder-lowering, punishment-dealing, chain-moving gain. Oregon hadn't clinched the win, but Masoli's manly run brought the Green and Gold a lot closer to the shadows of the San Gabriel Mountains on Jan. 1.

Just moments later, the Ducks would finish off the Beavers thanks to their tailbacks.

After UO running back LaMichael James turned a hopeless 3rd-and-16 play into a 14-yard gain, instructively making another fourth-down conversion a realistic prospect, Oregon's Kenjon Barner easily outran a Beaver linebacker to the sticks on a zone-read option play. The final first down, registered with only 1:22 left and Oregon State in possession of just one timeout - fully finished off Oregon State in a way few had expected. A contest that looked like a video game at times was ultimately decided not by a parade of points, but with a modest accumulation of hard-earned first downs in a scenario that belonged in an SEC game, not a Pac-10 showcase.

Nevertheless, the deed was done... and with the grit and gumption outside observers have rarely given the Pac-10 credit for. Oregon State, gallant but gutted, had lost its plane flight to Pasadena for a second straight season, but the ballsy Beavers were eclipsed by an even more accomplished club whose coach pulled all the right strings after the Boise State nightmare.

Chip Kelly knew how to handle LeGarrette Blount - who made an impact in this game with 51 yards and a touchdown on nine carries in his return to the UO lineup - and he knew how to deal with the crucial fourth downs put in front of his path. Kelly steadied this team in the early stages of the season, proving to his former and current boss, UO Athletic Director Mike Bellotti, that he was made of sterner stuff as an FBS head coach.

Now, the rookie head coach - endowed with poise few of his peers possess - is headed to the Rose Bowl against Jim Tressel and Ohio State. Not bad for a first season as the head honcho in the Pac-10 Conference.

Tip your cap to the beaten but brave Oregon State Beavers, but hail the Oregon Ducks as this year's Pac-10 champions. The Civil War featured the two best teams on the West Coast, and in the end, Oregon's toughness pierced through the chill of a wild night in the Pacific Northwest.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer