Boise, ID—
In a gritty opening-night setting, Oregon was able to outlast Boise State thanks to five Boise State interceptions.
The Ducks won the toss and elected to defer. They held Boise to a three-and-out, then drove the ball down the field methodically until they were contained in the Old Spice Red Zone. Forced to kick a field goal, they were ahead 3-0 midway through the first quarter. But the Broncos had something to say about that.
After connecting on several passing plays in the waning moments of the first quarter, the home team went ahead 7-3 on a short goal-line run by FB Matt Brockel. On the next series, the Broncos put Oregon into a sticky 3rd-and-long situation. On a bold 3rd down rollout Hail Mary play, Jeremiah Masoli hit LaGarrette Blount out of the backfield between two zone layers for a 69-yard touchdown to put the Ducks ahead 10-7 early in the second.
The rest of the second quarter was an epic slugfest of imposing defenses for both teams, and finished with an interception by Oregon on the five with under a minute remaining, after which they wisely decided to run out the clock.
The third quarter was entirely dominated by defenses. The only scoring opportunity came when Boise drove down inside the Oregon 20, only to have the ball intercepted by strong safety Marvin Johnson in the end zone. He also led the Ducks in tackles with 7.
The fourth quarter continued similarly for the first few minutes. Then a corner blitz forced Kellen Moore to make a hurried pass with under three minutes remaining. Linebacker Spencer Paysinger was there waiting. He cradled it, broke one tackle, and angled for the end zone, finally breaking the game open with 2:49 left to play.
On the ensuing possession, Boise was called for holding, and on the following play CB Willie Glasper picked off a streak pattern. A few plays later, Oregon punched it in for the final 24-7 score. Glasper sealed the victory with another pick on Boise's ensuing possession.Key players:
Jeremiah Masoli: 7-11 passing, 174 yards, 1 TD
LaGarrette Blount: 16 rushes, 79 yards, 3 receptions, 95 yards, 1 TD rec.
Key stat: turnovers
BSU: 5
Oregon: 0
Boise Notes: to win this game, Boise is obviously not going to be able to afford a 5-turnover difference. Hell, I barely won with it (as Oregon), but you can bet that the real Oregon would've exploited that in a much uglier manner. Boise should focus on first downs, not necessarily time of possession. Defensively, they should also consider putting a spy on Blount, as he is a serious threat out of the backfield.
Oregon Notes: be careful with the zone. Almost every time I ran a zone defense, Moore had time to find the holes. All 5 turnovers came from man or partially-man defenses. Also, don't try too much motion, and be careful with the Wild Duck formation. This phenomenon is going on 4 seasons old now, and it's not a novelty any more. The one time I tried it, it resulted in a -13 yard pass completion.
Game Stats (Oregon/Boise State)
First downs: 8/11
Total Offense: 254/221
Rush/yds/TDs: 22-80-1; 13-45-1
Comp/att/TDs: 8-12-1; 15-23-0
Passing: 174/176
3rd down: 4-7/3-5
4th down: 0-0/1-1
2-point: 0-0/0-0
Red Zone: 2-1-1; 3-1-0
Turnovers: 0/5
Fumbles: 0/0
INTs: 0/5
PR yds: 7/4
KR yds: 57/56
Total yds: 318/281
Punts: 2-45.5; 1-40
Penalties: 1-10; 2-25
TOP: 10:20/9:52
