Oregon lassos Cowboys after slow start
Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 13, 2014
- Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota dives for a second-quarter touchdown Saturday against Wyoming.
EUGENE — Marcus Mariota produced more Heisman Trophy moments, and the Oregon Ducks overcame a rare early deficit to score touchdowns on six consecutive possessions and rout Wyoming 48-14 Saturday at Autzen Stadium.
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Mariota led the UO scoring drives before giving way to backup Jeff Lockie. He finished 19 of 23 passing for 221 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 71 yards on five carries and two more scores, including a 19-yard TD dash-leap-dive into the end zone that will surely join the third-and-long scramble and dump-off pass against Michigan State as one of his season highlights.
One bit of bad news for Oregon: A third starting offensive linemen went down, as Jake Fisher suffered a left leg injury on a first-quarter run. Fisher could be joining Tyler Johnstone and Andre Yruretagoyena on the injured list.
Despite empty seats on the sunny day, Oregon announced the game as the 99th consecutive Autzen sellout.
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The Ducks (3-0) now enter Pac-12 play, playing at Washington State, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20.
Wyoming, 2-1 under the direction of first-year coach Craig Bohl, a three-time national champ at North Dakota State, executed some fine offense in the first half.
But Oregon safety Erick Dargan picked off two Colby Kirkegaard passes to slow the Cowboys’ upset bid.
The Ducks led 27-7 at halftime and efficiently moved for another TD to start the second half. Mariota hit on three passes, and then Royce Freeman scored on an 18-yard TD run.
Torrodney Prevot sacked Kirkegaard on the next Wyoming series, with Christian French recovering at the UW 29.
Mariota went on to throw his second TD pass, a five-yarder to Johnathan Loyd, giving Oregon a 41-7 lead.
Lockie replaced Mariota — and Oregon had to punt.
Wyoming wouldn’t quit, and marched for its second TD, a 12-yard Kirkegaard-to-D.J. May pass — as the Ducks continued to give up lots of yards.
Lockie led a scoring drive, with Kani Benoit scoring from the 1 at the 8:30 mark of the fourth quarter.
Wyoming threatened for a late score, but Oregon’s defense stiffened and made a stop at the UO inside the final two minutes.
Wyoming offered much resistance in the first half, stopping the Ducks on fourth down at the UW 2 and using good play-calling, well-executed offense and third-down conversions to make things interesting.
But Mariota pulled off some sensational plays, running for two scores and throwing for another to help the Ducks lead 27-7 by halftime.
On their first series, the Ducks marched to the Wyoming 2, but the Cowboys stopped Byron Marshall short of the first down after Oregon passed on a field-goal try. The worst part of the drive for the Ducks: Fisher’s injury on a running play. He hobbled off the field, nursing his left leg.
Wyoming marched right back upfield, led by Kirkegaard and running back Shaun Wick. The QB threw to convert two third-down conversions, and then, on third-and-8, found Tanner Gentry on an 18-yard touchdown strike to give the visitors a 7-0 lead. It was an 11-play, 98-yard drive that took 5:27 off the clock. The quarter ended 7-0, one of the rare times in recent years that Oregon has failed to score and/or trailed after one period.
It didn’t take long Oregon to respond, however. Marshall ran for 27 yards, Mariota threw to Darren Carrington for 18 and 5 yards, and then the star QB ran 15 yards for the tying touchdown.
Wyoming started 5 of 6 on third-down conversions, but a failed attempt led to a punt. The Ducks then went 86 yards on seven plays, and Marshall ran 30 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The extra-point crew messed up the point-after kick attempt; kicker Matt Wogan simply jumped over the Taylor Alie-held ball.
The first of the two interceptions by Dargan came on the next Wyoming possession. His return put the Ducks at the Wyoming 25 and, despite some penalties, Oregon went on top 20-7 on Mariota’s highlight-reel, 19-yard TD run, on which he jumped over a blocker and a defender and kept the ball inside the end-zone pylon.
Wyoming kept moving the ball, starting with a 42-yard Wick run. A fourth-down Kirkegaard-to-Dominic Rufran 10-yard pass was upheld after being reviewed for the receiver being possibly out of bounds.
After a short run, Dargan tipped the passed ball to himself and picked off Kirkegaard again at the UO 15.
Three Mariota passes and a 24-yard Mariota run set up another Oregon score, Mariota throwing 16 yards to Devon Allen for the 27-7 lead.
Wyoming held the ball for 20:07 to UO’s 9:53 and had 283 yards on 41 first-half plays — 20 rushes for 139 yards (Wick 10-98) and 12 of 21 passing for 144 yards by Kirkegaard. The Ducks had a balanced 344 yards, and then continued their attack on the first two drives of the second half.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
WYOMING 7 0 0 7 — 14
OREGON 0 27 14 7 — 48
FIRST QUARTER
WYOMING — Tanner Gentry 18 pass from Colby Kirkegaard (Stuart Williams kick), 1:02
SECOND QUARTER
OREGON — Marcus Mariota 15 run (Matt Wogan kick), 14:55
OREGON — Byron Marshall 30 run (kick failed), 10:45
OREGON — Mariota 19 run (Wogan kick), 6:43
OREGON — Devon Allen 16 pass from Mariota (Wogan kick), 1:34
THIRD QUARTER
OREGON — Royce Freeman 18 run (Wogan kick), 13:19
OREGON — Johnathan 5 pass from Mariota (Wogan kick), 9:59
FOURTH QUARTER
WYOMING — D.J. May 12 pass from Kirkegaard (Williams kick)
OREGON — Kani Benoit 1 run (Wogan kick), 8:30