College Football
Oregon vs. Bowling Green Game Report
The Oregon Ducks come into their home opener with high hopes for the season. They will look to continue their streak of 13 consecutive home opener wins. They also look to continue their streak of 20 home non-conference wins. Junior QB and Heisman hopeful Justin Herbert will look to start with a bang against Bowling Green. On the other side Bowling Green will look to put up a fight against a Power 5 team.
1st Quarter
The Ducks came out of the gate very slow on their first two drives. They would punt on their first two drives after going three and out on both. The Falcons made the most of this jumping out to a 10-0 lead, after a touchdown pass by Jarret Doege. Oregon would strike back on their third drive with Herbert throwing a 33 yard strike to WR Jaylon Redd on 4th down. The scoring drive was set up by a 37 yard run by QB Justin Herbert. On their next drive Bowling Green drove into Oregon territory and was faced with a 4th and 2, Bowling Green would run and be stopped turning the ball over to Oregon. The score at the end of the first was 10-7 in favor of Bowling Green.
2nd Quarter
The Ducks started the quarter with a Justin Herbert strike to Dillon Mitchell that gave them their first lead of the game. Bowling Green would fumble on their next possession and Oregon would take over at their 21 yard line. Justin Herbert would score his 3rd touchdown of the day on a 2 yard run. This score would put Oregon up 21-10. Bowling Green would go 3 and out on their next possession and end up punting for the first time. Bowling Green’s punt was a disaster as it only would travel 12 yards and the Ducks would take over at the their own 45.
A facemask penalty on first down set up a 40 yard strike by Justin Herbert. The pass was complete to Johnny Johnson and extended Oregon’s lead to 28-10. A sack pushed Bowling Green back to the 3 yard line and were forced to punt. An aborted snap on the punt caused a Bowling Green safety that put the Ducks up 30-10. Oregon and Bowling Green would each score on more time in the half. Oregon with a short run by Cyrus Habibi-Likio and Bowling Green with 12 yard strike set up by a muffed punt by Oregon. Halftime score was 37-17 in favor of Oregon.
3rd Quarter
After a fast paced first half with scoring throughout the third quarter was relatively slow as the teams combined for three touchdowns (2 Oregon, 1 Bowling Green). Oregon struck first in the quarter with a Pick that was returned for a touchdown by Ugo Amadi. Oregon would strike again on a Justin Herbert screen pass where Taj Griffin broke loose and took it 86 yards to the house. The Ducks would let Sophomore Braxton Burmeister take over for a drive that ended in a three and out. Bowling Green would finally get on the board in the third quarter scoring on a 63 yard pass. Herbert would reenter the game on the next Oregon drive. The score at the end of the quarter was 51-24.
4th Quarter
There was only one score in the final frame of play as both teams were looking to get out of the game. Oregon ran a much slower pace through most of the quarter. The only deviation from that was a 48 yard strike from Justin Herbert to Jaylon Redd that resulted in the only score of the quarter. Troy Dye did come up with a toe-tapping interception on a play where Jarret Doege was looking to throw the ball away. The final score was 58-24 with Oregon getting the win in a blowout game.
What it Means for Oregon and Bowling Green
For Oregon this was a great win that started their season off with a win. There were some missed tackles that resulted in big gains by the Bowling Green offense. The defense will need a few more weeks to get into peak form when Pac-12 play begins. The offense on the other hand was firing on all cylinders after the first two drives. They will need to avoid the slow start they endured during this game. Justin Herbert looked like the QB that most thought he could be passing for 281 yards on only 10 completions. The running backs looks like a full blown running back by committee with 6 backs getting carries and 4 getting 5 or more carries. Justin Herbert did throw 2 interceptions which is something he will look to clean up next week when they face Portland State.
For Bowling Green they came into the game looking to upset a Power 5 team but came up well short. There were moments where Jarret Doege looked like an explosive QB with some long throws. But mistakes on special teams (short punts, safety on snap) and defense (long TD’s) hurt their chance to get a win. They will look to win some games against lesser opponents and continue their rebuild.
Notable Performances
Offensive MVP: Justin Herbert (OU); 281 yards, 6 touchdowns (5 passing, 1 rushing)
Defensive MVP: Ugo Amadi (OU); 5 tackles, 1 sack, Pick 6
Other Notables:
- Andrew Clair (BG): 25 carries, 116 yards, Rec TD
- Scott Miller (BG): 13 catches, 166 yards, 2 TD’s
- Jaylon Redd (OU): 2 catches, 81 yards, 2 TD’s
- Troy Dye (OU): 8 tackles, 1 INT
Photo credit to Jonathan Lidbeck via Flickr
