By Ken Woody
It was a classic college football first half for number-one ranked Oregon playing mediocre Wisconsin on the road to a fanatical sellout crowd, described as “loud as Autzen.” The favored Ducks started smoothly, their defense forcing three consecutive three-and-outs while the offense scored a field goal on their first drive that looked kind of easy. Their second possession also looked sharp until quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered his fifth interception of the season on a tipped ball on the Badger one-yard line and suddenly the atmosphere changed.
Braedyn Locke, Wisconsin’s quarterback had a miserable start, missing his first four passes, badly. He also missed his last four, as the Badgers went down in a tailspin. In between, the Badgers’ experienced offensive line began to knock the Ducks off the ball after a first quarter that resulted in only nine yards rushing, no yards passing and no first downs on nine plays.
The Ducks moved methodically and, easily, to a 6-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Badgers were gaining confidence with how their defense was restricting Oregon to short yardage gains, and no explosion plays, just as happened last week against Maryland. Coach Dan Lanning saw the Ducks’ feared offensive machine grind to a halt.
After Gabriel’s interception, Wisconsin and the crowd came to life while the Ducks hibernated. The Badgers scraped out a field goal and then stopped the Oregon offense. Gabriel sparked a fruitless drive that was marred by three straight penalties, (two of them holding) and squeezed out a second field goal by Atticus Sappington. After the field goal, Oregon had an offsides on their kickoff to gift the Badgers with a complimentary five yards of field position. It is ridiculous to be offside on a kickoff, especially when they are all going out of the end zone.
This was an outbreak of penalized performance that smacked of last week’s embarrassment in Eugene. In several cases, good efforts by skill players were besmirched by undisciplined penalties by offensive linemen who could not pass up the opportunity of holding their opponent. What might have been confusing for the players, though, was the referees seemed to be oblivious of offensive holding by either side, particularly the Badgers.
Wisconsin took the lead, again with the aid of Oregon penalties, (a holding call on a defensive lineman and a pass interference penalty in the end zone) that gave the Badgers possession on the Duck two-yard line with a minute to go in the half. The red and whites ran two plays, went ahead 10-6, and then, the worst thing of all, their team ran to the locker room knowing two things: “the Ducks aren’t that tough, and we’re good enough to win this game,” thoughts they were not thinking halfway in the first quarter.
The crowd was wild, the Ducks were mild—how would they react to the most serious spot they found themselves in their eleventh game of the year? This would be a severe test for coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks who had committed to discipline and play-by-play focus.
Lanning said the winning team would run the ball best. Winner: Oregon-136 yards, Wisconsin-130, a narrow margin that speaks to how close this game was. The Ducks won the game in the fourth quarter, scoring ten precious points and shutting the anemic Badgers out. Although Gabriel was held without a rushing or passing touchdown, the offense rang up 91 yards on 24 plays to Wisconsin’s 21 yards on only 12 plays. The Ducks were calculated, controlling the ball for 10:46 in the final quarter to the home team’s 4:14. For those tracking stats, the Badgers had three penalties for 21 yards, 0-for-3 third-down conversions, 12 yards passing to Oregon’s 35, and one turnover.
Wisconsin’s turnover came with a little over a minute left in the game as Matayo Uiagalelei picked off a pass that had been tipped by Jamaree Caldwell. It was a fantastically athletic reaction by Matayo and was a result of the defense’s dramatic improvement in getting hands up in the face of enemy quarterbacks attempting to pass. In the last two games, the Ducks have tipped more passes than they did all last season.
There was frustration on the Oregon side based on the lack of usual yards and points by the offense, which was due in large part, to Wisconsin’s tough and talented defense and Oregon’s lack of creative growth in their offensive sets and play calling. With Tez Johnson out, the pass offense has constricted through Gabriel not going more to two of the most talented and fast wide receivers the Ducks have: Traeshon Holden and Evan Stewart. Stewart had a deep ball for 32 yards in the first half, but there were no further threats to Wisconsin’s secondary.
In the third quarter, Terrance Ferguson was alone deep in the middle and fell down, not from contact, but apparently misjudged the ball and tried to dive for it and missed. A Monday Morning Quarterback would have felt that Holden and Stewart would have made that play easily. In a goal line situation in the fourth quarter having run the play from a formation that could not hold up against a blitz, Gabriel threw under duress to Ferguson. He had to throw early; the tight end was not looking for the ball and if Gabriel had a split second longer, Stewart ran past his vision on a crossing route that would have been a touchdown.
Outside of the great work by the defensive unit that has held their opponent under 17 points for eight of eleven games, the biggest factor in Oregon’s gritty win was the lack of quality quarterback play by Locke who was 12-of-28 for only 96 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Badgers have a conservative offense that relies heavily on the run and their prime weapon was Tawee Walker who racked up 97 yards, but a poor third-down-conversion rate precluded any offensive momentum outside of an 81-yard drive that put the red and white ahead at halftime, 10-6.
Everyone held their breath for Oregon’s traditional third-quarter Malaise. The Ducks had only four plays, which is Malaise-like, and after a 61-yard punt, the Badgers started an eight-and-a-half-minute drive ending in a field goal for a 13-6 lead. The Ducks took the ball and on the first play of the fourth quarter, on a fourth-and-nine situation, Gabriel threw expertly to Ferguson who slowed and turned away just enough to shield the ball away from a defensive back. It was excellent teamwork by the two and provided an obvious spark to the offense.
Later in the fourth quarter, Jordan James scored on an 11-yard run that tied the score and two minutes later, Atticus Sappington put the Ducks ahead for good on his third field goal after a futile drive by the Badgers, who could only run 12 plays in their last four possessions of the game. Lanning and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupi had to be ecstatic at the performance of the defense; they bent but did not break, sparking excitement to a part of football that many fans don’t appreciate. Oregon’s defense has revealed a new world of football outside of passes and touchdowns and dances in the end zone. Their enthusiasm is contagious and delights their fans with sacks, breakups, tips, picks, blitzes and slobber-knocker tackles.
Receiver Justus Lowe was laid out on a pass reception when he didn’t know enough to slow down and settle in the middle of zone coverage. He ran smack dab into the shoulder of a Badger defender who, hopefully, taught Lowe to recognize zone coverage and save yourself a solar-plexus rib shot. On Gabriel’s goal line interception, Lowe, again was too fast through zone coverage. Dillon threw it where Lowe should have been (two steps slower) and he would have caught the ball. As it was, the ball was behind him (where he should have been), and as he reached behind for the ball, tipped it in the air where a grateful Badger gobbled it up.
At the end of the game, Lanning was asked what lies ahead for the bye week: “Getting better, focus,” was the answer, which matched what he said after the Idaho game, when a veteran sports scribe noted, “This team will never win the Big Ten.” Matayo Uiagalelei, one of the defensive heroes, was asked the same question by a television commentator and he observed, “we don’t have a bye week, it’s a work week. We have to work on getting better.” Lanning has done a brilliant job of teaching this mantra to a group of talented athletes who have grown stronger together working every day. They looked tired against Maryland and again, at times battling the Badgers. After a rest, they will resume working to get better– the Huskies will demand it.
Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and as a head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He conducts a coaching clinic, free to all, at the 6th Street Grill every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. during the season. Plays from Oregon games are analyzed, there are scouting reports for opponents, and highlights from referees; all to learn and enjoy football and understand why the Ducks win or lose.
Questions and comments welcomed.
Contact Ken at: woody8783@comcast.net
