Oregon loss compared to a trainwreck

After Oregon University football head coach Mark Helfrich compared his team’s loss last week to the University of Colorado Buffaloes to a trainwreck, the Ducks will need to spend the rest of the week working on getting the proverbial train back on the tracks.

Even after returning home to the friendly confines of Autzen Statdium, the Ducks dropped their second straight game last Saturday, by a 41-38 score. The Ducks simply had no answer for University of Colorado freshman quarterback Steven Montez, who accounted for 468 yards of combined offense and four touchdowns on Saturday. As a team, the Buffaloes accumulated over 500 yards of offense, gashing the Ducks both through the air (333 total passing yards and three touchdowns) and on the ground (260 rushing yards and two touchdowns).

The Buffaloes got out to an early lead, scoring a touchdown after an eight-play, 80 yard drive on their first offensive possession of the day. After Colorado added a field goal later in the first quarter, sophomore running back Taj Gibson helped Oregon trim Colorado’s lead by a score of 10-7.

The two teams spent the second quarter trading scores. Montez ran for a three yard touchdown, to which the Ducks responded with quarterback Dakota Prukop throwing a 25 yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Darren Carrington II. Both teams then swapped field goals, giving Colorado a 26-17 lead heading into halftime.

Colorado scored again shortly after halftime, with Montez throwing a 48 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Devin Ross, increasing Colorado’s lead to 33-17. That seemed to be the impetus Oregon neeeded, as they reeled off three straight touchdowns in the quarter. Sophomore running back Tony Brooks-James — who finished the day with 16 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown — found the endzone for the aforementioned score, and junior running back Kani Benoit had a three yard touchdown run of his own. That cut Colorado’s lead to 33-31.

With just under 16 minutes left to go in the game, Oregon actually captured it’s first lead of the afternoon when Prukop threw a second touchdown pass of 18 yards to Carrington, giving the Ducks a 38-33 lead. Oregon capitalized on Montez’ second interception of the afternoon, which he threw deep in Colorado territory. Linebacker Troy Dye picked off Montez’ pass and returned it four yards to the 27 yard line of Colorado. On the second play after Dye’s pick, Prukop connected with Carrington.

But with just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, Montez connected with wide receiver Bryce Bobo for a 31 yard touchdown pass — the fifth touchdown he was a part of on the day — followed by the two of them linking up to successfully convert the two point attempt. That proved to be the game-winning score for the Buffaloes.

After starting the season 2-0, the Ducks have now lost their last two games, and remain squarely outside the top 25 teams in the nation. They’ve also started off their play in the Pac-12 this season with an 0-1 record. Oregon has allowed a total of 76 points per game in their last two losses, and the 32.5 points per game that they’re allowing this season ranks 97th in the nation.