Ducks win in 2 OTs to keep Rose Bowl dream alive

By Jason Vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, Nov 21, 2009, Updated Nov 22, 2009

CHRISTIAN PETERSEN / GETTY IMAGES

Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli scores the winning touchdown in the second overtime Saturday night at Arizona.

TUCSON, Ariz. — With their Rose Bowl hopes on the line, the Oregon Ducks staged a dramatic comeback in the fourth quarter and won in two overtimes at Arizona on Saturday night.

Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli plunged in from the 1-yard line on third down in the second OT to give the Ducks a 44-41 victory.

The Ducks (9-2, 7-1) can go to the Rose Bowl by beating Oregon State (8-3, 6-2) at Autzen Stadium at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3. If the Beavers win, they're going to the Rose Bowl and the Ducks would likely be headed to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

"That'll be fun, and we're fortunate to be at home," said UO coach Chip Kelly, eyeing the Civil War game.

"We're going to have to battle to beat them," tight end Ed Dickson said.

Arizona fell to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in Pac-10 play. Stanford, which also had been in Rose Bowl contention, also suffered its third Pac-10 loss Saturday, losing to Cal 34-28.

Oregon, which trailed by 10 points early in the fourth quarter, scored with six seconds left to force overtime in a wild finish to regulation.

Tight end Ed Dickson caught an 8-yard pass from Masoli to cap a 15-play, 80-yard drive that began with 3:11 remaining, and Morgan Flint's PAT tied the score at 31-31. It was a clutch drive that included an 18-yard run by LaMichael James on third-and-11 and a 13-yard Masoli-to-Jeff Maehl pass on fourth-and-5 – all the while, Arizona fans had lined each of the sidelines behind the teams, anticipating the victory, just as they had done in 2007 when the Wildcats upset the then-No. 2 Ducks.

"Those last-minute drives, it's what you live for as a quarterback," said Masoli, who accounted for six touchdowns in the game.

Kelly said he told Masoli "score ... and be smart with the ball" on the final drive. "We had a ton of time, and we're a hurry-up offense by nature. We can run the two-minute drill, we (run it) all the time. We were fine. We did a good job of managing the game."

The drive was preceded by an interception by Talmadge Jackson in the end zone.

"I had confidence in our defense," Masoli said.

In overtime, the Ducks got the ball first and scored on a 4-yard pass from Masoli to Maehl, who dove for the catch in the back of the end zone.

"Jeff came through for us, back of the end zone, leaping catch. That's magical right there," Masoli said.

Arizona, pounding the ball against the Oregon defense as it did effectively throughout the game, got a critical face-mask penalty on Oregon to earn a first down at the UO 4 and then scored on a 4-yard TD pass (Nick Foles to Juron Criner) to stay alive.

Then it was Arizona's turn to get the ball first, but all the Wildcats could get in the second overtime was a 41-yard field goal by Alex Zendejas.

Oregon went to the air on its next offensive play, and Masoli found Dickson at the Arizona 3. It was a sideline play that Oregon hadn't run in a game all season.

Two inside runs got the Ducks just outside the Wildcat 1. On third down, Masoli faked to James and dove across the goal line for the game-winning score – a goal-line play that has led to numerous touchdowns this season.

"We never put our heads down," Dickson said. "This is a unique group of guys. We had to fight through it."

Oregon had 459 yards offense to Arizona's 441 in a game of momentum swings. Masoli went 26 of 47 for 284 yards and three TDs, and added 61 yards and three TDs rushing. LaMichael James had 117 yards rushing, eclipsing Jacquizz Rodgers' freshman Pac-10 rushing record, and Maehl finished with 12 catches for 114 yards.

Foles went 30 of 46 for 314 yards and four scores. The Wildcats, who controlled the line of scrimmage for much of the game, rushed for 127 yards, many of them key yards.

"That's a good team right there," Dickson said, of Arizona. "We knew it would be a dogfight."

"Overall, you've got to look at the team effort, being down 10 points in the fourth quarter," Maehl said. "For us to put a drive together shows the true character of our team."

Oregon led 14-0 early, but Arizona scored twice in the final two minutes of the first half to trail 14-10.

In the third quarter, Arizona dominated the ball and scored two touchdowns.

The Wildcats pinned Oregon at its 1-yard line with a punt and, after the Ducks couldn't muster a first down, they had to punt. William Wright returned it 19 yards and, after Nic Grigsby and Greg Nwoko runs, Nick Booth put Arizona ahead with an 8-yard TD run.

Arizona's Zendejas later missed a 24-yard field-goal attempt but then took a 24-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Foles threw 34 yards to Wright, and Nwoko ran 11 yards on a third-down draw play. Oregon's T.J. Ward got called for unsportsmanlike conduct after a tackle — he flexed his muscles. Later, Foles threw a 5-yard TD pass to Wright.

But Oregon responded behind Masoli. He connected on four passes, including one of 27 yards to Maehl. Three plays later, Masoli's 1-yard TD run made it 24-21. Masoli had earlier thrown a TD pass and scored on a run.

The Ducks got the ball back at their 45. James broke Jacquizz Rodgers' Pac-10 freshman rushing record on the drive. And then Oregon tied the score at 24-24 on Flint's 43-yard field goal, which bounced off the crossbar and through the uprights.

But Foles, who makes his living with short passes like screen passes, hit Criner on a short throw and the speedster ran 71 yards for the touchdown and 31-24 UA lead.

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