Ducks Smoke Bruins with Blount Instrument — LaGarrette Blount’s late 69-yard TD run rolls Ducks one toke under the line in tighter-than-expected 31-24 ‘burner
Even after getting dismantled by usc last week, the Oregon Ducks came into Saturday’s game against UCLA as prohibitive 18-point Favorites. But the Bruins went head-to-head with the Ducks for 60 minutes, making the Autzen Stadium crowd very nervous all the way to the end.
Thanks to several dropped Interceptions by Duck defenders, the Bruins were down by only one score, WITH THE BALL, in the 4th quarter. But LaGarrette Blount’s tackle-breaking TD run with 2:22 left was just too much to overcome. When the Bruins’ Onside Kick failed with under a minute left, the outcome was finally decided.
In the first half, the Bruins’ Offense was ineffective, as an injured Kahlil Bell and an out-of-rhythm Kevin Craft couldn’t muster up a single scoring drive. It was the Defense that kept the Bruins in the game. It was only 7-0 until a late TD made it 14-0 at the half. But Norm Chow’s legendary adjustment-ability was visible in the second half, as the Bruins put up 24 points in an utra-hostile environment.
While the UCLA D held Oregon to 42 yards passing, they had one fatal vulnerability: They couldn’t stop the RUNNING of the QB. Jeremiah “Holy” Masoli gained 170 yards on the ground, including several key runs late in the game.
Receivers Ryan Moya, Jeff Miller, Taylor Embree, Terrence Austin, and Dominque Johnson all contributed, as Craft threw for 288 yards, despite hitting Ducks instead of Bruins on at least 8 occasions. It was up to Craft to throw, as the Bruins could grind out only 63 yards on the ground. With the Defense then looking for the pass, Craft got sacked about 8 times, and UCLA couldn’t produce enough points to pull off the upset. Apparently. sc didn’t soften them up as much as needed.
And speaking of softening up, here are some more Cheer photos from the pre-game rally last week.
