Oregon Football: Game-by-game recap for 2019 season
By Nick Noel
Pac-12 Championship Game
After the loss to Arizona State, things seemed desperate as the Ducks were knocked out of playing for the College Football Playoff by a team it felt it should’ve beaten — the Ducks and Justin Herbert faced a lot of questions.
Adding to the negativity was the fact that Oregon’s likely opponent in the Pac-12 Championship Game, the Utah Utes, were looking dominant as if they would be headed for the College Football Playoff.
A sloppy civil war victory saw the Ducks improve their win total to 10 games, the most wins for a Duck team since Mariota’s Heisman winning season in 2014.
On Dec. 6, the Ducks and the Utes faced off in Santa Clara. For the Ducks, a win would make the season a success and give the senior class a championship. For Utah, a win meant a likely spot in the playoff as the fourth seed, the school’s first Pac-12 Championship and validation for the program and head coach Kyle Whittingham who had been close to defeating Washington in the 2018 Pac-12 Championship Game.
Oregon’s defense gave the team momentum early on by stopping Utah running back Zack Moss on a fourth-and-2 from the Oregon 33-yard line. The offense quickly marched down the field, scoring on a CJ Verdell 4-yard touchdown run, a Camden Lewis field goal gave the Ducks a 10-0 lead at the end of quarter No. 1.
The defense continued to stifle the Utes, who tended to pick up a few first ones before invariably being stopped on key third and fourth downs. Another touchdown and field goal gave the Ducks a commanding halftime lead of 20-0. Utah would make things interesting in the third quarter with two touchdown drives, making it a game with a score of 23-15 heading into the final frame.
With 7:09 left in the game, Verdell took off on a 70-yard touchdown scamper, aided by dominant offensive line play that saw several of Utah’s elite defensive linemen pancaked by Oregon’s excellent offensive line.
The Oregon defense was led by Oregon-native Brady Breeze who finished with a team-high nine tackles and an interception, senior linebacker Troy Dye, who finished with eight tackles and an interception of his own and lauded true freshman defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, the former five-star recruit recorded 2.5 sacks as well as a blocked punt.
Justin Herbert responded from two lackluster performances against Arizona State and Oregon State, providing a dual-threat look rarely seen before this game. After the victory, Mario Cristobal spoke about the validation of winning a Pac-12 Championship, especially for a senior class that began their tenures at Oregon with a 4-8 season, the Ducks’ worst regular season since 1991.