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Oregon Football: Game-by-game recap for 2019 season

By Nick Noel

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 06: Oregon Ducks players celebrate after the Ducks defeated the Utah Utes 37-15 in the Pac-12 Championship Game at Levi's Stadium on December 06, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 06: Oregon Ducks players celebrate after the Ducks defeated the Utah Utes 37-15 in the Pac-12 Championship Game at Levi's Stadium on December 06, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 01: Head coach Mario Cristobal (C), Brady Breeze (L) #25 and Justin Herbert (R) #10 of the Oregon Ducks celebrate after defeating the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl game presented by Northwestern Mutual at Rose Bowl on January 01, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 01: Head coach Mario Cristobal (C), Brady Breeze (L) #25 and Justin Herbert (R) #10 of the Oregon Ducks celebrate after defeating the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl game presented by Northwestern Mutual at Rose Bowl on January 01, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Rose Bowl

After the monumental victory in the Pac-12 Championship, the Ducks faced another tough test in the form of the Wisconsin Badgers who finished the year as Big Ten West champs, going 10-2 in the regular season, before eventually giving way to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game (Wisconsin held a 21-7 halftime lead).

Wisconsin’s offense was led by a big offensive line including center Tyler Biadasz the Rimington Award winner as the country’s top center and two-time Doak Walker award winner Jonathan Taylor.

The 106th edition of the Rose Bowl Game, lived up to the tremendous legacy of the game’s storied past. Both teams traded quick scores as Oregon drove down the field on their first possession, capped by a Justin Herbert touchdown which would be a recurring theme all game.

Wisconsin’s Aron Cruikshank proceeded to take the ensuing kickoff back 95 yards down the sideline, tying the score  in an instant. A back and forth first half ended with a 17-14 Wisconsin lead, and a single incident of fan entering the field, goaded on by the crowd as he was chased by every security guard in sight.

Brady Breeze continued his phenomenal late season play, returning a fumble 31 yards to the house, giving the Ducks a 21-17 lead. The fumble was painful for Wisconsin fans, who watched punter Anthony Lotti drop the ball for the second time in as many games — fumbles that, on film, the punter seemed to have corralled before the ball somehow slipped out of his hands and was up for grabs. Wisconsin would go onto to score 10 unanswered points, leading 27-21 after a Collin Larsh field goal.

With possession of the ball and approximately 7.5 minutes remaining in the game, Wisconsin receiver Danny Davis coughed up the football and the Ducks’ defense returned the possession back to their offense, setting them up with excellent field position at the Wisconsin 30-yard line.

The very next play, Herbert’s career-defining 30-yard touchdown run occurred, giving the Ducks the lead for good (albeit there were some nail-biting moments, getting the ball back and running out the clock) and a 28-27 victory, the school’s fourth Rose Bowl win and the third since 2012.

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