Ducks hold on 34-27 in surprising thriller over Boise State

EUGENE, Ore. — Well that didn’t go exactly as expected. 

Second-ranked Oregon piled up 497 yards of total offense in its season opener against unranked Boise State, but it took a score midway through the fourth quarter before the Ducks finally had breathing room, eventually hanging on for a 34-27 win over the visiting Broncos. 

A dazzling 62-yard catch-and-run from Dakorien Moore that included a stutter, stop and drop of Boise State defensive back Roman Tillmon — who was left on the sideline grasping at air — pushed the Ducks ahead for good with 7:51 left and capped an impressive day from the other Moore, quarterback Dante, who completed 28-of-37 passes, finishing with a career-high 388 yards and three touchdowns. 

Dakorien Moore’s juke happened right in front of his teammates on the Oregon sideline and sent the crowd of 57,652 into a frenzy.

Receiver Jeremiah McClellan said he “knew something crazy was about to happen” when Moore corralled the ball, and very much enjoyed the show Moore put on. 

“I was like yeah, this is gonna be a touchdown,” McClellan said as tight end Jamari Johnson nodded in agreement. 

“It makes everybody’s life easier when there’s playmakers around you,” Johnson said.

With the late score, fans simultaneously roared with approval and breathed a sigh of relief. This is not the Boise State of old, and Oregon was a 24.5-point favorite before kickoff. 

Instead, the Broncos made them work for it. Boise State stuffed each of Oregon’s fourth down attempts (two in the first half, and one in the second), lured them into committing 10 penalties for 90 yards and held the Ducks’ ground game to just 119 rushing yards. 

Oregon scored a field goal or touchdown on its first four drives of the second half, which Lanning said was “necessary, because we weren’t getting stops.” 

And while the win is nice for the Ducks, who are once again boasting a loaded roster expected to contend for a national championship, fifth-year coach Dan Lanning will surely be bugged by a variety of snafus, particularly on special teams. 

Oregon evened the score with 11:17 to go in the first half when Jordon Davison punched it in from the 1-yard line. But the tie lasted all of 63 seconds thanks to a muffed punt from fifth-year receiver Evan Stewart after Boise State came up empty on its ensuing drive. Stewart’s miscue led to a fumble recovery by Boise State, which responded by scoring again to go up 14-7. It was the second special teams gaffe of the day, as the Ducks also fair-caught a punt within their own 5-yard-line in the first quarter. 

“We didn’t really win the critical situations,” Lanning said, referencing special teams and calling out the defense as “off schedule” throughout the game. “We gave them an opportunity to hang around. That’s not winning football, those are some things we have to clean up. We didn’t execute some fundamental things we have to be better at.” 

Still, there were positives. 

Heisman hopeful — favorite? — Dante Moore’s first touchdown was a nice 27-yard pass to Jamari Johnson for Oregon’s second score of the day, a play that jump-started the Ducks’ sputtering offense. Moore seems to have found a new favorite target in Jeremiah McClellan, who caught six passes for 150 yards and one touchdown. 

Dante Moore wasn’t eager to brag about his own stat line, but he got a big smile on his face when asked about McClellan. 

“I’m not surprised at all,” Moore said about McClellan’s performance. “J-Mac has had a great offseason, he was always coming to my house, watching film, we’re always bowling together, he’s been in the weight room, working hard on the field too.” 

Two other Ducks, Stewart (82 yards) and Dakorien Moore (93), racked up impressive receiving numbers. Koi Perich notched a team-high 11 tackles. So and so forth. 

But there’s plenty to work on. Football coaches often like to say the biggest improvement comes between Weeks 1 and 2 — which means Lanning is probably looking forward to traveling to Oklahoma State. 

Saturday’s matchup was special for Ducks senior linebacker Teitum Tuioti, whose younger brother Mana is a linebacker for Boise State (their dad, Tony, is Oregon’s defensive line coach). Family bragging rights were on the line, though Teitum stressed afterward that all he and Mana care about is “making our family proud.” As for the game, sure, he has bragging rights … but not as many as he could have had. 

“We got the job done today,” Teitum said, “but there’s so much to clean up.” 

Getting better was a major theme of postgame. Minutes before Teitum’s comment, fellow Oregon linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei shook his head in dismay and sighed, lamenting all the times the Ducks were “shooting ourselves in the foot.” 

For Boise State, which is playing its first year in the revived and revamped Pac-12, quarterback Maddux Madsen was 15-of-29 for 181 yards and three touchdowns, while safety Travis Anderson recorded 11 tackles.