“Auburn beats Oregon” is not the phrase Oregon fans wanted to hear following week one. However, here we are.
The matchup came in with much hype. College Gameday was on location in Arlington. Both teams were ranked in the top 20, and it featured the only game in college football with each team ranked.
For Oregon, this game was heartbreaking. Fans have seen tough losses in games like this one before, but a facet of this one was a chance to take down a ranked SEC team and prove on a national stage they could beat a team with an elite defensive line.
Auburn Beats Oregon
First Quarter
The Ducks came out hot. They were using a number of screens to move down the field, and then a 47-yard catch by Johnny Johnson III set the Ducks up with fourth and goal. It did take until fourth down, but wanting to make a statement, the Ducks went for it, and C.J. Verdell ran it right up the middle for a score.
Following that drive was the debut of Andy Avalos’ defense. Things started off hot. The front was able to pressure Bo Nix, who was making his first career start as a true freshman, and force a three-and-out.
Following the defensive stand, the offense moved the ball easily once again. However, this time a touchdown was dropped on third down by Bryan Addison, which preceded a missed field goal attempt from only 20 yards out by Camden Lewis. Teams leaving points on the board would become a theme of the night.
Following that missed opportunity, Auburn completed a 38-yard pass on the first play, which led to a field goal to get the Tigers on the board.
After surrendering a field goal, the offense continued to hum. In a drive started by a 37-yard run by C.J. Verdell, Oregon scored on three plays. The touchdown was a cross-field throw by Justin Herbert to tight end Spencer Webb, for his first career TD catch.
Second Quarter
The second quarter featured a lot of action, but not a lot of scoring.
Auburn opened the quarter by driving into the redzone, but then Bo Nix was picked off by Thomas Graham Jr.
Both teams quickly traded punts following that redzone turnover, but when Auburn punted, Jevon Holland took the punt back 81 yards to the Auburn 9. However, on the first play from inside the ten, Justin Herbert fumbled on a play-action fake. Big Kat Bryant picked up the fumble and ran it back to the three-yard line.
It looked like Bryant was going to score on the play, but Bryan Addison made a great play to chase him down and keep him out of the endzone.
That ended up being a huge play because Oregon forced Auburn to lose four yards and kick a field goal. The defense couldn’t have done a better job given the spot they were put in.
Before the end of the half, Oregon picked off Bo Nix again, this time it was Jevon Holland. Oregon wasn’t able to take advantage of anything, however, and Auburn missed a 42-yard field goal at the end of the half, giving Oregon a 14-6 advantage at the break.
Third Quarter
The second half began much like the first. Auburn went three-and-out and Oregon followed that with a nine-play drive, capped off by a Darrian Felix 6-yard touchdown run on an end-around.
Following that score, the teams traded punts, but then things started to unravel for the Ducks. Sparked by a 36-yard end-around by Eli Stove, Auburn started to up the tempo. This led to an 11-yard touchdown pass from Nix to Stove as Oregon was lost defensively trying to deal with the increased tempo.
Fourth Quarter
After three straight punts in the game, it was becoming clear the Oregon defense was getting tired. No better example of this was shown as the drive where Auburn cut it to a one-point game.
The defense gave up an explosive pass to Sal Cannella and an explosive run to JaTarvious Whitlow.
It also wasn’t just those big plays, but the runs that were one or two-yard runs earlier in the game were now becoming four-to-seven yard runs, and the defense was struggling to tackle Whitlow.
The ensuing Oregon drive was interesting. The offense actually got momentum going but faced a fourth down at the Auburn 41. Justin Herbert had just come out after banging knees with an Auburn defender. Under the assumption of being able to use a timeout to get him back in the game, Mario Cristobal burned his second timeout. However, the rule only applies to a player having to come out for his helmet coming off.
That confusion ended in Tyler Shough having to take the most important snap of the game for Oregon. Not only that, but the Ducks burned their final timeout after having confusion over the personnel that was supposed to be in the game.
A predictable run to the left side followed and what seemed like seven Auburn defenders were in the backfield.
Things were really teetering for Oregon, but the defense came out and forced a three-and-out.
The Final Drive
After getting that three-and-out, the offense was able to get a first down but was forced to punt with 2:14 left. Oregon punter Blake Maimone had a great game, but his worst punt happened at the worst time.
His punt traveled only 29 yards, leaving the Oregon defense in a tough spot.
The tired defense nearly forced a turnover on downs, but Bo Nix got enough momentum going on fourth and three to convert.
From there it felt inevitable that Auburn would score. They were in a comfortable field goal position with a strong-legged kicker.
Gus Malzahn wasn’t settling though. Bo Nix dropped back to throw and took a shot deep. That shot connected with Seth Williams catching a touchdown over Verone McKinley III.
Final result: Auburn beats Oregon 27-21
Pros
Pass Protection
Auburn did finish with three sacks, but that was on 40 dropbacks. Also, a couple of the sacks were from rolling out the pocket, leaving Justin Herbert with no option if the primary target isn’t open.
Overall the pass protection held up really well against one of the top defensive lines in college football, led by Derrick Brown, who will be a high draft pick in the Spring.
The Defense
Yes, they gave up 21 points in the second half. However, the offense did them no favors. Constant three-and-outs are going to result in a tired defense and that’s exactly what happened.
With it being Andy Avalos’ first game at Oregon, expect this side of the ball to continue to improve. However, the improvement already made was obvious, especially on the backend of the defense. The secondary played extremely well last night and as long as the main guys stay healthy, this will be a tough defense to pass against.
The one thing that does need to improve big time on this side of the ball is finishing off sacks. Avalos was able to scheme things up so guys got a free run at Nix. However, they whiffed on most of those attempts. Most didn’t end up hurting because they were still able to get Nix to throw the ball away, but you’d prefer to see them get the opposing quarterback on the ground more.
Cons
Offensive Playcalling
The scripted plays from Marcus Arroyo’s offense worked out really well. The offense came out humming and receivers were open with ease.
However, once Auburn adjusted, it didn’t feel like there was any counter adjustment. This is the main reason the sentence “Auburn beats Oregon” is being written.
Yes, Oregon was short three key receivers after camp injuries to Brendan Schooler and Mycah Pittman and then Juwan Johson being unable to give it a go, but Justin Herbert is going to be a first-round pick and he is capable of making all the throws.
If guys aren’t getting open downfield, it’s the offensive staffs job to scheme them open, which is something that we saw early in the game, but we didn’t see it much last season and didn’t see it again once Auburn adjusted.
Timeout Management
As mentioned, Oregon burned two straight timeouts trying to get Herbert back in the game. Would having those timeouts have changed the outcome? Nobody will ever know. It would’ve been nice to have those timeouts on defense however as Auburn was driving on the last drive.
The worst one though was Oregon having to burn a timeout before the first snap of the game. How does that happen? It’s an inexcusable thing to occur, and over Mario Cristobal’s first season and now one game, we have seen too many occurrences of Oregon having to burn timeouts when they shouldn’t need to.
Mismanaging situations is largely what led Oregon to give away a 24-7 lead to Stanford last season, and it reared it’s ugly head once again Saturday Night.
Overall
While the loss is tough to take if you’re an Oregon fan, there are positives to take away. Given how the offensive line played against one of the better fronts in college football, this line should have no issues pushing around the majority of teams on their schedule.
This is also going to be a defense that will force a good amount of turnovers and should pressure opposing quarterbacks a lot. As long as they stay healthy, this will be a top-three defense in the Pac-12.
Now it will be on Mario Cristobal and his staff to regroup the team and get them to bounce back. Last season after the tough Stanford loss, the team went on the road and beat a ranked Cal team 42-24. So they have shown the ability to be resilient. Now, you’d like to see them come out and blow out Nevada and Montana to wrap up the non-conference slate.
So while the headline “Auburn beats Oregon” is going to be tough for Oregon fans to get past, there’s plenty to like from last night. The coaching staff is going to have to learn to manage game situations better and keep their foot on the gas offensively, but there is plenty to like.
What will matter most going forward is overall team health and both sides of the ball improving week in and week out.