The Ducks Survive Their Clunker

And might have met their new Stanford.

Most of us have a little voice inside our head that speaks to us in our moments of greatest need, and with 1:38 left in a slugfest against Wisconsin, Matayo Uiagalelei’s little voice whispered two words:

“Look up.”

And for his efforts, his Oregon Ducks escaped their scariest road test of the year with a 16-13 victory and their second-ever 11-0 record in program history.

It would be criminally cliche if I told you that this game wasn’t pretty. In all honesty, it was downright disgusting.

But Oregon’s defense picked up the slack for an offensive unit that is desperately missing Tez Johnson, and they made some key second half stops that choked out the last ounces of momentum that the Badgers had left.

After eight straight weeks without a bye—and with three of those games taking place on the other side of the country—the wear-and-tear certainly reared its ugly head on the Oregon depth chart and on their on-field product.

Another seven penalties for fifty-five yards certainly didn’t help us. Neither did a good deal of missed blocking assignments—Patrick Herbert’s missed block on Dan’s risky/stupid fake field goal comes to mind.

And it also didn’t help that Dillon rediscovered his proclivity for throwing red zone interceptions.

On top of that, our offensive play-calling was un-shockingly un-creative for most of the game. Wisconsin delivered two field goal drives of nearly six minutes and nine minutes, and all of the sudden we weren’t our dynamic selves anymore.

Jordan James was tenacious on the ground with 121 yards on 25 carries and our lone touchdown, but it felt like Will Stein was wrongfully forcing the run throughout the second and third quarters.

I know that I preached “Run The Damn Ball” in my game preview, but we abandoned a budding intermediate passing game with Stewart and Ferg—and Sadiq, if we had thrown it to him more than once—far too early.

We were intent on slowing the game down, cherishing every possession, and leaning into the fact that it was going to be our first real Big Ten Rock Fight™.

On one hand, that performance showed a level resilience that this team hadn’t had to show in a while.

It had been over a month since they went toe-to-toe with Ohio, and even longer than that since they escaped Boise. Not to mention that both of those victories came on their home field, with the Autzen crowd behind them.

And so their ability to bounce back certainly further proved that the Ducks have championship-level DNA. They literally jumped around with a rowdy Camp Randall Stadium and emerged victorious from a game where things had not gone to plan.

But on the other hand, this was the second-straight week where the Ducks have looked mortal.

Heck, “mortal” might be too generous.

Our offense has been increasingly more mistake-prone and predictable since Tez went down, and the timeline for his return feels just a little more dire with bigger games ahead.

I could count on two hands the number of highlight-worthy plays that came from the offense on Saturday night, and I’d still be like Jason Pierre-Paul: I’d have a couple fingers left.

Yet I’d still argue that the play of the game came on a late 4th & 9 where Dan gambled and DG threw the ball on the run to a sliding Ferg, keeping the eventual game-tying drive alive.

And luckily, for as long as our offense is struggling, it feels like our defense is happy to carry the boats.

Whether it was multiple run stops by Boettcher and Bassa, or a must-have pass breakup from Brandon Johnson, this defensive unit was filled to the brim with individuals who knew how to meet the moment.

And nobody did it more spectacularly than Matayo “Young Concrete” Uiagalelei.

It would probably have been enough for the true sophomore—who is getting even more playing time in Jordan Burch’s absence—to have made a bone-crunching third-down stop on Wisconsin’s second-to-last drive, but he had a little more juice left in the tank.

Because the Badgers somehow got the ball back (don’t ask me how), and Jamaree Caldwell managed to bat Braedyn Locke’s final pass attempt up into the air.

And then, as if the ghost of Willie Mayes was performing a full-on Angels-In-The-Backfield miracle, some otherworldly force perched itself on Matayo’s shoulder and told him to stretch out his arms.

Like Mase Funa and Jeff Bassa before him, Young Concrete sealed a terrifyingly close road victory with a prodigious interception that won’t soon be forgotten.

He has surely endeared himself in the hearts of many Duck fans—namely my wife who is now the #1 Matayo stan in the world, but has been finding it harder to connect with new names and faces in the transfer portal era.

But now she’s all-in on Gentle Giant from St. John Bosco.

Oregon didn’t need that interception to win the game, but the ‘95 team also didn’t need Kenny Wheaton to score on, “The Pick,” either.

Yet we’ll still appreciate both plays for the rest of our lives.

This one was a strugglefest, and sometimes you’re unsure how to evaluate a strugglefest.

Maybe this one was merely a blip, like our 15-13 win over Cal in 2010.

Or perhaps it was a blinking warning sign on the side of the road that reads:

GET TEZ HEALTHY OR ELSE.

Only time will tell.

And thankfully, we finally get a bit of time to rest, recover, and plot our long-overdue revenge against a team that Dan can’t (read: hasn’t) beat.

Go Ducks.