The first half in this one looked more like a South Eugene – North Eugene early December tilt, complete with sometimes driving rain, slippery turf, and the odd dollop of mud. The 23-0 halftime score hugely flattered Arizona, who did as close to absolutely zilch as possible, short of not trotting out onto the field at Levi’s in the first place. Looked like RichRod’s head might explode as he plodded off to the locker room.
No, the first half was all Ducks – the ugly (how about all those crucial penalties that erased at least 14 points from the board?), the bad (lots of missed throws and/or missed catches), and the Good (hello Marcus Matriota, Royce Freeman, Charles Nelson, and the entire Ducks defense – RichRod’s been shut out in a half four times now, three of them courtesy of the Ducks – and what a run by Kenny Basset to set the half-ending field goal).
Halftime Stats:
Arizona gained 25 yards, to the Ducks’ 382. The Wildcats netted 34 yards through the air (that’s 2.8 yards per catch), but that was yanked back by a staggering -9 yards on the ground! Meanwhile Marcus Mariota was 14 of 27, and threw for 190 yards. Royce Freeman, who was a force of Nature up the middle, gained 90 yards. Fellow freshman Charles Nelson added 40, and Mariota chipped in 26, including two rushing TDs.
Top Photo by Gary Breedlove
Related Articles:
Randy Morse (Editor and Writer) is a native Oregonian, a South Eugene High and U of O grad (where he played soccer for the Ducks, waaay back in ’70-‘71). After his doctoral work at the University of Alberta he launched a writing & publishing career – that plus his love of mountaineering has taken him all over the world. An award-winning artist, musician, broadcaster, and author, he’s written 8 books – his writing on media & democracy earned him the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting’s 2014 Dalton Camp Award. He swears he taught LaMarcus Aldridge his patented fade-way jump shot, and is adamant that if he hadn’t left the country (and was a foot taller) he would be the owner of a prosperous chain of fast food outlets and a member of the NBA Hall of Fame by now. If there is a more rabid Ducks fan in the known universe, this would come as a major surprise to Morse’s long-suffering family. He resides in the tiny alpine village of Kaslo, British Columbia.