No. 2 Oregon had to dig itself out of an early hole, and the Ducks did it with the kind of late-game execution Dan Lanning has drilled into them over and over.
Boise State pushed Oregon to the brink in the season opener Sept. 5 at Autzen Stadium, building a 17-7 lead late in the second quarter before the Ducks steadied themselves and rallied for a 34-27 win. Oregon’s response came in layers: a quick strike before halftime, a strong opening to the second half, and then a decisive burst from Dakorien Moore in the fourth quarter.
Lanning said the Ducks never got the start they wanted.
“We talk about starting fast; we didn’t start fast tonight,” Lanning said. “That didn’t show up for us. We kind of had our backs against the wall there early and I thought the guys responded to that.”
The first step back came in the final minute of the first half. Dante Moore guided a four-play, 44-yard drive in 43 seconds, ending it with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Johnson with 19 seconds left before halftime. That trimmed Boise State’s advantage to 17-14 and gave Oregon real life going into the break.
“We certainly work this situations a ton through fall camp, throughout spring ball,” Lanning said. “(Dante Moore’s) been a a part of them now here at Oregon multiple times, but I thought he he did a great job of having an understanding of what we were going to get from a coverage standpoint.”
Oregon kept pushing after halftime. Gage Hurych connected on a 26-yard field goal, then Jeremiah McClellan hauled in an 8-yard touchdown catch to put the Ducks ahead 24-17. Boise State answered, and the game tightened again, with the teams deadlocked 27-27 near the middle of the fourth quarter.
That’s when Dakorien Moore changed everything.
The sophomore receiver took a pass in stride at the Broncos’ 43-yard line, slammed on the brakes at the 38 as two Boise State defenders flew by and ended up out of bounds, then turned it back on and glided the final 38 yards untouched for a 62-yard touchdown with 7:51 left.
“That’s probably his No. 1 play in my eyes,” Dante Moore raved. “That just shows the playmaking skill he has in him. A lot of times you can teach that but sometimes you’re just born with it.”
The Ducks also seemed to get a little extra edge before the fourth quarter even began. Boise State players danced and sang along to “Shout,” the song Oregon treats as its unofficial fight song during the commercial break between the third and fourth quarters.
“They was having their fun,” Johnson said with a big smile. “But I kind of took it as a little disrespect, cuz it’s our song.
It’s our song, you got no business dancing to our song. Nah, they’re a great team though and I give them their props.
They played hard. But that was a little funny to see them out there dancing.”
Dante Moore saw it through a different lens, pointing to a tactic Oregon has used before in a similar road setting.
“They were just doing something that we’ve done before,” Dante Moore said. “That’s just a way to flip your mind when you’re playing away to try and steal the juice from the crowd.
We seen it. We laughed at it.
We went out there and put points on the board.”
Boise State didn’t recover after that. Oregon outscored the Broncos 10-3 in the fourth quarter and walked away with the win.
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