Autzen held its breath
Boise State scored on the opening drive of the game and Oregon spent the rest of the night chasing the feeling that something had gone wrong. The No. 2 Ducks won 34-27 on Saturday night in Eugene, but the scoreboard read 27-27 midway through the fourth quarter of a season opener they were expected to control from the first snap.
Dante Moore threw for 388 yards and three touchdowns and needed every yard of it. His last throw of consequence, a 62-yard strike to Dakorien Moore with 7:51 left, finally separated the two teams. Until then Oregon had not led by more than three points all evening.
Maddux Madsen kept the Broncos in it with 181 passing yards and three touchdown passes, a modest yardage total that produced maximum damage. Boise State turned short fields and long drives into points while Oregon’s offense stalled in stretches that will bother Dan Lanning on the flight home.
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How the Broncos built their lead
Madsen opened the scoring with a 13-yard pass to Cam Bates, the reward for an 11-play drive that ate the first quarter. Jordon Davison answered with a one-yard dive early in the second, and that looked like the moment the favourites would take over.
Instead Evan Stewart muffed a punt, Boise State recovered, and Sire Gaines scored on a 37-yard reception to put the visitors back in front. Canaan Moore added a 29-yard field goal with under three minutes left in the half for a 17-7 lead.
Oregon needed the final 19 seconds of the half to get back within reach, Dante Moore finding Jamari Johnson from 27 yards out for 17-14 at the break. Gage Hurych’s 26-yard field goal and Jeremiah McClellan’s eight-yard touchdown catch put the Ducks ahead in the third, and Madsen tied it again with a seven-yard pass to Matt Wagner before the quarter ended.
A streak intact, a ranking in question
The win extended Oregon’s home winning streak against nonconference opponents to 39 games, the longest active run in the country, and made it 16 straight season openers won at Autzen Stadium. Those numbers will survive the night. The Ducks’ hold on the No. 2 spot may not, given they were one of only five teams to collect first-place votes in the preseason AP poll.
Boise State, 9-5 in the Mountain West last season and now part of the rebuilt Pac-12, leave Eugene with a loss that reads better than most of their season openers. Madsen threw for 2,334 yards and 18 touchdowns last year and looked comfortable against a defence with playoff ambitions. Oregon travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State next week. Boise State host Memphis.
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