Oregon Ducks Falls to UCLA 31-14

It’s probably time that someone reminds the University of Oregon football team that a football game has two halves. Because, for the third straight game, they watched their opponent run up the score after halftime, turning what looked to be a close game early on into a total laugher.

Case in point? Heading into halftime of their game last Saturday against UCLA, the Ducks were tied 14-14 with the Bruins. But UCLA then went on to score 17 unanswered points in the second half, en route to a 31-14 win. Over the last three games, the Ducks have been outscored by a 58-0 margin in the second half.

Oregon is now in the midst of a three-game losing streak, after watching quarterback Justin Herbert suffer a season-ending broken collarbone injury on the first day of October, against the University of California. Freshman quarterback Braxton Burmeister had another rough day, completing eight of his 15 passing attempts for only 74 yards, while throwing an interception. He did manage to score both of Oregon’s touchdowns with his legs, as part of his 16 carries for 27 yards.

Oregon’s opponent had no issue with getting production from their own quarterback position. Junior quarterback Josh Rosen, another highly-touted quarterback in the Pac-12 who could be a very high selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, while posting his first game with no interceptions thrown since the second weekend of September.

The Bruins came out hot to start the game, ending the first quarter with a 14-0 lead. But Burmeister finished two drives for the Ducks spanning 15 plays with touchdown runs of seven and four yards, putting the game at a 14-14 tie at intermission. But the Bruins added a field goal the first time they got the ball after halftime, and junior running back Bolu Olorunfunmi capped UCLA’s seven-play, 87-yard drive with a 22-yard touchdown run the next time they got the ball back again. Olorunfunmi led the Bruins with 76 yards rushing on 13 carries. Junior running back Soso Jamabo had 66 yards rushing on 15 carries, along with the first touchdown of the day.

As was the case in last week’s loss to Stanford University, senior running back Royce Freeman was once again the lone bright spot for Oregon. Freeman ran for a season-high 160 yards on 29 carries against the Bruins; he himself outgained the entire Bruins rushing attack by a 160-142 yards margin. His 5,103 career yards rushing moves him past former Ducks great LaMichael James for the most career yards rushing by an Oregon player. Freeman also moved into third place among Pac-12 career rushing leaders, while becoming the 22nd player in FBS history with 5,000 career yards rushing.

After two separate trips to the state of California, Oregon will get to stay home this weekend, as they host the University of Utah at Autzen Stadium on Saturday. While the Utes are coming into the game on a three-game losing streak themselves, they’re a slight favorite (3.5 points) despite being the road team.