“That’s probably been the most satisfying thing for me over the last 20 years here is seeing that whole change where we go into every game expecting to win”.
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The matchup – between twin unbeaten programs; unranked Nebraska and 22nd-ranked Oregon – was an opportunity for the 63-year-old coach to exorcise the demons that haunted his Oregon State tenure and then followed him 1,684 miles to Lincoln. The Huskers led 28-26 at the time, but OR scored on the ensuing drive to take a 32-28 edge with 10:25 left.
Freeman had five rushes for 31 yards before leaving the game during Oregon’s second possession. Browning threw a 43-yard touchdown to Chico McClatcher on Washington’s opening drive, and added TD tosses of 11 yards to Darrell Daniels, 13 yards to McClatcher on the second play of the second quarter and a 4-yard TD pass to Myles Gaskin early in the fourth quarter. Nebraska is not ranked, and the Ducks have something to prove, specifically on Defense. Rather than go for the extra point, the Ducks tried once more to convert the two-point conversion. They are not “innovative” or cute.
Nebraska’s Tommy Armstrong hooked up with Jordan Westerkamp for a 22-yard touchdown minutes later, as the Huskers trailed, 8-7, by a point following their score. And through the first two weeks of the season, the downgrading looks to be correct with OR posting lackluster wins and pointspread failures against weaker foes Virginia and UC Davis.
Freeman was seen on the sideline with an ice pack on his leg.
“He told me he was good, so I told him I was going to keep running him”, Langsdorf said. OR led 20-7.
Prukop led a 10-play, 97-yard drive to put the Ducks ahead 32-28 after they had surrendered a 20-7 second-quarter lead.
What he saw was that the Oregon Ducks have a lot of options. He ran for five yards giving the ball back to Nebraska and sealing the win for Nebraska.
Armstrong left the game 1:18 into the 4th with an apparent injury. OR leads 8-7. OR lost all-conference running back Royce Freeman with an injury in the first quarter, but running back Kani Benoit rushed for 100 yards and running back Tony Brooks-James ran for three touchdowns. The Ducks’ gunslinger rushed for 26 yards on four carries during their second drive, alongside converting a third down and nine when he rushed for 10 yards to set up the score. Heading into this season, the Ducks weren’t the first choice to win the PAC-12; in fact, they were priced third behind both Stanford and Washington. Nebraska led 28-26, and so once again, OR went for two. Prukop has been solid in routs of Cal-Davis and Virginia.
“We have to do everything we can to be sound down the field to prevent big plays”, Riley said when discussing areas of focus for the OR game.
The Cornhuskers will take on the Ducks at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC to see which of these 2-0 teams can stay undefeated early on this season.
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As the head coach of Oregon State, Mike Riley lost his final seven games to in-state Oregon.
