Brown’s keeper gives No. 11 Oregon win over Fresno State
EUGENE, ORE. >> Anthony Brown Jr. was blunt about No. 11 Oregon’s offensive struggles against Fresno State.
“It wasn’t clean enough,” he said.
Brown scored on a 30yard quarterback keeper with 2:57 left and the Ducks overcame a wobbly season opener with a 3124 victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday.
Oregon jumped to a 21-6 lead, but Fresno State scored two unanswered touchdowns to tie the game midway through the third quarter, then took the lead early in the fourth on Abraham Montano’s field goal.
Camden Lewis kicks a 25-yard game-tying field goal before Brown’s goahead touchdown.
The performance was somewhat concerning given the Ducks face No. 4 Ohio State next weekend.
“In order for us to go where we need to go, we have to be firing on all cylinders, which we weren’t today. And that was obvious,” Brown said. “We’re going to see it on the tape, fix what we need to we need to fix and move on and progress from it.”
Brown threw for 172 yards and a touchdown while running for 62 yards and the winner. It was Oregon’s 17th straight homeopening victory.
Brown, a sixth-year senior, transferred to Oregon last year from Boston College but was backup to Tyler Shough until getting playing time in the Pac-12 title game and the Fiesta Bowl. Shough transferred to Texas Tech in the offseason.
The Ducks were hurt by the loss of defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, who left the game at halftime with a left ankle injury.
Oregon had not played a game at Autzen Stadium for 644 days and the game came amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the state.
Oregon and Oregon State were among the first schools to require proof of vaccination or a negative virus test to attend football games. Gov. Kate Brown also imposed a mask mandate, even at outdoor events.