Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Colorado holds off Oregon, wins, 41-38
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Steven Montez threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start and Colorado held off Oregon 41-38 on Saturday, the Buffaloes’ first victory over the Ducks since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
Ahkello Witherspoon intercepted Dakota Prukop’s pass to Darren Carrington in the end zone on Oregon’s final drive to preserve the win for Colorado (3-1).
The Buffaloes had retaken the lead following a controversial 31-yard touchdown from Montez to Bryce Bobo. After review, the officials ruled Bobo had control of the ball in his right hand when his right foot came down in the end zone — but the crowd at Autzen Stadium booed in disagreement.
The Buffaloes led from the start and went up 33-17 following Montez’s 48-yard TD pass to Devin Ross to open the second half.
But Kani Benoit scored on a 3-yard touchdown to pull Oregon (2-2) within 33-31. Troy Dye’s interception on Colorado’s subsequent possession led to Prukup’s 18-yard go-ahead TD pass to Carrington late in the third quarter.
The takeaway
Colorado: The Buffaloes showed surprising toughness on defense despite missing one of their top defensive players, linebacker Derek McCartney, who tore his right ACL and is out for the season. They also were resilient on offense in the absence of Liufau. Ross finished with seven catches for 153 yards.
Oregon: It was anticipated that the Ducks would come out with zeal following the disappointing loss to the Huskers but they sputtered from the start, allowing Colorado to jump out to an early 22-7 lead in the opening half.
Up next
Colorado: After two straight on the road, the Buffaloes return home to host Oregon State. The Beavers (1-2) hold a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series, but Colorado won the last one, 17-13. Oregon State fell 38-24 at home to Boise State earlier Saturday.
Oregon: The Ducks head north for a game against Washington State in Pullman. The Cougars (1-2) have a bye this weekend. While Oregon has a 47-34-6 advantage in the all-time series, Washington State pulled off an 45-38 upset in double overtime last year in Eugene. …
Utah 31, USC 27: Troy Williams threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in No. 24 Utah’s comeback victory over Southern California on Friday night.
The Utes roared back in spectacular fashion with Tim Patrick catching an 18-yard touchdown pass at the pylon with 16 seconds remaining to cap a 15-play, 93-yard drive. Patrick had his third 100-yard receiving game of the season.
“USC, that’s my hometown,” said Williams, who is from Carson, California. “Growing up watching Reggie Bush, Carson Palmer and Mike Williams and all those dudes, just sitting at home watching on TV and imagining maybe one day I’ll play with them or against them. Today was that day.”
The Trojans controlled most of the game and had a 27-17 fourth-quarter lead, but Utah (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) scored 14 straight points. USC fell to 1-3 for the first time since 2001.
Utah attempted to control the game on the ground early against the No. 98 run defense in the country, but USC tightened up and forced the Utes to win through the air.
USC’s Sam Darnold threw for 253 yards and ran for a touchdown in his first career start after replacing Max Browne.
“Refused to quit, just kept fighting the entire 60 minutes,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Made play after play after play at the end there when we had to make plays.
“Nobody panicked. Just kept doing our thing.”
The takeaway
USC: The Trojans are in serious trouble. There were already whispers that coach Clay Helton was on the hot seat, but blowing a 10-point lead in the final quarter may solidify that. Darnold was an upgrade, but USC is now 0-2 in conference.
Utah: Friday was the first true test for the Utes and they passed — barely. The run game started hot with 132 yards in the first half, but faded fast and continued to have ball-control issues with two fumbles. The defense allowed the most yards it has all season (466), but bowed up in the fourth quarter when the team absolutely needed it.
Injury update
Utah starting cornerback Dominique Hatfield played in his first game of the year. He’d been sidelined with an undisclosed leg injury.
The Utes lost 2015 first team All-Pac-12 tackle Lowell Lotulelei to an unknown injury before halftime and did not return.
Fancy
The Utes wore new black helmets that were individually hand painted by an artist. The design mimics a granite texture and no two are identical as each has its own serial number painted on the helmet.
Poll implications
USC: The Trojans will continue to stay out of the poll. They didn’t receive a single vote last week.
Utah: The Utes could move up a couple spots depending on what happens in front of them because of a 4-0 start. A win over USC, however, won’t get a lot of points from voters.
Quotable
“Watching them drive the ball down kind of crushed our soul,” USC receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said.
Up next
USC: The Trojans return home to host Arizona State (3-0, 0-0) in a Pac-12 South showdown Oct. 1.
Utah: The Utes travel to face California (2-1, 0-0) in Pac-12 action on Oct. 1. …
Boise State 38, Oregon State 24.: Jeremy McNichols ran for 208 yards and scored four touchdowns and Boise State is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2011 after a win Saturday over Oregon State.
McNichols did most of his damage in the first half, as the junior running back ran for 146 yards and touchdowns of 5, 6 and 70 yards, and caught a 6-yard scoring pass.
Brett Rypien completed 19 of 36 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown for the Broncos, who won their fourth consecutive game against a Pacific-12 opponent, and their second this season.
The Broncos’ offense accumulated 512 yards, but only 77 after halftime. Oregon State, held to 67 yards during the first half, finished with 287.
“I thought their mindset coming off a bye week was really good,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. “We walk out of here with a lot of things we need to improve on, and we have a W along with that.”
Both teams scored on their opening drive, as Oregon State (1-2) tied the game at 7 on a 14-yard run by Ryan Nall. But the Broncos ran over the Beavers from there, holding OSU to 41 yards on its final six first-half drives, while scoring 24 consecutive points to take a 31-7 halftime lead.
Boise State took a 14-7 lead on a 6-yard run by McNichols with 5:23 left in the first quarter, then sat on that advantage for nearly a quarter before scoring 17 points during the final seven minutes of the first half.
“He was angry out there,” Harsin said of McNichols. “On that long run, I didn’t see him, he just squirted out of there and he was gone. That’s the offensive line, that’s the tight end, that’s J-Mac. That’s what we’re capable of doing.”
OSU quarterback Darell Garretson was 11 of 16 for 53 yards, but was benched after a half in favor of Conor Blount. The freshman walk-on gave the Beavers a spark, as Oregon State scored 10 third-quarter points to cut the deficit to 31-17.
Darren Lee’s 19-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Boise State offset a 99-yard kickoff return by OSU’s Victor Bolden during the fourth quarter.
It was Boise State’s first win in four tries at Oregon State. The Broncos have yet to trail in a game this season.
The takeaway
Boise State: The win should put the Broncos in a strong position to crack next week’s AP Top 25 and add to their streak of 14 consecutive years where they have spent at least one week in the rankings. Boise State’s schedule sets up well for one of its best starts in years, as the Broncos play three of their next four games at home.
Beating back-to-back Pac-12 teams is more mindset than talent, Lee said.
“Everyone we play is talented, everyone’s got skill, but at the end of the day, you have to have that mentality. If you’re not willing to go out and put it down on the line every play, that’s the difference,” Lee said.
Oregon State: The Beavers, coming off their first win in 11 games last Saturday against Idaho State, now head into Pacific-12 Conference play, where OSU has lost 11 consecutive games. Oregon State will have much to fix on defense, after giving up 435 yards and 21 first downs during the first half to Boise State. The Beavers offense wasn’t much help, after managing just 41 yards on their final six drives of the first half.
“It was an absolute beat down in the first half. The kids fought and battled back and did some good things. But you cannot trick yourself into wins against good teams. We have to be able to execute, sustain tempo and sustain drives,” Oregon State coach Gary Andersen said.
Up next
Boise State: The Broncos open Mountain West Conference play at home against Utah State next Saturday. Last year, Utah State beat Boise State 52-26, the Broncos’ most one-sided MWC loss in school history.
Oregon State: The Beavers hit the road for their Pacific-12 Conference opener at Colorado next Saturday. The Buffaloes opened league play Saturday at Oregon.