TUCSON, Ariz. -- This wasn't an important road win. It was an exorcism. Oregon's 44-41, double-overtime win at Arizona came complete with a miracle field goal, a last-second, game-tying touchdown and a flying bottle of holy water.
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| Oregon head coach Chip Kelly leaves Arizona impressed with his Ducks, who are on a mission. (Getty Images) |
Oregon still has to beat Oregon State in The Civil War on Dec. 3 to advance to its first Rose Bowl since 1995 -- and just its second in the past 50 years. But the manner in which the Ducks won in Tucson left you with the unmistakable impression that this team won't be denied.
"I've never been to an exorcism but this sure felt like a crazy football game to me," said the Oregon quarterback with the Biblical name, Jeremiah Masoli. "Everybody had faith until the end."
The end finally came when Masoli bulled in from 1 yard out on a misdirection play in the second overtime, after Arizona had settled for a field goal.
But there were plenty of notable scenes before that final act.
With Arizona leading 24-21 midway through the fourth period, Oregon kicker Morgan Flint drilled a 43-yard field goal that landed squarely on the crossbar, bounced high into the air and slipped over the bar to tie the game.
Arizona grabbed a 31-24 lead at the 7:41 mark on a quick bubble screen to Juron Criner that wound up covering 71 yards.
But Masoli wasn't done. Despite a putrid third quarter in which the Ducks managed just 40 yards and were shut out for the first time in four games, Masoli got them off the mat. Oregon drove 80 yards on 15 plays and Masoli found Ed Dickson in the end zone with six seconds remaining in the game to knot the score and force overtime.
"He's just incredible," said Oregon running back LaMichael James of Masoli. "He just stayed poised and led us to the win."
Prior to kickoff, the most notable part of this vital Pac-10 game was that Southern California was nowhere to be found. The Trojans had won at least a share of the Pac-10 title for the past eight years.
Not this year. Traveler was AWOL. So were Pete Carroll's silver locks. So was that mind-numbing USC fight song.
But Arizona Stadium was still filled with a hopeful shade of red. It looked like one giant bouquet of roses, ready to fly at the feet of its favorite performer.
After an off-Broadway start, the Ducks and Wildcats finished with a flourish, totaling 900 yards of offense and a memorable close to the college football day.
When Oregon State won in Pullman, Wash., earlier in the day to officially eliminate USC from Rose Bowl contention, you had a feeling that the lowliest Pac-10 member, Arizona, was going to emerge with the inside track to Pasadena.
It was perfectly logical. It's been that kind of upside-down season in the Pac-10.
Instead, the Wildcats completed another season without the big payoff.
"This was a real tough loss, especially for the kids," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "I wish that this wasn't the outcome but we have to move forward now, just turn the page and move on."
Arizona has never played in the Rose Bowl. To put that in perspective, every other Pac-10 team has both played in and won a Rose Bowl. Every Big Ten team but Indiana has done the same. The Hoosiers lost to USC in their only appearance in 1968.
Sure, you can joke that Indiana and Arizona are both basketball schools, but for two-plus quarters, Arizona made Masoli and the Oregon offense disappear.
"There's so much speed on that defense," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "When you play the Stoops brothers, they're going to be stout defensively."
The Wildcats just couldn't close the deal against a team that has scored 40-plus points in seven of eight Pac-10 games. In an act of stupidity that symbolized Arizona's frustration, a fan threw a full bottle of water onto the field that struck Oregon cheerleader Katelynn Johnson in the head, knocking her down, causing her to vomit and sending her to a nearby hospital.
"That just shows what a crazy atmosphere it was here," Ducks tight end Ed Dickson said. "That just shows you how much we had to overcome."
