No. 4 Oregon Blows Out Stony Brook 48-7
The No. 4-ranked Ducks returned home Saturday to play Stony Brook on a rainy evening, which cleared up for the game. The game was delayed during pregame warmups due to lightning in the area. It ended up being about a 30-minute delay.
Stony Brook began with an interception thrown right to Verone McKinley, giving the Ducks the ball near midfield. Oregon got into field goal range quickly before stalling, forcing Camden Lewis to come on for a 40-yard field goal, which he made to give Oregon a 3-0 lead just two and a half minutes into the game.
The Seawolves got to midfield before punting back to Oregon. The Ducks then moved it down the field with ease for a touchdown that ended with a shovel pass to CJ Verdell for a nine-yard touchdown. The drive took 10 plays and included catches from Troy Franklin, Maliki Matavao, and Johnny Johnson III.
Stony Brook would not go away quietly, as they put together a methodical drive of over five minutes to score a touchdown and get back within three. The Ducks came back with a quick touchdown drive of their own, with a long pass to Mycah Pittman setting up an Anthony Brown QB keeper for the touchdown. With 12:03 left in the second quarter, it was 17-7 Oregon.
After a pair of punts from each team, Stony Brook hit a big play as DJ James got burned on a third-and-15 to give the Seawolves some life at the Oregon 40. But Oregon got another huge play with an interception from McKinley at the Ducks' one-yard line. The Ducks attempted a two-minute drill but back-to-back sacks of Brown kept the score 17-7 at halftime.
True freshman Ty Thompson started the second half in place of Brown after he got hit hard on the sacks before halftime and was seen wincing as he jogged to the locker room. A holding penalty hurt Oregon on their opening drive of the second half, punting back to a Seawolves team who suddenly had some mojo on the field.
Stony Brook got immense pressure on Oregon on those last few drives, which is likely what resulted in Brown leaving the game with an apparent injury.
Oregon got the ball back in plus territory after a quick Stony Brook three-and-out. Travis Dye was then used extensively to get Oregon inside the red zone, and Thompson finished it off with an easy pass to Terrance Ferguson for a touchdown.
After a pair of punts, Bennett Williams snagged the third interception for the Ducks' defense and set Thompson and the offense up in prime position on the Seawolves' 11-yard line. Dye took it from there, scoring to make it 31-7 Ducks near the end of the third.
Oregon got the ball back at the Seawolves' 30 and that’s when some of the younger players came in for some reps, including Trey Benson. The Ducks got to the 17 before giving Camden Lewis another look at a field goal, this time from 35 yards out. Lewis drove it through the uprights to make it 34-7 with 13 minutes to go.
The rest of the fourth quarter was used to get a lot of young players some playing time. Thompson connected with Dont’e Thornton for a 54-yard touchdown. That’s a connection we could see a lot in the future. Unfortunately on that play, Troy Franklin was hit behind the play and walked off the field with two trainers.
He would not return, but looked to be walking okay on the sideline.
After Oregon recovered a fumble, Jay Butterfield came in to get some reps at quarterback and Byron Cardwell and Seven McGee came in at running back. Isaah Crocker had a 16-yard catch and run.
Benson got in on the fun with a touchdown run of his own, capping off a dominant 48-7 victory for the Ducks.
With this win, No. 4 Oregon improves to 3-0 going into conference play. Next week the Ducks are at home again and will host the Arizona Wildcats (0-2) at 7:30 PM on ESPN.
More from Ducks Digest
Ty Thompson enters game as QB 2
Trey Benson gets snaps as RB 3 vs. Stony Brook
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