EUGENE Before Oregon celebrated its 100th consecutive sellout of Autzen Stadium on Thursday night a game designed as a showcase in front of a nationwide audience there was nostalgic talk of the where were you when it all began variety.
Thursday night it turned out became an ignominious milestone instead Where were you when Oregon's College Football Playoff hopes and national title dreams went off the rails
That moment arrived in Nick Wilson runs and Anu Solomon passes in missed tackles and a hail of penalties in play calls that took the ball out of Heisman candidate Marcus Mariota's hands and more.
It was Arizona 31 No. 2 Oregon 24 the Ducks' second straight face plant to Arizona and to a team led by a redshirt freshman quarterback and true freshman running back with 12 days to prepare no less.
It was a game that looked nothing like the typical powerhouse Duck teams of the past five seasons both in the pink uniforms and in the play.
Uncharacteristic mistakes head coach Mark Helfrich said.
It was an ESPN close up of Mariota's mother in the stands a scarf around her mouth before yelling Throw the ball with visible frustration.
It was Arizona's Terris Jones Grigsby who scored the go ahead score with 2 54 remaining wiggling and writhing and beating his chest as he scooted off the field.
On the other end Mariota was sullen only minutes after fumbling to give the ball back on Oregon's last gasp drive at his own 35 yard line on a sack by linebacker Scooby Wright.
They ran a coverage on that we weren't expecting Mariota said. I was trying to make a play. ... He made a good play and kind of ripped it from me.
Oregon's defense allowed 495 yards on 86 plays to the Wildcats (5 0 2 0 Pac 12) including 115 rushing yards to Grigsby and 92 yards and two touchdowns for Wilson the freshman.
The Ducks began the night behind 3 0 fell behind 10 7 after Arizona's razor sharp first drive 80 yards in six plays after halftime and couldn't turn the game around behind a lackluster defensive effort and an offense that was 4 of 14 on third downs.
This is the double edged sword of a Thursday night game on ESPN. Win and the news cycle is your spoil for two days. Lose and the questions stick around even longer which they more assuredly will after this defeat and with a duel at No. 8 UCLA bearing down next Saturday in Los Angeles.
Mariota was 20 of 32 passing with two touchdowns and 276 yards and passed John Elway for seventh all time in Pac 12 passing touchdowns as well as moving into third all time in passing yards at Oregon edging Kellen Clemens but the records felt hollow after two fumbles too.
Obviously it didn't feel good Mariota said. We left a lot of points on the board a lot of plays on the board. The locker room is positive guys are just ready to move on.
Oregon failed to have a 100 yard rusher for a fifth consecutive game and lost defensive lineman Arik Armstead to a left ankle injury for the entire second half which weakened Oregon's best defensive unit.
DeForest Buckner and Derrick Malone led Oregon (4 1 1 1) with 11 tackles.
These guys are resilient Helfrich said. Again a bunch of hurt guys in there but the players I think are a lot more resilient than people give them credit for. It's just like after a win we'll identify things we need to improve on.
Oregon didn't score until its fourth drive but it was worth the uncomfortably long wait. Freshman running back Royce Freeman took a pitch on first down 26 yards from the end zone feigned a sweep to the right and lofted a pass to Mariota who fought through two tackles to score his second career receiving touchdown.
Mariota was stripped within inches of the goal line by safety Jared Tevis but a replay couldn't overturn the call and Oregon held a 7 3 lead it took into halftime.
It was the rare bright spot. The Wildcats took advantage often with four scoring drives in the second half that included a wide open 34 yard wheel route to Wilson to put Arizona ahead 24 14 with 1 34 remaining in the third quarter.
Oregon's rejoinder was crisp A 21 yard field goal by Matt Wogan followed by a crucial defensive stand despite what appeared to be a missed call on a negated fumble return for a touchdown. That led to Mariota's nine yard pass to Keanon Lowe to tie the game at 24 24 with 8 21 remaining.
And then the floor fell out from underneath Oregon's feet and the sound sucked out of Autzen Stadium.
It means we're 4 1 and there's a ton of ball left to be played Helfrich said. This conference is experienced and deep and our guys will come back ready to rock.
A night to remember if you're Arizona.
Andrew Greif andrewgreif
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