The important thing to remember is, in football it's not over until the clock hits 0:00. Oregon needed all 60 minutes Friday night to come away with a 36-35 victory in the Civil War against Oregon State. Josh Huff simply would not be stopped as he scored 3 touchdowns, 2 in the 4th and went over the 1000 yard mark with 186 receiving yards.
The first quarter belonged to Oregon as they pressured Sean Mannion and the dynamic scoring machine seemed to be in full swing. Both De'Anthony Thomas and Thomas Tyner had touchdown runs and Oregon was forcing the Beavers to punt.
At that time, the game looked like it may be a runaway win for the Ducks but a Bralon Addison punt muff put OSU in business. Trevor Romaine came on and missed a field goal but a running into the kicker penalty gave the OSU drive life and 4 plays later the Beavers punched it in from 2 yards out.
After the early lead, Oregon State outscored the Ducks 17-3 in the first half as the Duck defensive line continued to give up big yards against the run. Oregon State had had an anemic rushing attack all season and the Beavs managed to top their season high in the third quarter against the Ducks.
The Ducks would retake the lead at 24-20 after Marcus Mariota put the offense on his back with a 21 yard scramble and then found Josh Huff in the middle of the field for a 28 yard scoring toss.
From that point on it was a back and forth affair, neither team really able to claim much of an advantage. OSU claimed their largest lead of the game when Victor Bolden took the fly sweep into the end zone to give the Beavers a 35-30 lead. Oregon's defense would finally answer the bell as they stuffed the two point conversion and give their offense a chance.
Oregon took the field with less than 2 minutes remaining and a full 80+ yards to go. Mariota calmly directed the offense as they moved the ball down the field in chunks until Marcus Mariota found Josh Huff for what may be the biggest touchdown in his Oregon career. The Beavers had a chance to answer but on 4th down, Sean Mannion's pass found nothing but grass and the Ducks held on for a 36-35 victory.
The bigger issues still remain. Oregon looked downright bad against the run and surrendered 231 yards on 39 carries to a team who averaged only 72.8 yards per game. Oregon now waits as their destiny will be decided by bowl invitation. Oregon simply has to shore up against the run and perhaps a lay off could aid in the defensive game plan.
Hats off to the Beavers, they got down early and instead of folding like they did a week ago against Washington, they battled back and had a shot to win this game.
The win for Oregon marks the 6th consecutive and the most competitive since the Civil War for the Roses in 2009 when the Ducks won 37-33.