Raiola and Moore Lift Oregon Past No. 20 Northwestern, 34-26
Oregon needed an answer, and it came from its passing duo. Down 20-6 to No. 20 Northwestern in the second quarter, the Ducks won 34-26 on Saturday at Autzen Stadium. Dylan Raiola completed 22 of 31 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Dakorien Moore, who posted the first 100-yard game of his college career. Oregon climbs to 5-3 after a difficult stretch.
Northwestern strikes first
The opening minutes confirmed that the Wildcats had not come to Eugene as mere guests. After a 37-yard field goal, quarterback Aidan Chiles threw a 64-yard touchdown pass, and Northwestern led 10-0 in the first quarter. Oregon took time to find its footing, and the two teams then traded field goals.
Before halftime, Chiles stretched the lead to 14 points by running in a 5-yard touchdown himself: 20-6. At that point, Oregon looked headed for a third loss in four games, after defeats to UCLA and Illinois.
That is when the Ducks' offence woke up. On the next drive, Dylan Raiola led Oregon into the red zone, then found Dakorien Moore in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown with under a minute left in the half. A difficult catch, and the gap was down to 20-13.
The Ducks' comeback
Northwestern gave itself a little more breathing room in the third quarter with another field goal, from 49 yards, 23-13. But Oregon answered on its next drive: Raiola threw a 17-yard touchdown pass that pulled the Ducks within three, 23-20.
The turnaround came at the very start of the fourth quarter. Running back Brandon Smith finished a drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. For the first time all afternoon, Oregon led, 27-23.
Northwestern did not give up. The Wildcats cut the lead to one point with their kicker's fourth field goal, again from 49 yards, 27-26. But Oregon's response was immediate. On the next possession, Raiola launched a deep ball to Moore, who sidestepped a defender and went the distance: 75 yards, 34-26.
The Wildcats got the ball back with a chance to tie, but Oregon's defence forced them to punt. All the Ducks needed was one more first down, and Raiola picked it up on third down, letting his team close out the game in victory formation.
Raiola and Moore, finally in sync
This game could mark a turning point for Oregon's offence. Raiola threw no interceptions and found answers while his team trailed. All three of his touchdown passes came after Northwestern had built a 14-point lead.
Moore, for his part, showed why expectations were so high. His two touchdowns, one on an acrobatic catch and the other on a deep ball, showed two sides of a receiver who can win on short throws as well as long ones. He finished with seven catches for 128 yards. His game was not perfect: he lost a fumble after a long catch. But he delivered when Oregon needed him most.
For Northwestern, Chiles completed 22 of 38 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown, and scored once on the ground. The Wildcats controlled the game for a long time, but they settled for field goals too often: of their 26 points, 12 came from their kicker's foot.
Breathing room for Oregon
Oregon moves to 5-3, 3-2 in the Big Ten. This is not the season the Ducks had hoped for, but this win over a ranked team lets them breathe after two losses in three games. Above all, it shows their offence can still produce big plays against a good defence.
The context made this game important. A week earlier, Oregon had lost 21-10 at Illinois, after a 17-15 home loss to UCLA earlier in the month. In between, a narrow 17-14 win over Nebraska had not been enough to quiet the doubts. With 34 points, the Ducks posted their highest total since late September, and above all their first October game in which the offence got the upper hand.
Northwestern (6-2, 3-2) leaves with regrets. The Wildcats led by 14 points, but they did not reach the end zone in the second half, scoring only two field goals. Against an offence capable of striking from long range, those three-point drives instead of touchdowns weighed heavily. For a team ranked 20th, looking for a signature road win, the missed opportunity could matter in the race for the most prestigious bowls.
