Oregon Rolls on FCS Tennessee Tech 63-14

Eugene – “A work in progress,” is how Chip Kelly described his team after the Ducks recorded a 63-14 win over Tennessee Tech of the Ohio Valley Conference. The over-matched Golden Eagles played valiantly but Oregon’s speed and talent was too much, particularly in the form of De’Anthony Thomas. Thomas scored twice and had 222 yards of all-purpose yardage.

“I thought our effort was great," said Head Coach Chip Kelly of his team's effort. "The energy on the sidelines was great. I was really happy about it.”

Thomas rushed for 62 yards on three carries including a 59-yard touchdown run. Thomas also caught three passes for 73 yards including a 16-yard TD reception, plus was instrumental in scoring play when he caught a pass, ran 49 yards before having the ball stripped at the Golden Eagle 2. The ball bounced into the endzone and offensive tackle jumped on the fumble to record the score.

Thomas returned four punts for a total of 87 yards with a long of 48.

“We played pretty good, we can get better though and that is what practice is for, to get better," remarked Thomas of the game. "We will learn from today when we will watch film on Monday.”

Kenjon Barner scored the first Oregon TD of the game with a one yard plunge, but the leading ball carrier was true freshman Byron Marshall, with 125 yards on 13 carries and a score. Marshall only saw action in the second half but was the workhorse while he was in. Ayele Forde contributed two carries for 40 yards while Marcus Mariota had four totes for 18 net yards. Back up signal caller Bryan Bennett had five carries for 12 yards net and a TD. Bill Chimphalee saw his first action as a Duck had three carries for six yards and Kenny Bassett rushed twice for five yards.

“I felt a lot more comfortable out here,” said Marshall of his performance. “The first game I had a lot of built up energy and anxiousness. For this game, I knew the difference between high school and college game and I was able to relax.”

Mariota was 21-for-28 for 308 yards, four touchdowns but was intercepted once and sacked once. Bennett played most of the second half and three five times, completed two for 20 yards and a touchdown.

Thomas was the leading pass receiver with his three catches for 73 yards including the 16-yard score. Bralon Addison pulled in three balls for 48 yards. Keanon Lowe also had three receptions for 46 yards and was on the receiving end of a Mariota TD throw in the third quarter. Tight end Colt Lyerla had a TD reception in the second quarter. Dwayne Stanford, Rahsaan Vaughn, Koa Ka’ai and Barner all had two catches, while Pharaoh Brown, Daryle Hawkins, B.J. Kelley and Eric Dungy had a catch each. Fisher was also given credit for a receiving TD for his scoring fumble recovery.

Defensively, Oregon was led by Erick Dargan with five tackles (four solos) including one TFL. Tyson Coleman contributed five tackles (three solos) that included a half-sack. Dion Jordan seemed to be everywhere on the field when he was in and finished with five tackles (three solos) including a sack and two TFLs. Dior Mathis appeared to have a touchdown after he picked off a Golden Eagle pass but upon further review the play it revealed Mathis stepped out on the 4. Mathis also had a pass break up. In all the Ducks recorded 11 tackles for loss that included five sacks. Taylor Hart (one), Arik Armstead (half-sack), Isaac Remington (one) were all listed as having sacks in the final official statistics book. Oregon also had a team sack when the Tech quarterback fell down behind the line of scrimmage.

“We knew as a defense if we attack and what we were supposed to do, we were going to make plays,” admitted Jordan of the defensive effort. “We wanted to start off quick.”

Alonso was credited with an interception and a 41-yard return on the play.

“Maybe Kiko should’ve set up his blocks better,” joked Defensive Coordinator Nick Aliotti of Alonso’s return that could have resulted in a touchdown had he been able to avoid the last tackler.

The Ducks attempted on field goal by Rob Beard from 25-yards out in the second quarter but the kick was blocked. Jackson Rice was called up to punt three times. He averaged 42 yards per punt with a long of 49 and two of the kicks landed inside the Tennessee Tech 20.

Tennessee Tech (2-1) had eight players run the ball with Stephen Bush leading the way with 63-net yards. Quarterback Tre Lamb was 8-for-24 for 46 yards including a 23-yard pass-and-catch to Da’Rick Rogers for a touchdown on the first drive of the play. Darian Stone relieved Lamb in the second half and was 4-for-7 with a touchdown throw to Doug Page in the third quarter. Both of the Golden Eagle quarterbacks were intercepted once.

For the game Oregon had 652 total yards including 324 rushing and 328 passing. Tennessee Tech had 177 total yards (115 rushing, 62 passing). Oregon was penalized 12 times for minus 105 yards while Tech was flagged seven times for minus 40 yards.

“They’re that good," said Tennessee Tech Head Coach Watson Brown. "They don’t have weaknesses. They’re really fast. They’re much bigger than you think. They’re tall kids. On the defensive line, they’re all 6’ 6” or 6’ 7”. I think the missing piece is their defense. They’re a lot better than people think on defense. They just kill the first couple they play and then they take them all out. We played against their guys a little longer today and even some of the [second line] is really good. Their defense is where people are much better than people think. And their offense is just so fast. They’re so athletic up front, they’re all tall. The little fast guys are behind them and our guys lose them. And when you lose one of those dudes, he pops out all of a sudden and it’s tough.”

The No. 4 ranked Ducks start conference play next Saturday against Arizona with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Official Statistics