Oregon Responds With Hard Fought 34-26 Win Over the Northwestern Wildcats

The Oregon Ducks have had a disaster of a season so far. Tough losses, bad performances, major injuries, and off-field drama have all defined the season to this point.

The Ducks had their backs against the wall and responded with one of their best performances of the season when they needed it most en route to a 34-26 victory over the No. 20 Wildcats.

As if they hadn't faced enough adversity to this point, Saturday's game started with plenty more. It was a first half dominated by the Wildcats, and they had a 20-6 lead with just under two minutes left in the first half. 

Dylan Raiola got the football and orchestrated a seven-play, 61-yard drive that ended in a touchdown, which brought the Ducks within range to 20-13 heading into halftime.

That was the momentum the Ducks needed as they came out of halftime, and they were ready to roll. It didn't start smoothly, as no one would expect. Oregon fumbled on their opening drive, which led to a field goal, and then the route was on.

Oregon would end up winning the rest of the second half 21-3 and would do it impressively. They gained control of the line of scrimmage and were able to slow down the Northwestern passing attack, holding Aiden Chiles and the Wildcats to less than 100 yards through the air in the back half. 

On offense, it was the best two quarters that Dylan Raiola has played as an Oregon Duck. A 17-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Johnson set the table for a 14-point fourth quarter that included a 75-yard touchdown to Dakorien Moore, which was the final nail in the coffin for the Ducks.

This performance by Oregon was as impressive as you could possibly get, all things considered. 

The past 10 days in this Oregon program have been as chaotic as anything could possibly be. The Ducks' season was totally unravelled, and they had nothing to play for other than pride and the ability to wreck a season. 

They did just that for one of the national darlings in Northwestern. Going forward, the Ducks' fate at the national level is all but sealed. However, they just played spoiler once, and they are going to have the chance to do it again next week in Columbus, Ohio. 

They showed an impressive fight on Saturday to get the job done against a very good Northwestern team. This was a character win, and the Ducks showed that they have it, and have a whole lot of it.

Ducks move to 5-3 and will have the eyes of the nation upon them next week.