Santa Clara, Ca – With 1:43 left on the clock trailing by a point Michigan St attempted a 50 yard field goal but a bad snap dashed their chances to take the lead. The Oregon Ducks sole touchdown was enough for the 7-6 victory to win the REDBOX Bowl on New Year Eve.
There was one last shot of desperation for Michigan State fans on 4th&12 :39 seconds when quarterback Brian Lewerke threw incomplete pass. Then the Ducks just took a knee to run out the clock.
Oregon touchdown came on a Justin Herbert pass for 28 yards in the 4th quarter after trailing for the whole game till that point.
“I don’t think we were doing necessarily anything different, I think we kind of shot ourselves in the foot the first few drives,” said Herbert, “I think guys kind of settled down and fit their role and made some plays and fortunately it went our way this year.”
Herbert announced he will come back next season and not leave early for the NFL draft which will should help Oregon get back on track. He throw for 166 yards and no interceptions.
“To send out the seniors out on a positive note like that is huge.” said Herbet
The Oregon defense rose to the challenge by only bending against Michigan State. They went 0/3 went they went for it on fourth down. Spartans had 331 yards and had to settle for two third quarter field goals.
“Games like this, typically have not gone our way over the last few years,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said. “This culture has changed, it’s changed the program.”
This RedBox Bowl will be remember by as a defensive stalemate.
Oregon Safety Jevon Holland (8) won the Defensive MVP and Oregon Wide Receiver Dilon Mitchel (13) won the Offensive MVP.
