Nix, No. 13 Oregon rally past Texas Tech 38-30 as Shough loses to former team

Updated Sep. 10, 2023 12:35 a.m. ET

Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Tyler Shough was trying one final time against his former team to match a Bo Nix-led drive to a field goal with another of his own for Texas Tech.

No. 13 Oregon's defense had an answer.

Nix threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns, Jeffrey Bassa had a 45-yard interception return for a score in the final minute and the Ducks rallied for a 38-30 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday night.

Shough threw for three TDs and ran for 101 yards but was responsible for four turnovers as the Red Raiders' school-record 23-game winning streak in home openers ended.

“Trying to do everything I can to win, and those things happen,” Shough said. “You want to eliminate those the best you can. I've got to find a way to get it done at the end of the day.”

The Red Raiders are 0-2 for the first time since 1990 after losing in double overtime at Wyoming in their opener, and Shough has lost both games he started and finished this season after winning the first eight in two injury-plagued seasons after leaving Oregon in 2021.

Shough's third turnover was the biggest, when Shough (pronounced shuck) was down 31-30 after Cameron Lewis' 34-yarder with 1:10 remaining.

Brandon Dorlus smashed Shough just as he was throwing on second down near midfield, and the ball went straight to Bassa, who stepped over Shough and ran free to the end zone with 35 seconds left.

“We talk about being composed in moments like those moments and making sure we lean on what our players know the best,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “We’re not going out there calling exotic defenses in those scenarios. What can we execute with speed ... without overthinking it?”

The Ducks (2-0) had twice rallied in the fourth quarter behind Nix, who led a 17-play drive with four third-down conversions for a touchdown to get within two then answered Shough's go-ahead drive with a methodical four-minute march to Lewis' third and final field goal.

“You want to go get points, you want to go take the lead, obviously if you can, you want to limit them getting the ball back,” Nix said. “As an offense, we're champing at the bit to get the ball back to go down and score with five minutes left in the game.”

Oregon was down nine and facing third-and-11 near midfield when Nix weaved through tacklers and stayed on his feet long enough for a 13-yard gain. Two passes and another run converted the others.

“We have an unbelievable quarterback on our team that is an unbelievable leader and unbelievable human,” Lanning said. “And he’s a friggin’ ballplayer. Go pull up that film on Bo Nix and tell me he can’t win games.”

Shough got Texas Tech to the Oregon 33 with 8 seconds to go. His desperation throw to the end zone came up 2 yards short, and was intercepted by Bryan Addison.

Gino Garcia was 2 of 6 for the season when he made a 45-yard field goal to give Texas Tech a 30-28 lead with 5:13 remaining.

Shough rallied from a 22-yard loss on a strip sack and lost fumble and an interception to direct a three-play, 83-yard drive for a 27-18 lead after Nix was stuffed on fourth-and-1.

Nix answered with four third-down conversions on a touchdown drive before the Ducks went ahead 28-27 on Lewis' 23-yard field goal after Malik Dunlap almost pulled off a toe-tapping interception in the end zone.

Shough kick-started the Texas Tech offense by running 58 yards on a designed draw to set up the game's first touchdown, and Nix answered with a 72-yard scoring toss to Troy Franklin.

Shough was 24 of 40 for 282 yards. Nix was 32 of 44 without an interception as Oregon finished plus-four on takeaway. Franklin had 103 yards receiving on six catches.

NFL CONNECTIONS

Nix passed former Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a two-time Super Bowl winner with Kansas City, on the career list for yards passing. Nix is at 11,490 to Mahomes’ 11,252.

Oregon tight end Patrick Herbert, the younger brother of former Ducks and current Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, converted a 2-point coversion with a toss to Terrance Ferguson out of the swinging gate formation. The play put Oregon up 15-7 late in the first quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY

Oregon: Nix and the Ducks converted several gritty third-down conversions in the second half after falling behind by nine, which helped offset a sloppy night of penalties. Oregon had 14 penalties for 124 yards, including pass interference and false start calls.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders figured to be able to put the disappointing of the loss to Wyoming behind them with a high-profile home opener, and they did. While the 0-2 start stings, Texas Tech was in position for an important bounce-back win.

UP NEXT

Oregon: Hawaii is 3-0 against Oregon going into a visit next Saturday. The most recent meeting was in 1994.

Texas Tech: The first-ever meeting with Tarleton State is next Saturday.

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