BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 A5
SPORTS
OREGON FOOTBALL
OREGON STATE FOOTBALL
Ducks no match for Bulldogs Beavers handle
error-prone
BSU Broncos
Georgia romps to
49-3 win
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Stetson Ben-
nett and the Georgia defense
picked up where they left off
in last year’s national cham-
pionship game, even with a
bunch of their former team-
mates now playing in the NFL.
Bennett threw for 368 yards
and accounted for three touch-
downs, a revamped defense
didn’t miss a beat, and the No. 3
Bulldogs looked very much like
a champion intent on repeating
with a 49-3 rout of No. 11 Ore-
gon on Saturday, Sept. 3.
Bennett completed 25-of-31
passes with two touchdowns
and ran for another score in
the season opener before call-
ing it a day in the third quar-
ter. By that point, Georgia
led 42-3 and had thoroughly
ruined the debut of Oregon
coach Dan Lanning.
Georgia really opened it up
on offense, throwing 37 times
for 439 yards.
“I think when you watch
what they did today, if you’re
watching from home, you’re
saying, ‘Man, I’d love to come
play in that offense,’” coach
Kirby Smart said.
After spending the last
three years as Georgia’s co-de-
fensive coordinator, Lanning
got a look at his former team
from the opposing sideline in
a game played before a pre-
dominantly red-clad crowd at
the home of the NFL’s Atlanta
Falcons.
He saw just how far the
Ducks have to go.
“That locker room is hurt-
ing a little bit,” Lanning said.
“But they’re ready to grow.”
Bennett, the former
walk-on who led a storybook
run to Georgia’s first national
title since 1980, returned for
a sixth college season with a
firm grip on the starting job
after battling for playing time
most of his career.
Bennett was the offensive
MVP of both Georgia victo-
ries in last year’s College Foot-
ball Playoff.
He started his final season
with a career high for passing
yards.
“It’s always good to go in be-
ing the guy,” Bennett said. “It
was pretty cool.”
He guided the Bulldogs to
the end zone on all six pos-
sessions he played. He ran
BY GARY HOROWITZ
Associated Press
Jason Getz/Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Georgia Bulldogs running back Kenny McIntosh (No. 6) scores a one-yard touchdown run during the sec-
ond quarter against the Oregon Ducks in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game at Mercedes Benz Stadium, Satur-
day, Sept. 3, 2022, in Atlanta.
for a 1-yard score and tossed
TD passes of 4 yards to Ladd
McConkey — spinning away
from a pass rusher who ap-
peared to have him corralled
— and 18 yards to Adonai
Mitchell.
There were some questions
about the Georgia defense,
which had five players off the
2021 unit selected in the first
round of the NFL draft.
Any doubts were quickly
put to rest by a swarming
group that looked very much
like last year’s defense for the
ages, making life miserable
for new Oregon quarterback
Bo Nix.
“One of our mottos is, ‘No
one in our end zone,’” said
Christopher Smith, who had
one of Georgia’s two intercep-
tions.
Nix transferred to Eugene
after starting at Auburn the
last three seasons. He imme-
diately found himself facing
a team he lost to three times
while playing in the SEC.
Make it 0-4.
Nix’s frustration was evi-
dent when he buried his hel-
met in his hands after a false-
start penalty.
Georgia’s day was epito-
mized by a short pass to Dar-
nell Washington that turned
into a big gain when the
6-foot-7, 270-pound tight end
shrugged off one defender hit-
ting him high and hurdled an-
other who tried to bring him
down low.
QUITE A DEBUT
Freshman Malaki Starks
looks like one of the new stars
of the Georgia defense.
He made a brilliant inter-
ception while falling backward
at the Georgia 8 and wound
up leading the team with eight
tackles.
NIX IN GREEN
Despite his poor showing,
Nix has a solid grasp on the
Oregon quarterback job.
Nix completed 21 of 37 for
just 173 yards, and his second
interception — the one picked
off by Smith — was an espe-
cially poor decision.
“He forced a throw he didn’t
need to force,” Lanning said.
“Bo knows that.”
Even though he didn’t name
a stating quarterback leading
up to the game, Lanning never
considered giving someone
else a shot.
Nix is still No. 1 on the
depth chart.
“He’s our quarterback,” Lan-
ning said. “He did a a good job
handling some adverse situ-
ations. Now he’s got to figure
out how he can improve.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Oregon: Lanning clearly has
a lot of work to do to bring the
Ducks up to a truly elite level.
While there’s no shame in los-
ing to a team such as Georgia,
Oregon expected to be much
more competitive in their new
coach’s first game.
Georgia: The Bulldogs are
off and rolling in defense of
their national championship.
They weren’t threatened at all
by perhaps the toughest team
on their schedule until a Nov.
19 game at Kentucky.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Bulldogs are more than
worthy of their No. 3 ranking.
Smart has built a program that
reloads rather than rebuilds.
Oregon is sure to tumble in
The Associated Press poll. But
at least every game from here
on out looks much easier than
facing the Bulldogs.
UP NEXT
Oregon: Home opener next
Saturday against FCS school
Eastern Washington.
Georgia: While this seemed
like a home game for Georgia,
its actual home opener is next
Saturday against FCS oppo-
nent Samford.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
No. 2 Ohio State wears down No. 5 Notre Dame
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio —
With its vaunted offense
bogged down, No. 2 Ohio
State leaned on its revamped
defense in a top-five opener
against a former Buckeye that
tested its toughness.
C.J. Stroud threw two
touchdown passes and Ohio
State shut out No. 5 Notre
Dame over the final 42 min-
utes in a gritty 21-10 victory
on Saturday night, Sept. 3.
“The story of the night was
the defense, to turn around
and play the way they did after
what’s been said about them
in the offseason, question-
ing their toughness, and play
the way they did against the
No. 5 team in the country ...
I thought the energy was off
the charts for the defense to-
night,” Ohio State coach Ryan
Day said.
The first regular-season
meeting of the storied pro-
grams since 1996 was a home-
coming for first-year Notre
Dame coach Marcus Freeman.
The former Buckeyes line-
backer has made a meteoric
rise to lead the Fighting Irish
at the age of 36.
Freeman is 0-2 as a head
coach after losing a bowl game
just weeks after being named
Brian Kelly’s successor.
The Irish hung with the
high-scoring Buckeyes for
most of three quarters, frus-
trating Heisman Trophy final-
ist Stroud and putting together
a couple of first-half scoring
drives.
“We battled for 2 1/2 quar-
ters, but then they scored with
17 seconds left in the third
and we didn’t respond,” Free-
man said.
Ohio State’s defense, too
generous against the run last
season, put the clamps on the
Irish and new starting quar-
terback Tyler Buchner in the
second half.
“We were called soft all last
year and we had to sit there
and just eat,” Ohio State defen-
sive back Lathan Ransom said.
Day turned over his de-
fensive staff in the offseason,
bringing in Jim Knowles from
Oklahoma State to be coordi-
nator.
How quickly the Buckeyes
would pick up a scheme that is
considered more complicated
and multiple than the one they
have been running was an
open question.
Looked good in Game 1.
The Irish managed just 253
yards and punted on their
last six possessions. Tommy
Eichenberg had two of Ohio
State’s three sacks.
“We got a lot to prove. And
everyone just played extremely
confident, too,” Eichenberg
said.
The Irish D could only hold
up for so long.
On a third-and-long, No-
tre Dame brought multiple
blitzers and Ohio State gave
Stroud plenty of time to find
Xavier Johnson open down
the vacated deep middle for
a 24-yard score. That put the
Buckeyes up 14-10 with 17
seconds left in the third quar-
ter.
On its next drive, Ohio State
asserted itself. The Buckeyes
went 95 yards on 14 plays,
killing seven minutes off the
clock and making it 21-10 on
a 1-yard surge by Miyan Wil-
liams.
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Williams ran for 84 yards
on 14 carries and TreVeyon
Henderson had 91 on 15 at-
tempts.
Ohio State led the nation in
scoring and yards per play last
season, but for much of the
night it was a slog for Stroud.
And Day seemed thrilled to
see his team endure.
“We wanted to be known
as something other than tal-
ented,” Day said.
Playing mostly without star
receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba,
who took a hard hit on the
first series, Stroud threw for
223 yards, including a 31-yard
TD to Emeka Egbuka to make
it 7-3 in the first quarter.
But that was it for the Buck-
eyes in the first half.
Buchner and the Irish re-
sponded with a long drive
capped by Audric Etime’s
1-yard touchdown leap in the
second quarter to put the Irish
up 10-7.
CORVALLIS — Chance
Nolan passed for two touch-
downs and Oregon State’s de-
fense forced five turnovers in
a season-opening 34-17 vic-
tory over Boise State on Sat-
urday, Sept. 3.
The Beavers, who are hop-
ing to build on last season’s
first bowl-game appearance
since 2013, took control early
behind their opportunistic
defense and a few big plays
offensively.
Oregon State snapped its
six-game losing streak in sea-
son openers.
“I mean, getting that first
one at home, I think that just
kind of puts the season into
motion,” said Nolan, who
completed 14 of 23 passes
for 251 yards and two touch-
downs with two interceptions.
Boise State received a lift
off the bench from backup
quarterback Taylen Green,
who replaced an ineffective
Hank Bachmeier and sparked
a second-half comeback.
Bachmeier, a fourth-year
starter, was pulled in the sec-
ond quarter and did not re-
turn after tossing two inter-
ceptions and losing a fumble.
Green showed promise, es-
pecially as a runner with 102
yards on the ground. His 74-
yard touchdown gallop late in
the third quarter cut Oregon
State’s lead to 27-10. He also
scored on a 4-yard keeper
early in the fourth quar-
ter that brought Boise State
within 27-17.
Green completed 19 of 28
for 155 yards with one inter-
ception.
“We had to make an ad-
justment,” Boise State coach
Andy Avalos said of replac-
ing Bachmeier. “To be able
to put Taylen in there and get
his opportunity to run the of-
fense, he gave us a spark and
got us going.”
With the Beavers’ offense
in neutral, short-yardage
specialist Jack Colletto broke
loose up the middle on a
third-and-2 play for a 41-yard
touchdown with 10:39 re-
maining to provide the final
margin of victory.
Oregon State had 470 total
yards to 311 for the Broncos.
“Defensively, really pleased
with the effort, physicality
on both sides of the ball, and
tackling and running and
playing with energy,” Oregon
State coach Jonathan Smith
said.
The Beavers opened the
scoring on tight end Luke
Musgrave’s 27-yard touch-
down catch, which followed
Bachmeier’s second intercep-
tion of the first quarter.
After a three-and-out by
Boise State, Nolan hit Tyjon
Lindsey for a 47-yard touch-
down, giving Oregon State a
14-0 lead at 1:15 of the first
quarter.
Early in the second quarter,
Riley Sharp’s sack of Bach-
meier forced a fumble that
Colletto recovered at the
Broncos’ 6-yard line. Boise
State’s defense held and Ev-
erett Hayes kicked a 23-yard
field goal to increase the lead
to 17-0.
The Broncos whiffed on
their best scoring opportu-
nity in the first half when
Ashton Jeanty lost a fumble at
the Beavers’ 2-yard line.
A 74-yard catch-and-run
by Anthony Gould set up
Deshaun Fenwick’s 12-yard
touchdown to increase the
Beavers’ lead to 24-0 at the
break.
Nolan was intercepted
early in the third quarter on
a sideline pass that he ap-
peared to try and throw out
of bounds. Despite taking
over on the Beavers’ 25-yard
line, Boise State settled for a
41-yard field goal by Jonah
Dalmas to get on the score-
board.
A 41-yard pass from wide
receiver John Dunmore to
Trey Lowe led to Hayes’ 24-
yard field goal and a 27-3
Beavers’ lead, but Green’s
long touchdown run gave the
Broncos life.
Oregon State safety Jay-
don Grant, who had a forced
fumble and interception, said
turnovers was the difference.
“I think that any time you
take the ball away it’s huge,”
Grant said.
THE TAKEWAY
Boise State: Is it time for the
Taylen Green era at quarter-
back? Backmeier struggled
mightily. Green is a work in
progress as a passer, but he
gives the Broncos another
dimension with his running
ability and speed. Will Back-
meier bounce back or could
there be a quarterback con-
troversy brewing?
Oregon State: The Beavers’
defense was superb in the
first half, forcing four turn-
overs that were instrumental
in building a big lead. Nolan,
a returning starter at quar-
terback, displayed his big-
play capability in the passing
game, but he also was inter-
cepted twice. Avoiding turn-
overs will be a priority for No-
lan moving forward.
UP NEXT
Boise State: The Broncos
will play at New Mexico on
Saturday, Sept. 10.
Oregon State: The Beavers
will play at Fresno State on
Saturday, Sept. 10.
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Oregon State running back Deshaun Fenwick rushes for a touch-
down as the Beavers face the Boise State Broncos in an NCAA col-
lege football game at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon, on Sat-
urday, Sept. 3, 2022.
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