They were just NOT going to lose.

I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.

--Vince Lombardi

Jeff Maehl celebrates clutch endzone catch to tie score and send game into second overtime.

Photos from Oregonian and Arizona Republic.
[They never gave up. They never stopped believing. Even as the Arizona students started pouring out of the stands to rush onto the field in the final minute, the Ducks knew they weren't done.

"I saw it and I actually smirked. It was kind of funny. I wasn't really worried about it."

-- Jeremiah Masoli on seeing red-clad Arizona students ring the sidelines ready to rush the field.

[Back in 2000, the Ducks went down to ASU and came back from a two-digit deficit to defeat the Devils 56 - 55 in 2 overtimes. It was the game where Joey Harrington earned the nickname "The General". I wondered at the time if we would ever see anything like that again.
Clearly, yes.
In this game, the Wildcats scored 24 unanswered points and led by 10 at one point in the fourth quarter. They had the Mo. But Oregon had Masoli.

"I was just resolved," Masoli said. "I'm just really happy with the result and really proud of our guys. They just played their hearts out the whole time." 

Above: Masoli runs for first TD.

Right: Maehl makes that tough catch for score.

Below: Dickson catches TD to tie score at end of regulation. 

[While Oregon's defense did all it could to keep Arizona from running away with the game. . . .

  Left: One of three sacks on Nick Foles.

Right: Arizona fumble recovered by Will Tukuafu in endzone.

Below: Now THAT'S A TACKLE by T.J. Ward.

. . . Arizona still played tough. And they in turn refused to let Oregon get away with any cheap explosion plays.
Every point, every yard that the Ducks earned were hard.

So that's how they played.

Hard. ]

Right: LaMichael James gained 117 yards, but hardly any explosion runs and no TD's.

Cliff Harris was in perfect position, but still couldn't block this TD pass at the end of the first half.








[Which brings us back to the Lombardi quote, and the play of this special Duck team, especially Jeremiah Masoli. He was not going to walk off that field without his win. He showed incredible grit and character.

The winning TD.

It was announced today that he earned the National Performer of the Week Award by the College Football Performance Awards. No doubt if you asked him about it, he would tell you it's nice, but all the same, he'd rather win the Civil War and Rose Bowl.

"We just have perseverance," Masoli said. "That's one of the characteristics of this team. Everybody on our team believed to the end."

Don't let anyone stop you, Masoli.

If you didn't see the game or wish to watch it again, ESPN declared it an 'Instant Classic'. Look for it this week either on ESPN Classic or ESPNU.

We'll talk about Civil War soon enough. I'm going to let the memory of this incredible win sink in just a little while longer.] --kb