Dylan Raiola came off the bench to throw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Johnson with 28 seconds left to beat his former team, giving Oregon a 17-14 win over Nebraska in a Big Ten Conference game Saturday night in Eugene, Ore.
The Ducks (4-2, 2-1) avoided losing consecutive home games for the first time in 10 years by rallying from down eight in the fourth quarter behind Raiola, who played for the Cornhuskers for two seasons before transferring.
Raiola, who entered at the start the fourth quarter, threw for 59 yards on 11-of-18 passing in relief of Brock Thomas, who completed 9 of 20 passes for 54 yards and an interception. Johnson’s TD catch capped a 20-play, 82-yard drive, then Hudson Lewis caught a two-point pass for the final margin.
Nebraska (5-2, 2-2) lost a fourth-quarter lead for the second straight week, falling at home to defending national champion Indiana last week. Anthony
Colandrea threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score, completing 18 of 33 passes for 164 yards while rushing for a team-high 38 yards.
Oregon, which trailed 7-0 at halftime, benefited from a special teams miscue early in the third quarter to get on the scoreboard. Nebraska punter Archie Wilson went to the ground to field the snap, resulting in a turnover on downs and the Ducks taking over at the Cornhuskers’ 19, and they turned that into points when Gage Hurych hit a 36-yard field goal.
Another 36-yarder from Hurych got Oregon within 7-6 midway through the third. The Ducks got the ball back with a chance to take the lead but Dwayne McDougle III intercepted a tipped Thomas pass near midfield. On the ensuing possession, Colandrea dove for the pylon to score on a 6-yard run to extend the lead to 14-6 with seven seconds left in the third.
Raiola entered for Oregon and led another field goal drive, with Hurych connecting from 37 yards out to get the Ducks within five with 7:18 to go.
The first half was scoreless until four seconds before halftime when Colandrea found Kwazi Gilmer for a 17-yard TD pass.