University of Oregon
Wisconsin
No. 7 Ducks Hand No. 22 Badgers First Loss Of Season
09/02/01 | Football
By LANDON HALL
AP Sports Writer
EUGENE, Ore. - Brilliant when he had to be late in the game, Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington played nearly as big as his gaudy New York City billboard.
Harrington threw threeo touchdown passes and scored on a 1-yard fourth-down leap with 4:03 left as No. 7 Oregon rallied to beat No. 22 Wisconsin 31-28 Saturday night in the Ducks' season opener.
"Yeah, I like that young man," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "Joey's the catalyst."
The Ducks improved to 13-0 under Bellotti in non-conference home games, and 13-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less.
"You expected anything else from us?" said Harrington, who improved to 15-2 as Oregon's starter after engineering his eighth career fourth-quarter comeback win.
Harrington completed 22 of 47 passes, and his leadership in crucial situations made him live up to his summerlong Heisman hype. Oregon spent $250,000 to put Harrington's image on a 10-story-tall billboard in midtown Manhattan.
"I always feel we're in the game. I knew we could take them down the field," Harrington said.
The Badgers (1-1) came back from a 10-0 first-quarter deficit and took the lead three times in the second half. But their chances ended when quarterback Jim Sorgi fumbled after being hit by Quinn Dorsey with 3:34 left. Oregon's Kevin Mitchell recovered at the Wisconsin 33.
The Badgers got the ball back and had one last chance, but on fourth-and-10 from the Ducks' 47, Sorgi's pass over the middle was dropped by Nick Davis with 58 seconds left.
"For a young football team in a tough environment, I thought they hung in there well and gave us a chance to win," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said of his team.
The Ducks have won 21 straight home games, second in the country only to Florida State's 35.
"Ever since I've been here, we've always taken it to the last drop," said Ducks cornerback Rashad Bauman, who knocked away a potential big-play pass from Evans on the Badgers' last drive. "But as long as we get the victory, I don't care."
Sorgi, starting in place of injured Brooks Bollinger, completed 16 of 32 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns.
Lee Evans had eight receptions for 168 yards, a week after catching four passes for 135 yards in the Badgers' win over Virginia.
Harrington passed for 277 yards and touchdowns of 23 and 11 yards to tight end Justin Peelle, who was often left alone by the Badgers' secondary.
On the winning drive, Harrington found Peelle open for a 25-yard gain on third-and-10. After Onterrio Smith's 19-yard run, Oregon stalled, and Harrington dove over the goal line on fourth-and-inches.
Harrington was particularly adept during one third-quarter scoring drive, when he completed passes for first downs on third-and-11, -6 and -17. His second touchdown pass to Peelle put Oregon ahead 17-14.
From there the game turned even wilder. Wisconsin redshirt freshman Anthony Davis bolted up the middle for a 69-yard touchdown run to put the Badgers back in front.
Oregon responded with a 51-yard run from Smith, who was in for the ineffective Maurice Morris. The play set up a 1-yard score by Morris after a lateral pass from Harrington.
After Harrington's second interception, Evans helped put the Badgers ahead again when he got a step on cornerback A.K. Keyes and hauled in a 48-yard pass from Sorgi, carrying Keyes on his back the last 10 yards.
Sorgi's 1-yard sneak gave Wisconsin a 28-24 lead with 9:37 to play.
Anthony Davis, who gained 147 yards in his college debut last week, had 130 yards.
Morris, who gained 1,188 yards last season, was held to 18 yards on 15 attempts, but did pull in a 1-yard touchdown catch to put the home squad up, 24-21, with 2:43 remaining in the third quarter.
Oregon, which lost to Wisconsin last year in Madison, struggled on offense early, but its suspect defense and special teams were better than expected. Igor Olshansky blocked a 46-yard field-goal attempt by Mike Allen that would have tied it at 24 late in the third quarter. And Dorsey's hit on Sorgi in the first quarter caused an interception by defensive end Darrell Wright that led to a touchdown.
Bollinger didn't dress because of a bruised liver, suffered on a hit last week. He spent two days in the hospital.
