Oregon vs. Utah: Score and Twitter Reaction

Oregon had to work for it, but the Ducks went into the belly of the beast and walked away with a hard-fought 51-27 win on the road over the Utah Utes.

With the victory, the Ducks remain in position for a playoff spot with few hurdles until the Pac-12 Championship Game. If Oregon was going to slip up, it would've been in Salt Lake City. Instead, Oregon strengthened its top-four credentials.

Zach Braziller of the New York Post felt Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota also improved his Heisman Trophy candidacy:

Mariota wound up with 239 yards and three touchdowns through the air, while getting 114 yards and another touchdown on the ground. It was the kind of performance many have come to associate with the junior signal-caller.

Royce Freeman chipped in 99 rushing yards and a touchdown of his own to help out his quarterback.

The leaky Oregon defense had its worrying moments, giving up 440 yards of offense to Utah. Quarterback Travis Wilson threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns, which were offset by his two interceptions.

Running back Devontae Booker was superb in a losing effort, recording 65 rushing yards on the ground and 110 receiving yards with one TD.

The final score belies just how much Oregon had to fight to secure this win.

After Bubba Poole put Utah ahead 7-0 on the game's opening drive, the Utes should've had a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Wideout Kaelin Clay got separation from the Oregon secondary and found himself wide open with nothing but green in front. Just as he looked to have scampered 79 yards to pay dirt, he prematurely dropped the ball in celebration at the 1-yard line. An alert Erick Dargan recovered for Oregon and subsequently fumbled before teammate Joe Walker picked up the ball and ran 99 yards to the end zone, tying the game at 7-7.

Matthew Piper of The Salt Lake Tribune has Clay's thoughts on the play:

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Kaelin Clay: "I know my teammates may not say it, or my coaches may not say it ... but I take full responsibility for what just happened."

— Matthew Piper (@matthew_piper) November 9, 2014"

Fox Sports' Mike Pereira rightly praised the officiating crew, which never blew the play dead:

ESPN Stats & Info summed up how key that point swing was for Oregon:

Grantland's Matt Hinton took pity on the poor person who had to distill all of that craziness into a tiny blurb in the play-by-play recap:

Coincidentally, Clay went to Long Beach Poly, where DeSean Jackson is an alumnus, per SportsCenter:

After the brush with danger, Oregon quickly found its groove, dropping 17 more unanswered points on Utah in the second quarter. Mariota had two touchdown passes, then Aidan Schneider hit a 39-yard field goal with two minutes left in the half to put the Ducks on top, 24-7.

Andy Phillips stopped the bleeding for Utah with a 32-yard field goal to close out the half and trim the deficit to 14 points, 24-10.

Phillips also opened the scoring in the second half, splitting the uprights from 28 yards out. Schneider quickly answered back with a 31-yard field goal of his own to put the Ducks up 27-13.

The Utes needed something to spark their offense back to life, and they got it in the form of a 27-yard touchdown reception for Booker. He reached behind his body to grab the pass from Wilson with one hand and then weaved his way into the end zone.

Bleacher Report's Adam Lefkoe thought Booker's ability to catch the ball could serve him well at the next level:

JB Long of the Pac-12 Network wondered how good the junior running back could look if Utah had a more balanced offense:

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Imagine what Devontae Booker would be doing if complemented with a passing game that took defenders out of the box....

— JB Long (@JB_Long) November 9, 2014"

With Oregon clinging to a 27-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter, Schneider banged home his third field goal of the game to give the Ducks a 10-point advantage. Thirty points is also the magic number for Oregon. It's unbeaten since 2012 when scoring 30 or more, per ESPN CollegeFootball:

But Utah wouldn't go away as Westlee Tonga hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to pull the Utes to within three points, 30-27, with 11:48 to go in the game.

Mariota's third touchdown pass of the game gave Oregon some breathing room and a 10-point lead once again, and a missed field goal from Phillips swung the momentum in the Ducks' favor even more.

Playing a team as good as Oregon, Utah paid dearly for Phillips' mistake. Mariota registered a rushing touchdown on the next drive to put the game out of reach for the Utes with 4:51 remaining.

Freeman added an insurance score late to solidify the result.

Oregon plays Colorado at home and Oregon State on the road before what looks to be a date with Arizona State in the Pac-12 Championship Game. As long as both teams enter with one loss, the conference champion would almost certainly make the playoff.

While the Utes are out of the running for the conference championship, they can at least be a thorn in the side of the Arizona Wildcats on Nov. 22.