The Spartan defense had forced four consecutive punts and scored 20 unanswered points in about a 11-minute stretch. But with a blink of an eye, everything faded away for MSU.

Oregon junior quarterback Marcus Mariota stole the show, taking MSU’s hopes of an unblemished season and maybe a spot in the College Football Playoff with it.

MSU blew a 27-18 second half lead, surrendering 28 unanswered points en route to a 46-27 Oregon victory over MSU on Saturday at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks used scoring plays of 24, 37, 38 and 14 yards, two of which coming from Mariota’s arm. Combine the quack attack’s 28 unanswered points with a struggling Spartan offense that went the final 25:55 scoreless, and you have a tough one to swallow.

“Thought we played good enough to win in those first two quarters, but then it got away from us and we couldn’t turn it back and regain the momentum,” head coach Mark Dantonio said.

After a dormant period for some of the second and third quarters, Oregon’s offense turned on the switch late, with Mariota leading the way. Mariota finished with 360 total yards and three touchdown passes.

The Heisman candidate was kept in check on the ground game in the first half, compiling -4 net rushing yards, but he eventually broke free for some long crucial runs. 

Late in the third quarter, MSU had Oregon in a third and nine situation and appeared to bottle him up for a sack, but he was somehow able to scramble outside to pick up 11 yards and the first down. That play continued the drive that ultimately led to a Oregon touchdown that regained the lead for the Ducks.

Senior free safety Kurtis Drummond gave credit to Mariota following the game, citing his speed and game knowledge as a reason why he’s so hard to play against.

“Mariota is a good quarterback, able to make plays as you can see not only with his arm but with his feet,” Drummond said. “(He's a) guy that understands our defense and understands their offense.”

MSU gave up 491 total yards, 301 of which coming in the second half, with explosive plays resulting in the ultimate death of MSU. The normally stout Spartan defense gave up plays of 64 and 70 yards, and a 96 yard drive to finish the game. The 46 points against was also the most points given up by MSU since the Capital One Bowl 49-7 loss to Alabama on Jan. 1 of 2011.

“We didn’t play ‘Spartan Dawg’ football and that’s just something we need to work on,” junior defensive end Shilique Calhoun said. “We did this to ourselves. A lot of this loss is to us, we need to correct a lot of mistakes. We didn’t come out and play the way that we were supposed to.”

While Mariota centered the Ducks high powered offense, there were other key pieces MSU couldn’t contain. Oregon redshirt freshman wide receiver Devon Allen exposed the MSU secondary finishing with 110 yards and two touchdowns on only three receptions, while freshman running back Royce Freeman led the Ducks on the ground with 89 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

On the other side of the ball for MSU, junior quarterback Connor Cook had a self-acclaimed disappointing night. Despite throwing for 343 yards and two touchdowns, it was the mistakes, such as his two interceptions, that he couldn’t get over following the game.

“They just made more plays than us,” Cook said. “We had some opportunities on offense, especially me, there were opportunities right there and I needed to grasp them and I needed to make plays when they’re right there and I didn’t.”

Senior wide receiver Tony Lippett was one of Cook’s top targets, finishing with 133 yards and one touchdown on 11 receptions. Sophomore tight end Josiah Price also posted impressive numbers with 51 yards and one touchdown, but wasn’t happy about the overall outcome.

Price said the program is past moral losses and feels like they left this on the table Saturday evening.

“I feel like we definitely should have won this game,” Price said. “We had them on the ropes but credit Oregon they played a great game down in the second half, they executed and made plays and we didn’t.”