UO release - A gritty defensive effort and a timely performance by Dylan Raiola off the bench gave Oregon a win over Nebraska on Saturday.  By: Rob Moseley, EUGENE, Ore. — The plot was full of twists, turns and potholes, but in the end Dylan Raiola and the Ducks got their storybook finish.  A gritty UO defensive effort that just needed a bit of support offensively got it in the nick of time Saturday. Oregon scored its only touchdown against Nebraska with 28 seconds left in their game at Autzen Stadium, a pass by Raiola after he entered in the fourth quarter to take on his former team.  Over one-third of Oregon's total offense on the night came on the epic 20-play, 82-yard scoring drive that culminated in Raiola's touchdown pass to Jamari Johnson. That gave the Ducks a badly needed, 17-14 victory over the Cornhuskers in their second game without injured starting quarterback Dante Moore.  "It was a gritty, ugly win in a lot of ways, against a really tough opponent that had a lot of success this season for a reason," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "But there was just a little bit more time left."  On a day rife with chaos across the college football landscape, Oregon provided some in a game that ended close to midnight. The Ducks improved to 4-2 on the season and 2-1 in Big Ten play as they hit the halfway point of the regular season.  Moore missed his second game since suffering a concussion in Oregon's win at USC to close September. Raiola came off the bench to lead a come-from-behind victory that day, earning a start in the Ducks' next game, against UCLA. But he was benched in that one after going 6-of-19 and didn't start Saturday, only to enter in the fourth quarter and lead the Ducks to victory over Nebraska, where he played the first two years of his career.  "A lot of people don't necessarily get second chances," Lanning said of Raiola, who was 11-of-18 for 59 yards and the game-winning touchdown pass Saturday. "Dylan got a second chance to go out there tonight and execute for us when he was ready, and I'm proud that he was able to do that."  Raiola entered with the Ducks down 14-6 to open the fourth quarter, and led a 17-play, 69-yard drive to a field goal, the third of the day by Gage Hurych. The UO defense then forced a three-and-out, setting the stage for Raiola and the UO offense to convert twice on third down and twice on fourth down during the 20-play touchdown drive.  "It's all about these guys in this locker room, and us winning football games," Raiola said of his roller-coaster last few weeks. "And whatever that takes, I owe it to these guys, I owe it to our fans. And we're gonna keep doing whatever it takes to win because I love these dudes, and nothing else matters to me than."  The game-winning touchdown drive was just reward for a UO defense that allowed just 242 yards and 3.6 yards per play. Defensive tackle Bear Alexander led the Ducks with seven tackles, Ify Obidegwu had an interception and Teitum Tuioti had two sacks.  For two weeks now as the Ducks have tried to get by without Moore, the defense has played at an elite level despite struggles for the offense. In the fourth quarter Saturday, their efforts paid off.  "I think we've done a great job of embracing it, man," Tuioti said. "Looking at game one to now, man, our defense has done a great job of playing together. We did a great job of just elevating our gameplay, and it's going to continue to grow because we have a lot to clean up as well."  For much of the first half Saturday, the Ducks looked like they were on their way to their first scoreless game at halftime since the 2018 Redbox Bowl. Nebraska ended up leading 7-0 at the break after a late touchdown drive that featured two conversions on third-and-long, and a replay review of the scoring play because the receiver landed so close to the end line.  "Our guys didn't flinch; they just responded," Lanning said. "Our defense ultimately played outstanding throughout the day. Even the plays that were made, they were contested. It wasn't easy."  Oregon's own offense didn't find anything easy either. The Ducks had 50 yards of offense at halftime, and 91 through three quarters. Hurych kicked two field goals in the third to get Oregon within 7-6, but late in the quarter Nebraska intercepted a Brock Thomas pass and used the short field to drive to a touchdown.  Into the game to start the fourth quarter came Raiola. And an Oregon offense that had 91 yards on 40 plays to that point had 151 yards on 36 plays in the final period. The Ducks got hard rushing yards from Dierre Hill Jr., with 14 carries for 67 yards, and found a spark in freshman back Brandon Smith, who ran six times for 29 yards.  And they leaned on their playmakers. Though starting receiver Evan Stewart missed Saturday's game, Dakorien Moore and Johnson combined to catch 12 passes for 71 yards. The play before Johnson's game-winning touchdown catch, Moore appeared to have beat him to the punch but replay overturned the call on the field of a touchdown catch.  "We just gotta find our DNA plays that we can go to whenever we need to, and I feel like we found them plays tonight," Moore said. "And ultimately that carried us down the field, and we got the dub with it. So that's all that matters."  Having hit the halfway point of the season, the Ducks still have six more games to play over the next six weeks. The status of Dante Moore going forward remains a question mark. Saturday's victory was hard-won, and more of that could be in store for Oregon in the coming weeks.  "I'll never make excuses; we have talented enough players for us to be better than we've been," Lanning said. "That being said, it does look like a different group than what we started the season with. You thought you're going to have Jeremiah McClellan, Evan Stewart, Dante Moore — like, there's some different pieces to the puzzle out there. But we're working really, really hard to figure it out."