Bucky Irving rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns and also scored on a reception as No. 9 Oregon rebounded from its lone loss of the season to defeat Washington State 38-24 Saturday afternoon in a Pacific-12 game in Eugene, Ore.
Bo Nix, who broke the Football Bowl Subdivision record for a quarterback with his 54th career start, completed 18 of 25 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for a score for the Ducks (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12), who lost 36-33 last week at Washington in a top-10 showdown. Oregon’s Jordan James added 103 yards rushing.
The Cougars (4-3, 1-3), who were ranked No. 13 earlier this month, suffered their third consecutive defeat.
Washington State’s Cameron Ward was 34-of-48 passing for 438 yards and a touchdown. Lincoln Victor made a school-record 16 catches for 161 yards.
After leading 17-13 at the half, the Ducks pulled away in the third quarter.
A screen pass to Irving turned into a 42-yard touchdown as he raced down the left sideline.
After Washington State’s Dean Janikowski kicked a 50-yard field goal, the Ducks responded with another TD, with Irving rushing 43 yards up the middle to make it 31-16.
Nix tossed a TD pass to Tez Johnson on third-and-goal from the 17 with 8:53 remaining. Johnson had a team-high six receptions for 94 yards.
Ward threw a 16-yard scoring strike to Isaiah Hamilton with 52 seconds left to cap the scoring.
The Ducks stopped Washington State on fourth down three times, including on consecutive possessions in the second half.
The first half went back-and-forth.
The teams traded field goals in the first quarter, with Janikowski kicking a 36-yarder and the Ducks’ Camden Lewis answering from 27 yards.
The Cougars regained the lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by Nakia Watson.
Oregon pulled ahead on a pair of 2-yard TD runs, by Irving and Nix, the latter with 44 seconds left in the half.
Ward drove the Cougars down the field and Janikowski booted a 33-yarder with one second remaining to trim Oregon’s lead to four points.
–Field Level Media