Defense and special teams lead Oregon to a win in Pasadena
PASADENA, Calif. -- With the offense struggling and the defense hanging on by a thread, Kenjon Barner decided to take things into his own hands at the beginning of the second half.
Barner returned the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown, as the Ducks exploded in the first four minutes of the third quarter to overcome a 3-0 halftime deficit and beat the UCLA Bruins 24-10 on Saturday.
The start of the second half was quite the spectacle for fans at the Rose Bowl. On the first offensive play by UCLA after the kickoff return by Barner, Oregon cornerback Talmadge Jackson intercepted a Kevin Prince pass and returned it 32 yards for the touchdown to put the Ducks up 14-3.
After a Prince fumble, recovered by Oregon, Ducks quarterback Nate Costa threw a short pass to Jeff Maehl who broke a tackle and went 20 yards for the score, to give the Ducks a 21-3 lead with just over 11 minutes to play in the third quarter.
Costa finished the game just 9-17 for 82 yards filling in for the injured Jeremiah Masoli, but he kept the game in check for much of the game as the offense simply let running back LaMichael James do his thing.
James had yet another great game for the Ducks, running for 152 yards on 20 carries. Barner chipped in with 50 yards on the ground on just four carries, as the Ducks outgained the Bruins 222-66 yards on the ground and overall outgaining UCLA 304-211 yards.
Both teams' offenses struggled mightily to start off the game, but the defenses were what kept both teams in it.
Near the end of the first quarter, UCLA had the ball first and goal at the Oregon two yard line. However, the Ducks' defense stood tall, and the Bruins ended up going four-and-out against a pumped up Oregon team
In the second quarter, UCLA kicker Kai Forbath kicked made a 52 yard field goal to score the only points of the first half for either team, as the Bruins took a 3-0 lead at intermission.
After the barrage of points scored by the Ducks at the start of the third quarter, UCLA's defense stepped up big. Oregon had the ball first and ten inside their own five yard line, but Costa was intercepted in the endzone by Bruins linebacker Akeem Ayers, who made an outstanding play to keep his feet inbounds and score the touchdown to get the Bruins within 21-10.
The Ducks rsponded by adding a Morgan Flint field goal to extend their lead to 24-10 with almost the entire fourth quarter to go. The Bruins would not score after that, as the Ducks left the Rose Bowl with a victory.
Oregon, 5-1 and 3-0 in the Pac-10 for the first time since 2001, get a bye week next weekend before heading up to Seattle in two weeks to play Washington. UCLA, 3-2 and 0-2 in the conference, host California next weekend.
