by Steve Mims
EUGENE, OREGON — Here is a recap of Oregon Athletics that happened over the last few days.
OREGON FOOTBALL
Oregon made it four straight football victories with a 45-27 win over Stanford Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.
Stanford has a history of ruining some of Oregon’s best seasons – 2001, 2013 and 2021, for example – but the Ducks had no problem getting past the Cardinal for their fourth straight victory. At 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-12, Oregon moved up to No. 12 in the rankings as they prepare to visit Arizona on Saturday.
“It was a fun game for our team, there’s so much for us to grow on,” first-year UO coach Dan Lanning said. “I think we operated well early, and really throughout the game, on both sides of the ball, and special teams had some difference-maker plays.”
The Ducks scored the first 10 points against the Cardinal and built a 31-3 lead at halftime before the Cardinal scored the final 10 points of the game.
Quarterback Bo Nix was 16-for-29 for 161 yards and two touchdowns, but was even more impressive on the ground. The senior led Oregon in rushing with 141 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard touchdown run.
Bucky Irving, a transfer from Minnesota, added 97 yards on 10 carries while Noah Whittington ran for 66 yards on 11 carries as the Ducks totaled 351 rushing yards, an average of 9.5 per carry.
“We want to lean on our strengths and I think our offensive line has been a strength all year,” Lanning said. “Our backs are running really hard. We were obviously able to involve the quarterback in the run game, and wide receivers too. That was part of our plan coming in.”
Senior Chase Cota, a transfer from UCLA, had two catches for 56 yards and a touchdown while Troy Franklin had four catches for 52 yards and a score.
Costa, whose father, Chad, played safety at Oregon in the early 1990s, had his first touchdown as a Duck when Nix found him for a 49-yard score in the second quarter. After Stanford kicked a field goal to cut Oregon’s lead to 10-3, the Ducks scored three touchdowns in the final five minutes of the first half.
Nix found Franklin for a 10-yard score and then the quarterback ran in a 4-yard touchdown. Jordan James added a 1-yard run just before halftime.
The two teams traded scores in the second half as Nix and Sean Dollars both ran in a touchdown for the Ducks.
Oregon had 515 yards of total offense while limiting Stanford to 332. Defensive backs Bryan Addison and Bennett Williams led the Ducks with eight and seven tackles, respectively.
After Oregon was blown out 49-3 in its opener against second-ranked Georgia, the Ducks have bounced back with a series of impressive wins. The Ducks blew away Eastern Washington and Stanford and added a decisive win over BYU before rallying to beat Washington State.
The Ducks are one of four teams leading the Pac-12 at 2-0 as they prepare to visit Arizona, which is 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
VOLLEYBALL
Oregon is off to its best start in Pac-12 play in six years after sweeping the Arizona schools last weekend.
The 16th-ranked Ducks are the lone unbeaten team left in conference play at 4-0 while carrying a six-game winning streak. Oregon defeated Arizona State 25-17, 25-15, 25-12 on Friday followed by a 25-19, 25-18, 25-13 win over Arizona on Sunday.
Brooke Nuneviller had 26 kills combined in the two wins while Mimi Colyer had 25.
The Ducks are projected as a No. 7 overall seed in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament according to the selection committee, which revealed its top 10 seeds on Sunday.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
The Ducks were swept by the L.A. schools at Pape Field last week.
UCLA, ranked No. 1 in the nation, defeated Oregon 3-1 on Thursday. The Bruins took a 2-0 lead before Alice Barbieri scored in the 61st minute off an assist from Zoe Hasenauer, who tied the school record with her 18th career assist.
No. 20 USC followed with a 4-0 win over Oregon on Sunday. The Trojans scored three goals in the first half and shut out the Ducks.
After opening conference play with a 2-0 win over No. 15 Washington, the Ducks are now 1-2 in Pac-12 play.
Steve Mims has spent 25 years as a sportswriter, including 21 years at The Register-Guard. He covered University of Oregon athletics from 2013-2020. He works in Eugene as a registered representative and insurance agent at PBC Insurance. He can be reached at smims@pbcins.com.