6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
OREGON STATE FOOTBALL
OREGON FOOTBALL
Ducks dominate USC, 56-24
■ Oregon shrugs off a 10-0 deficit early to run roughshod over the Trojans in L.A.
By Greg Beacham
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES — Or-
egon’s defense began the
game by giving up a 16-play
touchdown drive. Justin
Herbert then threw only his
second interception since last
November.
The Ducks had barely
survived back-to-back close
games in the previous two
weeks, and their winning
streak appeared to be in peril
again when they fell 10 points
behind Southern California
after the fi rst quarter.
A calming little chat on
the Coliseum sideline kept
Oregon fi rmly on track in the
College Football Playoff race
with another blowout win.
Herbert passed for 225
yards and threw three
touchdown passes to Juwan
Johnson in the second half,
and No. 7 Oregon recovered
from a slow start to cruise to
its eighth consecutive victory,
56-24 over USC on Saturday
night.
Oregon (8-1, 6-0 Pac-12)
obliterated that early defi cit
by scoring a touchdown after
each of four turnovers by USC
freshman quarterback Kedon
Slovis during a 19-minute
stretch spanning halftime.
Freshman Mykael Wright
also returned a kickoff 100
yards for a touchdown shortly
after Brady Breeze returned
an interception 32 yards for
a score late in the second
quarter.
But the Ducks looked
shaky in the opening quarter
until they settled down and
got to work.
“We just looked at each oth-
er,” Herbert said. “We knew
that we’re a special group, and
we just needed to calm down
and say, ‘This isn’t us. We’re
going to do better.’ And we ad-
dressed that and got to move
the ball pretty well. We knew
we were better than that. We
just had to fi x things.”
Herbert and receiver Jaylon
Redd rushed for touchdowns
in the fi rst half for Oregon,
which remained on track for
the Pac-12 North title and a
good shot at a playoff spot.
Oregon coach Mario Cris-
tobal claimed he won’t pay
much attention to the fi rst
playoff rankings, but he has
opinions.
“Without question, I feel we
need to be in that conversa-
tion,” Cristobal said. “And we
need to keep getting better.
Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times-TNS
Oregon wide receiver Juwan Johnson, left, cuts toward the end zone on a 37-yard
touchdown reception in the fourth quarter against USC at the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum on Saturday.
... We started a little bit slow.
But once we got going, we re-
ally got going.”
Herbert went 21 for 26
despite that ugly early inter-
ception, which was thrown
straight to USC’s Isaiah
Pola-Mao. It ended Herbert’s
streak of 133 straight passes
without a pick, the second-
longest in the nation. Herbert
had thrown just one inter-
ception in his previous 362
pass attempts in Pac-12 road
games during his four-year
career.
Oregon also committed 12
penalties for 157 yards and
had two defensive players
ejected, but racked up more
than enough points to stay
perfect since its season opener.
Slovis threw for 264 yards
and three touchdowns on a
USC-record 57 pass attempts,
but his three interceptions
and a fumble erased the
Trojans’ solid start. Slovis and
Air Raid offensive coordinator
Graham Harrell surpassed
Todd Marinovich’s single-
game record of 55 attempts
for the Trojans, set in 1989.
“You can’t commit turn-
overs like that, but sometimes
it happens,” Slovis said.
“You’ve just got to move on
and play the next play.”
Michael Pittman Jr. and
two-sport freshman Drake
London caught fi rst-half
touchdown passes for USC
(5-4, 4-2), which fell out of
fi rst place in the Pac-12 South
with its third loss in fi ve
games.
“We made enough mis-
takes tonight against a
PAC-12 FOOTBALL
Utah rallies to top
Washington, 33-28
By Tim Booth
top-10 team,” USC coach Clay
Helton said. “You can’t win a
ballgame turning it over four
times and have the penalties
that we had and expect to
beat that team. We just didn’t
execute like I know we can.”
The Ducks fi nally got mov-
ing in the second quarter after
Verone McKinley III inter-
cepted a pass that ricocheted
off London’s hands. Pola-Mao
was ejected for targeting dur-
ing the ensuing drive, which
ended with Herbert’s 10-yard
TD run, his fi rst of the season.
Slovis then fumbled on a
play from the Ducks 3 while
trying to avoid a sack. Oregon
responded with a 92-yard TD
drive, and Breeze got his pick-
6 moments later.
Pittman made a TD catch
20 seconds before halftime,
but Wright responded with
Oregon’s fi rst TD kickoff
return since the 2017 season
opener.
“They provided all the
momentum,” Cristobal said
of the Ducks’ two TD returns.
“Those two plays took us into
the locker room with a lot of
juice and a lot of energy.”
LATE SCORES
Pittman’s younger brother,
Oregon receiver Mycah Pitt-
man, caught a TD pass from
Tyler Shough with 6:50 to
play.
Touted USC freshman
Kyle Ford then made his fi rst
career catch for a 20-yard
touchdown with 3:11 to play.
JUWAN’S GRABS
Johnson, the Ducks’ senior
Penn State transfer, had
seven catches for 106 yards
after making just six previous
receptions all season.
“I don’t know if Oregon has
had a receiver like him in
quite a while,” Herbert said.
“The way he runs and moves
for a 6-5 guy is something
special.”
INJURIES
Herbert left the fi eld slowly
during the third quarter after
taking a big hit in the thigh,
but he returned just two plays
later. “I knew that it wasn’t
anything bad, but it was just
really painful,” Herbert said.
THE TAKEAWAY
Oregon: The Ducks’ defense
and special teams responded
splendidly to the early test
with one big play after
another. USC’s shakiness
was a credit to the Ducks’
steadiness, and they’ll need it
during their fi nish against the
Arizona schools and Oregon
State before a probable trip
to the Pac-12 championship
game.
• USC: The Trojans didn’t
have the toughness or the
perseverance to pull off an
upset, and Helton’s fi ve-year
tenure could draw to a close
this month if USC’s new ath-
letic director agrees with his
demanding new fans.
UP NEXT
• Oregon: An off week, fol-
lowed by a visit from Arizona
on Nov. 16.
• USC: Visit Arizona State
next Saturday.
Road warrior
Beavers rout
Arizona, 56-38
By John Marshall
AP Sports Writer
TUCSON, Ariz. — Oregon State went into its bye
week looking for ways to exploit the many holes in
Arizona’s defense.
When the Wildcats switched coordinators this week,
the Beavers didn’t change anything — and still blew
right through them.
Jake Luton threw for 328 yards and three touch-
downs, Jermar Jefferson ran for three more scores and
Oregon State sliced through Arizona’s listless defense
for a 56-38 victory on Saturday.
“New D coordinator, what’s that going to look like
and we just looked at the tape, focused on what we do
well,” Beavers head coach Jonathan Smith said.
Arizona (4-5, 2-3 Pac-12) fi red defensive coordina-
tor Marcel Yates this week, replacing him with former
NFL assistant coach Chuck Cecil.
The coordinator change changed little on the fi eld.
Oregon State (4-4, 3-2) manhandled the Wildcats up
front while churning out big plays, scoring 35 points by
halftime and racking up 572 total yards.
Luton fi nished 20 of 26 and threw two TD passes to
Isaiah Hodgins, who had seven catches for 150 yards.
Grant Gunnell threw for 269 yards and two touch-
downs for the Wildcats, who have lost four straight.
“When things go well, it’s easy for everybody,”
Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin said. “When things hap-
pen the way they’ve happened the last few weeks, it’s
important to stick together.”
Arizona fi red Yates and linebackers coach John
Rushing this week after allowing 132 combined points
in three straight losses. The Wildcats were 118th in
scoring defense and 119th defense heading into Satur-
day’s game.
The trend continued.
Luton hit Hodgins on a 21-yard TD pass on the Bea-
vers’ opening drive and a wide-open Noah Togiai for a
23-yard score to close the fi rst half. Jefferson scored on
TD runs of 1 and 5 yards, and Artavis Pierce added a
4-yard TD run.
Oregon State had 385 yards and a 35-19 lead by
halftime.
Jefferson scored on 5-yard run to open the second
half and Luton’s 25-yard TD pass to Hodgins put the
Beavers up 49-31 in the fourth quarter.
“I think we knew what was possible and it’s all com-
ing together,” Oregon State tackle Blake Brandel said.
Arizona’s offense tried to keep pace.
Gunnell found Gary Brightwell on a swing pass that
turned into a 38-yard touchdown with the help of a
key block by receiver Cedric Peterson.
J.J. Taylor scored on a 3-yard run to cap a drive
pushed along by four Oregon State personal foul
penalties — two each for facemask and roughing the
passer.
Arizona twice had to settle for fi eld goals after
driving inside the Beavers’ 10-yard line, the fi rst after
Taylor had a TD run negated by a holding call.
Peterson turned a short pass over the middle into a
winding 35-yard touchdown early in the third quarter
and Brightwell scored on a 10-yard run.
Taylor added a 2-yard TD run in the fourth quarter
to pull the Wildcats with 49-38, but Oregon State con-
tinued to gouge their defense to put it away.
“When stuff like this happens, a lot of people point
fi ngers, but we can’t do that,” Taylor said. “We’ve got to
stay being us, remind us of what kind of team we are
and work together.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Oregon State has built some momentum in the
second half of the season, now needing two wins to
become bowl eligible for the fi rst time since 2013.
Arizona’s defense is in disarray, leaving the Wildcats
spiraling away from bowl contention after opening the
season 4-1.
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AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE — The past month looked, and felt, so easy for
No. 9 Utah. One blowout after another. No tests for the Utes to
answer.
They knew traveling to Washington would be different, and
they were right. The Utes were challenged; falling behind early
and rallying late, and in doing so solidifi ed their spot in the Col-
lege Football Playoff conversation.
Tyler Huntley threw for one touchdown and ran for another,
Jaylon Johnson returned an interception 39 yards for a score,
and No. 9 Utah overcame an 11-point fi rst-half defi cit to beat
Washington 33-28. The Utes did their part in keeping pace in
the Pac-12 South race and bolstered their CFP resume with a
road win over a talented opponent in a place where it’s never
come easy for Utah.
“It says a lot. We’ve had a lot of games, the last three games
or whatever it’s been by putting up 40 points and our defense
looking impeccable,” Utah running back Zack Moss said. “When
we can do this and come on the road and win a game like this
and doing it the way we did, that’s what championship teams
do and that’s what we’ve been missing the last couple of years.”
The Utes (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) picked up just their second
all-time win over the Huskies — oddly enough both coming
in Seattle — leaning on a defense that forced Washington
quarterback Jacob Eason into three turnovers and got just
enough offense from Huntley and friends to rally from an early
14-3 hole.
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