Underdog Ducks Bite UW In The End

The Oregon Ducks hope Washington felt this one.

“I hate the UW,” Pat Johnson said. “Nothing personal against any of the players on their team.”

Johnson delivered the final blow to the No. 6 Huskies on Saturday, catching a 29-yard touchdown pass from Akili Smith with 2:33 to go to give Oregon a 31-28 victory after the Ducks blew a 21-point lead in the first half.

“The throw was absolutely perfect and the catch was even better,” coach Mike Bellotti said.

The Ducks (5-4, 2-4 Pac-10) led 17-0 and 24-3 in the second quarter, but Washington (7-2, 5-1) rallied to lead 28-24 on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Marques Tuiasosopo to Ja’Warren Hooker with eight minutes left.

Oregon, a 21-point underdog, ended Washington’s 12-game Pac-10 winning streak and beat the Huskies for the third time in four seasons.

The victory over their high-profile Pacific Northwest rival helped take the sting out of Oregon’s Pac-10 losses to Southern California, UCLA, Washington State and Stanford.

“This was the best day of my life,” said Oregon linebacker Peter Sirmon, the Pac-10’s leading tackler. Sirmon, a Walla Walla product who wasn’t recruited by the Huskies, had an interception and a fumble recovery.

“Twenty-one points is a pretty big spread,” Sirmon said. “Yeah, we were mad.”

“I know everybody was down on us,” said tailback Saladin McCullough, who had his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game.

Despite losing to Nebraska at home in September, Washington felt it was still in the national championship picture. Saturday’s defeat ended that.

“Everything was on the table for us to go and take, but we didn’t do it,” Jerome Pathon said.

Still, the Huskies can go to the Rose Bowl by winning their final two Pac-10 games, next Saturday at UCLA and on Nov. 22 against Washington State.

“The Rose Bowl is still plenty for us to be playing for,” Pathon said.

After the Huskies’ go-ahead touchdown on a 10-play, 84-yard drive, Smith marched the Ducks 73 yards in 10 plays in 5:27 for the winning touchdown. On third-and-20, Smith threw a pinpoint spiral into the end zone to Johnson, who beat Washington cornerback Mel Miller.

Smith completed a 23-yard pass to tight end Blake Spence and a 27-yarder to Donald Haynes in Oregon’s winning march.

Washington got the ball back with 2:26 left, but gave it up on downs at its 39 with 1:20 left.

Smith was 15 of 25 for 193 yards and three touchdowns. McCullough rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.

Washington held out its starting quarterback, Brock Huard, with a sprained left ankle. The Huskies will start Huard against UCLA.

Asked if there was any chance Huard wouldn’t be 100 percent for the UCLA game, coach Jim Lambright said: “No.”

Lambright was disappointed with the way the Huskies played after their 27-0 victory over Southern California last week.

“We won’t have a chance against our final two teams if we play like we did today,” he said.

Tuiasosopo, who became the first freshman to start at quarterback for Washington, was 15 for 30 for 261 yards and one touchdown with one interception. He rushed 16 times for 95 yards and a touchdown. Pathon caught seven passes for 164 yards for the Huskies.

Washington cut its deficit to 24-21 with two touchdowns in the first 6:33 of the second half.

The Huskies got a 42-yard touchdown run from Tuiasosopo and a 2-point conversion pass from Tuiasosopo to Pathon with 1:23 gone in the third quarter.

Washington went 57 yards for another touchdown after a 26-yard punt by Oregon’s Josh Bidwell. The Huskies scored when center Olin Kreutz recovered Tuiasospo’s fumble of the snap in the end zone on second-and-goal.

Oregon led 24-6 at halftime after holding a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Ducks led 14-0 in the first period before Washington had its first first down.

Nick Lentz kicked field goals of 46 and 35 yards for Washington in the second period.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Oregon 31, Washington 28 Oregon 14 10 0 7 31 Washington 0 6 15 7 28 OreJelks 2 pass from A.Smith (Frankel kick) OreMcCullough 1 run (Frankel kick) OreFG Frankel 26 WashFG Lentz 46 OreSpence 4 pass from A.Smith (Frankel kick) WashFG Lentz 35 WashTuiasosopo 42 run (Pathon pass from Tuiasosopo) WashKreutz recovered fumble in end zone (Lentz kick) WashHooker 41 pass from Tuiasosopo (Lentz kick) OreJohnson 29 pass from A.Smith (Frankel kick) A73,775. Ore Wash First downs 18 18 Rushes-yards 45-112 35-152 Passing 193 261 Comp-Att-Int 15-25-0 15-30-1 Return Yards 28 1 Punts-Avg. 7-37.6 6-31.8 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-1 Penalties-Yards 11-65 9-90 Time of Possession 32:53 27:07 RUSHING-Oregon, McCullough 28-115, Latimer 2-7, A.Smith 15-(minus 10). Washington, Tuiasosopo 16-95, Shaw 11-33, Harris 7-20, Reed 1-4, Kreutz 0-0. PASSING-Oregon, A.Smith 15-25-0-193. Washington, Tuiasosopo 15-30-1-261. RECEIVING-Oregon, Spence 5-56, Johnson 3-67, McCullough 3-24, Jelks 2-8, Haynes 1-27, Brust 1-11. Washington, Pathon 7-164, Harris 3-6, Hooker 1-41, Reed 1-34, Brigham 1-7, Coleman 1-7, Conniff 1-2.