Game Ducks hold off No. 23 Fresno State

Oregon’s new offense is rounding into form, and the timing couldn’t be better with top-ranked Southern California due up next for the Ducks.

Kellen Clemens threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns to lead a balanced Oregon attack in a 37-34 victory over the No. 23 Bulldogs on Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Fresno State (1-1), which also had won its last three against Pac-10 teams.

After seeing their running game stagnate and settling too often for field goals in their first two games, the Ducks (3-0) saw strides with their new spread-option system under coordinator Gary Crowton, the former Brigham Young coach.

Demetrius Williams caught eight passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns, while Terrence Whitehead rushed for 96 yards and a score and caught another TD. Clemens completed 28 of 38 passes.

Whitehead took a seemingly routine pass from Clemens and ran it willy-nilly 42 yards into the end zone, hopping over downed teammates and shrugging off clinging defenders to make it 37-27 for the Ducks with 4:16 left.

But Fresno State kept it interesting with Paul Pinegar’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Matt Rivera to narrow it to 37-34 with 1:50 left.

Pinegar completed 33 of 43 passes for 418 yards and three scores.

(1) USC 70, Arkansas 17

Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush & Co. hit Arkansas with a 28-point first quarter the Razorbacks won’t soon forget.

Leinart passed for 381 yards and four TDs and ran for another TD in less than three quarters, Bush scored the first two times he touched the ball, and the Trojans (2-0) routed the Razorbacks (1-2) in Los Angeles.

The win was the 24th straight for USC – one shy of the school and Pac-10 record and the longest active winning streak in the country.

USC had the ball for only 1:32 in the first quarter, but gained 246 yards on eight plays – four of them touchdowns – for a 28-7 lead.

(12) Purdue 31, Arizona 24

Jerod Void carried 18 times for 107 yards, scored three touchdowns and recovered a muffed punt return, helping the Boilermakers (2-0) hold off the Wildcats (1-2) in Tucson, Ariz.

Brandon Kirsch passed for 140 yards and ran for 54 for the Boilermakers, who took advantage of the muffed punt return and a failed fake punt by Arizona to score 10 decisive points in the third quarter.

Richard Kovalcheck completed 23 of 40 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns for the Wildcats.

(18) Arizona State 52, Northwestern 21

Sam Keller passed for 409 yards and four touchdowns and freshman Keegan Herring ran for 197 yards and two scores, leading the Sun Devils (2-1) past the Wildcats (2-1) in Tempe, Ariz.

The Sun Devils rebounded from a 35-31 loss to No. 3 LSU last week by accumulating a school-record 773 yards, 532 in the first half. Rudy Carpenter, Keller’s backup, ran 2 yards with 2:30 left to push the total past the 743 yards the Arizona State had against Stanford in 1981.

Keller, who threw for 461 yards against LSU, tossed a 36-yard scoring pass to Jamaal Lewis, a 24-yarder to Derek Hagan, went 15 yards to Rudy Burgess and 30 yards to Matt Miller.

(15) California 35, Illinois 20

Justin Forsett ran for a career-high 187 yards and two touchdowns, and Tim Mixon returned a fourth-quarter punt 79 yards for a score during the Golden Bears’ impressive second-half rally for a victory over the Illini (2-1) in Berkeley, Calif.

Marcus O’Keith rushed for a late score and caught a 26-yard TD pass from Joe Ayoob for the Golden Bears (3-0), whose injury-plagued offense needed nearly three quarters to warm up.

Cal played without star tailback Marshawn Lynch, who sat out with a broken finger, and two starters on its powerful offensive line.

Trailing by 10 points at halftime, Cal won its ninth straight home game with four TDs in 17 minutes spanning the final quarters.

UC Davis 20, Stanford 17

Jon Grant threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Blaise Smith with 8 seconds left and the Division I-AA Aggies (1-2) stunned the Cardinal (1-1) to spoil coach Walt Harris’ home debut for Stanford.

Harris, brought in to replace Buddy Teevens after three straight losing seasons, is off to a rough start at Stanford (1-1), becoming the first Cardinal coach to lose to a non-Division I team.

The Aggies kept Stanford’s offense out of the end zone all game and allowed just 180 yards for the night.