Tucson, Ariz. – LaMichael James and the No. 9 Ducks opened Pac-12 play just the way they wished they had with a 56-31 victory over the Arizona Wildcats in the desert.
James had the best performance of his career and showed why he finished third in the Heisman race last season. He finished the game with another two single game school-records with 288 yards rushing and 363 all-purpose yards. Onterrio Smith with 285 rushing yards and 342 previously held both marks all-purpose against Washington State in the 2001 season.
“I was just really thinking about the win,” James said. “Individual records don’t mean anything. It takes a team to get those records, and the offensive line did a great job, so I feel like those guys should share the record with me, too.”
He also continues to rewrite the Oregon career record book every week and added to that again Saturday night by becoming the Ducks’ all-time leading scorer with 47 and leads in rushing touchdowns with 42 after his two against Arizona.
“We just couldn’t find a way to stop him,” Wildcats Head Coach Mike Stoops said.
Oregon (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) is coming off of back-to-back conference championships and now has won 13 consecutive conference games.
The Ducks entered the half up 35-9 after a late push by the Wildcat offense.
Nick Foles completed 33 of 55 pass attempts for 391 yards and three touchdowns. While his numbers where impressive they have been much better, but multiple receivers had dropped balls.
“We knew, especially against Nick Foles, that this game never is in hand,” Oregon Head Coach Chip Kelly said. “We were aware that we were going to get a great shot from them in the second half, and I thought our offense responded well.”
The stadium was full going into halftime, but most of the student section and a large amount of the other fans failed to return for the final half.
“I appreciate the loyal fans who stayed,” Arizona cornerback Trevin Wade said. “Those who stayed were still loud and supportive, which is great.
In the second Arizona (1-3, 0-2) seemed to possess some momentum and was able to close the score to 35-24 after a touchdown pass from Foles to David Roberts, which was followed up with a two-point conversion from Foles to David Douglas with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Douglas finished the game with 10 catches for 120 yards – both team-highs.
That was as close as the game would get Oregon used their high-tempo offense to drive down the field led by the rushing of games and then was topped off with a five-yard touchdown rush up the middle by Darron Thomas.
Thomas accounted for four scores in the game two through the air and another on his feet. He had season highs in both rushes (10) and rushing yards (52).
The game also showcased the return of Kenjon Barner, who has been out with an ankle injury since the season-opener against top-ranked LSU. He finished the game 72 yards rushing and three total touchdowns.
Kelly was happy with the triple rushing attack but knows there still is room for improvement.
“We’re starting to find our rhythm,” he said. “We’ve still got some issues up front that we’ve got to clean up at times, but when our running back are running like that – it makes us a real tough team to defend from a running standpoint when the quarterback can hit it, Kenjon can hit it, and LaMichael can hit it.”
On the Ducks’ 28 touchdowns on the season 22 of them have taken less then three minutes.
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