San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
NIX LEADS DUCKS TO ROAD WIN
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix was piling up the yardage, but the No. 15 Ducks were not getting into the end zone in the first half against Washington State.
That all changed with less than seven minutes left in the game, when Oregon scored three late touchdowns to come back for a 44-41 win over the host Cougars (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) on Saturday.
Nix threw touchdown passes to Cam Mccormick and Troy Franklin, and Mase Funa returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown as Oregon (3-1, 1-0) erased a 34-22 deficit.
“Today was not what I expected,” said Oregon coach Dan Lanning. “But what I did expect and what I did see was toughness, resilience, and a team of guys who won’t give up. And they did that, they showed up and gave their all when we needed it.”
Nix completed 33 of 44 passes for 428 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The Ducks produced 624 yards of offense in winning their third consecutive game.
Lanning said his team did not give up.
“Our locker room never wavered. They were composed, and ready to get back out there and convert some of those red zone chances,” Lanning said. “We knew a lot of those were self inflicted wounds, and we felt we could fix that.”
“I didn’t see any selfishness on our sideline. I don’t think anyone had a doubt in their mind about what we could accomplish if we started executing,” Lanning said.
Washington State coach Jake Dickert pointed to Oregon’s offensive production.
“You’re not going to win a lot of games giving up 600 yards of offense,” Dickert said. “We’ve got a lot of kids disappointed in there.
“It was them out-executing us in the fourth quarter.”
UCLA 45, Colorado 17: Zach Charbonnet ran for three touchdowns and Dorian Thompson-robinson threw for two more to power the Bruins to their seventh straight win, a rout of winless Colorado.
The Bruins (4-0, 1-0) left Boulder with their first victory at Folsom Field since 2014 and their longest winning streak since winning their first eight games in 2005 under then-head coach Karl Dorrell, now the Buffaloes’ embattled leader.
“Any time you get a conference win on the road, that’s huge,” Bruins coach Chip Kelly said. “If you want to be relevant in this league you have to win road games. And that’s really the most important thing for us.
“You know, everybody in that locker room wasn’t there in 2014. Some of those kids were in elementary school.”
Freshman left-hander Owen Mccown, the son of longtime NFL quarterback Josh Mccown, made his starting debut for Colorado (0-4, 0-1), which has now been outscored 173-47, the first time in program history the Buffaloes have lost four consecutive games by at least 25 points.
Mccown got his chance after last year’s starter, Brendon Lewis and Tennessee transfer J.T. Shrout failed to ignite Colorado’s stagnant offense.
Mccown scored on a 2yard keeper and capped an 85-yard, 14-play drive with an 8-yard scoring strike to fellow freshman Jordan Tyson, but he had two turnovers and couldn’t keep the Buffaloes from dropping to 0-4 for the first time since 2006.
“Frustrating day,” Dorrell said, adding that he did see some encouraging moments out of Mccown, who finished 26 of 42 for 258 yards with a TD, an interception and five sacks.
“He did some really positive things,” Dorrell said, “and he did some rookie things, too.”
California 49, Arizona 31: Jaydn Ott ran for 274 yards and three touchdowns and California (3-1, 1-0) opened Pac-12 play with a victory over the visiting Wildcats (2-2, 0-1).
Ott scored on a 73-yard run on the second play from scrimmage, an improbable 18-yarder in the third quarter after he had appeared to be stopped for a short gain, and then another 72-yarder to ice it late in the fourth.
Ott had the third most rushing yards in school history, 37 shy of Jahvid Best’s record 311 against Washington in 2008.
Jayden de Laura threw two touchdowns passes for the Wildcats. Arizona lost its 12th straight conference road game.
No. 7 USC 17, Oregon St. 14: Down four with less than five minutes to go, Lincoln Riley had a simple message for his QB. Pac-12 Networks cameras caught the USC head coach speaking to Caleb Williams on the sideline before the USC offense took the field on a critical drive. “The time is now,” Riley told him.
Williams delivered, leading a go-ahead 11-play, 84-yard touchdown drive that gave USC a lead over Oregon State after a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison.
Max Williams sealed the victory and snuffed out Oregon State’s comeback attempt with an interception on a tipped pass. It was USC’S fourth interception of the game as the team’s maligned defense carried the offense that was uncharacteristically uncomfortable.
Stanford at No. 18 Washington: Late
No. 13 Utah at Arizona St.: Late