Oregon Vs. Oregon State: No. 1 Ducks Top Beavers 37-20, Headed For BCS Championship

The top-ranked Oregon Ducks have finished with a perfect season in 2010, and they owe much of it to their dominant running game. LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner and company helped to secure a 37-13 win over rival Oregon State in the 2010 Civil War game.

On Saturday, the Ducks pounded out an amazing 348 yards on the ground, averaging 7.1 yards per carry. LaMichael James finished with 134 rushing yards, and Kenjon Barner, who averaged 8.9 on the ground, added 133. Though Oregon’s passing played second fiddle, quarterback Darron Thomas was effective, completing 14 of 24 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

In Corvallis, the No. 1 Oregon Ducks are finally beginning to pull away from Oregon State, 30-13. Thanks to Oregon’s running game, barring a huge comeback, the Ducks appear headed for the championship game.

Running back Kenjon Barner added a 23-yard rushing touchdown to build Oregon’s lead to three scores. Barner now has 122 yards for the game on only 14 carries -- that’s an average of 8.1 yards per carry. He’s supplemented by fellow running back LaMichael James, who has 121 rushing yards on Saturday. In total, the Ducks have a devastating 324 yards on the ground with most of the fourth quarter left to be played.

In the second half, the Civil War continues to be wild, but for No. 1 Oregon, it’s turning into the good kind of wild. A high-risk fake punt attempt paid big dividends, and the Ducks have extended their lead to 16 points.

Oregon State finally managed to stop the Ducks on a third down, so the Ducks’ punt team took the field on fourth-and-three from their own 28-yard line. But these are the Ducks, and as such, they masterfully executed a fake punt. Punter Jackson Rice faked as though the long snap sailed over his head while Michael Clay took the ball and jetter all the way within Oregon State’s 10-yard line.

It’s halftime in Corvallis, and despite a number of mistakes, top-ranked Oregon carries a 16-7 lead over arch-rival Oregon State into halftime. The difference so far has been the Ducks’ formidable running game.

Kenjon Barner already has 85 yards in only 10 carries, and LaMichael James has contributed 84 more. In total, the Ducks have 186 yards and a touchdown on the ground. However, a Josh Huff fumble in the first quarter took the ball out of Oregon’s hands in Beaver territory.

The top-ranked Oregon Ducks seem intent on atoning for a series of early gaffes. Thanks to a foiled Oregon State fake field goal and a robust running game, Oregon has improved its second-quarter lead to 16-7.

On a 4th-and-6 situation in Oregon territory, the Beavers elected to send out the field goal for a 52-yard try. However, kicker Johnny Hekker pulled back and attempted an unsuccessful fake that resulted in Oregon State’s third turnover of the game, an interception.

(Sports Network) Much more than bragging rights are on the line in this contest, as Chip Kelly’s Ducks are sitting atop the top-25 and rank second in the BCS poll. With a win over the Beavers this weekend, the Ducks, who have already captured at least a share of their second straight Pac-10 title, will head to Glendale on January 10th to play for the national title. The Ducks took one more step towards a BCS national title with a 48-29 win over Arizona last weekend to move to 11-0 on the year.

The Beavers have more than playing spoiler on their minds, as Mike Riley’s squad needs one more victory to reach bowl eligibility. The team has struggled of late to pick up wins, losing three of its last four, including a humbling 38-0 shutout at Stanford last weekend.