Bo Nix passed for 265 yards and ran for three touchdowns to lead a dominating offensive performance as No. 12 Oregon rolled past host Arizona 49-22 on Saturday night in Tucson, Ariz.
Nix directed Oregon (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12) to touchdowns — all on the ground — on seven consecutive drives, capped by his 25-yard run for a 49-13 lead with 5:04 left in the third quarter. He completed 20 of 25 passes, including 14 in a row at one point, and gained 70 yards on eight rushes.
Arizona (3-3, 1-2) rarely pressured Nix and never sacked him, also allowing the Ducks to rush for 306 yards. The Wildcats didn’t help themselves by committing three turnovers while playing in front of a crowd of 50,800 – the school’s first sellout since Sept. 26, 2015, against UCLA.
The Ducks shared the wealth on the ground, with five players rushing for touchdowns.
Noah Whittington, who ran for a game-high 92 yards on six carries, started Oregon’s scoring with a 55-yard burst in the first quarter, cutting to the middle near the line of scrimmage and outracing the defense to the end zone.
Jordan James ran 10 times for 69 yards and a touchdown. Bucky Irving had 12 carries for 67 yards and a score.
Oregon has won five consecutive games and scored at least 41 points in all of them.
Arizona’s Jayden de Laura completed 24 of 42 passes for 241 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
After Whittington’s 55-yard run late in the first quarter, Nix’s 42-yard pass to Kris Hutson set up a 2-yard quarterback sneak for a 14-3 lead on Oregon’s next possession.
Oregon finished the half with 346 total yards with the help of two more long scoring drives (86 and 75 yards). After James’ 1-yard run put Oregon up 28-10 with 34 seconds to go before halftime, Arizona responded with a 43-yard run by Jonah Coleman to set up a 36-yard field goal from Tyler Loop on the final play of the half.
–Field Level Media