Oregon Ducks Make a Statement in 60-13 Win Over UCLA in Autzen

Welcome to Autzen, boys. UCLA was handed a whooping in a 60-13 loss to top-ranked Oregon tonight. I will start off by saying Oregon is something special when playing at Autzen. The first drive of the night ended in an interception by sophomore safety John Boyett and the Ducks never looked back, pulling out to a quick 32-3 lead going into the half, and once again, the game was over after thirty minutes of football was played. 

Darron Thomas was lights out, going 22-for-31 for 308 yards and three touchdowns without a single interception; and that was against one of the best, if not the best pass defenses in the Pac-10.

Thomas could not have had a better game in my mind, he was outstanding, and I personally have never seen a sophomore quarterback at Oregon have that good of a game. DT is a player! He ran for 48 yards on five carries, and a couple of those were tuck n' runs for the first down on third down conversions. Darron really stepped up tonight, and showed everyone across the nation what he is capable of. 

With the combination of Heisman candidate LaMichael James and Darron Thomas, Oregon's offense is darn near impossible to stop. The Ducks had 582 total yards compared to UCLA's 290, and that is on only three more plays the entire game. 

The key coming into the game tonight was Oregon's defensive line, and they were spectacular, holding UCLA's strong rushing attack to 131 yards on 47 attempts, and stopping the highly respected running game of Johnathan Franklin to 69 yards on 21 carries.

THAT is how you play run defense. For a team that relies strongly on its rushing game like UCLA, 2.8 yards per carry just ain't going to cut it. 

Although, I do give an "A for effort" to Brehaut. He played tough until the end, punching in a touchdown run in the fourth quarter that happened to be the only points scored on Oregon's defense in the fourth quarter, and I will pat him on the back for that.

Other than the TD in the fourth, there were not many positives to take out of this game for UCLA. They just came off a tough loss to Cal 35-7, and this one will not feel much better.

For Oregon, this was a great statement to make. I know UCLA is not top of the line, but to be one of the only games being played across the nation, and to pound a team that has handled a Top 25 Texas team on ESPN will only help the Duck's case for being the best team in the country. Oregon can only look forward now and just focus on the games that are at hand, AKA USC at the Coliseum. That might be a good focus point at the moment! 

Otherwise, go Missouri!