No. 6 Oregon will play for the Pac-12 Championship after wrapping up the fourth 11-win regular season in school history with a 31-7 victory Friday over No. 16 Oregon State, before the fourth-largest crowd in Autzen Stadium history, 59,987 fans. The Ducks (11-1, 8-1 Pac-12) will play for the conference title next Friday in Las Vegas against the team that handed them their only loss of this season, Washington.
Friday’s win not only kept the UO football team in the running for a Pac-12 title, it kept the Ducks in the thick of the College Football Playoff race as well. Senior quarterback Bo Nix burnished his credentials for the Heisman Trophy by going 33-of-40 for 367 yards and two touchdowns, plus a rushing touchdown, helping Oregon to its sixth straight win.
“I’ve said all season, we want to be playing our best football at the end of the season,” UO coach Dan Lanning said. “We are right now.”
Looking to avenge a loss to Oregon State the year before, Oregon allowed but a single touchdown Friday, shortly before halftime. That cut the UO lead to 14-7 with 54 seconds left in the half, but the Ducks answered on a brilliant pass from Nix to Troy Franklin, who scored his UO-record 25th career receiving touchdown with 8 seconds left.
Franklin had nine receptions for 128 yards and a score, and Tez Johnson added 11 receptions for 137 yards. Bucky Irving caught the other touchdown pass from Nix, and Jordan James rushed for the touchdown that made it 31-7 early in the fourth quarter.
“Obviously, anybody watching us would say we’ve got some really special players on our team, including our quarterback,” Lanning said. “He was dialed tonight, he was on point.”
Evan Williams had six tackles to lead a UO defense that held Oregon State’s vaunted rushing attack to just 53 yards on 24 carries. The Ducks had one sack in the game, by freshman edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei — against his brother, OSU quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.
The Beavers threatened to score after James made it 31-7 in the fourth quarter, but Dontae Manning — who started in place of Jahlil Florence — picked off a pass in the end zone.
“I told Jahlil maybe two or three days ago that this game was gonna be for him,” Manning said. “He wasn’t going to be able to be out there with us. I told him it’s gonna be for him. Just being able to play for my brothers, that’s all I wanted.”
Following a pregame ceremony honoring the senior class — including tight end Spencer Webb, who passed away in July 2022 — the Ducks got the night started off with a methodical opening drive, capped by Nix throwing a touchdown pass to Irving. After the UO defense turned the Beavers over on downs near midfield, Nix went 4-of-5 on the ensuing drive and then rushed 16 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0.
Oregon’s defense followed with a three-and-out. When the Ducks missed a field goal and OSU then drove to a touchdown, it was back to a one-score game — until Nix’s brilliant 41-yard, no-look touchdown pass to Franklin. Nix rolled out to this right on the play, then looked to that side of the field before unleashing a pass across his body deep down the left side for the touchdown.
“I think I was the second read on that,” Franklin said of this touchdown. “But it turned into a scramble drill. He just made a play, I made a play and we got the result.”
OSU turned it over on downs again to open the third quarter; the Beavers were 2-of-6 on fourth down in the game, while Oregon was 2-of-2, after failing on all five fourth-down attempts in Corvallis the year before. A field goal by Camden Lewis made it 24-7, and after another three-and-out from the UO defense, the Ducks drove to the rushing touchdown by James early in the fourth quarter.