| | | |
Friday, December 13, 2002
Oregon 29, No. 8 UCLA 10
Associated Press
BOX SCORE
EUGENE, Ore. -- Maurice Morris ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns to lead Oregon to a 29-10 victory over No. 8 UCLA on Saturday in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.
|  | | UCLA got him here, but Oregon's Maurice Morris led the Ducks to the upset of the eighth-ranked Bruins. |
The Ducks (3-1) dominated UCLA throughout, holding the Bruins (3-1) scoreless until the third quarter. It was the 17th straight home win for Oregon, the longest string in the Pac-10.
UCLA was coming off a victory over then-No. 3 Michigan, and opened the season with a win over Alabama -- also No. 3 at the time.
Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington opened the scoring midway through the first quarter, shoving his way across the goal line from less than a yard to cap an eight-play, 54-yard drive.
UCLA finished with minus-9 yards rushing. UCLA did not gain a single yard rushing in the first quarter, and Oregon held the Bruins to just 22 yards on the ground in the half.
Morris had 64 of his 139 yards for Oregon in the first quarter, and the Ducks ended up with 208 yards rushing. Morris scored from a yard out, and then from 4 yards.
UCLA won the toss but deferred, and Morris immediately picked up a first down for Oregon as the Ducks drove from their own 20 to the UCLA 35 before stalling after Harrington overthrew tight end Justin Peelle wide open on his way to the end zone.
Josh Frankel faked a field goal and punted to the corner, putting the Bruins on their own 14, the first of many times the Bruins would find themselves deep in their own territory.
Frankel kicked field foals of 26, 24 and 28 yards, and missed from 44 and 39.
Chris Griffith finally got UCLA on the scoreboard early in the third quarter with a 46-yard field goal.
Ryan McCann followed with a 54-yard touchdown pass to an uncovered Freddie Mitchell to tie it at 10 with 6:44 left in the third quarter.
McCann, making his first start on the road, looked shaky at the outset, fumbling the first snap of the game for UCLA before it was whistled down because of a false start. It was one of five false start penalties for UCLA in the first half, including a series of three in a row on the Bruins' third possession.
McCann's main contribution in the first half was a 51-yard quick kick during that same possession that got the Bruins out of a deep hole at their own 23 on third-and-25.
But on the previous series, McCann threw an interception with 6:50 to play in the first quarter, overshooting Mitchell. Rashad Bauman plucked it away for Oregon, returning it 14 yards on a wild scramble across field.
McCann was briefly out of the game when the Bruins made their other big mistake in the first half. Backup quarterback Drew Bennett missed a pitch to DeShaun Foster and Oregon recovered, then went 50 yards in 12 plays to score on the 26-yard field goal by Frankel.
In the closing minutes, McCann lost a bad snap and Oregon recovered on the UCLA 4, setting up Morris' final touchdown.
UCLA was again without starting quarterback Cory Paus, who separated his shoulder against Alabama, and defensive end Kenyon Coleman, out for a month with torn knee ligaments.
| | | |
|
|
Mike Bellotti says the Oregon Ducks got people's attention on Saturday.