Oregon Ducks Rebound in Civil War 48-24

Oregon State cut the lead to 20-17 after scoring a touchdown to open up the second half. Oregon would respond with a 28-7 run to finish the game and the regular season off.

Nov 24, 2012; Corvallis, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks running back Kenjon Barner (24) runs the ball against Oregon State Beavers cornerback Sean Martin (6) and safety Anthony Watkins (3) in the first quarter at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

By Ducks standards, the running attack was pretty much absent in the last two games when they couldn’t total over 200 yards of production. It was completely different against the Beavers today, amassing 432 yards of their 572 total yards of offense on the ground. The offensive benefited from six turnovers by Oregon State on the day.

Kenjon Barner suffered an apparent injury to his ribs and had to go into the locker room before halftime. He still managed to add on to his over 100 yards on the ground before the injury and finished with 198 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. De’Anthony Thomas stepped up when Barner wasn’t on the field scoring two of his three touchdowns in the third quarter, picking up 122 yards on 17 carries along the way.

Marcus Mariota also looked much improved in this game, he efficiency was much better completing 17-24 passes and didn’t have a touchdown. He picked up 140 yards and a touchdown in the air while running eight times for 85 yards and an additional touchdown.

The big difference between weeks were the return of big plays. Mariota opened the scoring with a 42-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. Thomas had a 29-yard touchdown run to make it 34-17 late in the third quarter. Barner had a 52-yard scamper to open up the ensuing drive after scoring their final touchdown of the game.

Oregon had their usual plethora of penalties (nine accepted against them today) but they went 5-6 on fourth down conversions despite just going 4-15 on third down.

Nov 24, 2012; Corvallis, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) throws the ball in the second quarter against the Oregon State Beavers at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

Sean Mannion got the start and would play for the entire game. He went 29-46 passing for 294 yards, but he didn’t pass for a touchdown and had four interceptions – three of them coming in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Storm Woods led the rushing attack for the Beavers with two touchdowns and 70 yards on 16 carries. Three different receivers, including Woods, had five or more catches to complete a well-balanced passing attack that totaled 311 yards against the Ducks.

Oregon has now won 15 straight true road games; their last loss coming on a 51-42 defeat at Stanford in 2009. The Ducks finish 11-1 on the regular season, 8-1 in Pac-12 play, and will await the winner of Stanford vs. UCLA to find out whether or not they will be hosting the Pac-12 championship game or preparing for their bowl game. If the Cardinal win, they would hold the tiebreaker to host the title game.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo. See his banter with other FanSided writers and love for his favorite west coast professional teams by following him on Twitter.