Win Over Arizona Clinches Division Title

Saturday, November 16

Eugene, Ore.

7:30 PM

University of Oregon

9-1 , 7-0

Arizona

4-6 , 2-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Arizona

Oregon

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

11/16/19 | Football

Box Score FINAL STATS - #6 Oregon 34, Arizona 6 Oregon Postgame Notes

Oregon will play for the Pac-12 Championship on Dec. 6 after clinching the North Division with a 34-6 victory Saturday over Arizona.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon football team will play for the Pac-12 championship later this season, and potentially a whole lot more.

The sixth-ranked Ducks extended their winning streak to nine games Saturday with a 34-6 victory over Arizona before 54,219 fans in Autzen Stadium. The win clinched the Pac-12 North division for Oregon, which will meet the champion of the Pac-12 South on Dec. 6 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

Utah is on pace to win the South, but USC lurks a game behind the Utes and has the head-to-head tiebreaker.

"The biggest goal of the week was to be 1-0," UO coach Mario Cristobal said. "It just also happens to coincide with a Pac-12 North title. But that being said, the best part about it, our guys — and this sounds like a broken record every time I come here and see (the media) after a game — our guys feel like we still haven't played our best football. And that's awesome to hear."

The win also kept Oregon (9-1, 7-0 Pac-12) deep in the hunt for a College Football Playoff berth. LSU, Ohio State and Clemson remained in the driver's seat by keeping themselves unbeaten with wins Saturday. LSU's SEC brethren Alabama and Georgia, who were above Oregon in this week's CFP rankings, both won Saturday as well, but previously unbeaten Minnesota and Baylor both lost.

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The Ducks play next week at Arizona State, with kickoff time and TV information to be announced Sunday. Oregon's regular-season finale is the Civil War, at home on Nov. 30.

Justin Herbert was 20-of-28 passing for 333 yards and four touchdowns Saturday night, with each touchdown pass traveling at least 24 yards. The Ducks also held Arizona, the No. 5 scoring offense in the conference entering the night at 32.9 points per game, to two field goals, both in the second quarter.

"Certainly the defense stood out," Cristobal said. "Holding a team like that with that type of offense, that type of firepower, to six points, I thought it was really impressive."

The win wasn't completely clean. Receiver Mycah Pittman didn't return after a first-half arm injury, the Ducks missed a field goal and a PAT, and penalties proved particularly costly in the kicking game. But the end result clinched a spot in Santa Clara for the Ducks, and kept them on track for even bigger goals.

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Saturday began with a bang for Oregon. On the second play of the game, Johnny Johnson III got behind the secondary and hauled in a pass from Herbert that resulted in a 73-yard touchdown.
Little did anyone know, the Ducks had the game in hand, just 32 seconds in.

Arizona played two quarterbacks as expected, but though dual threat Khalil Tate in particular presented some problems, the UO defense never cracked. By the time the Wildcats kicked their two field goals in the second quarter, Oregon's lead was 21-0 thanks to a rushing touchdown by Cyrus Habibi-Likio and a brilliant 53-yard TD reception by Juwan Johnson on a reverse flea flicker.

The play began with a handoff to CJ Verdell, but he gave the ball to Jaylon Redd on an end around. Redd got it back to Herbert, who threw a dart that Johnson caught at full extension, before fighting to keep his balance over the last few yards to the goal line.

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"We felt we could capture the eyes of the secondary, catch them maybe losing sight of their luggage, and get behind them," Cristobal said. "Tremendous job of executing it — protection, great job by Juwan Johnson and Justin Herbert, the throw itself, the route, the catch — everything was just executed at a really high level."

Up 21-6 at halftime, the Ducks made it 28-6 in the third quarter when Herbert's back-shoulder pass was hauled in by tight end Spencer Webb for a 24-yard touchdown. Oregon's final scoring play of the night was a 33-yard touchdown reception by Travis Dye on a screen pass in the fourth quarter.

Oregon's "Johnson and Johnson" receiving tandem combined for nine receptions that resulted in 182 yards and two touchdowns. Dye had the receiving score and also was the Ducks' leading rusher with 71 yards. His older brother, senior linebacker Troy Dye, led the UO defense with eight tackles, including one of Oregon's six sacks on the night.