Ducks Coast Past Arizona 31-14
Oregon (5-0, 1-0 Pac-10) and its high-octane offense continues to roll in Pac-10 opener.

Oct. 5, 2002

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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Onterrio Smith tied an Oregon record with his fifth consecutive 100-yard rushing game as the eighth-ranked Ducks pulled away to beat Arizona 31-14 Saturday night in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.

Smith gained 145 yards on 28 carries, including touchdown runs of 6 and 10 yards, to tie the school mark set by Ahmad Rashad, then known as Bobby Moore, in 1971.

Jason Fife threw second-half touchdowns of 34 yards to Keenan Howry and 9 yards to Terrence Whitehead as the Ducks (5-0, 1-0 Pac-10) won their 10th in a row, the second-longest streak in NCAA Division I. Fife was 18-for-26 for 244 yards and no interceptions. He completed 11 of 12 for 138 in the second half.

Bobby Wade, the Pac-10's leading receiver, set career highs with 12 catches and 151 yards, including a 16-yarder for a touchdown, for Arizona (3-2, 0-1). Jason Johnson completed 24 of 41 for 302 yards and two scores. He was intercepted once.

Keith Lewis intercepted Johnson's long pass deep in Oregon territory midway through the third quarter. Wade knocked the ball loose, but Garret Graham recovered for the Ducks at their 22. Oregon went 78 yards in five plays, with Fife hitting Howry in the end zone to put the Ducks ahead 24-14 with six minutes left in the quarter.

Oregon added a touchdown on Fife's 9-yard pass to Whitehead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Arizona drove to the Ducks 2 with six minutes play, but Johnson's fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

The Ducks beat Arizona 63-28 in Tucson last year, but they didn't take the lead Saturday until Jason Siegel's career-long 53-yard field goal made it 17-14 with 45 seconds left in the first half.

Arizona took advantage of good field position to score two first-quarter touchdowns and led 14-7.

After Oregon failed to move the ball on its first possession, the Wildcats went 45 yards in three plays. Johnson connected with Mike Bell on a 19-yard scoring play to make it 7-0 just over three minutes into the game.

Bell, a redshirt freshman, started at tailback in place of Clarence Farmer, who is out with torn cartilage in his left knee.

Oregon countered with a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Smith carried eight times for 40 yards on the drive, the last 3 for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.

A sack forced the Ducks to punt from their own 7, and Jose Arroyo's 31-yard punt gave the Wildcats the ball on the Oregon 38. Johnson's 16-yarder to Wade put Arizona up 14-7 with 1:53 left in the first quarter.

The Ducks tied it with a four-play drive that went 61 yards in 1:12. Smith high-stepped the final 10 yards for the score to tie it 14-all with 5:25 left in the half.

Siegel is 11-of-12 on field goals this season, including a 52-yarder two weeks ago against Portland State. His only miss was a 48-yarder that was blocked.

By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer


Oregon Football


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