Field Level Media
Nov 3, 2018
Junior quarterback Justin Herbert passed for 264 yards and two touchdowns and freshman running back CJ Verdell rushed for 90 yards and a score as Oregon spoiled the return of former coach Chip Kelly to Eugene, Ore., with a 42-21 Pac-12 victory Saturday over UCLA.
Kelly, who coached Oregon to a 46-7 record from 2009-12, is in his first season guiding a rebuilding UCLA program in his return to college football. He left Oregon for the NFL, where he coached the Philadelphia Eagles (2013-15) and the San Francisco 49ers (2016).
The loss dropped the Bruins to 2-7 overall (2-4 in the Pac-12), giving Kelly as many losses in less than a full season with UCLA than he had during his entire run as head coach with the Ducks.
Oregon ended a two-game losing streak, both road defeats. The Ducks (6-3, 3-3) rushed for 200 yards and three TDs after not cracking the 100-yard mark during either of the previous two games.
Oregon freshman running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio had a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter and senior running back Tony Brooks-James had a 54-yard rushing TD with 5:56 to play. Junior wide receiver Dillon Mitchell made eight catches for 156 yards and two TDs.
Oregon buried UCLA early with special teams after struggling in that department during a 44-15 defeat at Arizona last weekend. Ugochukwu Amadi returned a punt 56 yards for Oregon's first touchdown with 11:08 remaining in the first quarter.
On the Ducks' next possession, they used a 28-yard pass by holder/punter Blake Maimone off a fake field goal attempt to extend the drive, leading to Verdell's 1-yard TD run.
Oregon took a 21-0 lead in the second quarter on Herbert's 4-yard TD pass to Mitchell. The drive started when UCLA's Adarius Pickett fumbled a punt at the Bruins 11-yard line.
UCLA freshman quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was 9-for-23 passing for 135 yards and an interception before he was replaced by senior Wilton Speight in the third quarter, but Thompson-Robinson did hit tight end Caleb Wilson on a 63-yard TD pass with 6:45 remaining in the second quarter.
Speight immediately took the Bruins on a nine-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 25-yard TD run by junior running back Joshua Kelley, who finished with 161 yards on the ground. Speight also hit junior wide receiver Theo Howard on a 22-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter, finishing 13-of-25 for 147 yards.
Oregon played host to UCLA at Autzen Stadium for the first time since 2013. UCLA has not won at Oregon since 2004.
--Field Level Media