Following a now familiar script, Oregon scored 34 second half points to put away the Arizona Wildcat 48-29 Friday evening at Autzen Stadium.
Darron Thomas completed 14 pf 24 attempts good for 148 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another in directing the Ducks to their 11th win of the season and their second consecutive Pac-10 conference championship.
Running back LaMichael James posted his school record 17th career 100-yard rushing game, gaining 126 on 28 carries, two for scores.
The Wildcats drew first blood ten minutes in when Arizona quarterback Nick Foles connected with Juron Criner on an eight yard pass.
Thomas led Oregon right back down the field to tie the game at seven, finding TE David Paulson with a 38-yard dart for the score.
An uncharacteristic breakdown in the secondary by Oregon let Criner slip behind the defense and Foles hit the speedy receiver in stride for an 85-yard touchdown pass and a 14-7 lead.
But Thomas threaded a needle, hitting Jeffrey Maehl on a crossing pattern from six yards out to bring the Ducks back even as the game entered the second quarter.
A safety on a snap out of the end zone on an Oregon punt attempt and a 29-yard field goal pushed Arizona's advantage to 19-14 at the break, setting the stage for yet another of Oregon's dominating second half outbursts.
It didn't take long. Less than two minutes in to the third quarter, Thomas faked the dive play to James, then ran option left with wide receiver Josh Huff. Taking a pitch near the hashmark, Huff planted his foot and cut inside the pursuit, finding daylight through the secondary following Drew Davis' down field block, then running untouched 85 yards for a 20-19 Oregon advantage.
"That play turned around everything," Thomas said. "We ran it once before, and it was a little bit dicey. I think he gained about 15 yards. I told him on next one to just trust his speed. And he did."
The two-point conversion failed, but the Ducks wouldn't trail again.
Thomas' 20-yard keeper capped a 19-play, 99-yard drive to push Oregon's advantage to eight, 27-19, then after a Wildcat field goal, the sophomore quarterback found Drew Davis in the corner of the end zone for a 34-22 lead.
Foles had a career day against the Oregon defense, completing 29 of 54 for 448 yards and three touchdowns although Oregon safety John Boyett did kill one Arizona drive with an interception at the Duck 10-yard line.
The Oregon defense did stop the Wildcat running game in its tracks, limiting them to 58 yards on 27 attempts.
LaMichael James added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter before the Wildcats closed out the scoring when Foles found David Roberts from 32 yards out - only the second time this season the Ducks have yielded a fourth quarter touchdown.
James had been injured with a helmet to helmet hit in the first half and had been held out of play, but returned in the second to extract his measure of revenge.
Head coach Chip Kelly said, "He's a tough, tough kid . You just had to see the look in his eye, it was, ?Coach, I need to play.'"
Asked about the second half heroics his team has become known for, Kelly said "Trust me, it's not by design we're down at halftime . We knew Arizona is an outstanding team that would score some points."
"You're going to make mistakes, you're never going to play a perfect game," Kelly said. "We talk about being a 60-minute football team, and we've proven it 11 times now.
Yes they have, and those eleven wins are good for Oregon's second straight trip to a BCS Bowl but with only one game remaining - the Civil War in Corvallis next Saturday - post game conversation couldn't avoid the larger issue of the national championship game in Glendale on January 10.
"We really set the bar high for ourselves," said James. "We won the Pac-10 last year. We don't want to just be consistent with winning the Pac-10. We want to go up a notch."
"We obviously have a goal set that is above the Rose Bowl," said middle linebacker Casey Matthews. "You have to take pride in clinching the Pac-10 championship . but we're shooting for Glendale."
Matthews was one of 22 seniors feted prior to the start of the game, a class that established a program record for wins (40) and featured such favorites as Jeffrey Maehl, Kenny Rowe, Drew Davis, Spencer Paysinger, Brandon Bair. But Autzen Stadium's 74th consecutive sellout crowd saved their loudest ovation for injured quarterback Nate Costa.
"We know the season is not over," said Matthews. We definitely know what's at stake in this next game . we've put ourselves in a pretty nice position."
