Updated at 6:42 p.m., Saturday, October 20, 2007
CFB: No. 7 Oregon's late surge puts away Washington
Associated Press
Editor's note: Hawai'i hosts Washington on Dec. 1.SEATTLE — Jonathan Stewart's legs can handle the entire rushing load for Oregon just fine.
Still, he didn't mind a little help from Andre Crenshaw and Dennis Dixon.
Stewart rushed for a career-high 251 yards and two touchdowns, and Crenshaw added a pair of second-half scoring runs as No. 7 Oregon held off pesky Washington 55-34 tonight.
With backfield-mate Jeremiah Johnson out of the season with a knee injury, the Ducks turned to Stewart as never before. The Seattle-area native who spurned Washington, responded with a career performance.
Stewart's 32 carries were seven more than his previous high. Stewart rushed for 144 yards at halftime, had 198 at the end of the three quarters, and became the first Oregon back to rush for 200 yards since Ontario Smith set a school record with 285 yards against Washington State in 2001.
The Ducks finished with a school-record 465 rushing yards.
As the second half wore on, Oregon mixed in Crenshaw, and the sophomore added 113 yards. His 5-yard run with 12:54 left gave Oregon a 38-31 lead and put the Ducks ahead for good.
Washington lost its fifth straight, all to teams who were ranked in the top 12 at one point this season. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker had the best yards passing night of his young career, throwing for 257 and four scores, but Washington's defense could never slow down the Ducks potent spread offense.
Adding to their eclectic uniform collection by wearing all white for the first-time — looking much like storm troopers from Star Wars — the Ducks won their fourth straight over the Huskies for the first time since 1928-31. It was the 100th meeting between the two schools.
