Oregon 48, Houston 27

The Oregon football team forced four turnovers, two fumbles and two interceptions, while committing none itself in defeating the Houston Cougars 48-27 Saturday in front of 57,662 at Autzen Stadium. The game featured several big plays and a flurry of scoring late in the third quarter which amounted to four touchdowns, three for Oregon, in less than two minutes.

The game was still very much in doubt and seemed about to swing firmly in Houston's favor were it not for Patrick Chung's interception of Houston quarterback Case Keenum midway through the third quarter. With the game tied 20-20, Houston drove from its own 34 to the Oregon five-yard line. On third-and-goal, Keenum fired a pass over the middle toward the back of the end zone and Chung dove to snatch the ball away from the intended receiver and save the Ducks from falling behind.The play seemed to ignite the Duck offense, which was stagnant through much of the second and third quarters.

University of Oregon's Jonathan Stewart, carries the ball against University of Houston during the fourth quarter of the football game. (Photo courtesy The Oregonian's OregonLive.com)

Oregon drove 80 yards over the next 3:16 and scored on a 24-yard pass from senior quarterback Dennis Dixon to senior wide receiver Brian Paysinger to make it 27-20. Chung made another big play on the next Houston possession when he blocked a Chase Turner punt which was recovered by freshman Malachi Lewis and returned eight yards to the Houston six-yard line. On the Ducks' first play of the possession, Dixon found junior wide receiver Jaison Williams for a touchdown.

Anthony Alridge struck back for the Cougars with an 86-yard touchdown reception, the longest by a visiting team at Autzen in almost three years, to close the gap to 34-27, but the Duck offense was rolling. Dixon took the first snap of Oregon's next possession a career-best 80 yards for a touchdown. Dixon ran for 141 yards, completed nine of 15 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks. Dixon's rushing yards were the most for an Oregon quarterback since Tony Graziani ran 108 yards against Oregon State in 1995.

Oregon's next opponent is the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Mich., next Saturday. The Wolverines were upset 34-32 by Division I-AA team, Appalachian State on Saturday.

News courtesy of Oregon Daily Emerald and Yahoo!