SEATTLE – The No. 5 Oregon Ducks relied heavily on their offense to earn their first win in Seattle in 10 years Saturday, in front of 66,481 at Husky Stadium, posting 661 total yards of offense on the way to a 55-34 victory over the Washington Huskies.
The 465 combined rushing yards by Oregon (6-1, 3-1 Pac-10) set a new school record, and six of the Ducks’ seven touchdowns came on the ground.
Jonathan Stewart ran the ball 32 times in his return to his home state of Washington, almost twice his season average, and finished with 251 yards and two touchdowns. The number of carries and rushing yards were both new career highs for Stewart.
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said that while the Ducks were expecting to lean on Stewart in the game, they did so more than they wanted to.
“That was a little bit more than we wanted but overall he did a great job and he’s capable of doing that,” he said. “Obviously I’d like to limit that a little bit but we needed him tonight and he came through. He’s a stud, that’s all I can say.”
Stewart also became the first Duck to rush for more than 200 yards since Onterrio Smith ran for 285 yards against Washington State in 2001. It was Stewart’s 10th career 100-yard performance, one short of the school record of 11.
“It felt good to play that kind of a game in front of my family, give them a chance to come and see what it’s like for me to play college football,” said Stewart.

Washington linebacker Dan Howell was impressed with Stewart’s performance.
“Stewart’s a great back. You see him, he runs with great pad level and then he’s hard to bring down. You need to really tackle him,” Howell said. “He’s probably one of the strongest backs, if not the strongest, that we’ve played.”
Sophomore running back Andre Crenshaw ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns in his debut as the replacement for injured junior running back Jeremiah Johnson. It was the first time two Oregon backs had rushed for more than 100 yards since Onterrio Smith (285) and Maurice Morris (138) did it against Washington State in 2001.
“He’s nimble, he’s got great balance and he sees the field very well,” said Bellotti of Crenshaw. “He understands this offense and uses it to his best advantage.”
Bellotti said that Oregon’s offensive line deserves a lot of credit for their effort and for their execution of the game plan to help the offense put up those kinds of rushing numbers.
“That group needs any well-deserved accolade they can get because they’ve been probably as good or maybe the best offensive line I’ve ever seen here at Oregon,” he said.
Oregon’s focus on running the ball was part game plan, part situation according to Bellotti, who said senior quarterback Dennis Dixon was not at his best throwing the ball Saturday. Dixon completed 19 of 30 pass attempts for 196 yards, one touchdown and one interception, which came on a Hail Mary pass as the first half ended.
The Oregon receivers were led by junior Jaison Williams with 60 yards on five catches and senior Garren Strong caught five passes for 53 yards and a touchdown, the first of his career. True freshman Aaron Pflugrad had five catches for 51 yards in his first start.
Washington (2-5, 0-4 Pac-10) kept the game close into the second half, scoring on their first possession of the third quarter to tie the game at 24-24. Oregon punted on its next possession and the Huskies began driving into Oregon territory when cornerback Jairus Byrd made a key play, intercepting a Jake Locker pass at the Oregon six-yard line. The interception was Byrd’s team-high third of the season, and the eighth of his career.
“It was just a toss up, the throw, it was just whoever got the ball,” said Byrd. “He just kind of turned and threw it up and I saw the ball, I just focused on it.”
That focus was key for Byrd, who made the play with a Husky receiver fighting him for the ball.
“It actually should have been offensive pass interference, that was the most blatant thing I’ve ever seen, but Jairus fought the guy off and caught the ball,” Bellotti said. “(It was a) great takeaway to change the momentum at that time.”
Oregon drove the ball 94 yards during the next five minutes to make the score 31-24 on Andre Crenshaw’s 17-yard touchdown run.
Much of the momentum that Washington was able to build in the game came from big plays by the Husky offense. Each of their four touchdowns came on plays of more than 25 yards. Freshman quarterback Jake Locker threw four touchdowns, including an 83-yard touchdown pass to receiver Anthony Russo in the first quarter, and led his team in rushing with 78 yards on 13 carries.
“Credit to Washington and Jake Locker,” said Bellotti. “He’s a tremendous athlete and a weapon. He’ll be a force to deal with in the future.”
Bellotti said that the challenge the Huskies gave the team will help them going forward in the schedule.
“That was a vote of confidence for our team because we were challenged, and we responded,” he said.
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