PASADENA, Calif.  — A major factor in Royce Freeman’s decision to return to Oregon for his senior season was his pursuit of LaMichael James’ record of 5,082 career rushing yards, the most ever by a Duck.
Well, the second-most ever now.
With a little over eight minutes remaining in Oregon’s matchup with UCLA on Saturday, Freeman surpassed that mark with a 16-yard run. He finished the game with a season-high 160 yards rushing on 29 carries. The new Oregon career rushing record stands at 5,103 yards and counting.
But the effort was all for naught as the Ducks lost their third consecutive game, falling to 4-4 on the season and 1-4 in the Pac-12. This game will simply be added to the growing list of great Freeman performances wasted in a loss.
“He’s a great player that’s for sure,” center Jake Hanson said. “Obviously that’s great to get the record. I just wish we could’ve got it with a win.”
Freeman will go down as one of the best — if not the best — running back that has ever donned an Oregon uniform. His name will sit atop the Oregon career rushing list for years to come.
But Saturday’s game just adds more frustration to a season that feels like it’s slipping away, despite historic performances like Freeman’s.
Much of that frustration stems from the fact that Justin Herbert, the motor that powers Oregon’s offense, is sidelined with an injury that could keep him out at least several more weeks, and his replacement, freshman Braxton Burmeister, has made Oregon’s once-stellar offense unrecognizable and one-dimensional. Saturday showed that as Oregon rushed for 246 yards but managed only two touchdowns, both in the first half.
“I appreciate Royce so much. He’s a guy that chose to come back to school and really wanted to get this program back in the right direction,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “I think we all see him out there playing his tail off to help this football team.”
Freeman kept his comments about breaking the record to a minimum and instead focused on moving on from the loss.
“It’s very special,” he said. “It’s really a blessing.”
Those brief comments are not all that surprising given that another Oregon season is starting to turn sour. The Ducks, with Freeman’s help, came out of the gates this season with a roaring start. He amassed 460 yards in the Ducks’ first three games and began to generate Heisman buzz.
It appeared that his decision to return to school, instead of jumping ship after last year’s disastrous season, was going to pay off. But then Herbert went down and Oregon hasn’t been the same since.
Freeman holds himself somewhat responsible for the change in trajectory.
“I feel like I just need to better myself as a player,” Freeman said. “I gotta give more.”
Maybe that could be said after Oregon’s loss to Washington State, a game where Freeman only rushed for 62 yards and had only accounted for 194 yards over the previous three games.
But without Herbert, Oregon’s reliance on the run game has skyrocketed, as have Freeman’s numbers. Saturday’s game was another example of that. 
“Well, like I told him: I believe in him and I believe in this football team and I’m going to ride or die with them,” Taggart said. “I’m not giving up on this football team.”
Neither is Freeman. But with the situation Oregon is currently in, it won’t matter much.
Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris