Tucson, AZ (Sportsbooks) - Willie Tuitama threw a pair of touchdowns as Arizona defeated second-ranked Oregon, 34-24, at Arizona Stadium.
Tuitama went 21-for-39 with 266 yards and a pick, while Mike Thomas had six catches for 125 yards and two scores for the Wildcats (5-6, 4-4 Pac-10), who have won three straight.
Dennis Dixon went 5-for-8 with 62 yards and a pick and also had a rushing touchdown, but left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury. Brady Leaf finished the game under center and went 22-for-46 with 163 yards and two interceptions for the Ducks (8-2, 5-2), who had a four-game winning streak stopped. Jonathan Stewart had 28 carries for 131 yards in the win.
Oregon's current ranking is its highest ever during the regular season and its best since finishing second at the conclusion of the 2001 season.
The Ducks took the lead on the first possession of the game as Dixon's 39-yard touchdown run, coupled with an Ed Dickson score on the two-point conversion, made it an 8-0 game just 2:36 in.
Oregon threatened again on its next possession as the team had a 1st-and-goal, but Dixon was picked off in the end zone by Nate Ness, who took it to the Arizona 45 to give the team excellent field position.
Four plays later, Tuitama hooked up with Thomas on a 34-yard score to make it an 8-7 game with 8:13 left in the first quarter.
Facing a 2nd-and-7 at the Arizona 15, Dixon's left knee buckled under him as he was trying to escape the pocket during a passing play. Leaf took over, but was unable to convert the third down and a 34-yard field goal from Matt Evensen gave the team an 11-7 lead with five minutes left in the first.
Arizona took advantage of the loss of Dixon as the team scored 24 unanswered points.
After the Evensen field goal, the Wildcats went on a nine-play, 65-yard drive that was capped on a 32-yard field goal from Jason Bondzio to make it an 11-10 game before the end of the first quarter.
On the Ducks' ensuing possession Antoine Cason picked off Leaf and took the ball 42 yards into the end zone for a 17-11 lead just 15 seconds into the second.
After holding Oregon to a three-and-out, Arizona built on its lead as Tuitama hooked up with Thomas on a 46-yard score to up 24-11 with 11:34 left in the first half.
Cason increased the Wildcats lead as he fielded a low punt at the Arizona 44, evaded a tackler and raced down the left sideline on a 56-yard punt return to make it a 31-11 game.
Evensen's 32-yard field goal with just nine seconds left in the first half cut Oregon's deficit to 31-14.
Oregon had a golden opportunity as the team recovered a Tuitama fumble at the Arizona 13, but the team moved back four yards and a 34-yard field goal from Evensen made it a 31-17 game a bit less than six minutes into the third.
The Ducks offense continued to falter and the team went to a trick play early in the fourth quarter as Kwame Agyeman took a short snap on a punt and ran it 40 yards to the Arizona 22, but, as he leaped over a tackler, an Arizona player knocked the ball out and the Wildcats recovered.
Oregon made it a one-score game as a 17-play, 71-yard drive was capped off when Andre Crenshaw bulled his way into the end zone from two yards out to cut the score to 31-24 with 7:53 to play.
However, Arizona sealed its victory with a 46-yard field goal from Bondzio with 3:20 to play and Ness picked off Leaf on Oregon's ensuing possession.
Game Notes
Oregon owns a 19-14 edge over Arizona in the series. The Wildcats, though, have won two straight after snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Ducks with a 37-10 victory in Eugene last season...Jaison Williams had eight catches for 120 yards for Oregon...The Ducks totaled 463 yards in offense while Arizona had 322...Rob Gronkowski had five catches for 73 yards for Arizona.
