Ducks rout Beavers, clinch North Division

Michael Clay celebrates an interception in their 49-21 win on Saturday
(AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Darron Thomas threw for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns and LaMichael James added 142 on the ground as the Ducks defeated the Beavers 49-21 on Saturday. The win locked up the North division and Oregon will host UCLA for the inaugural Pac-12 championship, this coming Friday.

The Beavers looked as though they were in trouble early as Sean Mannion was intercepted on their opening drive by Michael Clay on the OSU 38 yard line. The Ducks were on the scoreboard only 90 seconds later when LaMichael James punched it in from one yard out.

James was forced out of the game in the third as he put his arm down to regain his balance and tweaked it as his elbow locked against the ground. He's not concerned about it though, in a post game press conference flexing his elbow and reassuring Duck fans that it's alright. The Ducks are going to need James to be healthy going into Championship week and then bowl season as the Ducks look for a potential BCS bowl bid.

The remainder of the first quarter would consist of the Beavers turning the ball over on Mannion's second interception and punting the ball and the Ducks going for it on fourth down and not converting on the attempts. On the day, the Ducks were uncharacteristically 0-4 on fourth down conversions. After the Ducks failed to convert on 4th and 14 from the OSU 33 yard line the Beaver offense took the field. The drive started to show promise but was derailed by a Dion Jordan sack and the Beavers were forced to punt.  Oregon was unable to capitalize as they went 3 and out and Jackson Rice punted the ball away.

The Beavers showed promise as they gave Oregon a taste of their own medicine with a two play scoring drive when Sean Mannion connected with Jovan Stevenson who weaved his way through the Duck defense for a 58 yard scoring pass.

Oregon's defense stood tall through the rest of the half as they did not allow the Beavers a first down through the remainder of the half. In the mean time, Darron Thomas found his rhythm and threw for 3 touch down passes. One a piece to David Paulson, DeAnthony Thomas and Kenjon Barner.

The Beavers struggled to contain the tight end, Paulson who had a career day. He caught 8 passes for 105 yards and the aforementioned score. He held together the Oregon offense as the sure handed tight end often was able to turn the ball up field and add the all important yards after the catch.

After the second half kickoff, the Ducks took the ball up the field and it appeared that De'Anthony Thomas had his second touchdown reception of the day but on review it was ruled that he stepped out of bounds at the 3 yard line. Kenjon Barner punched it in two plays later and the Ducks were in full control.

After the Beavers were unable to convert on their own 4th down conversion the Ducks sustained a drive down inside the OSU 5 yard line. Kenjon Barner looked to get the first down on the fourth down attempt but coughed up the ball on the 2 yard line and Oregon State would recover the fumble, thwarting the drive.

Oregon State couldn't capitalize though as the pressure got to Mannion twice on the drive and forced another punt. The Ducks got to Mannion six times on the day, and never gave him a chance to set his feet and throw the ball down the field. Coupled with the Beaver inability to run the ball, the Oregon defense almost completely shut down Mannion and company.

In a play that seemed to signal a changing of the guard at the tight end position, Darron Thomas threw a pass to Freshman Colt Lyerla who went high to get the ball and rumbled his way 39 yards for Thomas' fourth touchdown pass on the day. This made the score 42-7 and Kelly called off the dogs.

The Beavers found mojo late against Oregon's backups and Sean Mannion threw his second and third touch down passes on the day. The offenses traded punts, then fumbles as the Ducks got their sixth and final sack of the day stripping the ball and recovering the fumble. The Ducks would score again with a heavy dose of the run game as Ayele Forde got into the end zone from 8 yards out on Oregon's last scoring drive on the day.

Out of desperation, the Beavers would drive up the field once again and Mannion would find Brandin Cooks for a 23 yard scoring pass. Their hook up would give the teams the final score 49-21. The resiliency from the Beavers even in the face of certain defeat has to give fans hope for the future as much of the heavy lifting late was done by young players.

Where they absolutely have to improve though, is on the defensive side of the ball. The Beaver defense gave up 670 yards, including 365 on the ground. It won't matter how good the Beaver offense is if they can't slow down their opponents attack.

It is sure to be a disappointment for the OSU seniors who have had to endure 4 consecutive Civil War defeats and have seen their biggest rival's rise to national prominence. The Beavers season is over now where the Ducks have two more games to prepare for, the Pac-12 championship against a UCLA team; that got throttled in their rivalry game 50-0 by USC, and then, finally their bowl game.