Defense stands tall as No. 12 Oregon delivers gritty win over No. 10 Utah

All season long, Oregon’s offense has been its calling card.

But on a night when Kenny Dillingham’s dinged-up unit struggled at times, the Ducks’ defense came to the rescue.

Bennett Williams grabbed two interceptions, and Noah Sewell also picked off a pass to lead a bend, don’t break performance from Oregon’s defense that paved the way to a 20-17 win over Utah at Autzen Stadium.

With the win, the No. 12 Ducks remain in the mix for a spot in the Pac-12 title game against No. 7 USC.

Bo Nix went 25-for-37 passing with one touchdown and one interception and Dont’e Thornton caught four passes for 151 yards.

Williams led the Ducks with a game-high 14 total tackles, including seven solo stops.

How it happened

If Nix was feeling the effects of his injury early on, it certainly didn’t impact his play. He went 6-for-7 on Oregon’s opening drive and orchestrated a 10-play, 79-yard scoring series that ended with a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Bucky Irving.

The Ducks’ defense held up its end of the bargain early on and limited the Utes to just three points on their first two series of the evening.

Early in the second quarter, Utah had a chance to capture some momentum when Ducks’ receiver Dont’e Thornton was stripped at midfield after making a catch and the Utes recovered the fumble.

But the Ducks responded immediately. On Utah’s first play of the ensuing drive, Jordon Riley tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage and Bennett Williams hauled in the pass for an interception.

The Ducks seized the opportunity and dialed up another touchdown drive. This time, Nix capped it off with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin.

That sent the Ducks into the half with a 17-3 lead which felt secure at the time.

But Utah immediately jumped back into the game in the third quarter thanks to a massive Oregon mistake.

On the Ducks’ first offensive drive of the half, Ty Thompson entered the game at quarterback and Oregon attempted an end-around to Thornton. The receiver bobbled the ball and Utah’s Karene Reid scooped and scored to cut the lead to 17-10.

On Oregon’s next drive, Nix returned to the game but was ineffective. The Ducks went three-and-out on each of their next two possessions.

Utah answered with an 86-yard scoring drive that ate up more than seven minutes of game clock and ended with an 18-yard score by Jaylen Dixon to tie the game at 17-17.

The Ducks nearly stalled out on their next drive but kept the chains moving long enough to set up a 41-yard field goal from Cam Lewis that gave them a 20-17 lead with just 11:17 to go.

Utah had a chance to tie the game on the ensuing drive after it marched to the Oregon 34-yard line. But the Ducks’ defense stood tall and came up with four straight stops to force a turnover on downs.

That defensive stand gifted the offense an opportunity to put the game on ice. Nix launched a 50-yard completion to Thornton on the second play of the drive to put the Ducks at the Utah 24.

But Nix’s next throw was picked off by Utah star cornerback Clark Phillips III. At that point, it looked as though the Ducks might be in trouble.

But Williams, who has been the heart and soul of Oregon’s defense all season, picked off Cam Rising for his second interception of the night.

That didn’t quite seal the game, as the Oregon offense went three-and-out on its next drive.

But it didn’t matter, Oregon’s defense stood tall once again and forced another turnover on downs.

The Ducks put the game on ice when, facing 3rd-and-1, Nix picked up a first down with his legs to close things out.

What’s next

The Ducks can clinch a spot in the Dec. 2 Pac-12 title game in Las Vegas next week when they travel to Corvallis to close out the regular season against rival Oregon State. The kickoff time for that game has not yet been announced.