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Mariota's TD pass in final minute sends Ducks over Beavers

Nov 30, 2013 - 6:50 AM Eugene, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Marcus Mariota's touchdown pass to Josh Huff with 29 seconds left lifted 12th-ranked Oregon to a 36-35 win over Oregon State in the 117th installment of the Civil War.

Victor Bolden broke off a 25-yard touchdown run to put the Beavers in front 35-30 with 1:38 left.

Mariota then completed four of his next five passes to get the Ducks deep into the Oregon State zone. After his pass on 2nd-and-5 fell incomplete, Thomas Tyner broke off a seven-yard rush to give Oregon a fresh set of downs.

Two plays later, Mariota found Huff in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown completion to give Oregon (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12) the decisive margin.

"We knew it was going to be a battle and that we had to take care of the ball and then we had three turnovers in the first half," said Oregon coach Mark Helfrich. "There were a lot of things that we should have done differently, but they happened, so we treated it like a zero-zero game at half time and finished the game."

Oregon State (6-6, 4-5) hasn't taken down Oregon since 2007 when it beat the Ducks, 38-31, in overtime.

"From where we came from last Saturday to this Friday is quite a long way, which is a good thing. I think that they can be very proud that they competed like crazy tonight, played a lot of good football against a good team and made a lot of plays on both sides of the ball -- as did Oregon. We just left them a little too much time to make some plays at the end," said Beavers coach Mike Riley.

Mariota completed 17-of-34 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns -- all to Huff -- and two interceptions. The Heisman hopeful also rushed for 51 yards on seven carries.

Huff finished with nine catches for 186 yards, Thomas Tyner rushed for 141 yards on 22 carries and De'Anthony Thomas racked up 89 yards and a score on 15 carries.

Sean Mannion was 29-for-47 passing for 314 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Terron Ward rushed for 144 yards and had a receiving touchdown in the setback.

The Beavers took a 20-17 lead early in the third as Trevor Romaine nailed a 47-yard field goal.

Mariota and the Ducks responded with an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. On 2nd-and-1 Mariota found Huff for a 28-yard touchdown to go up 24-20.

Romaine's 37-yarder 15 seconds into the fourth quarter pulled the Beavers within one point before Mannion hooked up with Tyler Anderson for a 4-yard touchdown.

Mariota went back to his favorite target on the next drive. Faced with a 4th- and-11 from the Oregon State 12, Mariota found Huff in the end zone for a 30-29 lead.

Earlier, Oregon State drove down to the Oregon 27 on the games' opening possession, but on 4th-and-1 Mannion's pass was intercepted in the end zone by Ifo Ekpre-Olumu.

Tyner quickly moved the ball into Beavers' territory with a 40-yard rush, and after a face mask penalty, Thomas ran it in from five yards out for an early 7-0 lead.

After forcing an Oregon State punt, Mariota and Tyner guided the Ducks down to the 13 yard line before the latter ran it in for the score.

The Beavers finally got on the board on the ensuing drive. Oregon State converted on fourth down twice on the march before Woods ran it in from two yards out to cap the elongated march.

The Ducks answered with a 20-yard Matt Wogan field goal, but Oregon State came back with a field goal of their own, an 18-yard boot from Trevor Romaine, to make it 17-10.

After trading turnovers, Ward was stopped inside the Oregon 2-yard line, Mannion went back to Ward, who was wide open on the left side and walked in to tie the game with 11 seconds left in the first half.

Game Notes

Oregon was 8-for-16 on third down and went 2-for-3 in fourth down situations ... Brandin Cooks caught 11 passes for 117 yards and Caleb Smith hauled in five passes for 85 yards ... Oregon State dominated the time of possession battle by a 35:19-24:31 margin.