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Stewart, defense enough for Oregon to overcome Washington

Nov 5, 2006 - 12:28 AM EUGENE, Oregon (Ticker) -- Dennis Dixon had an off day, but it was nothing that Jonathan Stewart and the Oregon defense could not overcome.

Dixon was ineffective, throwing a pair of interceptions, but Stewart picked up the slack, rushing for a pair of touchdowns to lead the 24th-ranked Ducks to a 34-14 Pac-10 Conference victory over Washington.

Stewart, who rushed for 159 yards on 25 carries, gave Oregon (7-2, 4-2 Pac-10) a 14-7 lead with a five-yard run with 7:24 left in the second quarter.

Washington (4-6, 2-5), which has lost five consecutive games, pulled within 17-14 early in the third quarter on a 11-yard TD pass from Carl Bonnell to Quintin Daniels. The score capped a 16-yard drive that was set up by safety Chris Hemphill's interception of Dixon.

A dual-threat quarterback, Dixon completed 14-of-25 passes for only 109 yards and gained 53 yards on seven carries. He has struggled of late and has not thrown for more than 150 yards since a 45-24 loss to Cal on October 7 - a span of four games.

Oregon rushed for 316 yards and turned to the ground attack to put the game away. Jeremiah Johnson rushed for a one-yard score and Stewart added a four-yard TD run in the third quarter to extend the lead to 31-17.

The 316 yards were the most the Ducks have gained on the ground since a school-record 446 yards at Washington State on October 27, 2001.

The Ducks allowed just 138 total yards - only 13 rushing - and 10 first downs to the Huskies. Bonnell completed 15-of-34 passes for 125 yards and two TDs for Washington, which now has to defeat struggling Stanford and then Washington State in the annual battle for the Apple Cup to become bowl eligible.

The 13 yards rushing are the fewest Oregon has allowed since holding Michigan to minus-three yards on September 20, 2003.

Oregon opened the scoring on a 59-yard punt-return touchdown by Patrick Chung in the first quarter.