PACIFIC 10 ROUNDUP : Oregon Survives Montana

Oregon quarterback Danny O’Neil passed for 316 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, but the heavily favored Ducks had to hold on for a 35-30 victory over Montana at Eugene, Ore.

O’Neil completed 21 of 28 passes as Oregon (2-0) took a 28-3 lead in the first half.

But the Oregon defense had difficulty containing Montana’s fleet sophomore quarterback, Dave Dickenson, whose six-yard touchdown pass to Eugene native Mike Erhardt cut the lead to 35-30 with 1:55 left.

Montana (1-1), an NCAA I-AA school, nearly recovered the subsequent onside kick before Oregon’s Brian Collins fell on the ball at the Montana 40 and the Ducks ran out the clock.

Montana Coach Don Read was returning to Eugene 17 years after he was fired as Oregon’s coach.

The Grizzlies, who came from 31 points down to beat South Dakota State, 52-48, nearly made another big comeback.

Dickenson, who replaced starter Bert Wilberger early in the second quarter, passed for three touchdowns and ran for another. He completed 28 of 47 passes for 324 yards and rushed for 77 yards in 12 carries.

The Ducks repeatedly pressured Dickenson, only to see him avoid the rush, then either complete a pass or run for a big gain.

“For most of us, it was the first time we had ever seen a quarterback who could scramble out of the pocket like that, run, and throw off his back foot,” Oregon defensive back Alex Molden said. “He kept on hurting us the whole game.”

Still, Oregon led 35-23 and had the ball at the Montana two late in the game, but Pulou Malepeai fumbled into the end zone and the Grizzlies’ Yohanse Manzanarez recovered for a touchback.

Dickenson directed Montana 80 yards in 13 plays for the touchdown that cut the lead to five, but the Grizzlies could get no closer.

Washington State 54, Montana State 14--Deron Pointer and Keith Reynolds each caught two touchdown passes from Mike Pattinson to lead the Cougars at Pullman, Wash.

Washington State sacked Montana State quarterbacks eight times for 67 yards.

Pattinson hooked up with Pointer on scoring pass plays of 69 and 28 yards and connected on 16- and 26-yard touchdown pass plays to Reynolds.

Playing before a home crowd of 19,068, Pattinson completed 13 of 24 passes for 221 yards. He had one pass intercepted before leaving late in the third quarter.

Aaron Price kicked field goals of 32, 51 and 42 yards.

Washington State (1-1) took a 16-0 first-quarter lead on a safety and the touchdown pass plays to Pointer and Reynolds.

Fred Moore took a pitch from Chad Mayer and connected with Raymond Braggs on a 15-yard touchdown pass for Montana State’s first touchdown early in the second quarter.

Montana State (1-1) cut the deficit to 19-14 with 53 seconds left in the first half. Morgan Ryan intercepted a pass by Pattinson and returned it to the Cougars’ six. Moore scored two plays later on a three-yard run.