Oregon Safety Slides Into Place, Keeps Out Washington : Pacific 10: Wheaton’s 97-yard interception return for a touchdown seals 31-20 upset.

EUGENE, Ore. — For Oregon football fans, accustomed to heartbreaking losses to their powerful rival to the north, Saturday’s 31-20 Pacific 10 upset of No. 9 Washington will rank among the greatest games they’ve ever seen.

Especially because of how it ended.

Oregon had mounted an improbable 98-yard drive to go ahead, 24-20, on Dwayne Jones’ 12-yard run up the middle with 2:40 to play, but Washington came back to move the ball 67 yards to the Oregon eight.

On first and goal, Damon Huard dropped back to pass and lofted the ball to the left sideline, where redshirt freshman safety Kenny Wheaton was waiting.

“I threw it and the guy just sat there and read the out route and stepped in front of him and picked it off,” Huard said. “It was a great play on his part. It was a tough, tough situation.”

Wheaton said he’d studied the films and knew what was coming. He stepped in front of receiver Dave Janoski, grabbed the ball and raced 97 yards to the end zone with 49 seconds to play, clinching Oregon’s first victory over the Huskies since 1988 and only the fourth in the last 21 tries.

The return matched the longest ever by an Oregon player.

“All I could think of was running in here and calling my mom back home,” Wheaton said. When he reached her at her home in Phoenix, “she was watching it on television, jumping up and down screaming.”

The play climaxed a wild finish that saw Washington rally to take the lead with 7:44 to play, only to have Oregon, 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-10, come back with two late scores.

Washington’s Napoleon Kaufman gained 101 yards in 23 carries but had only nine yards in five attempts in the fourth quarter. His only long run of the day was for 37 yards in the first half, and he wasn’t happy that Coach Jim Lambright decided mostly to go to the air late in the game.

“I always want the ball,” Kaufman said. “You may call me greedy or whatever but I want the ball. If I have to carry the team on my shoulders, that’s what I want to do.”

Kaufman had one long run called back by a holding penalty. The Huskies also saw a fumble recovery in Oregon territory nullified when they were called for interfering with a punt returner’s ability to catch the ball. In all, Washington was penalized 10 times for 96 yards.

“It was terrible,” Lambright said. “It was the sloppiest game I’ve seen us play.”

Washington (5-2, 2-2) trailed most of the game after Oregon scored two quick touchdowns early in the second quarter, one set up by Ricky Whittle’s 86-yard kickoff return and the other by Alex Molden’s interception of another sideline pass.

Washington’s go-ahead score came after Reggie Reser intercepted a pass by Danny O’Neil that bounced off Jones’ hands and returned it to the Oregon 29. Five plays later, Richard Thomas ran 10 yards up the middle to give the Huskies a 20-17 lead with 7:44 to play.

Oregon’s Troy Bailey was called for a personal foul on the play and was thrown out of the game, so Washington’s kickoff from the 50 was high and short. Freshman Pat Johnson took the kick and his knee touched the turf, pinning the Ducks on their two.

Oregon’s longest drive up to that point was 24 yards and O’Neil had completed only six of 16 for 55 yards, so things looked bleak for the Ducks.

On first down, O’Neil stepped back into his end zone and fired a 36-yard pass to Dameron Ricketts to get the Ducks out of trouble. On the drive, he was four of four for 68 yards.