Oregon runs all over Fresno

EUGENE, Ore. -- This time, Dennis Dixon left the dramatics to Jonathan Stewart.

While Dixon threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, Jonathan Stewart ran for 165 yards and No. 19 Oregon beat Fresno State, 52-21, on Saturday night.

Stewart scored two touchdowns, including a flashy 88-yard dash to the end zone, and the Ducks (3-0) outrushed the Bulldogs, 307-60.

“The sky’s the limit right now. This offense is really clicking,” Dixon said.

While not posting the gaudy numbers he did in Oregon’s 39-7 victory over Michigan the previous weekend, Dixon was solid, completing 14 for 20 passes for 139 yards and running for 59 yards.

The win was Mike Bellotti’s 100th as coach at Oregon and the school’s suspended mascot even got to watch -- though not from the field.

The Duck, suspended a game for beating up the Houston Cougar in the opener, did make a brief appearance in one of the television booths and received rousing applause from fans at Autzen Stadium.

Tom Brandstater was 18 for 32 for 219 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs (1-2), who faced their second straight ranked team on the road. Last week, they lost, 47-45, in three overtimes to Texas A&M.;

“How many times do I have to say it? We got dominated in all three phases. We got beat pretty good today. That doesn’t happen at Fresno State very often. Today we got beat by a better football team,” Fresno State Coach Pat Hill said.

“They took it to us. End of conversation.”

After Dixon got sacked twice on the opening series, the Ducks became more efficient and scored on the next with Stewart’s nine-yard scoring run.

Oregon went up, 14-0, when rover Patrick Chung forced a fumble, which was picked up and returned to the end zone by Walter Thurmond III. It was the sophomore right corner’s first career touchdown.

Before the end of the first quarter, Fresno State narrowed it with Lonyae Miller’s one-yard touchdown run. The extra-point attempt was blocked to make it 14-6.

Stewart’s 88-yard scoring run was the longest ever at Autzen Stadium, and it was the longest for a Ducks player for a touchdown since Bob Smith ran 92 yards for a score against Idaho in 1938.