Oregon dive ends 98-week run in the Top 25

EUGENE, Ore. – Many Oregon opponents over the years have felt the way the Ducks do now. Accustomed to being a team that routs its opponents, Oregon got payback of sorts from Utah.

The Utes came to Eugene and beat the Ducks 62-20 on Saturday night. Oregon's defense had no solution for Utah quarterback Travis Wilson, who threw for 227 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 100 yards and another score.

Afterward, Oregon players and coaches seemed stunned.

"There are a lot of teams in this league that were waiting to step on us like that," offensive coordinator Scott Frost said wryly.

The Ducks, ranked No. 13 going into the game, dropped out of the AP Top 25 on Sunday, ending a 98-week run in the poll.

Oregon hadn't lost so badly at home since 1977, when visiting Washington beat the Ducks 54-0. Utah scored the most points ever for a visiting Oregon opponent, surpassing Washington State's 55-16 defeat of the Ducks at Autzen in 2003.

Oregon, 2-2 with losses to Michigan State and Utah, hasn't had two losses this early in the season since 2004, when the Ducks went 1-3 through the opening four games under Mike Bellotti. Oregon finished 5-6 that season, which was the last time the team had a losing overall record.

But that team was led by Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. His replacement at starting quarterback this season is Vernon Adams Jr., who transferred to Oregon from Eastern Washington for his final season of eligibility.

The trouble is, Adams broke his right index finger in the season opener against his former team. He struggled in the second game against Michigan State, then sat out of Oregon's 61-28 victory over Georgia State.

He returned against the Utes but completed just two of seven passes before he was replaced by Jeff Lockie, Mariota's backup last season. Afterward, Adams refused to use the finger as an excuse.

"I just wasn't making the throws that I needed to make, that I usually make," he said.

Lockie marched Ducks to a touchdown on his first drive of the game, but Utah quickly answered to make it 27-13 at the half. Lockie would finish 10-for-20 passing for 139 yards. He was intercepted twice and sacked four times.

The Ducks' overall defense is ranked 110th among FBS-level teams, with opponents averaging of 474.8 yards a game. Oregon's opponents are averaging 40.8 points through the first four games, and the Ducks have allowed 301.5 passing yards per game.

Changes had been made in the secondary, where two new starters — redshirt freshman cornerback Glen Ihenacho and redshirt sophomore safety Juwaan Williams — were used, but little changed.