Clemens Rallies Oregon Past No. 23 Fresno State

EUGENE, Ore. — Kellen Clemens threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns to lead Oregon to a 37-34 victory over No. 23 Fresno State on Saturday.

The loss ended a seven-game winning streak for the Bulldogs, who also had won their last three games against Pacific 10 Conference teams.

The Ducks (3-0), who have won four in a row over the Bulldogs, saw their new spread offense come together against a ranked opponent a week before No. 1 USC comes to Autzen Stadium for the conference opener.

Demetrius Williams caught eight passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns, and Terrence Whitehead rushed for 96 yards and a score, and caught a touchdown pass. Clemens completed 28 of 38 passes.

Whitehead took a seemingly routine pass from Clemens and ran it 42 yards into the end zone, hopping over downed teammates and shrugging off clinging defenders to make it 37-27 for the Ducks with 4:16 left.

But Fresno State (1-1) kept it interesting with Paul Pinegar’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Matt Rivera to narrow it to 37-34 with 1:50 left.

Pinegar completed 33 of 43 passes for 418 yards and three touchdowns for Fresno State, which was stung by 16 penalties for 155 yards.

After Clint Stitser’s 27-yard field goal on Fresno State’s first possession, tailback Wendell Mathis ran for a three-yard touchdown and caught a 20-yard scoring pass to put the Bulldogs ahead 17-0.

The Ducks didn’t score until the second quarter, when Clemens found Williams with a 23-yard touchdown pass.

The Ducks narrowed it to 17-13 on Clemens’ 46-yard pass to Cameron Colvin.

Oregon took a 20-17 lead before halftime when Williams caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Clemens.