No. 9 Ducks top Beavers, clinch North crown
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 14 years, 11 months AGO
<p>Oregon's Boseko Lokombo, right, grabs Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion during the first half Saturday at Eugene, Ore.</p>
LaMichael James ran for 142 yards before leaving with what appeared to be a left elbow injury, and No. 9 Oregon beat Oregon State 49-21 on Saturday at Eugene, Ore., to clinch the Pac-12 North and a spot in the conference's first championship game.
The Ducks (10-2, 8-1 Pac-12) will host UCLA on Friday night with a chance to win their third straight conference title and a spot in the Rose Bowl.
The Beavers (3-9, 3-6) aren't going to a bowl game for the second straight season.
James, who went into the 115th Civil War as the nation's top rusher with an average of 142.78 yards per game, was hurt midway through the third when he was hit by Oregon State linebacker Tony Wilson.
The junior running back was already wearing a brace on his right elbow, which he dislocated on Oct. 6 against California. He missed two games because of that injury.
Not long after he left the field on Saturday, James' elbow was wrapped in ice by a trainer. The injury did not appear to be serious because he danced a bit on the sideline with teammate Kenjon Barner during the timeout before the fourth quarter.
Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns.
No. 4 Stanford 28, No. 22 Notre Dame 14: At Stanford, Calif., Andrew Luck set the school record for the most career touchdown passes and eclipsed his own single-season mark, throwing for 233 yards and four scores to lead Stanford past No. 22 Notre Dame in his home finale.
Luck topped John Elway's record of 77 touchdown passes and helped the Cardinal (11-1) build a 21-0 halftime lead. He has thrown for 80 touchdowns in three years and 35 this season.
Tommy Rees threw an interception, lost a fumble and took a bruising blow to the ribs for Notre Dame (8-4) before getting benched. Andrew Hendrix threw for 192 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in a second-half rally for the Fighting Irish that came up short.
No. 10 Southern California 50, UCLA 0: At Los Angeles, Matt Barkley passed for 423 yards and six touchdowns in his possible Coliseum farewell, Robert Woods set the conference's single-season receptions record while catching 12 passes for 113 yards and two TDs, and Southern California finished its resurgent season with a demolition of Pac-12 title game-bound UCLA (6-6, 5-4).
Marqise Lee had 13 catches for 224 yards and two TDs during a showcase of offensive brilliance by the Trojans (10-2, 7-2), who are banned from postseason play under heavy NCAA sanctions.
Arizona 45, Louisiana-Lafayette 37: At Tucson, Ariz., Nick Foles threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns in his final game for Arizona (4-8), and the Wildcats held off Louisiana-Lafayette (8-4).
Foles, whose status for the game had been uncertain because of bruised ribs, tied the school record for career (64) and single-season (31) touchdown passes. He already held virtually all other passing records at the school. Foles also topped 4,000 yards passing for the season and 10,000 for his career.