Takeaways from Oregon's victory against Utah at Autzen Stadium

Bo Nix started the game to thunderous applause, assuaging any fears the home crowd had that Oregon’s star quarterback would be unable to play.

But it wasn’t until his one-and-only designed run of the game — a 2-yard keeper in the final minutes — that the hobbled Nix was able to secure a victory for the Ducks.

In between was a game dominated by defense and marred by missed opportunities and straight up miscues on offense before No. 12 Oregon defeated No. 10 Utah, 20-17, Saturday night in the final game of the season at Autzen Stadium.

A crowd of 57,009 braved the freezing temperatures — it was 31 degrees at kickoff — to witness the Ducks (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) knock off the Utes (8-3, 6-2) as they moved into sole possession of second place in the conference standings behind Southern California with one game to go.

"That was a lot of fun, and, man, we made some mistakes, but we competed until the very end," Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. "Defense had their back against the wall a couple times and came up big, made some great plays. I can’t say enough about our quarterback. To play in this game after being banged up, having limited practice reps, for him to go out there and have a gutsy performance was really important and special for this team."

Nix led Oregon to a touchdown on the opening drive of the game and the Ducks never trailed as they built a 17-3 halftime lead.

Then things got interesting.

Here are some takeaways from the Ducks victory.

What happened in the third quarter?

The Ducks’ defense started the second half by forcing a punt.

But on first down from its own 11, Oregon’s first offensive play of the third quarter was a reverse from backup quarterback Ty Thompson to receiver Dont’e Thornton that was fumbled on the exchange and recovered by Utah for a touchdown.

"You guys can critique that one," Lanning said. "That was poor. That did not work out well, obviously, and I'm glad that didn't cost us the game, but great learning moment for me and our staff."

More Ducks news:Oregon men's basketball rebounds against Montana State Bobcats

That was followed by a pair of three-down drives by the Ducks with a game-tying touchdown scored by the Utes in between.

But once the fourth quarter began, the Ducks got back on track, regaining the lead 20-17 on a 41-yard field goal by Camden Lewis with 11:17 to play.

Then the defense hunkered down and in the final 7:00 had a pair of fourth-down stops and an interception to snuff out Utah’s attempts to put more points on the scoreboard.

Bo Nix is as tough as he is talented

After injuring his ankle last week against Washington, Nix’s status for Saturday was up in the air all the way up until kickoff, with wide receiver Kris Hutson causing a stir on Wednesday when he said Nix wasn’t going to play.

But Nix did play, just not in the dual-threat capacity that has allowed him to shine all season.

Nix threw for 287 yards and a touchdown against the Utes, but was clearly limited in his ability to run as he finished with two carries for minus-3 yards, though one of those rushes was a sack.

Afterwards, Nix said his availability for the game was "up and down" during the week and was legitimately a game-time decision.

"There were times I was like, 'I can go out there and manage,' and then there was times I was like, 'I can't even walk. I don't know how I'm going to be able to do that,'" Nix said. "I felt like the team deserved my shot. I felt like the team deserved me going out there and giving what I had."

But Nix, who has rushed for 512 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, was successful on his one rush as he dove for a couple yards on a third-and-1 with 1:07 left to play to put the Ducks in victory formation.

"It certainly was a different game, I don’t think there’s any secret," Lanning said. "We asked Bo right before that play if we could run the play knowing that the two options were to hand it off or for him to keep it and he said 'absolutely.' That guy's got heart, he cares about the game, he cares about this team and I think it shows in the way he plays."

The defense responded

After a bad game against the Huskies a week ago, when it couldn’t get off the field or keep Washington from scoring in the fourth quarter, the Ducks answered the call to play better.

Oregon held Utah’s offense to 326 yards and 10 points, stuffed the Utes on three of their fourth-down attempts and intercepted quarterback Cameron Rising three times — all on passes deflected at the line of scrimmage by defensive linemen.

Rising finished 21-of-38 for 170 yards and star running back Tavion Thomas was held to 55 yards on 19 carries.

Four of Utah’s final five drives were ended twice by interceptions and twice on failed fourth-down attempts.

Defensive back Bennett Williams had two interceptions and a game-high 14 tackles, linebacker Noah Sewell had eight tackles and an interception. Defensive linemen Casey Rogers, Jordon Riley and Keyon Ware-Hudson each had a pass breakup that led to an interception.

"The batted balls is something we talked about all week," Rogers said. "We had to find a way to affect the quarterback. If we weren't getting sacks we had to either hit him or get our hands up in the passing lane. ... That was just kind of the game plan coming out and we were able to execute."

It was an especially satisfying night for Williams, who was victimized twice on long TD receptions by Washington, including the 62-yard go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter.

"Last week I wasn't able to make a play and you gotta own it," Williams said. "That's what enabled me this week to go out there and not have that fear."

Rough day for Oregon’s running game

With Nix limited and the offensive line missing center Alex Forsyth due to injury, the Ducks could not get their running game on track.

Oregon rushed 25 times for 59 yards — a season-low by 81 yards for a team that was averaging nearly a Pac-12 leading 240 yards and 2.9 rushing TDs per game.

Noah Whittington led the Ducks with 53 yards on 10 carries, and Bucky Irving had 20 yards and a touchdown on 10 rushes.

The Ducks’ previous low was 140 yards in the season-opening loss to Georgia.

Notables

• Thornton had an interesting night, catching four passes for a career-high 151 yards, but he also had two fumbles, including one that was returned for touchdown.

• For the second time in three games, safety Jamal Hill was penalized for targeting and ejected from the game. It happened in the second half against Colorado on Nov. 5 and he had to miss the first half against Washington. Saturday he was flagged midway through the second quarter when he led with his helmet on a hit against Thomas. Because it happened in the first half he won’t miss any of next week’s game against Oregon State.

• The hash marks on the 1, 15 and 41 yards lines were painted orange Saturday, the uniform numbers of Virginia football players Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry, who were killed Sunday in an on-campus shooting.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: How it happened: No. 12 Oregon Ducks defeat No. 10 Utah Utes