EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Picked to finish in the middle of the Pac-10, Oregon has thrust itself into the heart of national title race.
Dennis Dixon threw four touchdown passes before leaving with an injury, and the fourth-ranked Ducks defeated No. 6 Arizona State 35-23 on Saturday, their second consecutive victory over a Top 10 team.
When it ended, students poured out of the grandstand and mobbed the Ducks at midfield. Last week, the Ducks beat Southern California to set up the West Coast's biggest game of the season - Oregon was in fifth-place in the latest BCS standings while Arizona State was fourth.
On a clear, crisp afternoon in the Willamette Valley, the largest crowd to attend a football game in the state, 53,379, turned out to watch the Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pac-10) hand the Sun Devils (8-1, 5-1) their first defeat.
Arizona State came into the game as one of five undefeated teams in major college football, with its own hopes for a national title run.
Oregon ended those hopes behind the deft playmaking of Dixon and the running of Jonathan Stewart, who ran for 99 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown.
Meanwhile, the Ducks' oft-maligned defense sacked ASUs' Rudy Carpenter eight times.
Ducks Jump to No. 3 in BCS Standings
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