DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Tailback Clarance Farmer crashes on his head after a run late in the fourth quarter of Saturday's blowout loss to Oregon. Farmer led Arizona in rushing during the defeat, picking up 42 yards on 11 carries.

Arizona turned upside down as Oregon drops UA by five touchdowns

At first glance, it might have seemed like TBS was showing a replay of last week's game.

While the chain of events was similar, the Wildcats' opponent wasn't Southeastern Conference power Louisiana State, but rather Pacific 10 Conference ÷ and unranked ÷ foe Oregon.

For the second straight week, Arizona (1-2, 0-1 Pac-10) was blown out in front of a national television audience at Arizona Stadium when it lost its 12th consecutive Pac-10 home game, by a score of 48-10 to the Ducks Saturday night in front of 40,000 dismayed Wildcat fans.

"It's tough when you lose two games in a row like this," head coach John Mackovic said one week after falling 59-13 to LSU.

Oregon (3-0, 1-0) used a two-quarterback rotation with sophomore Kellen Clemens and senior Jason Fife to out-gain UA 493-180 in total yards, handing the Wildcats their third straight Pac-10-opening loss in the process.

Fife and Clemens combined to throw for 283 yards and four touchdowns during Oregon's fifth straight win at Arizona Stadium.

The Ducks also crushed the Wildcats on the ground, 210 yards to 34.

Arizona's defense had a solid start, forcing Oregon to punt on its first possession. But following a Mike Bell fumble deep in Arizona territory, the Ducks were able to score on a 29-yard field goal by junior kicker Jared Siegel.

The Wildcat defense continued its strong play throughout the first quarter, holding Oregon to just two field goals in the opening frame, but seemed to wear down as the game went on from simply being on the field so much.

"Our defense was on the field way too long," sophomore quarterback Nic Costa said. "In order for us to be successful, our offense has to be productive."

The Ducks had the ball for 17:28 of 30 minutes in the first half, taking a 20-0 lead into halftime.

"We definitely felt we were in this game," senior linebacker Matt Molina said. "We had a couple crucial stops, but a couple things didn't go our way, and the next thing you know, it's 20-0."

Arizona broke up the Ducks' shutout on its first drive of the second half when senior kicker Bobby Gill hit a 44-yard field goal to cut the lead to 20-3. That was as close as the UA would get.

What little momentum Arizona gained quickly reversed, as Oregon rattled off 28 straight points in the second half en route to its ninth win in its last 10 games against the Wildcats.

Arizona's lone touchdown came with just over three minutes to go in the contest, when freshman quarterback Ryan O'Hara found sophomore Biren Ealy for a 53-yard strike.

O'Hara, who played the entire second half, finished the game 11-of-27 for 113 yards and the touchdown.

Costa played all but Arizona's last possession of the first half, finishing 5-of-9 for 33 yards.

For the second week in a row, senior running back Clarence Farmer led all Wildcat rushers with 42 yards on 11 attempts ÷ most of them in garbage time.

Ealy led Wildcat receivers with seven catches for 90 yards, including the touchdown.

Ealy's performance, however, was overshadowed by the play of Oregon sophomore receiver Demetrius Williams, who finished the game with five catches for 139 yards, including three scores from 65, 30, and three yards out.

Arizona will try to regroup against another tough opponent next week when it travels to Purdue.

"It won't get any easier next week," Mackovic said. "We just have to find a way to play better."

"We can't lose confidence in ourselves," said sophomore Darrel Brooks. "Everyone is counting us out, but as long as we believe in ourselves, we don't have to worry what everyone else thinks."