Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota passed for 267 yards and accounted for four touchdowns – all in the first half – to lead third-ranked Oregon to a 62-13 win against South Dakota Saturday at Autzen Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs and South Dakota’s first matchup with a team from the Pac-12 Conference. Oregon scored touchdowns on six of its seven first-half possessions and racked up 673 yards of offense in the win.
Miles Bergner capped South Dakota’s first offensive possession with a career-long, 47-yard field goal that cut an early Oregon lead to 8-3. Bergner made a 25-yarder in the second quarter that made it 21-6.
Coyote running back Trevor Bouma capped a 6-play, 75-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run that made it 35-13 just before halftime. Jasper Sanders broke off a 45-yard run and added a 17-yard scamper to set up the score. Sanders (65) and Bouma (60) combined for 125 yards rushing to lead USD.
USD quarterback Kevin Earl completed 13 of 26 passes for 136 yards in three quarters of work. Riley Donovan had four catches for 42 yards. Ryan Saeger threw for 62 yards on 5 of 8 passes in the fourth quarter.
Mariota completed 14 of 20 passes and hooked up with Byron Marshall on touchdowns of 26 and 11 yards. He opened the scoring with a 62-yard strike to Dwayne Stanford less than 90 seconds into the contest. Mariota ran in from a yard away with 14 seconds left in the first half to give the Ducks a 48-13 halftime lead.
Marshall led all players with eight catches for 138 yards. Oregon passed for 380 yards as a team and ran 38 times for 293 yards and four scores.
South Dakota returns to Vermillion to host William Penn for its home opener at 2 p.m. Sept. 6 inside the DakotaDome.
