CBS SportsLine wire reports
Oct. 31, 1998

TUCSON, Ariz. -- A powerful ground game, a stifling defense and near-perfection from the starting quarterback.

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For 13th-ranked Arizona, it can't get much better than Saturday night's 38-3 rout of No. 12 Oregon.

"We had no turnovers and a great defense. It was the most complete win of the season," Wildcats coach Dick Tomey said. "A game can get out of hand, but we weren't expecting anything like this."

Neither were the shell-shocked Ducks, who entered the game averaging 44 points per game but were shut down by the Pac-10's top defense.

"They've got a nice defense, man," said Oregon's Akili Smith, who threw two interceptions and was sacked three times. "Offenses can win games, but defenses win championships. With that defense, they're ready to do a lot of things."

Trung Canidate rushed for 180 yards in 17 carries, including a 71-yard scoring run, and Arizona scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half. It was by far the tailback's best performance since coming off a stress fracture in his left foot that slowed his start this season.

"TRUNG IS STARTING TO RUN LIKE he did last year," Tomey said. "He always has the ability to hit a home run."

Keith Smith, who shares Arizona's quarterback spot with Ortege Jenkins, directed his team to 31 points in just over two quarters.

The victory, coupled with Washington's loss to Southern California, left Arizona (4-1 Pac-10, 8-1 overall) alone in second place in the Pac-10, one game behind No. 2 UCLA. The Wildcats entertained heady thoughts of climbing into a first-place tie before the Bruins pulled out a 28-24 victory over Stanford.

Kelvin Eafon rushed for three touchdowns, but the most spectacular run belonged to Canidate, who took a pitch from Smith and raced through the Oregon defense 71 yards on the fourth play of the second half to put Arizona up 17-3.

THE WILDCATS, WHO RUSHED FOR 268 yards, 161 in the second half, got touchdown runs from Eafon of 5, 4 and 7 yards to go up 38-3 with 12:28 to play.

"Once we got ahead, we wanted to make a statement," Tomey said. "We think we're a pretty good football team."

Oregon (3-2, 6-2), down to its fourth-string tailback because of injuries, managed just 64 yards on the ground in 32 tries.

"Our defensive line did a great job of stopping the run and coming out hard on Akili Smith," said linebacker Marcus Bell, who had a game-high 11 tackles. "It all starts up front. If you can put pressure there, it gives everybody else a chance to make plays."

Under intense pressure all night, Oregon's Smith was 13-for-25 for a season-low 168 yards before being replaced by Jason Maas early in the fourth quarter. He had thrown only five interceptions all season entering the game.

"They were flying to the football all night," Akili Smith said. "And (defensive back) Chris McAlister takes away half of the football field."

ARIZONA'S SMITH THREW A 48-YARD touchdown pass to Brad Brennan on his team's first possession, then directed the Wildcats to their first three touchdowns in the second half. He completed eight of 10 passes for 166 yards.

On two of Arizona's touchdown drives, the Wildcats converted twice on third-and-16 and once on third-and-14.

"We knew that they would try to run the football. They ran it down our throat," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "We missed a lot of tackles. My biggest disappointment was not the score, was not the loss. It was that we didn't play very well."

Despite three turnovers, Oregon trailed only 10-3 at halftime.

Arizona took a quick 10-0 lead. After Chris McAlister's acrobatic interception in the end zone, the Wildcats went 80 yards in nine plays in their first possession to go ahead 7-0.

KEITH SMITH COMPLETED ALL FOUR of his passes in the drive, including the long one to Brennan.

Brennan caught the ball over the middle, then spun away from a tackler and raced to the end zone.

The next time the Wildcats got the ball, Dennis Northcutt's 52-yard punt return set up Mark McDonald's 38-yard field goal that made it 10-0 with 1:26 left in the first quarter.

The Ducks drove from their own 15 to the Arizona 15 to set up Nathan Villegas' 33-yard field goal that cut the lead to 10-3 with just 28 seconds left in the first half. Villegas is 13-for-13 on field goals this season.