Sun Bowl | Oregon hammers S. Florida

EL PASO, Texas — If anyone forgot how good Oregon looked earlier this football season, Jonathan Stewart and Justin Roper offered a reminder.

Stewart set a Sun Bowl record with a career-high 253 yards rushing and Roper, a redshirt freshman, threw four touchdown passes in his first start to help Oregon beat 23rd-ranked South Florida 56-21 Monday.

"I knew I was ready to play," said junior Stewart, a graduate of Timberline High School in Lacey.

"I knew I was ready to run today. I think I played well, but I'll give all the credit to the offensive line for opening up the truck lanes."

The Ducks (9-4) scored 28 consecutive points in the third quarter to snap a four-game postseason losing streak. It was Oregon's first bowl victory since beating Colorado 38-16 in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2001 season.

Oregon made it look rather easy against the Bulls (9-4), who boasted one of the nation's better defenses. Credit the legwork by the smooth Stewart and steady play by Roper, who had three weeks to prepare.

"I didn't expect to have that many stats. I expected to do well, but not that well," said Roper, who completed 17 of 30 passes for 180 yards with no interceptions. He tied a Sun Bowl record with the four TD passes.

The Ducks won for the first time since losing standout quarterback Dennis Dixon to a knee injury in November, snapping a three-game losing streak that killed their national-title hopes.

"Losing a Heisman Trophy candidate — the leading Heisman Trophy candidate — was a big blow," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "It took us a couple of games to recover."

How easy was it this time for the Ducks? They won a matchup of teams that had been ranked No. 2 in the nation earlier this season handily, despite setting a Sun Bowl record with 138 penalty yards.

But Oregon's offensive and defensive lines set the tone after halftime, and the Ducks never looked back.

"It came down to two things: Jonathan Stewart running the way he's capable of and Justin Roper directing the offense without mistakes and making some plays in the red zone," Bellotti said.

Roper started the second-half scoring avalanche with a 14-yard TD strike to Jaison Williams and added a 15-yard scoring pass to Ed Dickson.

On the next play from scrimmage, Walter Thurmond stepped in front of a pass by South Florida's Matt Grothe and returned it 25 yards for another TD, giving the Ducks a 39-14 lead midway through the third quarter.

"Second half, I can't explain what happened," Bulls coach Jim Leavitt said. "We didn't play good-enough defense. That's all there is to it — and when you have those turnovers, you have no shot at all."

But these hard-hitting Ducks weren't finished.

Grothe had another pass intercepted on the ensuing possession, the first of two for Oregon's Jairus Byrd, setting up Roper's 8-yard TD pass to Stewart.

On that drive, Stewart got free on a 16-yard gain, surpassing the previous Sun Bowl record of 197 yards rushing set in 1977 by Louisiana State's Charles Alexander in a 24-14 loss to Stanford.

Oregon's 18-14 halftime lead had swelled to 46-14, and fans of the Ducks began wondering if Stewart will return for his senior season. He had a 71-yard TD run in the second quarter.

"One more year!" the Oregon fans chanted as Stewart hoisted the Sun Bowl trophy.

"I haven't made any decision," Stewart said later.

For good measure, Ducks kicker Matt Evensen added a 30-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and defensive end Michael DiVincenzo returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown with 3:23 remaining.