2010 Oregon Ducks football team The 2010 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon in the 2010 college football season . The team was led by Chip Kelly in his second season as a head coach . The Ducks played their home games at Autzen Stadium for the 44th straight year . On October 16 , 2010 , Oregon was ranked number 1 in the AP Poll for the first time in program history . On October 31 , 2010 , after beating USC and moving to 8 – 0 , Oregon achieved the number 1 ranking in the BCS rankings . The Ducks repeated as Pac - 10 Conference champions and finished the regular season undefeated with a school - record 12 wins , the first undefeated and untied regular season in the school ' s 117 - year football history . They earned a berth in the BCS National Championship Game , which they narrowly lost to Auburn on a field goal as time expired . It was the closest that a team from the Pacific Northwest has come to winning a share of the national championship since Washington was crowned national champion by most outlets in 1991 . In recognition of the team ' s performance during the season , Kelly received the Eddie Robinson Award and the Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award . Running back LaMichael James , who finished third in balloting in for the Heisman Trophy , received the Doak Walker Award . Before the season . The team was plagued with numerous off - field incidents during the off - season , which saw nine separate players either be dismissed from the team or be involved in criminal activities starting in January 2010 . On March 12 , 2010 , Coach Chip Kelly suspended starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli for the 2010 season for his role in an Oregon fraternity house theft that resulted in a guilty plea to misdemeanor second - degree burglary , and left the option for Masoli to redshirt in 2010 and return to the Ducks in 2011 . On the same day Kelly also suspended LaMichael James and Rob Beard for the season opener after pleading guilty to harassment . The trend unfortunately continued into the summer time , as on June 7 , 2010 suspended Oregon QB , Jeremiah Masoli , was arrested for a second time for marijuana possession and driving with a suspended license . Two days later Masoli was dismissed from the football program . with the Ducks naming sophomore Darron Thomas the starting quarterback . On March 19 , 2010 , athletic director Mike Bellotti left Oregon to join the cable sports network , ESPN , as a football analyst . Schedule . University of Oregon official schedule Game notes . New Mexico . In the first - ever meeting between Oregon and New Mexico on the football field , the Ducks were victorious 72 – 0 . With first - string tailback LaMichael James serving a one - game suspension by Chip Kelly , Kenjon Barner received the majority of carries offensively for the Ducks . Barner scored 5 touchdowns with only limited carries in the second quarter . Meanwhile , second - string punt returner Cliff Harris tied an Oregon Duck school record by returning the first two punts of his career for touchdowns . After the game , the Pac - 10 announced Barner and Harris as players of the week . Tennessee . Oregon faced Tennessee for the first time , with the teams playing at Neyland Stadium . The game was delayed for over an hour to lightning in the Knoxville area . The Volunteers jumped to a 6 – 0 lead until the first quarter delay . After the delay , the Ducks fell behind even more , 13 – 3 . Tennessee junior running back Tauren Poole made several significant plays and finished as the game ' s leading rusher with 162 yards . Several Vol mistakes led to a momentum swing for the Ducks . On one play , LaMichael James appeared to be stopped for a four yard loss , then reversed around the field and broke tackles for a 72 yard touchdown run . On the subsequent possession , the Volunteers drove into Oregon territory , threatening to score , only to have an interception . The next drive , Tennessee was stopped , and Kenjon Barner returned a punt for a 80 yard touchdown . Oregon would score 45 unanswered points to beat Tennessee . Portland State . On September 18 , Oregon defeated Portland State 69 – 0 . LaMichael James rushed for 227 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns . Quarterback Darron Thomas completed 4 passing touchdowns with one interception and one fumble . No Ducks received Pac - 10 player of the week honors for their performance , however . Arizona State . On September 25 , 2010 , Oregon defeated Arizona State in Tempe , Arizona by a score of 42 – 31 . Though a night game , kickoff temperatures for the game soared at . Arizona State took an early lead in the game , but Oregon responded with a season - high 4 team interceptions . The Sun Devils held primary running back LaMichael James to only 114 rushing yards , but the total was enough to move James past the 2 , 000 yard mark for his career . Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas had 290 passing yards in the game , including a 61 yard pass to tight end David Paulson , which were career longs for both players . The win moved the Ducks from 5th to 4th in the September 27 AP Poll . Stanford . The Ducks and Cardinal entered the game ranked 4th and 9th in the AP Poll , respectively . Stanford surged to an early 21 – 3 lead after the Cardinal recovered a fumbled kickoff return by Cliff Harris . Shortly thereafter , the Ducks would respond with a touchdown and recover a surprise on - side kickoff by specialist Rob Beard . With those scores , the Ducks gained momentum , outscoring Stanford 49 – 10 to close the game with a 52 – 31 victory . Turnovers were critical in the game as Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was intercepted twice by defensive back Cliff Harris — opportunities upon which LaMichael James would then translate into touchdowns . James finished the day with over 250 rushing , moving him into 8th place all - time in Oregon ' s career rushing standings . Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas contributed 4 total offensive touchdowns and 355 yards of offense . The win was the 13th straight victory for Oregon in Autzen Stadium and helped move the Ducks into third place in the AP Poll . Washington State . The Ducks went into this game as highly touted favorites , however they had to convert on 4th down twice in the opening drive to score . Backup running back Kenjon Barner suffered a big hit during a kickoff return and had to be carted off . Quarterback Darron Thomas suffered an injury to his right shoulder and was replaced by Nate Costa . Casey Matthews suffered an ankle injury but was able to continue playing . The Ducks moved up to No . 2 in the rankings after Alabama lost to South Carolina . UCLA . The Ducks started the game on defense and stalled a UCLA drive that was going well and racked up 15 first quarter points and held UCLA to 6 points going into the 4th quarter . Darron Thomas played his best game to date completing 22 of 31 passes for 308 yards 3 TD and no interceptions . LaMichael James rushed for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns . UCLA was only able to manage 290 total yards versus 582 yards by the Ducks . USC . Jeff Maehl stepped up and caught 8 passes for 145 yards and 3 TD ' s . LaMichael James rushed for 239 yards including a 42 yard scamper in the 2nd quarter . Thomas threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns . The performance moved the Ducks to a top BCS ranking for the first time in school history . Washington . The Huskies entered the game without star quarterback Jake Locker on the road . Kenjon Barner also returned to the lineup for the Ducks after recovering from a concussion suffered against Washington State . The Ducks started slowly , being held scoreless in the first quarter , but wound up routing Washington 53 – 16 . California . The Ducks had not won in Berkeley since 2001 and Cal had been extremely dominant at home . The Bears began their first possession with good field position at the Oregon 48 yard line and behind Shane Vereen , were able to put together a drive that he finished off with a 2 - yard touchdown run . The Oregon offense was held scoreless for the second week in a row , and the Ducks did not score until more than halfway through the second quarter on a 64 - yard punt return for a touchdown by Cliff Harris , with a successful 2 - point conversion . The Ducks failed to add to their lead when a 37 - yard field goal attempt missed . The third quarter opened with a fumble by Vereen that Oregon recovered . Darron Thomas then connected with Jeff Maehl for a 29 - yard touchdown , the Ducks ' sole offensive touchdown of the game . A second Oregon field goal attempt , this one from 48 yards , missed . The final score of the game came when Thomas was sacked by Cal nose guard Derrick Hill on the Oregon 12 yard line and fumbled , with Hill recovering the fumble for a touchdown . The Bears were unable to tie the score when a 2 point conversion failed . Cal had a chance to take the lead to open the fourth quarter , but kicker Giorgio Tavecchio was penalized for an illegal motion after making a 24 - yard attempt , then missed on the subsequent 29 - yard attempt . After the game , Tevecchio suggested that the noise caused by visiting Oregon fans contributed to the disruption of the kicking team ' s rhythm . After getting the ball back with nine and a half minutes left in the game , Oregon never relinquished the ball , sustaining a time - consuming drive that ended with Thomas taking three straight knees at Cal ' s 11 yard line to preserve the win and stave off an upset . The Oregon offense was held to a season - low 317 yards , with LaMichael James , the leading rusher in the country , held to 91 yards , while Darron Thomas threw for 155 and a score . In his second career start , Cal quarterback Brock Mansion threw for only 69 yards as the Bears were unable to mount an effective offense with the exception of Shane Vereen , who rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown . After the game Cal head coach Jeff Tedford denied that his players had faked injuries in order to slow down the Oregon offense , a tactic Oregon ' s opponents were accused of all season . On November 27 , defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi was suspended for Cal ' s final season game for instructing a player to fake an injury during the matchup against Oregon . Lupoi was determined to have been the only person involved in such behavior . Arizona . Oregon once again started slow in the first half and took off in the second half . The first half featured two Darron Thomas touchdowns as the Wildcats played well . Both sides were heavily penalized as Adam Hall of Arizona was flagged for two personal fouls . The second half ' s opening Duck drive began with an option pitch to Josh Huff that went for the longest single play of all year . Arizona only managed 10 second half points but they did score a touchdown in the fourth quarter as Oregon racked up 35 second half points . LaMichael James rushed for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns surpassing LeGarrette Blount ' s single season scoring record . With the win over Arizona the Ducks have their best start in history and matched 2001 ' s team school record 11 wins . Oregon State . The 114th Civil War meeting between the two teams came with high stakes for both sides . With a Rose Bowl berth already secured , the Oregon Ducks were playing for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game and the Oregon State Beavers were playing to earn a bowl berth by not finishing below a . 500 win - loss record . The TCU Horned Frogs also had a vested interest in the game as they needed the Ducks to lose the game in order to be considered for the National Championship Game . The Beavers wore their throwback uniforms that paid tribute to their 1967 " Giant Killers " team . The game proved to be intense from the very first play when Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews hit the Beavers ' quarterback Ryan Katz hard , causing him to sit out for the drive . Oregon State scored first with a touchdown with 3 : 23 left in the first quarter , but would not score another touchdown until roughly the last minute in the game when victory was already out of reach . By halftime , the Ducks were up 16 – 7 . In the third quarter , a touchdown pass from Ducks quarterback Darron Thomas to wide receiver DJ Davis was set up by a fake punt where upback Matthew Clay took the snap and ran up the center for a 64 yard gain . The Beavers were able to whittle the Ducks ' lead down with two field goal s but the Ducks scored two consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter . The Beavers scored a touchdown with 1 : 18 left in the game and attempted an onside kick , but the Ducks recovered the football and took two knees to secure their spot in the National Championship Game . Auburn ( BCS National Championship Game ) . In the first meeting between the two teams , Auburn had 5 – 3 record against Pac - 10 teams while Oregon was 4 – 4 against the SEC . Roster . On March 12 , 2010 , it was announced that 2008 – 09 starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli would be suspended for the entire season following his guilty plea for burglary . He was dismissed from the football program on June 9 for an arrest while on his current suspension . On November 10 , 2010 , back - up quarterback Nate Costa was ruled out for the season with a knee injury . Notes . The Ducks lead the conference in scoring offense ( 592 points , 49 . 3 average ) , rushing offense ( 42 touchdowns , 303 . 8 yards per game ) , rushing defense ( 11 touchdowns , 117 . 6 yards per game ) , and total offense ( 71 touchdowns , 537 . 5 yards per game ) . The team is led by tailback LaMichael James , who tops the conference with 1682 yards on 281 carries , 21 touchdowns and averaging 152 . 9 yards per game . His longest carry was for 76 yards . Awards and honors . Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year and Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Doak Walker Award