The 2011 Pac-12 Football Championship Game was played on Friday, December 2, 2011 at

Autzen Stadium Autzen Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in the northwest United States, in Eugene, Oregon. Located north of the University of Oregon campus, it is the home field of the Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 Conference. Opened in 1967, the stadium ha ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

to determine the 2011 football champion of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. The game featured the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

of the South Division against the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference ...

of the North Division. It was the first football conference championship for the Pac-12 Conference, or any of its predecessors. The game took place at Oregon's Autzen Stadium, as the Ducks' conference record of was better than UCLA's record of . The Ducks defeated the Bruins 49–31, and would earn a berth in the 2012 Rose Bowl. At the Rose Bowl Game, the Ducks defeated the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Di ...

45–38 for the Rose Bowl Championship trophy. UCLA was named South Division Champions and earned a berth in the game even though it only had the second best record in the South Division; while the South Division's best record belonged to USC (), the Trojans were ineligible to participate in the game due to NCAA sanctions. Both Oregon and

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

finished with identical 8–1 conference records in the North Division; however Oregon defeated Stanford during the season, giving them the berth in the championship game. The three-hour-27-minute game started at 5:20 p.m. PST/6:20 p.m. MST and televised by

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. Oregon running back LaMichael James was the game MVP.

Pregame buildup

* On November 28, 2011, UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel was fired, but he was allowed to coach in the Championship game.

Game summary

First quarter

UCLA received the ball to start the game, but running back Johnathan Franklin fumbled on the game's second play to allow Oregon to score first on a 30-yard by LaMichael James. UCLA then forced a fumble on a reception by Oregon running back De'Anthony Thomas, but were unable to capitalize on it. However, quarterback Darron Thomas then threw an interception which was returned by linebacker Patrick Larimore for a 35-yard score. The Ducks came right back to score on a 10-yard run by Darron Thomas and took advantage of Franklin's second fumble late in the quarter to score on a 7-yard reception by tight end Colt Lyerla.

Second quarter

The Bruins opened the second quarter with a 37-yard strike from Kevin Prince to receiver Nelson Rosario for their second touchdown of the game. The Ducks however added to their lead with a 3-yard touchdown run by James and a 25-yard reception by receiver Daryle Hawkins, which was set up by a fumble UCLA running back Derrick Coleman. With 11 seconds left in the half UCLA was able to drive downfield and make a 44-yard field goal to trail Oregon 35-17.

Third quarter

The first points of the second half were scored by Prince with a 1-yard run. However, the Ducks continued to pull away, scoring on a 5-yard run by James and a 22-yard touchdown reception by tight end David Paulson on back to back possessions.

Fourth quarter

Prince was briefly knocked out of the game during the second series of the quarter and was replaced by Richard Brehaut. However Brehaut then threw an interception for the Bruins' fourth turnover of the game. Prince returned to lead the Bruins on the longest scoring drive of the game, which culminated in a 19-yard touchdown reception to Rosario for the game's final score.

Scoring summary

Game notes

Oregon set several marks during the game: *Running back LaMichael James became the first player in conference history to rush for 1,500 or more yards three times in a career. He tied

LenDale White LenDale Anthony White (born December 20, 1984) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the second round (45th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. He has also been a member of the Seattle Seahawks and Den ...

with second-most career rushing touchdowns in conference history at 52. *Quarterback Darron Thomas set a school record for career touchdown passes with 63. He also became the first player in program history to throw for 30 touchdowns in two seasons. *The game marked the 82nd consecutive sellout for an Oregon football game at Autzen Stadium, going back to 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pac-12 Football Championship Game, 2011

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

2011 Oregon Ducks football games UCLA Bruins football games Sports in Eugene, Oregon 2011 in sports in Oregon December 2011 sports events in the United States