SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah lost against Oregon and Brigham Young University lost to Texas on Saturday, with both final scores ending at 35-6.
Bo Nix threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 8 Oregon to a 35-6 victory over No. 13 Utah, which had an 18-game home winning streak snapped by the loss Saturday.
Troy Franklin tallied 99 yards and a touchdown on eight catches for the Ducks. Bucky Irving added 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Oregon (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) won in Salt Lake City for the first time since 2016. The Ducks racked up 390 total yards and forced two turnovers.
Bryson Barnes threw for 136 yards and had two interceptions. Devaughn Vele had a season-high 80 yards on seven catches for the Utes (6-2, 3-2).
Nix picked Utah’s defense apart with surgical precision during the first half. He totaled only two incomplete passes over Oregon’s first six drives. The Ducks had no trouble moving the chains behind his steady passing.
Nix threw two touchdown passes — an 18-yard dart to Jordan James and a 3-yard strike to Troy Franklin — and rushed for a 1-yard score to help Oregon jump out to a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter. The Ducks averaged 9.0 yards per play on their first three scoring drives.
Gaining ground proved much more cumbersome for the Utes. Utah forced Oregon to lose a fumble for the first time this season when Junior Tafuna stripped the ball from Irving as he tackled him and recovered it at the Oregon 27. The Utes turned the turnover into a 32-yard field goal from Cole Becker, who added a second field goal from 30 yards to cap Utah’s final first-half drive.
Irving ran in untouched from 9 yards out to extend Oregon’s lead again early in the in the third quarter. Johnson then intercepted Barnes a second time to set up a 5-yard run from Traeshon Holden to put the Ducks up 35-6 midway through the third quarter.
Meanwhile, in Texas, Maalik Murphy threw for 170 yards and two touchdowns in his debut as starting quarterback for No. 7 Texas in a 35-6 win over BYU.
Murphy, a redshirt freshman, replaced Quinn Ewers, who was sidelined with an injury to his throwing shoulder sustained in last week's win at Houston. He completed 16 of 25 passes.
Before facing BYU, Murphy threw eight passes this season, completing four for 47 yards. He didn't have a touchdown pass or interception.
Murphy had a few shaky moments in the first half against BYU (5-3, 2-3 Big 12), with an interception and lost fumble. But before the half was finished, he connected with Adonai Mitchell on a 30-yard scoring pass, the Longhorns' second TD of the game.
The Longhorns' Xavier Worthy opened the scoring, returning a punt 74 yards for a TD.
Jonathon Brooks, one of the top rushers in the nation, gained 98 yards for Texas (7-1, 4-1) and added 40 more receiving.
Quarterback Kedon Slovis had a rough day for BYU, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. All three of the turnovers led to Texas touchdowns. Slovis finished 24 for 39 for 197 yards passing.
The second interception, by former walk-on safety Michael Taaffe, was returned 45 yards and set up a second Murphy-to-Mitchell touchdown pass, this time for 13 yards.
Slovis' lost fumble set up a 34-yard TD run by Longhorns reserve running back Jaydon Blue in the fourth quarter.
