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 h ...

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 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

champion of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisi ...

. 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) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

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 USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

(), 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 university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

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 LaMichael Keondrae "LaMike" James (born October 22, 1989) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the University of Oregon and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. ...

was the game MVP.

Pregame buildup

* On November 28, 2011, UCLA Coach

Rick Neuheisel Richard Gerald Neuheisel Jr. (; born February 7, 1961) is an American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1995 to 1999, at the University of Washi ...

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

. 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 Darron Varnell Thomas (born May 23, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He was the starting quarterback for the University of Oregon football team that reached the 2011 BCS National Championship Game and won the 2012 Rose Bowl. E ...

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 Kevin Christopher Prince (born November 28, 1989) is a former American football quarterback. He played at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California. He played college football at UCLA. Prince was selected by head coach Rick Neuhe ...

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 Richard Daniel Brehaut (; born June 10, 1991) is a former college football quarterback. He played college football at UCLA. Brehaut played high school football and baseball at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California, where he w ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

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