Oregon receiver Josh Huff scores during the first half of Saturday's game against Utah.

EUGENE —

It was as though we had to be reminded again of just what this Oregon football team is capable.

The hangover from the Stanford loss nine days earlier crept into the first half of the Ducks’ game against Utah on a cold, cloudy Saturday afternoon at Autzen Stadium.

Utah quarterback Adam Schulz had just scored on a 4-yard run to cut the Duck lead to 17-14 early in the second half.

But De’Anthony Thomas — who had made no “explosion” plays since he was sidelined for four games with an ankle injury — took the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown to give Oregon a 23-14 lead.

Suddenly, the Ducks were back in control. Suddenly, they were the Ducks we have come to know. And after a 44-21 win and developments later Saturday night, suddenly, the Ducks were back in the Rose Bowl race.

Finally, Oregon could move on from the devastating loss at Stanford that virtually ended its national title hopes.

“We’ve been waiting all year to take one back, and we finally got our opportunity,” Thomas said of his kickoff return. “It just changed the tempo for us. It was a big momentum shift.”

Oregon’s win over Utah was not the prettiest victory, but it proved the Ducks can respond to adversity.

“We didn’t get off to a good start in any phase,” said Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich. “We came out and played a much more complete second half.”

By virtue of Stanford’s loss to USC on Saturday night, Oregon, by winning its final two regular-season games, can earn the right to host the Pac-12 Championship Game for a chance at a Rose Bowl berth.

But it was a sloppy first half for Oregon (9-1) on Saturday, to be sure. The Ducks rushed for just 10 yards on 15 carries and quarterback Marcus Mariota was sacked three times. But Mariota — despite continuing to favor that notorious left knee and not running with the ball even when he had a clear path to do so — finished the game with 19-of-26 passing for 288 yards and three TDs. He extended his Pac-12 record for pass attempts without an interception to 353.

“Guys responded well,” Mariota said of his team. “There was no sense of panic at all. And the offensive line really responded.”

Mariota finished with minus-18 rushing yards, but the three sacks resulted in losses totaling 23 yards. (The Ducks as matter of policy do not talk about injuries, but ESPN reported last week that Mariota has a partial sprain of the MCL in his left knee.)

But the star quarterback would not say that his injured knee is to blame for his recent ineffectiveness as a ball carrier.

“Utah did a good job of keeping me in the pocket,” Mariota said. “It’s not a concern for me with my knee. I’ve learned to play with it, and I’m not going to let it be an excuse.”

Pressed about why he continues to play when he is hurt, Mariota said, “The guys in the locker room, they mean the world to me. They would have to pull me off the field before I wouldn’t play.”

The Mariota knee saga aside, there were many positive things to take from Saturday’s win for Oregon, including the return of the Ducks’ lightning-quick touchdown strikes. Thomas’ touchdown return was not the only one.

Late in the second quarter, Schulz found a wide open Jake Murphy for a 34-yard touchdown to trim Oregon’s lead to 10-7.

If you blinked, you missed what happened next.

Oregon went 64 yards on three plays in just 24 seconds, Mariota capping the drive when he passed to Josh Huff for a 5-yard touchdown and a 17-7 lead. The first play of that drive was a 57-yard pass from Mariota to Bralon Addison, who finished the game with four catches for 67 yards.

“There was a lot of times in this game where (Utah) had us right there,” Addison said. “But there were some big plays that put us over the top.”

The second half was a different story for Oregon’s ground game, as Byron Marshall scored on runs of 17 and 16 yards and the Ducks took a commanding 44-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. Oregon finished with 145 rushing yards after its dismal first half on the ground.

While the Ducks turned this game into a rout by the fourth quarter, it should be noted that Utah was playing without regular starting quarterback Travis Wilson, who was out with a concussion. Schulz, a sophomore, was filling in, and he finished 10-of-24 passing, with one TD and one interception.

Even when Wilson has been healthy, the Utes (4-6) have been a puzzling team. They have six losses now, but last month they defeated Stanford in Salt Lake City, 27-21.

Helfrich was left to explain to the press after the game how his Ducks could thrash Utah but lose to the Cardinal.

“Is that called a transitive property?” he asked, jokingly. “If A equals B, and B equals C, then A equals C? So now we’re undefeated again.”

The media throng erupted with laughter.

Then Helfrich got serious. The success of the Oregon program over the last few years has made it so that struggling with Utah in the first half is unacceptable to some fans.

“Our guys have put themselves in a position that if we don’t win 92 to nothing … if that doesn’t happen, oh my gosh the world’s going to come to an end,” Helfrich said.

Well, the world did not end on Saturday, like it seemed to for some Duck fans with the loss at Stanford.

Instead, Oregon showed resiliency in overcoming a sluggish first half — and staying on track for another Rose Bowl berth.