EUGENE – After getting embarrassed on national television last week in a 45-24 loss to Cal, the Oregon football team had something to prove.

All week long, questions about the Ducks’ running game, quarterback Dennis Dixon’s confidence and an injury-depleted defense hung in the air.

Bottom line, Oregon needed to make a statement against UCLA.

While the Ducks’ 30-20 victory over the Bruins on Saturday at Autzen Stadium was far from impressive, Oregon did show signs of brilliance that were certainly missing against the Bears.

In the first quarter, the Duck offense ran and passed at will, and the defense stood its ground as Oregon took a 20-3 lead. But over the next three quarters, the Bruins outscored the sputtering Ducks 17-10.

”We separated ourselves early from them, and we made the mistake of keeping it close,” said Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti. ”I talked about the end of the first half at halftime – I was very frustrated. Our offense had two field-position opportunities that probably could have put the game away, and we did the same thing in the second half as well. I felt we moved the ball, but we didn’t get the points we should have.”

Dixon threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter – an 11-yard toss to Dante Rosario and a 26-yarder to Brian Paysinger – but the UO offense appeared stagnant the rest of the game, unable to take advantage of key opportunities. The Ducks also committed two second-half turnovers that led to UCLA touchdowns: an interception thrown by Brady Leaf in the third quarter and a punt that was muffed by Jeremiah Johnson in the fourth quarter.

”When we had the ball late in the first half, we were doing fine until we got down on their end,” said Dixon, who was 10 of 17 passing for 144 yards. ”We just have to take advantage in the red zone.”

Dixon would leave the game in the third quarter for two series with what he said was a hyperextended knee as Leaf filled in, but Dixon returned to play the remainder of the game.

One bright spot for the Ducks was their running game. Oregon had just 70 yards rushing against Cal but finished with 276 yards on the ground against UCLA. Jonathan Stewart led the charge, rushing for 127 yards on 20 carries after gaining only 25 yards against the Bears. And he got his yards against a Bruin run defense ranked second in the nation.

”We came out early and set the tempo for the rest of the game,” Stewart said. ”But we’ve still got some things to work on.”

Stewart wasn’t the only standout performer for the Ducks. Paysinger had a breakout game with 105 yards on four catches. Dixon was happy to see a receiver other than Jaison Williams – by far his most frequent target this season – have a big day.

”I always have confidence in my targets,” Dixon said. ”I just want to give the receiver a chance to catch the ball. The coaches talked about communication, and that’s what we worked on all week.”

”We’re very versatile,” Paysinger said. ”And Dennis came back strong (after the Cal loss). We just had to go out and get it done because we hit rock bottom last week. This week, Dennis was a great leader.”

And the beat-up Oregon defense – which has lost four starters to injury this season – backed up its quarterback, holding the Bruins to total offense of 216 yards. Linebacker Blair Phillips led the way with nine tackles.

”We’re playing with a lot of wounded Ducks,” said Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti. ”And they continue to amaze me with the spirit they have.”

Oregon held UCLA quarterback Patrick Cowan, who was filling in for the injured Ben Olson, to just 112 yards passing. Cowan threw one interception.

”We had the crowd behind us,” Phillips said. ”Even for a veteran quarterback, it’s tough in this environment. It took a toll on him.

”For the most part, it was redemption coming back here and playing for our home crowd.”

But the Bruins are at best an average Pac-10 team. So what happens when Oregon hits the unfriendly road for games at feisty Washington State next Saturday and at No. 3 Southern Cal on Nov. 11 – not to mention a home game against the resurgent Washington Huskies in between on Nov. 4?

”Every week is going to be a must win,” said safety J.D. Nelson. ”We’ve got to come prepared.