EUGENE, Ore. — Jeff Lockie made his first start for No. 12 Oregon a winning one, throwing for 228 yards and two touchdowns in a 61-28 victory over Georgia State on Saturday.
Royce Freeman ran for 101 yards and a touchdown for the Ducks (2-1), who rebounded from last weekend’s loss at Michigan State. Aidan Schneider added four field goals, all in the first half as Oregon built a 33-7 lead.
Nick Arbuckle threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns, and freshman Penny Hart had nine catches for 128 yards for the Panthers (1-2), who were more than six-touchdown underdogs at Autzen Stadium.
Lockie replaced Vernon Adams, who was rested with a broken index finger on his throwing hand. Adams said this week that the finger bothered him late in the Ducks’ loss to the Spartans.
Lockie was Marcus Mariota’s backup last season, completing 21 of 28 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. He competed for the starting job in fall camp with Adams, a senior transfer who arrived late because he needed to complete his degree at Eastern Washington.
Although Adams insisted this week he could play and he was dressed for the game, the decision to sit him gives him a chance to heal before next week’s conference opener against No. 21 Utah.
Lockie completed 23 of 31 passes without an interception.
Oregon jumped ahead on Tyree Robinson’s 43-yard interception return for a touchdown with just over a minute off the clock. It was the sophomore safety’s first career touchdown.
Schneider added two field goals, from 26 and 40 yards out, to give the Ducks a 10-0 lead.
Oregon’s secondary had trouble slowing down Hart, who caught four passes for 90 yards in the first quarter. His 44-yard reception highlighted a drive that was capped by Arbuckle’s 1-yard TD keeper.
Freeman’s 22-yard touchdown run and Lockie’s 35-yard scoring pass to Dwayne Stanford extended the lead for the Ducks before Schneider hit consecutive 40-yard field goals to give Oregon a 33-7 lead at the half.
The two teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter.
Arbuckle’s found Todd Boyd with a 14-yard scoring pass but Oregon answered with Taj Griffin’s 3-yard touchdown run.
Then Arbuckle hit Robert Davis, who eluded three defenders for a 75-yard touchdown to close the gap to 40-21. It was the longest scoring pass allowed by Oregon since 2013 against Colorado. But Oregon again answered, this time on Lockie’s 11-yard scoring pass to Johnny Mundt that made it 47-21.
Arbuckle did it again with a 6-yard TD pass to Keith Rucker. But early in the fourth quarter he was sacked by Tyson Coleman and fumbled. The ball was scooped up by Joe Walker who ran 52 yards for the touchdown to give Oregon a 54-28 lead.
Lockie was pulled in the fourth quarter and replaced by sophomore Taylor Alie. Arbuckle passed for 372 yards and two touchdowns in that game.
