EUGENE — While the Oregon Ducks might be anxious for the Civil War — and what may lie beyond it — they’ll have to wait.

The Ducks (8-3, 6-2 Pacific-10 Conference) took care of Arizona 55-45 on Saturday and now head into a bye week before the season-ending showdown with Oregon State. The victory popped them back into the AP rankings at No. 24.

Oregon players will no doubt be watching the Beavers (7-3, 6-1) this weekend when they visit Arizona. If Oregon State wins, the Rose Bowl would be on the line in the annual Civil War game on Nov. 29.

Oregon State defeated California 34-21 on Saturday and moved up to No. 21 in the rankings. Because the Beavers defeated USC (9-1, 7-1) earlier in the season, they hold the tie-breaker for a Rose Bowl berth should each team win out.

The Ducks are alone in third place in the Pac-10 with a chance to finish with at least a share of second if they can beat Oregon State.

Oregon rover Patrick Chung was already looking forward to the challenge.

“They have some legit playmakers on their team,” he said. “I’m glad we have a bye week so we can get healthy and get ready for that game.”

The Ducks can use the break after the Wildcats (6-4, 4-3), who rallied in Saturday’s second half from a 48-17 deficit.

LeGarrette Blount sealed the Ducks’ victory with a 40-yard touchdown run with 3:38 to play after the Wildcats had scored 28 straight points to cut the Ducks lead to 48-45 late in the fourth quarter.

Blount, who tied the single-season school record with his 15th touchdown of the season, finished with 75 yards on nine carries.

Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli had his best game of the season. He threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for three more scores.

“He did a great job of getting the ball around to different people on our offense,” coach Mike Bellotti said. “He had confidence throwing the ball with it not being wet. He cut it loose and we caught it.”

Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama finished with 328 yards passing, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Running back Keola Antolin rushed for 87 yards and four touchdowns, and tight end Rob Gronkowski had 12 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown.

Oregon’s Morgan Flint had a 39-yard field goal 2:14 into the second half to make it 48-17 before the Wildcats came to life and nearly came all the way back. Tuitama and Gronkowski connected on a 7-yard touchdown at the 8:53 mark of the third quarter to make it 48-24, and Antolin followed with fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 3, 1 and 13 yards. The last came with 6:38 to play.

The Ducks’ ensuing drive stalled, but they stopped Arizona on a fourth-and-two at their own 45. Oregon took over with 3:50 left in the game and two plays later Blount scored on his long run.

No. 6 USC 45, Stanford 23

STANFORD, Calif. — C.J. Gable made sure there wouldn’t be a second Stanford stunner for Southern California. Gable returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown and ran for another score.

Mark Sanchez added two touchdown passes and Stafon Johnson ran for two scores for the Trojans (9-1, 7-1 Pac-10), who had their season ruined a year ago when they lost as a 41-point home favorite, 24-23 to the Cardinal (5-6, 4-4).

UCLA 27, Washington 7

SEATTLE — Rick Neuheisel came back to Husky Stadium for the first time in five years and reminded downtrodden Washington what he did during most of his tenure with the Huskies: win.

Led by Khalil Bell’s 97 yards rushing and two touchdowns, Neuheisel made a successful return to his former school as UCLA easily outclassed Washington 27-7.

The Bruins (4-6, 3-4 Pac-10) scored on the first drive of the game and never trailed as Washington fans who showed up on a cool November night to voice their anger and animosity about Neuheisel’s messy divorce from the school in 2003 were left to boo their own lame-duck coach Tyrone Willingham in his final home game at Washington.

The Huskies lost their school-record 12th straight and are 0-10 (0-7 Pac-10) for the first time in school history. They remain the only winless team in the country.

Arizona State 31, Washington State 0

TEMPE, Ariz. — Rudy Carpenter threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns as Arizona State defeated Washington State 31-0.

The Sun Devils (4-6, 3-4 Pac-10) have won back-to-back games and kept their slim bowl hopes alive. Arizona State posted its first shutout since a 19-0 victory over top-ranked Nebraska on Sept. 21, 1996, a span of 152 games.

The Cougars fell to 1-10 overall and 0-8 in Pac-10 play. Their lone win came against Portland State.

Montana State 49, Portland State 32

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Senior tailback Demetrius Crawford rushed for a career-high 187 yards and two touchdowns, and converted wide receiver Mark Desin passed for a touchdown and ran for another Saturday as Montana State trounced Portland State 49-32 in Big Sky Conference football.

Crawford scored on runs of 17 and 44 yards as MSU (7-4, 5-2) won its fourth straight. He became the first Bobcat to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since Ryan Johnson in 2001.

Crawford’s 44-yard run with 10:47 to go in the third quarter gave MSU a 28-17 lead after the Vikings (3-7, 2-5) had tightened the game on a bizarre Hail Mary to close the first half. PSU quarterback Drew Hubel’s 44-yard pass into the end zone was intercepted by MSU cornerback Ramon Lewis, but as Lewis tried to run out of the end zone he fumbled and Viking wide receiver Daniel Wolverton recovered the ball for a touchdown.

Marshfield graduate Bobby McClintock rushed for 51 yards on 11 carries in the loss.