EUGENE, Ore. -- While no one wanted to criticize a win, Oregon found room for improvement in its victory over Nevada.
Once again going with dual quarterbacks Kellen Clemens and Jason Fife, Oregon (2-0) relied heavily on Samie Parker as they held off Nevada 31-23 on Saturday.
Parker, a track star in the offseason, caught seven passes for 162 yards and two scores. He also ran for 50 yards.
But the Oregon offense didn't score a point in the second half, hardly the kind of dominant performance expected of the Ducks.
"Overall, I don't think we improved as much as I'd like between game one and game two," coach Mike Bellotti said.
Nevada (1-1), having barely held off Southern Utah 24-23 in its opener, was in better spirits -- even if it was a loss.
"I think we played well against a Pac-10 team," Wolf Pack coach Chris Tormey said. "You never feel good about a loss, but we played better this week than we did last week."
Oregon (2-0) used co-quarterbacks Kellen Clemens and Jason Fife to confuse the Wolf Pack (1-1), who couldn't quite catch up after the Ducks built a 24-7 first-half lead.
Clemens completed 10 of 24 passes for 154 yards and two scores, while Fife was 3-of-4 for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Nevada sophomore Jeff Rowe struggled in his second career start, completing just three of 10 passes for 31 yards and an interception. But backup Andy Heiser replaced him midway through the second quarter and was 14-of-34 for 213 yards and two TDs.
"I think we learned how to finish today," Heiser said. "We never gave up. I don't think at any point we felt like we weren't in it."
Clemens got the start for the Ducks, whose opening drive was marked by Parker's 50-yard run after a handoff from tailback Ryan Shaw. Jared Siegel made it 3-0 for Oregon with a 22-yard field goal.
Rowe had a shaky start on Nevada's first series when his pass to Willie Johnson was intercepted by Steven Moore. The Ducks went up 10-0 on their next possession when Clemens hit Demetrius Williams with a 6-yard scoring pass.
Fife replaced Clemens for the Ducks early in the second quarter and hit Parker with a 43-yard touchdown pass on his first series.
Nevada finally found success late in the first half with Heiser, who hit Nichiren Flowers with a 27-yard scoring pass with 1:22 left to narrow it to 17-7.
Parker was alone in the end zone when he caught a 39-yard pass from Clemens with just 5 seconds left to cushion the Ducks' halftime lead.
Heiser kicked off Nevada's second-half run when he hit Anthony Pudewell with an 11-yard TD pass to narrow the gap. But Heiser was intercepted on the next series by Keith Lewis, who ran nine yards for the score.
Heiser rebounded with a 35-yard pass to Pudewell, which set up Chance Kretschmer's 1-yard TD dive.
Kretschmer, who two years ago was just the second freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in rushing with 1,732 yards, was held to 65 yards on 17 carries by Oregon.
"They were very physical. They were big and strong," Kretschmer said. It's hard to run through them, so you just have to run around them."
Damon Fine added a 27-yard field goal for Nevada for the final margin.
"Credit Nevada with the intensity that they played with -- but it shouldn't have been as difficult as it was," Clemens said.
It is the second straight week the Ducks have decided to use both Clemens and Fife. Oregon beat Mississippi State 42-34 in the opener.
The Ducks have won 11 straight home openers at Autzen Stadium, and 19 consecutive non-conference games there.
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