The solid victory in the Brut Sun Bowl today, over the number 25 ranked South Florida Bulls, was a very nice way for the Oregon Ducks to rid themselves of the doledrums that accompanied the three game losing streak that ended their 2007 regular season.
The Ducks exploded in the third quarter for four touchdowns, expanding on an 18-14 lead to blast the game out of reach for the Bulls, who were trying for their first 10 victory season in the 11 years of the schools football program. The Ducks themselves were trying to break a four-game bowl losing streak, not having one since the 2002 Fiesta Bowl when Joey Harrington was the quarterback.
Duck tailback Jonathan Stewart, in what may have been his last appearance in a Duck uniform, certainly gave the Oregon fans a performance to remember gaining 253 yards on 23 carries, his big run of 71 yards answering the sole South Florida touchdown nicely late in the first half.
Redshirt freshman Justin Roper continued his steady play from the Civil War with a more than respectable showing on a national stage, completing 17 of 30 passes for 180 yards and four touchdown passes to guide the Oregon offense nicely (only four punts for the game), and the opportunistic Oregon defense aided the cause by intercepting four Matt Grothe passes, returning two of them for touchdowns and setting up the offense in excellent field position on the others.
I personally expected a full-game battle much like the first half featured, and South Florida put together some good, time consuming drives that put points up on the board. Particularly striking was the drive that culminated in a touchdown on a pass from Grothe to Taurus Johnson, a play in which he escaped the clutches of Duck defender David Faaeteete to avoid a certain sack and instead wound up making a great pass to Johnson at the 2 yard line. Grothe also made a key scramble, on a 3rd and 18 play, earlier on the drive with a 22 yard run that brought to mind the abilities of injured Duck quarterback Dennis Dixon.
However, if the philosophy of the Duck defense in the first half was one of the usual "bend but don't break" style, that approach was scrapped for a more aggressive style in which they allowed only two Bull first downs, those occurring on separate drives. Oregon got their four third quarter touchdowns in a matter of about six minutes, a period in which the Bulls seemingly lost their idea of what to do on the field. How else to explain the lackadaisical way that Johnson was carrying the ball before being tackled and fumbling it, a play which set up the Ducks second touchdown of the quarter, a 15 yard pass from Roper to tight end Ed Dickson? By falling behind 32-14 at that point, and with no running game to speak of, the Bulls were forced to pass, and on the next offensive possession by the Bulls, Grothe threw a ball into double coverage, which Walter Thurmond III returned 25 yards for the score that settled the game for all practical purposes.
The bad news for the Ducks was the incredible number of dumb penalties, a Sun Bowl record 13 of 'em for 138 yards, most of which seemed to lengthen South Florida drives.
At any rate, it was a great way to end a very interesting Oregon football season, one that had the Ducks reaching for the top of the mountain; even if it did take some time to recover from the key injuries, this was still a helluva season, one I'll always remember for the good and the bad, and as I always say to the rodents in my area, if I want to feel bad about myself, I'll just start wearing orange and black. Thank you Ducks, and all of the seniors, for a memorable season! Can't wait for the 2008 to start already!
Also have to note down what Rece Davis of ESPN said at the start of the halftime show of the Oregon State/Maryland Emerald Bowl game on Friday, after a Sean Canfield pass was picked off in the end zone to snuff out an Oregon State drive late in the first half: "maybe the worst pass attempt in organized football history!". I was in a Nyquil daze at that point of the evening, what I had seen of the game up until that time wasn't helping to keep my eyes open, so I had to ask my Beaver coworkers if that was indeed what he had said; they all nodded and shook their heads at the memory. Actually, I'd change the description for that pass attempt to "college history", the memory of Miami Dolphin kicker Garo Yepremian trying to throw the ball in Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins is probably worse than that one.
ESPN SUN BOWL RECAP
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