On the last day of September, the Oregon Duck football team took yet another giant leap toward its ultimate goal of playing on the first day of January.
Seven days after the Ducks beat up on then-No. 6 UCLA at home, there Oregon was again, beating up on then-No. 6 Washington at home.
In front of the nationally-known and regarded 46,153 rowdy fans at Autzen Stadium, the Ducks (4-1, 2-0) held on for the 23-16 victory over the Huskies (3-1, 0-1). A huge win against its bitter Northwest rival that thrusts Oregon into the early driver’s seat of the Pacific-10 Conference race for the Rose Bowl.
On Sunday, it turned out to be a win that propelled the Ducks into being one of the prestigious top 10 teams in the country. Oregon jumped 11 places in the rankings from No. 20 to No. 9 in The Associated Press poll, and moved up 10 spots from No. 25 to No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll. The Huskies meanwhile dropped in the AP poll from No. 6 to No. 13.
It is the first time that Oregon has been ranked in the single digits since Oct. 27, 1964, when the Ducks were ranked seventh in the AP.
The win also was Oregon’s 18th consecutive win at home, a feat that was commemorated by a T-shirt that head coach Mike Bellotti brought into the post-game interview room immediately after the game.
The shirt read: “Autzen-Our House-18.”
“The T-shirt is all about the streak, and we kept it alive, and I’m very proud and pleased with our team,” said Bellotti, whose team held an 11-minute advantage in possession time over the Huskies.
But as Bellotti was quick to point out, Oregon played anything but a perfect game.
“I think we made it a little bit closer than we needed it to be,” he said.
Place-kicker Josh Frankel missed three field goals and an extra point and Oregon’s passing game was off for most of the afternoon. Quarterback Joey Harrington only completed nine of 22 passes for a measly 119 yards, but he did throw for a touchdown and run for another in the first half.
The offense was saved by tailback Maurice Morris, who again showed his true mettle in collecting 167 yards in 31 carries, despite being plagued by a biceps strain and turf toe.
“I feel a weight off my shoulders with him out there,” Harrington said. “It’s a great feeling to have a back like Maurice behind me.”
The Ducks jumped out to a seemingly commanding 23-3 lead after Harrington leapt over a pile of linemen from one yard out to give his team the 20-point advantage with nine minutes and nine seconds left in the third quarter.
The score would stay that way until the early part of the fourth, when Husky quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo staged a late rally. At this point, Washington had only mustered 158 yards of total offense. Making matters worse, Oregon punter Kurtis Doerr had pinned the Huskies on their own two-yard line.
But Tuiasosopo seemed unruffled and drove his team the length of the field through an array of quarterback sneaks and short passes. He capped the 98-yard drive at the 10:52 mark of the fourth with a 12-yard touchdown run in which he barely reached the corner of the end zone.
“Marques is a great player and we knew he would show up eventually,” said Oregon senior defensive end Saul Patu, who grew up in Seattle wanting to be a Husky.

But even with the margin trimmed down to 23-9, the crowd didn’t seem to be too worried. There was still over seven minutes left when the fans began chanting “Ov-er-rated.” No doubt, Tuiasosopo heard those words, and made the game very interesting on Washington’s next possession. He started out with an incompletion, but then completed back-to-back 11-yard passes to wide receiver Wondame Davis. On first-and-10 from his own 33-yard line, Tuiasosopo unleashed a 59-yard bomb downfield to tight end Jerramy Stevens.
On the very next play, Tuiasosopo found tailback Willie Hurst in the end zone for an eight yard score that brought the Huskies within a touchdown and capped an 80-yard drive.
“At that point, we were worried, but still confident in our ability as a defense to hold them,” said linebacker Matt Smith, who picked off Tuiasosopo with 9:00 left in the third quarter. “It didn’t have to be that close, and luckily we came through.”
After the Huskies scored, the Oregon offense went three-and-out, leaving the defense to make one last stand in order to secure the win. Fortunately for the Ducks, they would have the roaring crowd on their side.
It was a first-and-10 from the Husky 20-yard line with just over two minutes left when Tuiasosopo attempted to take his team down the field for the game-tying score. His first three passes, however, fell incomplete. Then on fourth-down, Tuiasosopo dropped back, threw the ball toward the middle of the field and had it swatted down by Smith to turn over possession of the ball.
“Matt came up with a lot of big plays,” Bellotti said. “He just played a great game. He had the interception, the batted ball and a fumble recovery on a punt. Those are big-time plays.”
The Ducks jumped out to the early 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Harrington threw a 13-yard strike to tight end Justin Peelle for the touchdown.
Both teams would exchange field goals to keep the game close, but Oregon would score the pivotal points of the game with 2:05 to go in the first half. Oregon running back Allan Amundson followed two great blocks into the end zone for a five-yard run that pushed the Duck lead to 17-3 at the half.
While the final score of 23-16 makes the game seem a lot closer than it actually was, Harrington views the inconsistencies of the Ducks as a positive that they can take with them through this week’s bye and into their showdown on the road against No. 18 Southern California Oct. 14.
“We still haven’t played a perfect game and that’s actually a good feeling,” the junior quarterback said. “Because we know there’s a lot of room for improvement and once we start to click on all cylinders, it’s going to be a fun ride.”