Sept. 26, 2009 is a date that will stay with me long past my time here at the University.
It was that day — hard to believe it’s been over two years now — that Oregon football truly began absorbing my consciousness in ways I never thought imaginable.
Up until that point, I can honestly say I was a marginal Oregon fan, if that. During my freshman year in 2008, I made it to the first two games (Washington and Utah State) and never found my way back into Autzen Stadium.
I tried unsuccessfully to sneak my way in for UCLA before mailing in any attempt to see the final two home games of the season. Keep in mind, this was the first year the University began the electronic ticketing system, which now has all the kinks worked out, right?
Anyway, my first football season as an Oregon student was a wash, though I did enjoy watching Jeremiah Masoli in both the Civil War and Holiday Bowl late in the season.
Later that spring I was hired on as a full-time sports reporter here at the Oregon Daily Emerald and knew I would be covering football the next fall. Masoli and Jordan Holmes graced the cover of Sports Illustrated that summer, and like some of you, I had taken a greater interest in following the Ducks throughout fall camp.
I remember arriving in Eugene at the start of September just days after Oregon fell to Boise State in a game that I still haven’t fully recovered from. No one was in town yet, and campus was as quiet as I’d ever seen it.
Back then, Oregon practices were open to the general public and media, but most days there were only a handful of reporters pacing the sidelines to get a glimpse of this redshirt freshman running back who would take over for the suspended LeGarrette Blount. Maybe you’ve heard of him.
A few weeks went by, and I covered my first Oregon home game when the Ducks held off Purdue in a rainy 38-36 contest. The next week was more of the same, with Oregon beating then-No. 18 Utah, 31-24, which is now remembered as LaMichael James’ first 100-yard rushing performance — 27 carries for 152 yards and one touchdown, to be exact.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=233&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204797721@@
Through three weeks, Oregon looked mediocre-to-good most of the time but lacked a passing game, and people still wondered how the Ducks would make it through the Pac-10 without Blount’s help.
And then, on a sunny 71-degree Saturday afternoon, with nearly 59,000 in attendance and the ABC crew on hand, Oregon came to life in a major way.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=233&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204802316@@
The sixth-ranked California Golden Bears, riding high with Heisman Trophy-hopeful Jahvid Best, brought an undefeated 3-0 record into Eugene.
Once Cal got on the board with a 47-yard field goal in the first minute of the game, Oregon began its dismantling of what was considered to be one of the best teams in the country.
Masoli completed 21 of his 25 pass attempts for 253 yards (it seemed like 500 at the time) and three touchdowns. Senior tight end Ed Dickson was responsible for 11 of those receptions for 148 yards and completed the hat trick with three scores. James ran for 118 and a touchdown, and Oregon made an absolute statement with a 42-3 win.
The victory rocketed the Ducks back into the top 25 nationally, and they went on to win seven of their final eight regular season games with the only loss coming at Stanford in early November. (I was there for that too, and yes, I’m still quite bitter.)
The 2009 season was a magical one, and some considered it to be among the best in program history at the time. Well, until 2010 happened.
But the point stands: That Cal game — if you juniors and seniors were there, I’m sure you remember being sunburnt @@apstyle@@for the next week and a half — was a program-defining victory.
The team will tell you it was just another week, another faceless opponent to prepare for. But it was so much more than that. The throwback uniforms (sounds like we’ll be getting the watered-down version on Thursday) were everything we wanted them to be, and Oregon was back in the national spotlight.
This Thursday’s matchup surely won’t resemble that day in 2009 — Oregon’s a 24-point favorite this year — but it will certainly remind me of the time when my interest in Oregon football took off.
Two years later, I’m nothing but grateful.
Clark: ’09 Cal game a defining one in recent memory
Daily Emerald
October 3, 2011
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