It was just what the doctor ordered.
A packed Autzen Stadium crowd of 46,075 — the largest of the season — withstood the inclement weather to see what was supposed to be another action-packed shootout between Oregon and Oregon State on Saturday. But nothing happened, offensively anyway, until junior wide receiver Keenan Howry touched the ball early in the fourth quarter.
On the third play of the last period, Howry received a Carl Tobey punt at the Oregon 30-yard line and raced 70 yards untouched to score the first touchdown of the game. The touchdown return was Howry’s second of the season, with the other coming against Stanford.
“You probably could have drove anything through that,” Howry said of the hole. “You can say first hand that you made a difference in the game. It’s special for me because being a punt returner, you don’t get too many opportunities to get touchdowns, and this year I was able to get two.”
After a dismal three quarters, which saw the Ducks garner just 143 total yards, Howry sparked a fire under the Ducks’ feathers, igniting a 17-14 win that secured Oregon’s second outright Pacific-10 Conference championship in school history.
“Keenan Howry’s punt return energized not just the crowd, but our team,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It got people going and gave us a spark.”
Howry had a 28-yard catch on third-and-long on the Ducks’ next drive, which ended on an eight-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Maurice Morris to give Oregon a 17-6 lead.
“Everybody was pretty juiced,” Howry said. “That’s one of the best drives we’ve had all year.”
Although he may not look like a prototypical football player, Howry proved Saturday that heart is all that matters.
“This kid has no size, decent speed and will kill any corner in the nation,” defensive back Rashad Bauman said. “If you told me I was going to get beat by a 5-foot-8, 165-pound, 4.5-running receiver, I’d laugh. But Keenan will kill you. He’s good at every aspect of the game.”