Exactly 260 days prior to Saturday, the Oklahoma Sooners walked out of Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego as 17-14 winners against No. 5 Oregon in the Holiday Bowl.
On Saturday, the No. 18 Ducks will take their shot at redemption when the 15th-ranked Sooners make their first ever trip to Autzen Stadium.
“We still have a little sour taste in our mouth,” Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon said.
That loss ended a seven-game winning streak for Oregon and handed the Ducks just their second loss of the season.
Meanwhile the victory was a satisfying way to end an uncharacteristic 8-4 season for an Oklahoma program with one of college football’s most storied traditions.
Saturday the two programs will meet for the third consecutive season with the Ducks seeking their first win in the series history.
“This has been a game that’s been talked about for several years since it was scheduled,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. “I think our fans and players have done a great job of focusing one week at a time and not looking ahead to this game. But now that it’s here, everyone can talk about it and get excited.”
The Sooners, who also defeated the Ducks 31-7 in 2004, enter the game 2-0 after wins against UAB and Washington. Oregon is also 2-0 with wins coming against Stanford and Fresno State, setting the stage for possibly the biggest non-conference game at Autzen since Oregon defeated No. 3 Michigan 31-27 in 2003.
“It’s a big game,” senior safety J.D. Nelson said. “A lot of people expected us to overlook a couple games, but we did a good job winning these first two and now we’ve got a big one at home.”
Nelson and the rest of Oregon’s defense will key in on one of the nation’s biggest weapons in junior running back Adrian Peterson, who has rushed for 1,000-plus yards in each of his first two seasons and needs just 781 more yards to become
the most prolific back in Oklahoma history.
As a true freshman in 2004, Peterson carried 24 times for 183 yards against Oregon. He ran for 84 yards on 23 carries in the Holiday Bowl.
So far this season, Peterson is the nation’s sixth-highest rusher with a 152 yards-per-game average, and he earned the Big-12 Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week for his 165-yard, two touchdown performance against Washington last Saturday. Peterson will face an Oregon defense that surrendered 154 yards to Fresno State’s Dwayne Wright.
Bellotti was very vocal about his disappointment with the technique of his defensive lineman and hopes for a better performance against the Sooners. He also hopes to keep Peterson from getting to the outside, where he is especially dangerous.
“If he gets on the edge, he’s a big, physical running back that has tremendous speed, and it’s tough for a DB one-on-one to tackle him,” Bellotti said. “So, I’d rather keep him inside where we can gang tackle. I think the key, and we did a very good job in the bowl game, was stopping him from getting started, getting to the open field.”
Peterson will be called upon to carry even more of the load this season after incumbent starting quarterback Rhett Bomar was dismissed from the team this summer for an NCAA rules violation.
That left converted wide receiver Paul Thompson as the starting quarterback. After struggling in the opening game last season, Thompson was benched in favor of Bomar.
Thompson has thrown for 499 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions in his return.
This will be Thompson’s first game on the road as the starting quarterback, and he’ll face an Oregon team trying to alleviate the loss of starting cornerback Jackie Bates, who broke his ankle during the game against Fresno State.
“(I’m) excited to see what this team is going to do,” Thompson said in an Oklahoma press release. “It’s going to be a loud atmosphere. The way their stadium is built, there is going to be a lot of echo, a lot of noise. In practice, we have got the ear plugs in trying to get used to that environment.”
Oregon’s offense will welcome back a healthy Jonathan Stewart at running back. After tweaking his ankle in the season opener against Stanford. Stewart played only two plays against Fresno State, though he did score a three-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
He is expected to be 100 percent and start against the Sooners, setting up the battle between two once top-rated recruits, wearing No. 28.
“Let the hype be hype,” Stewart said. “That’s what I’ve got to do, just leave it alone. It’s exciting because (Peterson’s) a good running back coming into our house, but … we’re excited for every game.”
Oregon’s spread offense has been efficient this season, averaging 456.5 yards per game, but will face a defense with 11 players who started at least one game last season – a defense Bellotti called “by far the best we’ve ever played, person to person.”
The Sooners defense is predicated on speed, led by middle linebacker and leading tackler Rufus Alexander. That speed held Oregon to 327 yards of total offense and 14 points in the Holiday Bowl. Bellotti believes his team is much improved this season, most notably in the running game where the Ducks
currently average 218.5 yards-per-game.
“We’re a much better football than the one that played in the Holiday Bowl, especially on offense,” Bellotti said, noting the vast improvement of Dixon and the steady offensive line.
As for that 0-6 all-time record against the Sooners, Bellotti said, “Well, there’s always a first time. I feel good about this football team.”
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