Top-ranked USC and No. 2 Texas have seemingly wrapped up berths in the national championship held in the Rose Bowl since midseason centering all recent bowl game attention on the Fiesta Bowl.
Seventh-ranked Oregon has been tossed around for the Fiesta Bowl, but so have two other venerable programs in Penn State and Notre Dame. Oregon shares a deeper connection than a possible BCS berth with all three programs as each has played in a bowl game in 12 of the last 16 years.
The other two schools to do that: Texas A&M and Washington.
Oregon has made one Fiesta Bowl appearance in that span, 2001, while Notre Dame (1994, 2000) and Penn State (1991, 1996) both have two.
Three programs including Florida State, Michigan and Tennessee have played in bowl games each of the last 16 years.
Oregon maintained a stretch of seven consecutive bowl appearances from 1997-2003 and has never gone more than a year without one since the early 1990s.
Record breakers
With its new high-scoring offense, Oregon has set numerous records this season and more could fall in the bowl game. Several records fell in Oregon’s regular season finale against Oregon State at Autzen Stadium on Nov. 19.
Wide receiver Demetrius Williams caught his 10th touchdown of the season against the Beavers to tie the single-season record with Tony Hartley, Cristin McLemore and Bobby Moore.
Tailback Terrence Whitehead, with 81 yards rushing, moved into second all-time with 2,781 as he ran past Sean Burwell’s 2,758.
Cornerback Aaron Gipson intercepted his sixth and seventh passes to tie for fifth all-time with 13.
As a team, Oregon broke the single season mark for receptions with 278. The old mark of 260 was set in 1995.
National recognition
Oregon is holding its own statistically in the nation.
Williams is 17th in receiving yards per game with 93.82 and cornerback Justin Phinisee is 20th in punt returns with 12.04 yards per return.
Teamwise, Oregon is seventh for passing offense with 310.1 yards per game and 16th for total offense with 449.0. The Ducks are ninth in scoring with 36.36 points per game. Oregon is ninth in turnover margin with 1.09 turnovers per game. The Ducks have maintained a solid passing game with a 145.15 efficiency rating, good for 19th in the nation.
Running Stewart
Jonathan Stewart showed his talent not just as a running back but as a kick returner with his second return for a touchdown against Oregon State. Stewart returned the kick 97 yards, which is the fourth-longest in school history. Rushing-wise, Stewart has gained 182 yards on 51 carries with six touchdowns.
Home field advantage
Oregon sits sixth in the Pacific-10 Conference in home field attendance. Through six games, Oregon has had 350,602 fans attend with an average of 58,434. USC is first with 452,872 for an average of 90,574 at the L.A. Coliseum.
It should be noted that USC’s stadium capacity is 92,000 compared to Oregon’s 54,000.

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