TEMPE, Ariz. – The Ducks won’t find out exactly how the nation regards Oregon football until Friday morning, but as of Tuesday evening, not much seemed to change – even after a 38-16 blowout of No. 3 Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl.
“What did you think of that team from Oregon?” one media scribe said on the telephone after the game. “I was very surprised that they were able to stop Colorado’s running game.”
While the No. 2 Ducks (11-1) have taken the long road to respectability in the East Coast-biased world of college football, Oregon proved Tuesday that it deserves a share of the national championship if Nebraska defeats No. 1 Miami in the Rose Bowl on Thursday. The Associated Press’ final poll will be released Friday, which could give the Ducks a share of the national championship.
Like the scribe said, it was Oregon’s defense that made the loudest statement against Colorado (10-3) in front of 74,118 fans at Sun Devil Stadium.
“It was one of the top efforts I’ve ever been around,” Oregon defensive
coordinator Nick Aliotti said. “If you can control the run and make a team one-dimension, you have a good chance of winning. And – God, I don’t like to sound like I’m bragging – but we certainly did that tonight.”
Against a rushing offense that averaged nearly 230 yards per game – and
tallied 380 yards on the ground against then-No. 1 Nebraska on Nov. 23 -the Oregon defense held the highly-touted Buffalo rushers to a season-low 49 total yards.
“Once you stop the run, what else do you got?” Oregon sophomore linebacker Kevin Mitchell said. “I’m going to be honest with you, with all the talk, we had a score to settle and we had a chip on our shoulders coming into this game. We had an attitude that we were going to stop the run.”
Fullback Brandon Drumm gave the Buffs a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, but there would be few highlights on the ground for Colorado after that.
On consecutive series’ in the second quarter, Oregon was able to hold the Buffaloes on key third-down plays. Redshirt freshman tackle Igor Olshansky was involved on both plays.
“I feel that we’re the best in the country. We dominated this game,”
Olshansky said. “I don’t think anyone in the country can run on us. We may not be the biggest or the fastest defense in the country, but we’re going to play hard.”
Joey Harrington and the Oregon offense scored 38 unanswered points to give the Ducks a 38-7 lead at the 9:38 mark of the fourth quarter, and by then, Colorado had to rely almost entirely on its passing game.
“They didn’t even try to run the ball in the end,” Aliotti said.
And with seniors Steve Smith and Rashad Bauman patrolling the air, Colorado senior quarterback Bobby Pesavento could not establish a rhythm and was replaced by sophomore Craig Ochs.
“They just wanted it more,” Pesavento said.
Ochs was not greeted warmly, either, with his first pass attempt turning into one of Smith’s three interceptions – a Fiesta Bowl record.
“Steve Smith has a knack for the ball and he’s a play-maker,” Aliotti said. “Throughout his career… Steve has just a knack for making the big plays.”
Pesavento finished 11-of-27 with two interceptions, and Ochs came in to give the Buffs 279 total passing yards, most of which came when the game was out of reach.
“Once we got them in air, we knew the game was over with,” Bauman said.
“They’re not a throwing team. (Pesavento) isn’t used to throwing the ball that many times, and we knew that would be to our advantage.”
For a defense that was ranked ninth in the Pacific-10 Conference – allowing 406 yards per game – Oregon surprised, and silenced, many critics.
“I don’t think we really went into the game underestimating them,” Colorado wide receiver Roman Hollowell said. “They just stepped up to the challenge. They just stopped the run, stopped our whole offense entirely.”
While the Oregon Ducks may not yet be a nationally-recognized name, it has become one in Boulder, Colo.
“If Nebraska beats Miami, Oregon should get the national championship,”
Pesavento said.
Emerald sports editor Adam Jude can be reached at [email protected].