By Jay Jones
December 10, 2008
Duck fans, what is Oregon’s best Bowl moment?
CollegeFootballNews.com’s Richard Cirminiello has listed “Every Team’s Best Bowl Moment” for this year’s bowl participants.
Here’s what he listed as Oregon’s best Bowl moment:
Best Duck Bowl Moment: There have been Rose Bowls, a Cotton Bowl and a slew of minor bowls in Oregon’s history, all of which paled in comparison to the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. Joey Harrington threw four touchdown passes, Steve Smith picked off three passes, and the No. 2 Ducks put a bow on the most successful season in school history by pummeling No. 3 Colorado 38-16.
Without a doubt, that’s a very good Bowl moment. But is that Oregon’s best?
Oregon has been in its fair share of bowl games, but there are a couple of periods there. So, we’ll just keep this to the most recent run of bowl games since the 1989 Independence Bowl (the game that saved the Independence bowl).
[If you're old enough to remember bowl games previous to the 1989 Independence Bowl game and want to make the case for one of those bowls, have at it. But take it easy. You're not young anymore.]
Here’s a list of Oregon’s most recent bowl appearances:
1989 Independence Bowl Oregon 27 Tulsa 24
1990 Freedom Bowl Colorado State 32 Oregon 31
1992 Independence Bowl Wake Forest 39 Oregon 35
1995 Rose Bowl Penn State 38 Oregon 20
1996 Cotton Bowl Colorado 38 Oregon 6
1997 Las Vegas Bowl Oregon 41 Air Force 13
1998 Aloha Bowl Colorado 51 Oregon 43
1999 Sun Bowl Oregon 24 Minnesota 20
2000 Holiday Bowl Oregon 35 Texas 30
2002 Fiesta Bowl Oregon 38 Colorado 16
2002 Seattle Bowl Wake Forest 38 Oregon 17
2003 Sun Bowl Minnesota 31 Oregon 30
2005 Holiday Bowl Oklahoma 17 Oregon 14
2006 Las Vegas Bowl Brigham Young 38 Oregon 8
2007 Sun Bowl Oregon 56 South Florida 21
What’s Oregon’s best Bowl moment? What’s your best Bowl moment?
In terms of historical significance, the 1989 Independence Bowl is Oregon’s best Bowl moment. It was Oregon’s first Bowl appearance since the 1963 Sun Bowl. It began the modern era of Oregon’s Bowl appearances, making this year’s Holiday Bowl a possibility. And it saved the Independence Bowl. (Being from Shreveport, I got to know one of the members of the Independence Bowl committee while there for a visit. When he found out I was from Oregon, he let me know that in no uncertain terms, Oregon and the support of Oregon fans single-handedly saved the Independence Bowl.)
But there are a couple of honorable mentions. The 1995 Rose Bowl. The 2000 Holiday Bowl.
On the flip side, is there any doubt about Oregon’s worst Bowl moment? The 2002 Seattle Bowl. The Ducks saved a Bowl game (Independence), and killed a Bowl game (Seattle). Although, the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl is a close second.
As a personal side note, the 1996 Cotton Bowl was a pretty miserable experience. Cold. Rain. Neuheisel!
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Dennis Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I have been an Oregon alum since 1992, so I have a first hand look at all of them but the 89 Independence Bowl.
I loved the Rose Bowl, eventhough we lost, and the Fiesta Bowl as retribution for 2 losses to Colorado, but the most satisfying Bowl win (not unlike this year’s Civil War) has got to be the 2000 Holiday Bowl.
We were up against a good Texas team after having lost out on the Rose Bowl, so it was a setup for dissapointing loss (see 2005 Holiday) BUT we really put the world on notice and set the stage for 2001/2002 Fiesta. Joey Harrington scored three different kinds of touchdowns…passing, rushing and receiving!! Major Applewhite was the Texas QB if I am not mistaken, but Joey was the star!!!
Todd Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
2001 Fiesta Bowl. The Ducks took a bad situation (by not getting to play Miami for the title), along with the media’s perception of the Ducks being overmatched, and really showed the country what Oregon was all about by trouncing Colorado. A defining moment.
joe Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Joey’s catch for a TD vs Texas in the Holiday… Mo Morris’ run early in the third quarter vs. Colorado in the Fiesta… Reggie Jordan’s interception in the third quarter vs Penn State in the Rose Bowl… Musgrave’s TD run vs Tulsa in the Independence… Joey’s winning TD toss to Keenan Howery late in the game vs Minnesota in the Sun… opening drive vs. Colorado in the Cotton… saw them all!
Larry Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I agree with Dennis!! I think without a doubt, the most defining moment for the Ducks in a bowl game was the 2000 Holiday Bowl. Watching Joey Harrington in that game was simply amazing. I had the privilege of attending that game and I will never forget the constant swing of emotions that game held as the teams went back and forth. But, watching Joey stumble over the goal line after receiving Keenan Howry’s pass is a moment I personally will never forget. The 2001 Fiesta Bowl was great, don’t get me wrong. But I truly feel the 2000 Holiday Bowl put Oregon “on the map” nationally.
Rick Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
The best bowl MOMENT was in the Fiesta when Joey hit Samie Parker on that long TD pass. That was the best moment. The rout was on.
Steve Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Got to go with the 2000 Holiday Bowl. That momentum definitely carried through to next season. The clip of Harrington stumbling into the end zone is only behind Wheaton’s Pick.
Treston Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
2000 Holiday Bowl was great! However, I’m going to have to go with 2001 Fiesta. Ducks dominated the what was the hottest team in the country going into that game. Had the Heisman voting taken place after the bowls that year, Joey would have won it. In fact, I contribute the hangover of giving Couch the trophy as one of the main reasons Carson Palmer won it the next year. Voters said, “Hey, maybe those guys on the West Coast can play.”
casey Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
has to be the fiesta bowl. I was living in colorado at the time and their fans were talking so much trash about their 3 rb’s and we took them to the Woodshed!
Robbie G Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Honestly, I would say last year’s Sun Bowl.
-A lanky 6-6 freshman from Buford looked like an All-American.
-Throttled a supposed great defense (remind anyone of this year’s Civil War?)
-Chip Kelly earned his paycheck for the entire season and every season to come (which will apparently be a lot of seasons).
-Broke bowl records for a game that’s seen like 7 decades worth of football.
-Capped a miserable home stretch run with a brilliant victory.
-Satisfied the bad taste left in our mouths from the Civil War-because we weren’t supposed to win, the beavers struggled with a 6-6 ACC team, the beavs got stuck in a lesser bowl, the caliber of opponent was much, much better than the beaver’s bowl opponent, and it left us higher ranked at the end of the season.
-Gave us hope that there would be life after Dennis Dixon, who gave us hope that there was life after Joey Harrington (though some weirdos refuse to give up on Joey).
All-in-all, that game may have springboarded Oregon to a team that not only starts strong but also finishes strong.
I know that may be a little to recent for some, but I think the future it is springboarding could be great. If history tells us anything, it tells us that we will be in a BCS game next year. The last time we played in the Sun and Holiday Bowls in back-to-back years, we went to the Fiesta Bowl the next (the ‘03 Sun and ‘05 Holiday don’t count because they weren’t back-to-back seasons, no bowl in ‘04). I remember all of these games (Except the ‘02 Seattle Bowl and ‘06 Vegas bowl never happened in my head), I even had a cordaroy hat from the ‘89 Independence. Looks to me like 38 points is magical score for the winners of Bowl games with Oregon.
Definitely no oldies allowed. If you make a reference to Mel Renfro or Norm Van Brocklin OR if you think that Ahmad Rashad is still Bobby Moore, your opinion doesn’t count.
Rob Hartsock Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Fiesta.
I remember that all the talk was about Colorado… how they were getting jammed by not playing in the Rose Bowl because they were the ones who beat Nebraska… At least that is how I remember it.
I think I sweated out the the run up to that game more than other. I was certain we *could* win that game, but everyone I talked to said it was not gonna happen.
They (CU that is) opened with a long punishing drive and ran over us old-school style. Their fullback, Brandon Drumm (I’m originally from Alaksa, and I knew the family) bulled through our line like a hammer through warm butter.
Then it was on! The points came in buckets and we were running downhill at that point.
I still slam that tape in every now and then…. less now that I own a DVD/R and tossed my VCR.
Michael Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I’m Class of ‘79, but have been a Duck fan from birth (quite literally–one of my first memories is of eating a hot dog in the stands at an Oregon game). While I agree that the Fiesta win and the victory over Texas in 2000 were classic, I feel that the ‘89 Independence Bowl was special. To see the Ducks in a bowl game after so many years, after so many seasons of frustration, and then to win under such conditions, was very special.
Finefeatheredfriend Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Mo Morris’ incredible, acrobatic run in the Fiesta Bowl, duplicated this year by LaGarrette Blount in the Arizona game. Both runs should be on the video board next season..awesome moments. Close 2nd: Holiday Bowl with Joey…his leadership could not be denied. And Keith Lewis as a freshman reserve, promising an interception and coming through to prevent Texas from scoring. Chris Sims was the quarterback because Major Applewhite was injured. The irony at the end of that game was Roy Williams, the Texas all-American receiver, dropped the last gasp touchdown pass to win the game. Roy ended up playing with Joey in Detroit. Roy was one of the players who publicly criticized Joey and led the charge to get rid of him.
Brant Goyne Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I was the vice chairman of the Independence Bowl in 1989 and spent a great deal of time working with Bill Byrne in getting the Ducks to Shreveport.
I can tell you that without question, the response that we got from the crazy fans there, and the way they took over Shreveport, really changed local public opinion of the bowl.
We will always be in debt to the great people from the great state of Oregon
DL Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
2000 Holiday. The wife and I had already planned on a week in San Diego before the Ducks were selected for the game, so getting to attend was icing on the vaca! Our seats were about 6 rows up from the goal line where Joey stumbled across with the reception for a TD. Oh Man, did it feel good to be a Duck fan!
Penjamin' Duckiest Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
The 1989 Independence Bowl game after so many down years, it was an amazement for those who went. Shreveport loved the Ducks and supported us with food and fun. If you weren’t there you wouldn’t appreciate the 17 degrees with a wind chill. My nose got cold I could not smell for a month. We went back to the hotel, ordered pizza and watched replays of the game until 2 a.m.
Derek Labelle, tailback, was all by himself and did a back flip in the end zone after the game.
Andy Says:
December 12th, 2008 at 8:31 am
I was living in San Diego at the time of the 2000 Holiday Bowl and was able to go watch. I am biased but I think it was the best moment. My second pick is the 97 Vegas Bowl VS. Air Force, I think this because of how fun it was to watch Oregon score so quick on their first 3 drives. If I remember right we scored 3 different ways but they were all long TDS. I was at shooters with my wife and everybody was excited.
UH-60 DUCK Says:
February 10th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Correct me if i’m wrong, was it the 2000 holiday bowl when Joey caught a TD pass on a throwback?