Dateline—Tempe, Ariz.
The Oregon Ducks beat the Colorado Buffaloes 38–16 in the Fiesta Bowl Tuesday. Oregon entered the game ranked No. 2; Colorado entered the game ranked No. 3.
Colorado scored first to take a 7–0 lead, but Oregon then reeled off 38 consecutive points. Oregon finished the season 11–1; Colorado finished 10–3.
The game had national championship implications.
Nebraska was scheduled to play No. 1 Miami two days later in the Rose Bowl. An upset by No. 4 Nebraska possibly would open the door for the winner of the Colorado-Oregon game to claim a split of the national championship.
Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington was impressive, closing his college career in grand fashion. He threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns.
Direct quotation from Harrington: "We made a statement today. Thirty-eight unanswered points and shut down the hottest team in the country. We showed we deserved to be playing for a share of the national championship."
Samie Parker starred as a receiver. He caught nine passes for 162 yards. He caught a 79-yard touchdown pass from Harrington that put Oregon ahead for good in the second quarter. The second quarter was big for the Ducks; they outgained Colorado 198 yards to 53.
Oregon's defense, ranked 81st in the NCAA Division I entering the game, was suspect. But it shut down Colorado's running game and forced the Big 12 champions to throw. Oregon's Steve Smith led the defense; he made three interceptions, which set a Fiesta Bowl record.
Another great Oregon play in the second quarter came when Maurice Morris ran 49 yards to put his team up 28–7. He was hit and landed on top of a Colorado defender at the Buff 21-yard line, but he managed to get back on his feet without touching the ground and ran into the end zone.
Oregon's offense dominated, enjoying a 500–328 advantage in total yards. Oregon outrushed the Buffaloes 150–49.
Obviously, the Pacific 10 champions will be rooting for Nebraska.
Direct quotation from Harrington: "You bet I will. I'll be sitting with my family and watching it closer than anyone else."
The best Oregon could hope for would be a split of the national championship. It could be voted the national champion in The Associated Press media poll. But the coaches' poll automatically crowns the winner of the Bowl Championship Series game, which would be either Miami or Nebraska.
Harrington has had big games before at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. As a junior, he threw for career highs of 434 yards and six touchdowns during a 56–55 double-overtime win over Arizona State in a Pac-10 Conference game.
Harrington had a great college career. He finished 25–3 as a starter.
He was brilliant in the first half against Colorado, throwing for 232 yards and three touchdowns.
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Colorado entered the game hot. It had trounced Nebraska 62–36 and had beaten Texas 39–37 in the Big 12 title game. It was the worst bowl loss ever for Colorado.
Colorado simply could not contain the Ducks. Oregon never had a touchdown drive longer than 2 minutes, 38 seconds.
Colorado quarterback Bobby Pesavento completed just 11 of 27 passes for 139 yards and was intercepted twice before he was relieved by Craig Ochs with 11:52 left in the game.
Ochs didn't get off to a good start. His first pass was deflected and intercepted by Smith. The interception set up Oregon's final touchdown.
Direct quotation from Oregon coach Mike Bellotti called the victory "the greatest moment in Duck football history."
Oregon won 11 games for the first time in its history.
Direct quotation from Colorado coach Gary Barnett, who said Oregon deserved a share of the national championship if Nebraska were to beat Miami: "Oregon played very, very well, with a lot of heart and a lot of speed. If I could vote, I would vote for them."
Here is the scoring summary and final statistics:
 <![CDATA[<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0072981091/345969/Chap23_4new.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (27.0K)</a>]]>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Colorado Brown 9-30, Johnson 8-24, Purify 6-19, Drumm 1-1, Pesavento 2-(minus 5), Ochs 5-(minus 20). Oregon, Morris 11-89, O.Smith 14-51, Line 2-7, Willis 1-3.
PASSING—Colorado, Pesavento 11-27-2-139, Ochs 13-20-1-140. Oregon, Harrington 28-42-1-350.
REVEIVING—Colorado, Graham 10-89, McCoy 5-66, Johnson 3-50, Brunson 3-35, Cormier 2-25, Houston 1-14. Oregon, Parker 9-162, Willis 6-62, Peelle 5-66, Howry 3-33, O.Smith 3-8, Line 1-16, Wrighster 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOAL—Colorado, Flores 47 (WL).
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Exercise 23.4
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education