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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1996)
History: Obee provided heroics for the Ducks 17-14 win in 1988 ■ Continued from page 1B But Cal refused to play Oregon and the league title came down to a vote of Northwest schools. “Washington sort of had the de ciding vote for who they thought should go and voted for Cal,” Allen said. “So, as a result, that year Cal got to go to the Rose Bowl instead of the Ducks. And so Ore gon has naturally held that against Washington. They thought the Northwest schools should have held together for Northwest schools, and that didn’t happen.” One of the most renowned ri valries on the West Coast had be gun. Following Washington’s non vote for Oregon in 1948, it took the Ducks six years to pay the Huskies back with a 26-7 win in Seattle. But from 1954 on, the Oregon wins were few and far between as the Huskies won 30 of the next 39 games against the Ducks. And one of the most memo rable wins for former Husky head coach Jim Owens was their 7-6 win in Seattle in 1960. “We were behind Oregon until the very end of the game,” Owens said. “And the last couple of min utes we had time for one more dri ve, and we were able to get the ball to Don McKeta on a pass from Bob Hivner. McKeta was acting like he was going to go out-of bounds. The defensive back slowed up a couple of steps, and Don just streaked right up the sideline and got by him for a touchdown.” For current NFL Hall-of-Famer Dan Fouts, it was'the 1970 Duck Husky matchup that will live in mtamy. Oregon came into the game as the No. 15 team in the country and began the game on a good note when Fouts, a sophomore at the time, hit Bobby Moore for a touchdown on their first drive, jumping the Ducks ahead 6-0. Fouts and the Ducks appeared to be in control of the game late in the fourth quarter when they had the ball and the lead, 23-22. Facing third-and-seven, Fouts rushed for a first down with time running out, making an Oregon victory imminent. But this one got away from the Ducks. “I coughed up the game when I fumbled, and they took the ball [and] went down and kicked the winning field goal,” Fouts said of his late-game rush. “We were run ning out the clock, and 1 got hit right on the arm, the ball popped loose and they got it. So I felt re sponsible for that one.” Three years after Fouts late game blunder, Oregon blew Washington away in its most one sided win in series history, 58-0. “It was one of the longest after noons of my career I know,” Owens said. But the Ducks offensive display in 1973 turned out to plague them the very next year. The Huskies returned the favor to the Ducks in Seattle in 1974 showing no mercy in a 66-0 win. The Ducks seemed to be an entire ly different team, especially on of fense. Oregon finished the game with 56 yards in total offense and had only one first down in the first half. The Ducks performance was so poor that it prompted Emerald sports writer Don Chapman to compare the Ducks’ offense to a “a gaggle of headless chickens.” “That is about as big a swing that there has been in that series,” Owens said of the 1973 and 1974 games against Oregon. “It was re ally very unusual.” The Huskies kept on beating the Ducks all the way through the 1970s, and it wasn’t until 1980 that the Ducks could muster an other victory against Washington. But, oh, how sweet that win was for Oregon. “It’s the biggest win ever in the four years I’ve been coaching at Oregon,” said Oregon head coach Rich Brooks in the Oct. 29, 1974 issue of the Emerald. Oregon trailed the 13th-ranked Huskies 10-6 at halftime but the Ducks turned it on in the second half by scoring 28 unanswered points for the 34-10 win. The Ducks scored on a 94-yard drive early in the fourth quarter. Then, on the Huskies first play following Oregon’s score, Ore gon’s Steve Brown put the game out of reach with an interception return for a touchdown. The win in 1980 was Oregon’s last in Seattle until 1995. As high as the Ducks were after their 1980 win, they were that low after their 17-10 loss in Seattle in 1984. Oregon held the Washington of fense to three first downs, three first-half points and 109 yards in total offense — and lost. It was the Husky special teams that won the game for Washing ton. The Huskies, who were ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time, returned a punt for a touch down and also blocked a punt. In a phone interview earlier this week, Brooks called the loss “one of the toughest losses we ever had.” The game was also memorable for former Washington head coach Don James. “The one at Husky Stadium I remember the most is the 1984 season,” James said in a phone in terview this week. “[We] eventu ally went 11-1 and were second in the nation and beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.” Four years later, Oregon won its second-straight home game against Washington for the first time since 1947 and 1948 on what was called ‘The Play’. Oregon was trailing the Huskies 14-10 with just 1:46 to play in the game and found themselves fac ing a fourth-and-one from the Washington five-yard line. Bob Toledo, Oregon’s offensive coordinator at the time and cur rent UCLA head coach, called a play that the Ducks had never run before: 49 special. The play called for Bill Musgrave to fake two hand-offs before dishing the ball to Terry Obee on a reverse. The play worked to perfection. “During the reverse I saw noth ing but open field,” Obee was quoted as saying in the Oct. 24, 1988 issue of the Emerald. “There was no one outside. There was no purple at all.” The Ducks gave the largest crowd to ever watching a sporting event in Oregon exactly what they wanted with the 17-14 win. After the Ducks’ triumph in 1988, they went winless against the Huskies for the next five years while being outscored 132-47. But the collection of five years of frustration turned into over whelming elation within seconds with Kenny Wheaton’s 97-yard interception return for a touch down in 1994. And for the first since 1987 andl998, the Ducks beat the Huskies in two-straight matchups with a 24-22 win at Husky Stadi um in 1995. So now Oregon stands 2-0 in its last two meetings with the Huskies. The question for Oregon now: Can it win three straight for the first time since winning four straight between 1928 and 1931? That fact remains to be seen. However, one thing is for cer tain: The 45,000-plus fans at Autzen Stadium on Saturday will get their money’s worth — history goes to show that. McTyre: Rivalries make football great ■ Continued from page 1B play to fullback Dwayne Jones. Jones took the hand off to the outside and rumbled in for a 12-yard touchdown carry. The most memorable drive in Oregon history took 5:04 off the clock, seeming to make the game a lock for the Ducks. Once again, Wrong! Following the kickoff, Washington quarterback Damon Huard led the Huskies toward the end zone quickly, but found trouble once in the red zone in the form of a little-known freshman comerback from Arizona. “Kenny Wheaton’s gonna score!!! Kenny Wheaton’s gonna score!!! ” The call made by Allen over the radio waves that day solidified Wheaton’s name in Oregon history books. The call spawned a year of commercials and season ticket promotions on Prime Sports North west; something I bet the people in Seattle loved seeing every 10 minutes of the day. I’ll relish that day forever. In 1995, the Huskies had revenge on their minds as Oregon visited Seattle once again. But at first it did n’t seem like Washington had a prayer as the Ducks flew out to a 24-0 lead. However, as all great rivalry games must possess one, there was a comeback. The Huskies slowly worked their way back into contention in the second half, pulling within two yards and giving place kicker John Wales a chance late in the game to become a hero of Oregon-Wash ington folldore. Fortunately for the Ducks, Wales became the goat instead of the hero as his kick was literally blown wide right securing a second consecutive win and the Ducks’ first in the Emerald City in 15 years. Games that have finishes like the past two make rivalries what they are. That is why a rivalry game is so great. It wouldn’t matter if both teams were win less because when it comes down to it, it’s all about bragging rights. So if this is your first taste of the Northwest rival ry, grab a seat at Autzen Stadium and fall in love with the best thing going in college football. Go Ducks! Mark McTyre is the sports editor for the Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. Tennis & Racquetball Restring Specials Reg. $15.00 15g, 16g Reg. $20,00 1 5g, 1 6g COURTSIDE TENNIS & APPAREL 1122 West 7th • 342-7208 . Open 7 days a week * Expires 11/1/96 EUGENE SKYDIVERS STUDENT TANDEM SPECIAL $100 Video Taping Available Call Today: 895-3029 Coupon must be presented at lime of purchase. Limit one jump per coupon per customer, p""' Expires 12/31/96 Must have current valid student ID at time of purchase Be nice... 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