Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, January 05, 1998, Page 10 and 11, Image 10

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    Las Vegas Bowl Special
The Oregon Ducks never left a doubt in their 41-13
thrashing ofthen-No. 23 Air Force in the Las Vegas Bowl
By Chris Hansen ]
Assistant Spoils Editor
LAS VEGAS — Christmas came five I
days early for the Oregon football pro- 1
gram this past year in the form of a deci- 1
sive Las Vegas Bowl victory over then-No.
23 Air Force. i
It was Oregon’s first postseason win in
five tries dating back to the 1990 Freedom i
_ Bowl. :
^ I was thinking I
wish there was a hole,
could jump into.
Fisher DeBerry
Air Force head coach on what he was
thinking after Oregon scored on its
first two plays from scrimmage
uregon set me
tone with touch- i
r downs on its first
two plays from
scrimmage — a 69- i
yard bomb from Ak
ili Smith to Pat John- i
son and a 76-yard ;
run by Saladin Me- i
Cullough — to lead
13-0 only two min- i
utes into the game I
ana rolled to a 41-13 thumping ot the r al
cons (10-3).
By halftime, the Ducks (7-5) had bro
ken the game wide open with a 26-0 lead
and in the process, broke scores of records
as well.
Individually, McCullough, who rushed
for 150 yards, became Oregon’s all-time,
single-season rushing leader with 1,343
yards. He also broke the school’s single
season all-purpose yards record, accumu
ating 1,944 yards this season.
Johnson’s game total of five receptions
or 169 yards put him over 1,000 yards for
he season and marked only the second
ime in school history Oregon has had a
: ,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver
n the same season.
Oregon’s five touchdowns pushed the
:eason total to 50, one more than last sea
ion’s record-breaking total of 49.
And while it might not be an official
ecord, Oregon set another mark that
vould seem to be hard to top. The Ducks’
11 points came on five scoring drives and
me blocked punt that took a total of 3:20.
All this against a Falcon defense ranked
linth in the country that allowed an aver
ige of 12.5 points per game in the regular
;eason.
Not to be overshadowed by the domi
lance of Oregon’s offense was the spec
acular play of the defense. It limited the
\ir Force running game, which was aver
iging 232.6 yards, to 152 yards. It also
imited Falcon quarterback Blaine Mor
;an, who played the game with a bruised
ight thigh, to 59 passing yards.
Of equal importance, the win allowed
Dregon to retain its claim on its fourth
:onsecutive winning season and to stay
ied with Washington as the winningest
’acific-10 Conference team in the last
our years.
“ For aU of us> f°r me> f°r Oregon, for my football team, for our administration, for our fans, winning is the best thing that could have happened.
This got us back, in my mind, not in the limelight, but I think we made a statement about the kind of football program we are. ^
Mike Bellotti
UO head coach
McCullough gave the Ducks their second touchdown in as many possessions when he went76 yards on his first carry of the game. With his 151
yards rushing in the Las Vegas Bowl, McCullough became Oregon’s all-time single-season rushing leader with 1,343.
1 Head coach Mike Bellotti hoists the Las Vegas Bowl trophy during the team's
postgame celebration on the field of Sam Boyd Stadium.
Johnson shreds Air Force;
sheds track star image
Split end Pat Johnson ends his Oregon
career ivitb five receptions for 169 yards
and two touchdowns in the Ducks' win
By Chris Hansen
Assistant Spoils Editor
LAS VEGAS—Years from now fans won’t remember
that Duck split end Pat Johnson struggled to shed his
imaoo of tAtnrlrl.rlaeo cnrinfor nrnntlrui
Johnson made a great over-the-shonlder catch, shook
defender Nishawn Smagh off his back and ran into the
end zone.
“My friend gave me a Superman shirt [to wear under
my jersey], ” Johnson said after the Las Vegas Bow] win.
“So I wanted to be Superman.
"This was a great opportunity, in front of the national
media, for me to come out because I’ve always felt 1 was
one of the best receivers in the nation. ”
instead to be recognized as a quality, go
to receiver on the Oregon football team.
Instead, Johnson will be most remem
bered for the incredible four-game span
that ended his senior season.
It started with his diving, game-win
ning touchdown catch to beat Washing
ton in Seattle on Nov. 8.
Two weeks later in the Civil War game
against Oregon State at Autzen Stadi
um, Johnson caught six passes for 199
yards, including touchdown grabs of 36,
45 and 90 yards. He also returned a punt
74 yards for a touchdown.
And on Dec. 20, in the Las Vegas Bowl
(( My friend gave me
a Superman shirt [to
wear under my jersey].
So I wanted to be
Superman.
Pat Johnson
UO split end
It s been getting others to notice that
has been the hard part.
At 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, John
son could be considered too small for
the professional ranks and thus over
looked in this spring’s NFL draft.
“If I can’t prove that 1 am one of the
best receivers in the nation by my ac
tions, then I don’t even want to worry
about it,” Johnson said. "I just wanted
to come out and show what I could
do.”
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti
said: “He’s always had the speed, al
ways had the moves, always had the
mental toughness, now he has a great
agcuiiai .nil i uilc, juillisuil IldU live UdlUIltiij IUI 109 yarUS
with two touchdowns to earn the game’s most valuable
player award in the 41-13 win.
Johnson's first touchdown came on Oregon’s first play
from scrimmage, a 69-yard pass from Akili Smith that
Johnson ran under and sped untouched down the left
sideline for the score. His second touchdown came in
the fourth quarter on a 78-yard bomb from Jason Maas.
set or nands ana me desire and will to go get any ball.
“I am tremendously excited to watch Pat play for
many, many years on Sunday.”
When that happens, Johnson’s record-setting days on
the Oregon track team will only be an afterthought.
Johnson will now be remembered first as a great foot
ball player.
Johnson, sitting behind his MVP trophy, talks with the media dur
ing a postgame press conference. Johnson hadfive catches for 169
yards, including touchdown catches of 69 and 78yards.
Oregon linebacker
Terry Miller trips up
Air Force quarterback
Blaine Morgan during
the Ducks’ Las Vegas
Bowl victory. The
Ducks ' defense turned
in one of its best
performances of the
season in defensive
coordinator Rich
Stubler’s final game
with Oregon. The
Ducks limited the
Falcons ’ triple-option
offense to just 152
yards rushing.
Defense shines in Stubler’s final game with the Oregon Ducks
By Ryan Frank
Sports Editor
Oregon's defense had its best
showing in two seasons in
Rich Stubler’s farewell game
LAS VEGAS — It could be said that Rich
Stubler had his share of problems during his
two-year stint with the Oregon Ducks.
The defense never found the success it had in
the years prior to the defensive coordinator’s
arrival.
Who knows whether Bellotti would have
sent Stubler on his way or retained him for an
other season, but Stubler made Bellotti’s deci
sion for him, resigning on Dec. 5 to pursue a
head coaching job in the Canadian Football
League.
But in his final game with the Ducks,
Stubler’s young defense played its finest game
in the last two seasons.
The Ducks were phenomenal in their 41-13
Las Vegas Bowl win. They limited the Falcons
to 152 yards on the ground.
But for Stubler, the end had come. It didn’t
matter how well the Oregon defense played; he
would have no remorse for his decision to leave
the college ranks.
The 48-year-old Glenwood Springs, Colo.,
native had had enough of college football. He
was ready to get back to professional ranks “be
cause 1 work on football there,” he said.
“1 don’t go recruiting. I traditionally go to
work at 5:30 in the morning and when my work
was done, I could go home," Stubler said of his
work in professional football. "When my
work’s done now, I make two hours of recruit
ing calls, I go do [interviews] then I get home at
midnight. 1 don’t see my wife much.
“We’re a big part of each other’s life, and I've
missed that part of my life. I love football to
death, and that is what I do for a living, but
that’s not my life. There are other things in my
life that I love.
"I love going to the ocean. I love being able,
after the season’s over, to go put my feet up for a
few days and rejuvenate and not get on a plane
and fly to Chicago and tell some kid how great
he is when I know he’s not as good as what
we’re playing with. ”
41
Oregon
Air Force
1
13
0
2
13
0
3
8
13
Team Totals
First Downs
Rushing Att.
Rushing Yards
Passes Att.
Passes Comp.
Passing Yards
Total Yards
Penalties
Possession time
Third-down con.
Fourth-down con
Kickoff returns
Punt returns
Interceptions
Fumble Returns
Punts
Avg. per punt
Rushing
Oregon Att
McCullough 17
Oregon
22
43
266
30
16
317
583
19-166
23:22
7-15
1-1
3-54
5- 58
1-0
1-2
6- 232
38.7
Maas
Latimer
Cooper
Air Force
Singleton
Ruff
Brown
Farmer
Passing
5
5
6
Att
13
7
1
1
4 Final
7 41
0 13
Air Force
11
41
152
21
6
59
211
7-57
29:42
3-15
1-2
7-114
3-27
1-7
1-45
10-366
36.6
Yds Long Avg
150 76 8.8
40 28 8.0
30 16 6.0
27 11 4.5
Yds Long Avg
66 51 5.1
27 11 3.9
16 16 16.0
13 13 13.0
Oregon
Maas
Smith
Feeley
Johnson
Air Force
Morgan
Bonds
Att-Comp-Int
15-9-0
10-4-1
4-3-0
1-0-0
Att-Comp-Int
19-6-1
2-0-0
Yds
188
87
42
0
Long
78
69
22
0
TO
3
1
0
0
Yds Long TO
59 15 0
0 0 0
Receiving
Oregon
Johnson
Hartley
Spence
Collins
Oregon
Newman
Ruff
Rillos
Farmer
No. Yds Long TO
5 169 78 2
3 35
2 59
2 5
21 2
34 0
5 0
No. Yds Long TD
29
10
13
7
15 0
8 0
13 0
7 0
Notes
■ THE END OF AN ERA: Defensive line
coach Joe Schaffeld coached his final
game for Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl.
The 62-year-old coach had been with the
Ducks for 24 seasons, longer than any
coach in school history. “They kept telling
me they were going to win it for me,”
Schaffeld said after the win in Las Vegas.
“They're really good kids, and I’m going to
miss the hell out of them.”
■ BIG WIN CATCHES VOTERS' ATTEN
TION: In the final college football polls re
leased this weekend, Oregon was 27th in
the Associated Press poll (14 votes shy of
the 25th spot) and 30th in the USA To
day/ESPN poll (49 votes shy of the 25th
spot.
m TOUCHDOWN HAPPY: The Ducks' three
touchdown plays of 69-plus yards were
the three longest touchdown plays ever
against Air Force in a bowl game.
Photos by:
Chad Patteson