Defense continues late-season surge of stinginess
■ The Duck defense comes through in the clutch for
the fifth straight game and leads Oregon to a Sun Bowl
victory over No. 12 Minnesota by shutting down a potent
rushing attack •
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
Heading into the 66th Sun Bowl, No. 12 Minnesota boasted a rushing
attack that ranked 11th in the country with an average of more than 239
yards rushing compiled per game.
Golden Gopher tailback Thomas Hamner had been named first-team
all-Big Ten Conference after finishing second in the conference and
12th nationally with 1,362 regular-season yards rushing, an average of
124 yards per outing.
Quarterback Billy Cockerham had rushed for a mind-boggling 805
yards himself, more than five yards per carry.
And so the Oregon football team’s defense set out to do what had not
been done to the Minnesota offense: It planned to shut down the
ground game.
“Our whole goal coming in was to stop the run,” junior defensive end
Saul Patu said.
On the Gophers’ first play from scrimmage, the Duck defense did just
that, sending an immediate message.
As Hamner took his 289th handoff of the season, Oregon senior line
backer Peter Sirmon burst into the backfield and drilled Hamner for a
three-yard loss.
The Ducks’ leading tackier had set the tone for what would be a day
long struggle for the vaunted Minnesota ground game.
By halfdme, Hamner had rushed 14 times for just 41 yards, an aver
age of almost two yards below his normal per-carry output. Overall, the
Gophers had only 58 yards rushing on 23 carries and had scored seven
points.
“You have so much time to prepare for a bowl game,” said the foot
ball-strategy savvy Sirmon, who would finish with a team-high 16 tack
les to run his season total to 109. “We broke down film of all 11 of their
games.
“You know everything they do. You know all their strengths and
weaknesses.”
With Oregon attacking the line of scrimmage and daring Min
nesota to run, the Gophers turned predominately to the passing
game in the second half.
And not entirely without success.
Cockerham’s arm led Minnesota to a touchdown drive on the
first possession of the half to give the Gophers a 13-7 lead. After
the Ducks jumped out to a 17-13 lead, Cockerham again used
the pass to direct another touchdown drive and gain a 20-17
edge early in the fourth quarter.
But ultimately, Minnesota’s inability to nin made the
difference, as the Gopher passing game failed in the
Sun Bowl’s deciding stages.
On the Gophers’ last four possessions, Cockerham
completed three-of-nine passes, was intercepted once
and lost a definitive fumble — thanks to senior line
backer Dietrich Moore’s sack and Patu’s recovery —
with 41 seconds remaining.
Oregon had succeeded in forcing Minnesota to try to
win through the air, which was what the Ducks wanted
all along.
“I think it was evident today, [Cockerham] was not go
ing to beat us with his arm,” Sirmon said. “We wanted
to make him do something he wasn’t comfortable do
ing.”
The Gophers finished with just 96 net yards rush
ing on 35 attempts, more than 143 yards below
their average. Hamner was held to 64 yards on 20
carries and was never really a factor.
“An absolutely wonderful job of taking away
the run,” said Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti
after securing his second bowl win in four ap
pearances. “We made it the kind of game we
wanted to.”
In the last five games of the season, the Duck de
fense — much maligned both locally and national
ly early on — did everything that could be asked of
it, holding all five opponents to 20 points or less.
Sirmon, who finishes ninth all-time on Oregon’s ca
reer tackles list with 317, found such a stand sweetly sat
isfying amid the Duck celebration after the 24-20 Sun Bowl
victory.
“To go out like this ...” Sirmon said, “I think it is the best feel
ing I’ve had in my career.”
Photos by Scott Barnett
Senior linebackers Peter Sirmon (above) and Di
etrich Moore (below) proved themselves instru
mental in Oregon’s defensive success once again
in the Ducks’ Sun Bowl victory over No. 12 Min
nesota.