2b - Monday, December 8,2003 - Oregon Daily Emerald
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Oregon Daily Emerald
GAME DAY
Monday, December 8, 2003
Sports Editor Hank Hager
Adam Amato Photo Editor
The Ducks’ defense held opponents to fewer than 25 points in eight games this season, including a 34-20 Civil War victory.
Oregon, Golden Gophers
readying for battle of the Sun
The Ducks are set to head
to the Sun Bowl against
Minnesota, an old foe
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
It has been four years since Oregon
took to the desert in western Texas.
My, how things have stayed the
same.
The Ducks are set for the Sun
Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 31
against an opponent they will re
member with fond memories. Min
nesota, Oregon's foe in the 1999 ver
sion of the bowl, was announced
Sunday as the 2003 representative
from the Big Ten Conference.
The Ducks defeated the Golden
Gophers in 1999, 24-20.
That's of little concern for the
Ducks though. The matchup is al
most an afterthought, especially
considering what Oregon has been
through this season.
"I think (the Sun Bowl) represents
a strong comeback," Oregon full
back Matt Floberg said. "We were
down midway through the season
and for a while there, even going to a
bowl was in jeopardy. So to come
back and get as good of a bowl as
the Sun Bowl is a nice accomplish
ment for our team."
To think, the Ducks were the sev
enth-place team in the Pacific-10 Con
ference last season, relegated to the
Seattle Bowl, which is no longer active.
To jump up four spots to third in
the Pac-10 is a special achievement
for the Ducks, especially after losing
in blowouts to Washington State
and Arizona State midway through
the season.
In other words, it's a whole differ
ent Oregon team in the second half
of the 2003 season than in the last
season and a half.
"The commitment to ourselves
and each other, I think that's what
pulled us through," Floberg said.
After a 42-10 loss to Washington on
Nov. 1, the possibility of a bowl bid
was waning for the Ducks, then 5-4
overall. But what Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti said may have been the
toughest couple of days of practice
since he took over the team in 1995
sent the Ducks in a new direction.
Oregon held tough and came
back for a 21-17 victory over Califor
nia, then stomped UCLA before a
34-20 victory over Oregon State,
which may have been the defining
victory of the 2003 season.
Since then, the Ducks have been
sky-high, ready to take on whichever
team the Sun Bowl decided to choose.
Enter Minnesota.
"I've heard about what we did in
the Sun Bowl 30 times," comerback
Turn to PREVIEW, page 10B
Sun Bowl marks next step
in rebuilding of UO football
Back in 1999, the Ducks took a trip
to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, and
returned as the only postseason vic
tors in the Pacific-10 Conference.
They had a cadre of players who
would later see action in the NFL,
most notably Joey Harrington,
Keenan Howry and Reuben
Droughns. That game, a 24-20 victo
ry over Minnesota, allowed Oregon to
finish the season as the No. 19 team
in the nation.
That game was a springboard for
bigger and better things in the Ducks'
world. It led to a berth in the Holiday
Bowl the next season and an ultimate
prize in 2001. That prize came in the
fashion of the Fiesta Bowl, which later
proved to be 38-16 win for Oregon
over Colorado.
Don't doubt the powers of the Sun
Bowl. It has a mystical feeling for all
teams involved and that's not just
from the sweet Texas air.
OK, so maybe that's a little too much.
But for the Ducks of 1999, it proved to
be the step in the right direction.
grouped with jumps in win totals
from year-to-year. When the Ducks
went to the Sun Bowl, they finished
the year with nine victories. The next
Hank Hager
Behind the dish
season there were 10, followed by the
11 Oregon achieved in 2001.
The 2002 season, a rough year
when only seven wins came to Eu
gene, was a step back in the Oregon
program.
That's where the Sun Bowl, circa
2003, comes into play. Already at
eight wins, the Ducks have the
chance to lay the foundation for
next season. They can get to nine
wins, one short of magic No. 10 and
two above last season's debacle,
which, at the time, seemed like it
could have led Oregon back to the
dark ages of college football.
"What we did this year, that big
turnaround, helped us out a lot," de
fensive lineman Robby Valenzuela
said. "It gave us a lot of momentum
and gave everyone confidence back
instead of staying down the whole
time. We picked ourselves up, we
fought back and we made a point."
That point is that despite the plush
locker room, notoriety for almost mus
tard-like uniforms and being the poster
boys for the arms race of college foot
ball, the Ducks are for real and will be
a for at least a few more years to come.
With the likes of sophomore Kellen
Clemens, sophomore Haloti Ngata and
a young secondary that is improving
each game, Oregon can roll into the
next few seasons of Pac-10 football and
challenge for the top spots.
The Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 will be a
stepping stone for that future and
Turn to HAGER, page 8B