1994 Oregon Ducks football team

1994 Oregon Ducks football
Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl, L 20–38 vs. Penn State
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 11
Record	9–4 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Rich Brooks (18th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Belotti (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Nick Aliotti (2nd season)
Captain	Game captains
Home stadium	Autzen Stadium
Seasons ←  1993 1995  →

1994 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 11 Oregon $	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
No. 13 USC	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
No. 20 Arizona	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 21 Washington State	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Washington	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
UCLA	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
California	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Stanford	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Arizona State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1994 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon in the Pacific-10 Conference during the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Ducks were led by head coach Rich Brooks, who was in his 18th and final season as head coach, and played their home games at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.

Oregon was 9–3 in the regular season and won their first ever outright conference championship (7–1); they appeared in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 37 years. ^{[1] [2] [3]} After the season, Rich Brooks would accept the coaching job for the recently relocated St. Louis Rams.

Two consecutive non-conference losses in September had many calling for Brooks' resignation. ^[4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	1:00 pm	Portland State *		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 58–16	30,505
September 10	10:00 pm	at Hawaii *		Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI	OSN	L 16–36	37,214
September 17	1:00 pm	Utah *		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		L 16–34	25,358
September 24	1:00 pm	Iowa *		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 40–18	29,287
October 1	3:30 pm	at No. 19 USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	Prime	W 22–7	44,232
October 8	2:00 pm	at No. 17 Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		L 7–21	37,600
October 15	1:00 pm	California		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 23–7	30,678
October 22	12:30 pm	No. 9 Washington		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–20	44,134
October 29	12:30 pm	No. 11 Arizona		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	ABC	W 10–9	36,960
November 5	1:00 pm	Arizona State	No. 21	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 34–10	41,693
November 12	3:30 pm	at Stanford	No. 15	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	Prime	W 55–21	43,802
November 19	12:30 pm	at Oregon State	No. 12	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR (Civil War)	ABC	W 17–13	37,010
January 2	1:30 pm	vs. No. 2 Penn State *	No. 12	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	ABC	L 20–38	102,247
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

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Game summaries

Portland State

See also: Portland State Vikings football

Hawaii

See also: 1994 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team

Utah

See also: 1994 Utah Utes football team

Iowa

Iowa at Oregon

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	12	0	6	0	18
•Ducks	7	20	13	0	40

• Date: September 24
• Location: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon
• Game attendance: 29,287

Scoring summary

1		Oregon	Whittle 6-yard run (Belden kick)	Oregon 7–0
1		Iowa	Sedrick Shaw 1-yard run (kick blocked)	Oregon 7–6
1		Iowa	Harold Jasper 68-yard punt return (kick blocked)	Iowa 12–7
2		Oregon	Spence 5-yard pass from O'Neil (run failed)	Oregon 13–12
2		Oregon	Whittle 2-yard run (Belden kick)	Oregon 20–12
2		Oregon	Whittle 9-yard run (Belden kick)	Oregon 27–12
3		Oregon	Philyaw 6-yard pass from O'Neil (Belden kick)	Oregon 34–12
3		Iowa	Kahl 1-yard run (pass failed)	Oregon 34–18
3		Oregon	Philyaw 1-yard run (pass failed)	Oregon 40–18

See also: 1994 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

USC

See also: 1994 USC Trojans football team

Washington State

See also: 1994 Washington State Cougars football team

California

See also: 1994 California Golden Bears football team

Washington

Washington at Oregon

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Huskies	0	13	0	7	20
•Ducks	0	14	3	14	31

• Date: October 22
• Location: Autzen Stadium
• Game attendance: 44,134
• Game weather: Sunny

Scoring summary

Q2		WASH	Wales 38 yard field goal	WASH 3–0
Q2		ORE	Philylaw 8 yard run (Belden kick)	ORE 7–3
Q2		ORE	Whittle 5 yard run (Belden kick)	ORE 14–3
Q2		WASH	Bjornson 51 yard pass from Huard (Wales kick)	ORE 14–10
Q2		WASH	Wales 29 yard field goal	ORE 14–13
Q3		ORE	Belden 45 yard field goal	ORE 17–13
Q4		WASH	Thomas 10 yard run (Wales kick)	WASH 20–17
Q4		ORE	Jones 12 yard run (Belden kick)	ORE 24–20
Q4		ORE	Wheaton 97 yard interception return (Belden kick)	ORE 31–20

See also: 1994 Washington Huskies football team and Oregon–Washington football rivalry

In previous matchups, Oregon had their share of disappointment: Mark Lee returned a punt 59 yards for touchdown to win the game in 1979. The defense held the #9-ranked Huskies to 109 yards and 3 first downs in 1984, but still fell 17–10. This, combined with Washington's 17–4 record against the Ducks, including a five-game win streak, had many Oregon fans fearing the worst.

In the 1994 edition of the heated rivalry with the University of Washington, the #9-ranked Huskies came into Autzen Stadium with a 5–1 record, including a victory over the University of Miami, snapping a 58-game home winning streak. The game was a tough and close contest, with the Ducks clinging to a 24–20 lead late in the game. Washington quarterback Damon Huard guided the Huskies to a first down on the 9 yard line with plenty of time remaining. Huard dropped back and whipped the ball towards wide receiver Dave Janoski. Ducks freshman cornerback Kenny Wheaton stepped in front of the pass, intercepted it and headed up the sideline for a clinching touchdown, putting Oregon ahead for good 31–20. ^{[8] [9]} A replay of the interception—now referred to as "The Pick"—is played at every Ducks home game before the team runs onto the field. ^[10]

Arizona

See also: 1994 Arizona Wildcats football team

Arizona State

See also: 1994 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

Stanford

See also: 1994 Stanford Cardinal football team

Oregon State

See also: 1994 Oregon State Beavers football team and Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry

Rose Bowl

Penn State vs. Oregon

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
•No. 2 Nittany Lions	7	7	14	10	38
No. 12 Ducks	7	0	7	6	20

• Date: January 2
• Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
• Game attendance: 102,247
• Referee: Courtney Mauzy
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese

Scoring summary

1	10:50	PSU	Carter 83-yard run (Conway kick)	PSU 7-0
1	10:05	ORE	Wilcox 1-yard pass from O'Neil (Bolden kick)	Tied 7-7
2	1:36	PSU	Milne 1-yard run (Conway kick)	PSU 14-7
3	4:54	ORE	McLemore 17-yard pass from O'Neil (Bolden kick)	Tied 14-14
3	3:53	PSU	Carter 17-yard run (Conway kick)	PSU 21-14
3	2:01	PSU	Carter 1-yard run (Conway kick)	PSU 28-14
4	5:43	PSU	Conway 43-yard field goal	PSU 31-14
4	4:24	PSU	Witman 9-yard run (Barninger kick)	PSU 38-14
4	2:44	ORE	Whittle 3-yard run (pass failed)	PSU 38-20

See also: 1995 Rose Bowl and 1994 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

Roster

1994 Oregon Ducks football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Tony Graziani So WR 83 Pat Johnson Fr WR 1 Cristin McLemore Jr QB 16 Danny O'Neil Sr RB 12 Dino Philyaw Sr TE 82 Blake Spence Fr RB 14 Ricky Whittle Jr TE 90 Josh Wilcox So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 7 Chad Cota Sr LB 47 Reggie Jordan DB 1 Alex Molden Jr DB 4 Herman O'Berry   Sr CB Kenny Wheaton Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K/P Matt Belden Jr	Head coach Rich Brooks (18th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Mike Bellotti – OC Nick Aliotti – DC Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^{[11] [12] [13] [14] [15]}

References

Citations

1. Downey, Mike (November 5, 1994). "LA would rather not be stuck with Ducks". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1D.
2. Hartman, Janelle (November 20, 1994). "Rose Bowl!". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1A.
3. Bellamy, Ron (November 20, 1994). "We're No. 1!". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1E.
4. "Sound off". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. September 25, 1994. p. 2E.
5. "1994 Oregon Ducks Schedule and Results". College Football @ Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference . Retrieved September 4, 2023.
6. "1994 Football Schedule". University of Oregon Athletics. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
7. "2023 Oregon Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Oregon Athletics. p. 43. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
8. Conrad, John (October 23, 1994). "The race is on". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1E.
9. "Ducks upset Huskies". Gainesville Sun. Florida. Associated Press. October 23, 1994. p. 2C.
10. Greif, Andrew (October 18, 2007). "'The Pick' just the beginning for Wheaton". The Daily Emerald . Retrieved December 2, 2024.
11. "Matchups". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. September 3, 1994. p. 4D.
12. "Matchups". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. September 24, 1994. p. 4D.
13. "Matchups". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. October 15, 1994. p. 4D.
14. "Matchups". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. October 22, 1994. p. 4D.
15. "Matchups". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. November 19, 1994. p. 6C.

Bibliography

• McCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, Oregon: McCann Communications Corp. ISBN   0-9648244-7-7.