Remembering Oregon Ducks Football: Big Wins and Losses

When asked about memorable games, most fans will always remember the big wins. Me? I remember everything—the wins and losses.

Here are a few lists.

Important games in Oregon Ducks football history. The games every true Oregon fan should know.

The heartbreakers. Losses that no matter how much we want to forget, we can’t.

Important games in Civil War history. It is a rivalry and every game is important but some are more memorable.

Finally is a list of games from my 29 years of life. These are the games I will always remember.

All-Time Games That Should Be Remembered

10. 1894 Albany College at Oregon—Oregon’s first game and Oregon’s first win.

9. 1916 Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Pennsylvania—This was Oregon’s first Rose Bowl. The Ducks won 14-0.

8. 1989 Independence Bowl: Oregon vs. Tulsa—Oregon had not made a bowl since 1963. The Ducks won 27-24.

7. 1967 Idaho at Oregon—This was the first win at Autzen Stadium, a 31-6 victory.

6. 1971 Utah at Oregon—Bobby Moore rushes for 249 yards, an Autzen record, in a 36-29 Duck win.

5. 2006 Oklahoma at Oregon—The now-infamous onside kick. Oregon won the game 34-33. No asterisk.

4. 2007 Oregon at Arizona—The Ducks were No. 2 in the nation and were on track to play for the national championship. Then-star quarterback Dennis Dixon was injured and lost for the season. You could hear the tears from Duck fans across the country.

3. 1990 BYU at Oregon—BYU had already defeated No. 1 Miami and was up to No. 4 in the rankings. Led by Bill Musgrave, Oregon won 34-16.

2. 1970 Oregon at UCLA—With less than five minutes left in the game, UCLA led 40-21. In a matter of minutes Oregon scored three touchdowns and won the game 41-40.

1. 1994 Washington at Oregon—Every Oregon fan alive today can tell you this one will always stick with them. “KENNY WHEATON’S GONNA SCORE!”

Most Memorable Losses

10. 1983 Pacific at Oregon—Oregon wasn’t what it is now back in the early '80s but that doesn’t excuse losing to Pacific University, a school that no longer has a football program.

9. 2006 Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon vs. BYU—Oregon just got straight-up embarrassed in this one, 38-8.

8. 2002 Arizona State at Oregon—Oregon opened the season 6-0, but after this loss to the Sun Devils went 1-6 to finish the season.

7. 2003 Washington State at Oregon—Oregon just came off of one of its biggest wins ever with the upset win over Michigan the week before. Some blame the SI cover jinx.

6. 2000 Oregon at Wisconsin—Oregon was unranked and Wisconsin was No. 5 in the country. Oregon lost by three points.

5. 1994 Rose Bowl Oregon vs. Penn State—Oregon hadn’t been to the Rose Bowl since 1957 and hadn’t won the Pac-10 in the same time. Actually it was the Pacific Coast Conference then.

4. 2004 Indiana at Oregon—Mike Bellotti only lost one home opener in his 14 seasons as head coach.

3. 2000 Oregon at Oregon State—The season ended in a three-way tie for the Pac-10 title with Oregon’s two most-hated rivals Oregon State and Washington. Oregon beat Washington. Washington beat Oregon State. Oregon State beat Oregon.

2. 2007 Oregon at Arizona—Losing Dixon hurt more than losing the game.

1. 2001 Stanford at Oregon—Oregon’s only loss for the season. If Oregon would have won it might have made it to the national championship game.

Most Memorable Civil War Games

10. 1894—Oregon State won the first-ever Civil War game 16-0.

9. 1985—Oregon won the second Civil War, its first win in the series, 44-0.

8. 1902—While most Oregon and Oregon State fans remember the 1983 game, it wasn’t the first 0-0 tie. The first-ever happened before the game turned 10 years old.

7. 1994—The only thing standing between Oregon and the Rose Bowl was Oregon State. Oregon pulled out a three-point win to go to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1957.

6. 1988—Oregon State won the Civil War 21-10, for the first time since 1974. The win ended an Oregon undefeated streak of 13. The 1983 game was a tie.

5. 1972—Oregon won the Civil War after losing the last eight, 30-3.

4. 2000—Both teams came into the game with one loss. Oregon State won 23-13.

3. 2007—After 10 seasons where the home team had won, Oregon State won at Autzen Stadium. Weirdly, it has started a streak of two in a row where the visitor has won.

2. 2008—Oregon won with the highest point total by either team in the history of the rivalry. By beating the Beavers 65-38, Oregon denied Oregon State the Rose Bowl.

1. 1983—The Toilet Bowl; the last 0-0 tie in the history of the NCAA. Nobody wants to remember it but we all do.

My Most Memorable Games

10. 1983 Civil War: Oregon State at Oregon—a.k.a. the Toilet Bowl. It’s not like I was there or anything but I will always remember the stories and hearing about it.

9. 2006 Onside Kick: Oklahoma at Oregon—I still say the game wasn’t over when it happened. Oklahoma still had the lead and could have stopped Oregon, but it didn’t.

8. 2003 Michigan at Oregon—Michigan was ranked No. 3 and Oregon No. 22. Oregon jumped out to a first-half lead of 21-6. Michigan almost made the comeback but fell short. Oregon won 31-27. The phrase “Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die” was first used after this game.

7. 2007 Arizona State at Oregon—127.2 decibels and rising. Oregon won 35-23 in one of the loudest games ever. Anywhere. It also had one of the quietest moments when Dixon was injured.

6. 2000 Oregon at Arizona State—It took two overtimes for this game to end. Oregon was down 49-35 with four minutes to play. I was watching in my dorm and was pissed off and hit record and left. When I came back, boy was I surprised to see a crazy finish to a great Oregon win.

5. 2002 Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Colorado—I still remember Maurice Morris spinning off the Colorado defender's back and scoring.

4. 2008 Oregon at Oregon State—Oregon won 65-38. Neither team had ever scored that many points on the other in the history of the Civil War. Oregon dashed Oregon State’s Rose Bowl hopes with the win.

3. 2007 Oregon at Michigan—Michigan was coming off possibly the most embarrassing loss in the school's history, losing to Division I-AA Appalachian State the week before. Oregon came in and handed them their worst home loss since 1967.

2. 2007 Oregon at Arizona—Two weeks after the Arizona State game, Dixon appeared okay. Then, with no contact, he went down—and with him the season.

1. 1994 Washington at Oregon—I wish I could describe the smile that comes to my face and the tears of joy that come no matter how many times I see it, hear it, or even read about it.