Oregon Football: The 7 Best Victories of the Last 7 Years

The recent history of the Oregon Ducks football team has been nothing less than spectacular.  Duck fans have gotten to experience some of the best football in team history in just the past few seasons.

With the 2011 season quickly approaching, it seems like an opportune time to look back on how Oregon got to their position of prominence in college football.

Here is a list of the best seven Duck victories in the past seven seasons.

7. 2007 vs. Michigan

The 2007 season was one of the worst in Michigan’s football history and Oregon was a big reason why.  The Ducks came into the Big House a week after the Wolverines were upset by Appalachian State. 

College football analysts expected Michigan to bounce back strong against the Ducks in what had turned into a statement game.

Oregon decided that they were going to be the ones making the statement.  Quarterback Dennis Dixon had his first great game of the season, throwing touchdown passes to four different receivers.

The Ducks won the game 39-7 and were vaulted into the national spotlight.  This game would be the beginning of Dixon’s Heisman Trophy campaign which would end with a torn ACL late in the season.

6. 2006 vs. Oklahoma

This game is remembered as being one of the most controversial college football games in recent history.  Fans thought the game was over when Oklahoma had a 13-point lead with less than two minutes left in the game, but boy were they wrong.

The Ducks were able to score twice and “recover” an onside kick, shocking the football world.  Heisman Trophy finalist Adrian Peterson and the Sooners would end up losing the game 34-33.

Unfortunately this would be the highlight of Oregon’s season, as they ended up with a 7-6 record.

5. 2005 vs. Cal

The 2005 Cal game was of the most intense and competitive games in Duck football history. 

The No. 15 Ducks were playing their first game without starting quarterback Kellen Clemens, after breaking his ankle against Arizona. 

Dennis Dixon would start the game for Oregon, but Brady Leaf would close out the game, which needed overtime to decide the winner.

After a back and forth battle, the Ducks would end up coming out victorious thanks to Leaf’s touchdown pass to James Finley.  The touchdown sealed the Oregon victory at 27-20, and the Ducks would go on to finish the season with a record of 10-2.

4. 2007 vs. USC

While watching this game, fans could see that there was no way the Ducks were going to lose to USC.  For the first time in a long time the No. 5 Ducks were favored over the No. 9 Trojans, and Oregon sure looked like the better team.

With the Autzen crowd behind them, the Oregon defense played a spectacular game against Mark Sanchez and the USC offense.  When the Ducks needed a stop late in the game, they got one thanks to a terrific interception by Matthew Harper.

The 24-17 victory kept Oregon’s national title hopes alive, and the game would go down as one of the loudest in Autzen Stadium’s storied history.

3. 2010 vs. Oregon State

Had this game been a little more competitive it probably would have ranked higher on my list.  Going into this game the Ducks were one win away from a chance to play for the BCS National Championship.

Oregon was ready to go from the first snap and let the Beavers and the rest of the country know why they’d be playing for a national title.

Thanks to a little bit of trick-eration from Chip Kelly and his staff, the Ducks would win the game 37-20, clinching a berth in the national championship game and solidifying an undefeated regular season.

2. 2009 vs. Arizona

As an Oregon football fan, I can safely say that there have been very few games as stressful as this one in recent memory. 

Everyone knew that the game was going to be competitive, but not many thought it would go into multiple overtimes.

The game was a back-and-forth battle the entire way. It looked as if the Ducks were going to lose until Jeremiah Masoli found Ed Dickson in the end zone with just seconds remaining in the game.

1. 2009 vs. Oregon State

The lead up to this game could not have been any bigger.  The winner of the game would go on to face Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Oregon was hoping to clinch their first Rose Bowl berth since 1995 in a national televised Thursday night game in Autzen Stadium.

The game was close the entire way. In the fourth quarter, Jeremiah Malsoli put the team on his back and led them to victory.  On their final drive, Oregon needed two fourth-down conversions to run out the clock, which was famously capped off by Masoli running over a Beaver defensive back to seal the win at 37-33.

This game will be remembered as one of the most exciting, yet stressful, games in Oregon sports history.