The Rise Of Oregon Football

Despite all of Oregon's recent success, I still get the occasional "we used to whip up on Oregon every year."  It's no secret that prior to 1994, the only thing Oregon was known for was their track program, and some movie called "Animal House."

1994 was a significant year in Oregon football.  It was the year they decided to take this football thing serious, and turn the program into a national powerhouse.

Oregon in the 1994 Rose Bowl

It was also significant because Rich Brooks took the Ducks to the Rose Bowl, their first trip to Pasadena since 1958.  Oregon lost to Penn State and after the season Brooks left Oregon for the NFL.  

Replacing him was offensive coordinator Mike Bellotti, who had the vision of building upon the success Brooks started. 

The 1995 season brought Oregon's second straight 9-win season and New Year's Day bowl game.  This time it was the Cotton Bowl, and another loss, but the program was still gaining attention.  In particular, from a very important graduate.

Nike founder Phil Knight wanted to help Oregon sustain their success and continue to build upon it.
His vision was to make Oregon into a national powerhouse as well.  

The result has been one of the greatest rises in college sports history.

The 2000 season brought Oregon their first 10-win season in program history following a 35-30 win over Texas in the Holiday bowl.

Oregon vs. Texas from the 2000 Holiday Bowl

The following year they earned their first ever 11-win season with a convincing 38-16 victory over Colorado in the Fiesta bowl.  They also finished the season ranked #2 in both final polls, their highest ranking in the final polls in program history.

By now Oregon was recognized as a legitimate player on the West coast.  Elite players were slowly starting to trickle in to Eugene.

Meanwhile, Phil Knight was at work behind the scenes donating money to the program to improve the facilities, and also by working with players, allowing them to be part of the uniform design.

Nike's partnership with Oregon appealed to elite recruits like former five star recruit (WR) Cameron Colvin, who chose Oregon over programs like Michigan and USC.

"Nike is the elite in sports apparel and having the ability to work with them and give feedback, while also helping with uniform design is a big deal to a teenage kid," Colvin said.

2005 brought another 10-win season and more uniform changes.  On Nov.19, Oregon played Oregon state in their rivalry known as the civil war, and the Ducks debuted some uniforms that had never been seen before.

Shocking and cutting edge to some, disgusting to others, it got people talking about Oregon football.
The players seemed to like them...they went on to crush the beavers in that game, 56-14.

In 2007 Oregon introduced Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, who instilled a flashy new spread offense to match the uniforms.  

Oregon QB Dennis Dixon scoring on a fake statue and liberty play vs. Mich

They took their show on the road to Ann Arbor for an early season showdown on national t.v. with Michigan.  The Ducks uniforms and offense were on display for everybody to see that day, and they earned a program defining win, handing Michigan their worst home loss in school history (39-7).

Oregon climbed as high as #2 in both polls and were in the drivers seat to play for a national championship, until QB Dennis Dixon tore his ACL and was lost for the season.  

The season could have been so much more for Oregon, but they finished with a 9-4 record and a Sun bowl victory over South Florida, 56-21.

2008 was another 10-win season for Oregon, and was also Mike Bellotti's last as head coach.  In 15 years Bellotti went 171-55.  Replacing him was offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.

All Kelly did was take Oregon to even greater heights.

In 2009, Kelly led the Ducks to a 10-3 record and a birth in the Rose bowl against Ohio State.  Even though Oregon lost (26-17), recruits were taking notice across the nation about this Oregon offense, and wanting to play in it.

2010 was a year of many firsts for Oregon: their first 12-win season, first time to ever start a season 12-0, first time being ranked #1 in the nation, and first ever appearance in a national championship game.            

If it wasn't for the refs blowing this call (his wrist was down) Oregon may have a national championship by now

  

A heartbreaking 22-19 loss to Auburn it was, but Oregon was still riding high.  They had become the "it program" with the "it coach."


The following year was another 12-win season and another trip to the Rose bowl.  This time Oregon won, defeating Wisconsin 45-38.  In 2012 Oregon earned their third straight 12-win season and a Fiesta bowl victory over Kansas State.

Kenjon Barner (24) and Oregon ran away from Kansas State in the Fiesta bowl

 Following the season Chip Kelly stepped down as head coach, leaving for the NFL.  He led Oregon to a 46-7 record, 2 bcs bowl wins (4 appearances), and had them in contention for a national championship every year. 

Now Mark Helfrich takes over as head coach, who previously served as Oregon's offensive coordinator (see a pattern going on here?)  If history is any indication, Helfrich is gonna continue to sustain the success left by his predecessors.

Since 1994 Oregon has risen to the top of the college football world.  What was once viewed at as a team that everybody whoops up on, became the bully's on the block.

This has been made possible thanks to coaches dedicated to building on the success, and one very rich alum, with the vision of making Oregon into a football power.

The talent is there, Nike, the facilities, and the commitment.  In other words, don't expect Oregon to fall off anytime soon.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS:

• 1994 - Oregon goes 9-4 and plays in their first Rose bowl since 1958 
• 1995 - Oregon goes 9-3 and was the year Nike founder Phil Knight got involved
• 2000 - Oregon's first 10-win season
• 2001 - Oregon wins 11 games and finishes #2 in the nation after crushing Colorado in the Fiesta bowl
• 2003 - Oregon gets a marquee win at Autzen over Michigan
• 2005 - Oregon gets another 10-win season and debuts a cutting edge new uniform that gets the people talking
• 2007 - Oregon clobbers Michigan 39-7 and spent the majority of the season in contention for the national championship. At this point Oregon became a national player.
• 2008 - Oregon gets a 10-win season and Mike Bellotti steps down as head coach
• 2009 - In Chip Kelly's first year as head coach, he leads Oregon to a 10-3 record and appearance in the Rose bowl
• 2010 - Oregon starts the season 12-0 and plays Auburn for the national championship
• 2011 - Oregon wins 12 games again and defeats Wisconsin in the Rose bowl 45-38
• 2012 - Oregon's third straight 12 win season is capped with a 35-17 win over Kansas State in the Fiesta bowl       

Season Review

Many people felt that this was Chip Kelly's most balanced team at Oregon going into the season, and had the potential to be his best.   

And they were balanced, as they were dominate on both sides of the ball, ranking second in the nation in scoring offense and 25th in scoring defense.  Most games were over by halftime.  In fact, 8 of Oregon's 12 opponents couldn't even hang within 3 td's.

Oregon got off to a 10-0 start and were in position to play for the national championship, and probably would have if it weren't for a fluky 17-14 overtime loss to Stanford.  There were so many "what if's" in that game.   

Like the chop block by De'Anthony Thomas, which would have turned a 77-yard Mariota run to the Stanford 15-yard line, possibly into an early touchdown.  The officials rulling that Stanford TE Zach Ertz had control of that 10-yard pass in the back of the endzone, tying the game at 14, with 1:35 to go in the 4th qtr. And Oregon's kicker Alejandro Maldonado missing that FG in OT, setting Stanford up for an easy game winner.

De'Anthony Thomas stepped up big in Oregon's 48-24 win over the rats

(24) Kenjon Barner and the Ducks ran away from KSU in the fiesta bowl

But the Ducks rebounded the following week with a dominating win in the civil war, and beat a top 5 Kansas St. team decisively, 35-17, in the fiesta bowl.  The Ducks finished the season ranked No.2 in both major polls, which tied the school record for best-ever final ranking. 


Then came the loss of Chip Kelly, who took the job with the Philadelphia Eagles, putting a damper on things, after it seemed like he had turned the NFL down for a second year in a row.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that it was another great year for Oregon football.  Another 12 win season, back-to-back bcs bowl wins, and finishing No.2 in both polls.  The only negative was the loss to Stanford, which prevented Oregon from playing Notre Dame in the national championship.  A game that most experts thought Oregon would win easily.

Losing Chip was tough, but Oregon will be fine.  They're pretty stacked with what they have coming back, and who they have coming in.  They'll be in almost everybody's top 5 at the start of next year, and will be favored in every game they play. 

Looking Back On Chip Kelly

Before I get into my thoughts on Chip leaving, let's give credit to the man.  He turned Oregon into a top 10 program, and made them not only a perennial national championship contender, but also one of the "it" programs for top recruits across the nation to consider.

In four years at Oregon he went 46-7 and played in a BCS bowl game in each of those four years, including wins in the 2011 Rose Bowl and 2012 Fiesta Bowl, and an appearance in the 2010 national championship game.  

Who would've seen that coming if you were one of the thousands in attendance on a wet November day in 1983, as you watched your Oregon Ducks play the beavers to a scoreless tie?  Fortunately I wasn't even alive yet to witness such a thing.  I've had it pretty good as a Duck fan, I must admit.

With his unique play calling and fast paced offense, Chip made Oregon one of the most exciting teams in the nation to watch.  And that appealed to top recruits everywhere, who watched Oregon on t.v. thinks to the Ducks increased exposure, and wanted to come play in this offense.  

Blowing teams out and putting up 50 or more points a game became part of the norm.

But when the players came to Oregon, it didn't matter how many stars they had next to their name, they all had to buy into Chip's system.  Nobody was bigger than the program, or more important than the next guy.  If you didn't give it your all in practice, you weren't playing.

With his attention to detail in practice, the way he ran practice, and his emphasis on "winning the day" and "finish strong," as well as having his players all buy in, Oregon was able to be very successful.  

Though his time at Oregon was short, Chip left behind a lasting legacy at Oregon.  He made Oregon fun to watch to the casual fan, turned them into a dominating force (unstoppable at times), and over a four year stretch, took Oregon to heights once seemed unthinkable.

He will certainly go down as probably the greatest coach in Oregon history.  The bar has been set.