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TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- The dazzling Ducks of Oregon have a new cheer:
C'mon Nebraska! With their easy Fiesta Bowl victory, the Ducks made a
case for a share of the national championship. The Cornhuskers can make
that happen by beating Miami in the Rose Bowl. In the final game of his
college career, Joey Harrington threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns
as No. 2 Oregon routed No. 3 Colorado 38-16 Tuesday. "We made a
statement today," Harrington said. "Thirty-eight unanswered points and
shut down the hottest team in the country. We showed we deserved to be
playing for a share of the national championship."
Samie Parker caught nine passes for 162 yards, including a perfect
79-yarder for a touchdown that put Oregon ahead for good in the second
quarter, when the Ducks outgained the Buffaloes 198 yards to 53.
Oregon's Steve Smith set a Fiesta Bowl record with three interceptions,
and the Ducks' defense, ranked 81st in NCAA Division I, shut down
Colorado's running game and forced the Buffs to throw. Maurice Morris
ran 49 yards for another Oregon score, landing on top of a Colorado
defender at the Buffaloes' 21. He got back on his feet and ran into the
end zone to make it 28-7 early in the third quarter.
The Pacific-10 Conference champions had a 500-328 advantage in total
yards, 150-49 on the ground. The Ducks now will root for the Huskers,
hoping they upset the top-ranked and undefeated Hurricanes in the Bowl
Championship Series title game Thursday.
Especially Harrington. "You bet I will," he said. "I'll be sitting with
my family and watching it closer than anyone else." If Nebraska wins,
Oregon could be voted the national champion in The Associated Press
media poll. The coaches' poll automatically crowns the winner of the BCS
game. Colorado coach Gary Barnett said the Ducks deserve a share of the
title if Nebraska beats Miami. "Oregon played very, very well, with a
lot of heart and a lot of speed," Barnett said. "If I could vote, I
would vote for them."
It was the worst bowl defeat ever for the Buffaloes, who rolled into
Tempe after a 62-36 rout of Nebraska and a 39-37 victory over Texas in
the Big 12 title game. "Oregon did not get our best shot tonight ... and
I don't have an explanation," Barnett said. Colorado's Roman Hollowell
said: "They just stopped the run, stopped our whole offense entirely."
The quick-striking Ducks (11-1) never had a touchdown drive longer than
two minutes, 38 seconds, and they achieved the first 11-victory season
in school history.
The Buffaloes (10-3) took an early 7-0 lead, then watched the Ducks
score 38 points. Bobby Pesavento completed just 11 of 27 passes for 139
yards and was intercepted twice before being relieved by Craig Ochs with
11:52 to play. Ochs' first pass was deflected and intercepted by Smith
to set up Oregon's final touchdown in a victory coach Mike Bellotti
called "the greatest moment in Duck football history."
Harrington must love Sun Devil Stadium. As a junior, he threw for career
highs of 434 yards and six touchdowns there in a 56-55 double-overtime
victory over Arizona State. With his performance on the same field
Tuesday, that 100-foot poster of Harrington in Manhattan to promote his
Heisman Trophy candidacy didn't seem outrageous at all. (He finished
fourth in the voting.) Harrington, who finished 25-3 as a starter in his
college career, had 232 yards passing and three touchdowns passes in the
first half to help the Ducks take a 21-7 lead.
Colorado's usually powerful ground game, which gained 380 yards in the
Nebraska victory, failed to convert on third-and-1 situations on
consecutive possessions in the second quarter. The first failure was
especially costly. After a short punt gave Colorado the ball at the
Oregon 48, Brown ran 8 yards to the 40 on the final play of the first
quarter. But he got just a yard on the next carry, and no gain on third
down.
 Oregon took over on its 21, and on the next play Harrington lofted a
pretty pass that Parker took on his fingertips at the 35 and ran
untouched into the end zone to put the Ducks up 14-7 with 13:13 left in
the half (video). The 79-yard pass play was
the longest of Harrington's career and the longest allowed by the
Buffaloes in any bowl game. It also tied a Fiesta Bowl record set by Tee
Martin-to-Peerless Price for Tennessee in the national title game
against Florida State in 1999.
The Buffaloes, who had won six consecutive bowl games, two of them
against Oregon, went 65 yards in 11 plays to take their 7-0 lead.
Cortlen Johnson's one-handed grab on a 33-yard screen pass set up a
1-yard scoring run by fullback Brandon Drumm, the first touchdown of his
career. Oregon responded with a seven-play, 81-yard scoring drive capped
by Harrington's pass over the middle to wide-open Keenan Howry.
On his long touchdown run, Morris was pinned on the sideline at the
Colorado 21, but he slipped on his back over the top of Colorado
linebacker Joey Johnson, then landed on his feet and kept running for
the score.
It was that kind of day for the Buffaloes. Trailing 28-7, Colorado
appeared to score when a scrambling Pesavento passed to wide-open Derek
McCoy. But it was called back because the quarterback was ruled to be
across the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball. Replays showed he
was barely over the line, if at all.
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Attendance- 74,118
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
CU- Drumm 1 run (Brougham kick)
UO- Howry 28 yd pass from Harrington (Siegel kick)
Second Quarter
UO- Parker 79 yd pass from Harrington (Siegel kick)
OU- Smith 6 run (Siegel kick)
Third Quarter
UO- Morris 49 run (Siegel kick)
Fourth Quarter
UO- FG Siegel 47
OU- Peelle 5 yd pass from Harrington (Siegel kick)
CU- FG Flores 39
CU- Graham 5 yd pass from Ochs (PAT failed )
Individual Statistics
Rushing
CU- Brown- 9-30, Johnson 8-24, Purify 6-19
UO- Maurice Morris 11-89, Smith 14-51
Passing
CU- Pesavento 11-27-139, Ochs 130-20-140
UO- Harrington 28-42-350
Receiving
CU- Graham 10-89, McCoy 5-66, Johnson 3-50, Brunson 3-35, Cormier 2-25
UO- Parker 9-162, Willis 6-62, Peelle 5-66, Howry 3-33
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