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Holiday Bowl 2005
Oklahoma 17 Oregon 14
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Leaf had tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tim Day with
3:30 left to pull the Ducks to 17-14 (video).
Oregon's defense held, and Leaf began another drive at his 22 with 3:04
to play. He threw a 38-yard pass to Terrence Whitehead, who zigzagged to
the Oklahoma 34. On third-and-14 from the 39, Leaf rolled right, was
flushed back to the left and dodged a tackler before side-arming a pass
to Jeremiah Johnson for a 19-yard gain. Two plays later, Ingram got in
front of Demetrius Williams for the interception.
Leaf was booed when he came in for Oregon's third possession of the
game, and again when a scoreboard graphic noted that he was Ryan Leaf's
younger brother. Ryan Leaf, the bad-boy quarterback who played for the
Chargers for three seasons, was perhaps the biggest bust in NFL history.
Brady Leaf had helped rally the Ducks (10-2) in three of their final
four regular-season games. The Sooners have won six of seven. They were
coming off consecutive losses in BCS championship games.
It appeared the Ducks and Sooners would play the lowest-scoring
Holiday Bowl ever. It turned out to be the second-lowest. The Holiday
Bowl has a reputation of wild finishes and high scores, with an average
of 57 points being scored in the first 27 editions. In the last five
Holiday Bowls, the teams combined for an average of 67 points.
Oregon led 7-3 after the lowest-scoring first half in Holiday Bowl
history, but its offense was a no-show for most of the second half. Leaf
finally got it going on a 13-play, 78-yard drive that was extended when
Oklahoma's Eric Bassey was
Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson heated up in the second half, finishing
with 84 yards on 23 carries. Rhett Bomar threw a 17-yard touchdown pass
to fullback J.D. Runnells for a 10-7 Oklahoma (8-4) lead with 9:20 to
play in the third quarter (video).
Late in the third, Peterson's backup, Kejuan Jones, scored on an
8-yard run to make it 17-7. Peterson softened the Ducks with three
bruising carries on the drive for 36 yards, including a 20-yard gain
when he leveled safety J.D. Nelson. Peterson apparently needed stitches
in his forehead in the third quarter after he hit it on the back of a
teammate's helmet while celebrating a big play. He was treated on the
bench, and when he stood up, had a big bandage on his forehead.
Oregon at least had the spirit of the Holiday Bowl on its first
possession, running two trick plays and then going for it on fourth down
before failing to convert. Matt Dragich gained 20 yards on a fake punt
before wide receiver Garren Strong threw a pass down the left sideline
to quarterback Dennis Dixon, who dropped it.
After taking over on downs, Oklahoma settled for Garrett Hartley's
34-yard field goal.
Oregon came back and made it 7-3 on Demetrius Williams' 5-yard
touchdown run on an end-around (video). Bomar was 17 of 30 for 229 yards, with one interception. Leaf was 14 of 24 for 136 yards. Oregon starter Dennis Dixon was 11 of 19 for 107 yards.
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| Leaf is pursued by OU. | OU quarterback Bomar. |
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| Runnels scored on 17 yd pass. | Oregon's defense stopped Peterson. |
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Attendance: 65,416
Scoring Summary First Quarter OU- FG Hartley 34 Third Quarter OU- Runnels 17 yd pass
from Bomar ( Hartley kick) Fourth Quarter ORE- Day 3 yd pass from
Leaf (Martinez kick) Individual Statistics
Rushing ORE- Whitehead 12-43, Dragich 1-20; Stewart OU- Peterson 23-84, Jones
7-30, Bomar 9-14 ORE- Leaf 14-24-136, Dixon
11-19-107 ORE- Finley 9-67,
Whitehead 6-83, Williams 4-27, Day 3-14 |
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SAN
DIEGO — It was a sight incredibly familiar to San Diego fans, a
quarterback named Leaf throwing a pass that was intercepted. This time
it happened in the Holiday Bowl, and it was by Brady Leaf, younger
brother of Ryan Leaf. With No. 6 Oregon in position to at least tie it
with a field goal, Oklahoma's Clint Ingram made a leaping interception
at the 10-yard line with 33 seconds left to preserve the Sooners' 17-14
upset of the Ducks on Thursday night (
called for pass interference on a fake field
goal. Leaf, the holder for placements, took the snap and threw to Day,
who collided with Bassey at the 3. One play later, Leaf hit Day for the
3-yard TD . 
