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Independence Bowl 1989
Oregon 27 Tulsa 24
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Tulsa was without the services of All-America receiver Dan Bitson, who suffered numerous injuries in an automobile accident two weeks earlier. The two teams were led by a wealth of quarterbacking talent, Oregon, by Bill Musgrave and Tulsa, by T.J. Rubley. The 14th Independence Bowl was played in windy conditions and the temperature dropped to 29 degrees at kickoff.
Oregon dug themselves into a whole early with errors. Following an interception by the Hurricane, Tulsa scored first on a Brett Adams one-yard run. Oregon put together drives of 54 and 79 yards to take a 10-7 lead, the first score coming on a field goal by Gregg McCallum from 29 yards, the second on a 20 yard pass from Musgrave to Tony Hargain. A Tulsa field goal of 26 yards by David Fuess knotted the score at 10-10 with just over two minutes to play in the first half.
Tulsa took the halftime lead, 17-10, on a blocked punt by Herbert Harvey. Derrick Williams picked up the ball and raced 21 yards for the score with 22 seconds left on the first half clock. Adams added another one-yard touchdown run in the third period as Tulsa took a 24-10 lead.
Oregon scored two touchdowns in a six-minute span late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. Trailing by 24-10 late in the third quarter, Musgrave capped a 54-yard scoring drive with his second touchdown pass of the night, a nine-yard strike to junior wide receiver Joe Reitzug. The bowl’s offensive player of the game completed five of six passes for 53 yards during the key drive. Musgrave then put the finishing touches on the Ducks’ next possession with the first rushing touchdown of his career to forge a 24-24 tie.
With just over three minutes to play, an apparent Tulsa recovery of an Oregon fumble was overruled by the officials. Musgrave then led the Ducks to the Tulsa one yard line to set up Gregg McCallum’s game winning 20-yard field goal. On Tulsa’s final possession, sophomore defensive end Matt LaBounty secured the victory with a 26-yard quarterback sack with 2:12 remaining. The final score was 27-24.
Oregon’s defense played a major role in the comeback, limiting the golden Hurricane to 102 yards total offense in the second half and holding Tulsa on fourth down to set up McCallum’s winning field goal. Senior cornerback Chris Oldham picked off a pair of interceptions to earn defensive player of the game honors and linebacker Mark Kearns added 11 tackles to his one fumble recovery.
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Tulsa's T.J. Rubley tries to escape Oregon defender. |
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Tulsa's Brett Adams scored on a pair of one yard touchdown runs. |
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Tulsa's Frank Cassano dives for a reception. |
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Attendance: 44,621
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
Second Quarter
UO- Hargain 20 yard pass from Bill Musgrave
(McCallum kick)
TU- Adams 1 run (Fuess kick)
UO- Musgrave 1 run (McCallum kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Passing
Receiving
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The PAC-10 Conference’s second-place team,
the Oregon Ducks, entered the Independence Bowl against Tulsa as
16-point favorites. Coached by Rich Brooks, it was Oregon’s first bowl
appearance in 26 years. The Ducks were 7-4 in the regular season losing
three of those games by a combined 11 points. It was Tulsa’s first bowl
appearance since the ’76 Independence Bowl. The Hurricane went into the
game with an unimpressive 6-5 record. 
