Click on the title for a link to the Holiday Bowl website. Game: Tuesday December 30 at 5PM PST in sunny warm San Diego on ESPN.(Oklahoma State another OSU that wears black and orange....lots of motivation) Go DUCKS!
Holiday Bowl Press release:
The University of Oregon Ducks and Oklahoma State University Cowboys have accepted invitations to play in the 31st annual Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, 2008 President Larry Baber announced today. The game will be played Tuesday, December 30th at 5 p.m. (PST) at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. It will be televised nationally on ESPN.
“The Ducks and Cowboys are two high scoring football teams that will surely treat fans to a great football game,” Baber said. “I think it’s safe to expect yet another exciting Pacific Life Holiday Bowl.”
Head Coach Mike Bellotti brings his Oregon Ducks to San Diego after finishing the regular season with an overall record of 9-3, 7-2 in the Pac-10. This is Oregon’s third appearance in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. They beat Texas 35-30 in 2000 and were defeated by Oklahoma 17-14 in 2005.
“We are honored and excited to accept this invitation,” Bellotti said. “Oklahoma State is a great football team and this matchup is going to be exciting for our players and fans, and fans of college football.”
Oregon’s offense is led by senior running back Jeremiah Johnson who finished the regular season with 1,082 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He averaged 6.9 yards per carry and 90.2 yards per game for an offense that led the Pac-10 in scoring (41.9 points per game). On the other side of the ball, senior defensive end Nick Reed led the conference with 13 sacks and five fumble recoveries. He also recorded 50 tackles.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys, guided by Head Coach Mike Gundy, enter the bowl game also with a 9-3 overall record, 5-3 in the Big 12. The only Oklahoma State appearance in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl came in 1988, with Gundy under center for the Cowboys. In a 62-14 route of Wyoming, Gundy passed for 315 yards and two touchdowns. 1988 Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders also played for that Cowboys squad, rushing for 222 yards and five touchdowns.
“We’re very excited about heading to San Diego for the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl,” Gundy said. “It was a tremendous experience for me as a player and I’m happy our team will get to enjoy San Diego and the festivities that surround a great bowl game. On behalf of Oklahoma State, we want to thank Pacific Life, the Red Coats and the Holiday Bowl staff for their hard work. We look forward to playing an excellent Oregon team.”
Sophomore running back Kendall Hunter leads the Cowboys offensive attack. He finished the regular season by rushing for a conference-best 1,518 yards on just 228 carries. He also tallied 14 touchdowns. Defensively junior linebacker Orie Lemon had a stellar season. His 52 solo tackles and 84 total tackles this season is among the Big 12 Conference leaders.
This will be the first ever meeting of the two universities.
How Oregon (9-3, 6-2 Pac-10) got to this point (home team in bold) No. 21 Oregon 44, Washington 10
No. 18 Oregon 66, Utah State 24
No. 16 Oregon 32, Purdue 26, OT
Boise State 37, No. 17 Oregon 32
Oregon 63, Washington State 14
No. 9 USC 44, No. 23 Oregon 10
Oregon 31, UCLA 21
Oregon 54, Arizona State 20
California 26, No. 23 Oregon 16
Oregon 35, Stanford 28
No. 24 Oregon 55, Arizona 45
No. 19 Oregon 65, No. 17 Oregon State 38
How Oklahoma State (9-3, 5-3 Big 12) got to this point
Oklahoma State 39, Washington State 13, in Seattle
Oklahoma State 56, Houston 37
Oklahoma State 57, Missouri State 13
Oklahoma State 55, Troy 24
No. 21 Oklahoma State 56, Texas A&M 28
No. 17 Oklahoma State 28, No. 3 Missouri 23
No. 8 Oklahoma State 34, Baylor 6
No. 1 Texas 28, No. 7 Oklahoma State 24
No. 9 Oklahoma State 59, Iowa State 17
No. 2 Texas Tech 56, No. 8 Oklahoma State 20
No. 11 Oklahoma State 30, Colorado 17
No. 3 Oklahoma 61, No. 11 Oklahoma State 41
