Ducks Take Wing, Quickly Oregon Grounds Air Force 41-13 In Holiday Season’s Bowl Opener

All week long, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti kept insisting his team belonged in a postseason game. Two plays into the Las Vegas Bowl, Air Force found out why.

The Ducks, who barely had enough wins to qualify for a bowl, opened the major college bowl season with a bang Saturday, scoring on their first two plays from scrimmage to spark a 41-13 win over No. 23 Air Force.

Pat Johnson stunned the Falcons with a 69-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the game, then Saladin McCullough went 76 yards up the middle the next time Oregon got the ball.

In 2 minutes, 6 seconds, Oregon had scored more points than Air Force’s opponents had averaged all year, and the rout was on.

“It was a convincing win over a good team. That should boost our stock,” Bellotti said after his team finished the season at 7-5.

Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry was one of those convinced.

“They’re the best offensive team we’ve played this season. They’re much better than a 6-5 team,” DeBerry said.

Johnson, the 1995 Pac-10 400-meter champion, scored on passes of 69 and 78 yards and Tony Hartley caught two other touchdown passes for Oregon.

The bowl season was only 18 seconds old when Johnson streaked down the left sideline to catch a pass in midstride from Akili Smith and go 69 yards for a touchdown.

“I know we can get deep on anybody,” Johnson said.

After an Air Force punt, McCullough took a handoff up the middle on Oregon’s next play from scrimmage and ran 76 yards for another score to put the Ducks up 13-0 with only 2:06 run off the game clock.

“I thought the first play of the game really set the tempo for them, and the second play really set them on fire,” DeBerry said.

Oregon led 26-0 at halftime, bottling up Air Force’s option offense and not allowing the Falcons (10-3) to complete a pass until midway through the second quarter.

It was the first win in the last five bowl games for the Ducks. They last won a bowl by beating Tulsa in the 1989 Independence Bowl.

Oregon took a total of only 69 seconds for its three offensive scores in the first half, the last coming on a five-play, 71-yard drive that put the Ducks up 26-0 on a 7-yard pass to Hartley in the end zone with 28 seconds left in the half.

The second half wasn’t much different, with Oregon needing only 37 seconds for its first score and 42 seconds for another.

Oregon 41, Air Force 13

Oregon 13 13 8 7 41

Air Force 0 0 13 0 13 OreJohnson 69 pass from Smith (Frankel kick) OreMcCullough 76 run (kick failed) OreParker recovered blocked punt in end zone (kick failed) OreHartley 7 pass from Maas (Smith kick) AFMorgan 1 run (Wright kick) OreHartley 21 pass from Maas (Spence pass from Maas) AFFisher 45 fumble return (pass failed) OreJohnson 78 pass from Maas (Smith kick) A21,514.

Ore AF First downs 22 11 Rushes-yards 43-266 41-152 Passing 317 59 Comp-Att-Int 16-30-1 6-21-1 Return Yards 2 52 Punts-Avg. 6-38.7 10-36.6 Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-1 Penalties-Yards 19-166 7-57 Time of Possession 30:22 29:38 RUSHING-Oregon, McCullough 17-150, Maas 5-40, Latimer 5-30, Cooper 6-27, Crump 5-26, Parker 1-8, Winn 1-(minus 1), Young 1-(minus 2), Smith 2-(minus 12). Air Force, Singleton 13-66, Ruff 7-27, Brown 1-16, Farmer 1-13, Paroda 5-12, Rillos 1-5, Hill 3-5, Morgan 8-5, Gilliam 2-3.

PASSING-Oregon, Maas 9-15-0-188, Smith 4-10-1-87, Feeley 3-4-0-42, Johnson 0-1-0-0. Air Force, Morgan 6-19-1-59, Bonds 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING-Oregon, Johnson 5-169, Hartley 3-35, Spence 2-59, Collins 2-5, Parker 1-22, Weaver 1-20, Brust 1-6, Haynes 1-1. Air Force, Newman 2-29, Ruff 2-10, Rillos 1-13, Farmer 1-7.