1996 marked the second Oregon appearance in the Cotton Bowl. It was the 60th anniversary for the Cotton Bowl and it was the Ducks’ 100th season. This time it would be against Colorado. Mike Bellotti had been Oregon’s offensive coordinator since 1989. He was hired by Rich Brooks and in 1995 was promoted to head coach as Brooks went on to the NFL. It was a successful season for Bellotti, the Ducks went 9 – 2 in 1995, earning them a trip to the Cotton Bowl.
The game was held on New Year’s Day in Dallas, TX and a little over 58,000 people were in attendance. Colorado was going into this game ranked No. 7 and it was a rough game for Oregon. Let’s take a look at how it played out…
First Quarter:
Oregon had opportunity to score during the beginning of this game but they couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities. It looked as though Oregon was going to take control of the game early on, but the Ducks were held to a field goal by freshman place kicker Joshua Smith. They took the lead 3 – 0. The Ducks quickly got the ball back after an interception by Rich Ruhl. Again the Oregon offensive drive was held to a field goal from Smith. The Ducks strengthened their lead; 6 – 0 but they wouldn’t be able to capitalize on additional Colorado turnovers, or defensive stops. The quarter ended with Oregon only ahead by 6.
Second Quarter:
From here the game was all about Colorado. The Buffs quickly scored and were already on top 7 – 6. Later in the second Colorado scored again off an interception return. The half ended with the Buff up 13 – 6.
Third Quarter:
During the second half things continued to go downhill for Oregon. In the third quarter the offense lost three consecutive possessions from fumbles and the Buffs took advantage turning two of the Ducks three turnovers into points. In less than 8 minutes during the third Colorado was able to rack up 19 points and by the end of the third Colorado had a commanding lead 32 – 6.
Fourth Quarter:
Colorado would put up another touchdown during the fourth setting the final score at 38 – 6.
This Colorado season brings up an interesting point for all Pac-12 teams to note; 1995 was supposed to be a “rebuilding year” for the Buffs. They had lost 10 seniors the previous season and no one expected a lot from the Buffs during the next season, but it turned out to be one of their most successful ever. Going into this 2011/12 season no one is projecting much from Colorado, they suffered some heavy draft losses after last season and they are coming in this year with a new head coach. Sounds a bit familiar…
| First | Second | Third | Fourth | Final | |
| Oregon | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Colorado | 0 | 13 | 19 | 6 | 38 |
SCORING
UO…….Joshua Smith 25 FG, 12:53, 1st
UO…….Smith 33 FG, 8:33, 1st
CU…….John Hessler 1 run (Neil Voskeritchian kick), 14:56, 2nd
CU…….Marcus Washington 95 interception return, (kick failed), 6:31, 2nd
CU…….Matt Lepsis 2 pass from Hessler (Voskeritchian kick), 13:37, 3rd
CU…….Herchell Troutman 6 run (run failed), 8:40, 3rd
CU…….Phil Savoy 12 pass from Hessler (kick blocked), 5:42, 3rd
CU…….Ayyub Abdul-Rahmaan 5 run (kick blocked), 1:11, 4th
Resources:
http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=30018