The Oregon Ducks garner national attention every year. From a Big Ten championship football team to a powerhouse track and field program, the Ducks are front and center throughout a lot of the college athletic calendar.
However, not a lot of non-Oregon fans know that much about the Ducks themselves – a.k.a. "That Team Out West."
1. Before switching to their current mascot, what was the original live animal mascot of the Oregon Ducks?
Answer: Puddles the Duck
Believe it or not, there was a real-life Duck that was used as the Oregon mascot in the 1920s. A group of fraternity brothers caught the duck, which they lovingly named "Puddles the Duck," at the Millrace that cuts through campus and brought him to football games at Autzen Stadium.
Eventually, the mascot evolved into the mascot everyone knows and loves today, called "The Duck," which is based on Donald Duck.
2. In what year did the Oregon football team make its first-ever appearance in the Rose Bowl?
Answer: 1917
Over a century ago, the Ducks made their first-ever trip south to play in The Granddaddy of Them All; the Rose Bowl Game.
Oregon defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 14-0 in the matchup which was the third-ever Rose Bowl.
3. Who holds the Oregon football record for most career passing yards?
Answer: Marcus Mariota
None other than Oregon's lone Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota owns the title for the most career passing yards by a former Duck quarterback.
From 2012-14, Mariota threw the ball for a resounding 10,796 yards through the air. For those of you who guessed Eugene's hometown hero Justin Herbert, he finished just 255 yards short of Mariota's record.
4. Which former Oregon track star was the inspiration for the founding of Nike?
Answer: Steve Prefontaine
Arguably one of the most famous Oregon athletes of all time is track star Steve Prefontaine. The elite runner was a star for the Ducks track team under head coach Bill Bowerman.
While Prefontaine, lovingly known as Pre, was at Oregon, he and Bowerman talked about how much a better shoe would help runners.
Bowerman, who also coached Phil Knight, joined forces with Knight to create Nike in 1971 (it was founded in 1964 under the name Blue Ribbon Sports).
5. Oregon baseball was discontinued for over 25 years before being reinstated. What year did the program return?
Answer: 2009
The University of Oregon athletic department dropped baseball as a Division I sport after the 1981 season and brought it back nearly three decades later in 2009.