Valero Alamo Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners Notes
OPENING KICK
No. 16/14/13 Oklahoma (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) takes on No. 14/15/15 Oregon (10-3, 7-2) in the 29th annual Valero Alamo Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 8:20 p.m. CT inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The game will be televised by ESPN with Jason Benetti, Andre Ware and Paul Carcaterra announcing.
This marks Oklahoma’s 55th bowl appearance, fourth most nationally. Thirty-nine of those 55 have come in bowls that comprise the current New Year’s Six (Orange [20], Sugar [8], Fiesta [5], Cotton [3], Rose [2] and Peach [1]). The 39 does not include OU’s BCS Championship Game appearance against Florida on Jan. 9, 2009.
OU is making its 23rd consecutive bowl appearance, by far the longest streak in school history (the previous record was eight from the 1975-82 seasons under Barry Switzer). Beginning in Bob Stoops’ 1999 debut season as head coach, it is the second-longest active streak in the nation (Georgia; 25) and the longest ever by a current Big 12 program.
The Sooners own a 30-23-1 (.565) bowl record. Their 30 bowl wins are tied for the fifth most nationally.
This marks the first time since 2014 that Oklahoma did not qualify for a New Year’s Six bowl. OU played in the 2015 Orange, 2016 Sugar, 2017 Rose, 2018 Orange, 2019 Peach and 2020 Cotton bowls, and was a College Football Playoff participant in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Only Alabama and Clemson have made more CFP appearances.
The only three times in the last seven seasons that OU did not qualify for the College Football Playoff it finished 16th (2021), sixth (2020) and seventh (2016) in the CFP rankings. In 2020 and 2016, the Sooners were ranked sixth and fifth in the final AP Top 25 poll.
Oklahoma is 67-32-3 (.672) all-time against programs currently in the Pac-12. More than half of those games were played against former intraconference foe Colorado (the Sooners are 40-17-2 all-time against the Buffaloes). OU’s six wins (against one loss) versus
Oregon are its second most against a current Pac-12 program.
The Sooners are 151-84-5 (.640) all-time in AP Top 25 matchups and 114-41-3 (.731) when they’re the higher-ranked team.
Since Stoops arrived in Norman ahead of the 1999 season, OU leads all Power Five conference programs in wins (245; Oregon ranks eighth with 211), points scored (11,762; next most is 10,735 by Oregon) and points per game (38.8; next most is 37.0 by Oregon). During the same period, OU ranks second in total offense (467.5 ypg) while Oregon ranks third (459.5).
Oklahoma’s 37-33 loss at Oklahoma State in its most recent game ended a stretch of 2,192 days in which the Sooners had been Big 12Â Champions. OU had won outright Big 12 titles each of the last six seasons.
Dating back to the start of the 2012 season, Oklahoma is 46-10 (.821) in regular season games away from home. OU has scored at least 30 points in 48 of those 56 contests.
KEY STORYLINES
Although Oklahoma hired Brent Venables as its 23rd head coach Dec. 5, Bob Stoops, who was named interim head coach Nov. 28, will coach OU in the Alamo Bowl. It will mark Stoops’ first collegiate game since the Sooners’ 35-19 Sugar Bowl win over Auburn that capped the 2016 season. With a 190-48 (.798) career collegiate head coaching record, Stoops is OU’s all-time wins leader and is 9-9 in bowls. He retired as Sooners head coach on June 7, 2017, and went on to coach the XFL’s Dallas Renegades during the 2020 season before serving as an analyst on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff show during the 2021 campaign. Stoops won 10 Big 12 titles in his 18 seasons at OU, as well as the 2000 national championship.
Oklahoma has never played in the Alamo Bowl, and its only game in San Antonio was a 38-17 win over No. 1 Missouri in the 2007 Big
12 Championship game that gave the Sooners their fifth of 14 Big 12 titles. Playing under Stoops, ninth-ranked OU was led on offense in the Alamodome that night by redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Bradford, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Running backs Allen Patrick (13 carries for 88 yards and a TD) and Chris Brown (23 carries for 71 yards and two TDs) led OU’s ground attack, while receiver Malcolm Kelly caught four passes for a team-high 72 yards. One of Bradford’s touchdown passes went to current OU assistant coach Joe Jon Finley, a senior tight end who finished with a team-high five catches for 34 yards. The game was tied 14-14 at halftime, but the Sooners outscored the Tigers 14-0 in the third quarter and 10-3 in the fourth in qualifying for the Fiesta Bowl. Linebacker Curtis Lofton finished with nine tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, a sack and an interception that he returned 26 yards.
Since taking over quarterback responsibilities with 6:41 left in the second quarter vs. Texas seven games ago, freshman Caleb Williams
has completed 110 of 174 pass attempts (63.2%) for 1,572 yards and 18 touchdowns against four interceptions (168.7 pass efficiency rating is the nation’s fifth best since Oct. 9). He has also rushed 67 times for 347 yards (5.2 average) and TDs of 74, 66, 41, 40 and 2 yards in the seven games. Williams was a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Davey O’Brien Quarterback of the Year and Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year awards, was a second-team AP All-Big 12 selection and was named to true freshman All-America teams by 247Sports, On3 and PFF.
Over the last seven games, redshirt junior Kennedy Brooks is averaging 113.3 rushing yards and has run for six touchdowns. Brooks has 1,111 rushing yards on the season, making him just the fourth Sooner to run for at least 1,000 yards in three separate seasons. The others were De’Mond Parker (1996-98), Adrian Peterson (2004-06) and Samaje Perine (2014-16). Brooks has 3,178 career rushing yards to rank 10th in OU history. u OU ranks first nationally this season with its 96.4% score rate in the red zone (54 scores on 56 trips). Forty-three of its 54 red zone scores (79.6%) have been touchdowns. The 54 red zone scores are seventh most in the country and the 43 red zone TDs are fourth most. The Sooners’ streak of 44 consecutive red zone conversions ended with a missed field goal in the second quarter against Iowa State two games ago. Oregon has scored on 46 of its 55 red zone trips this season (83.6% to rank 71st; 38 TDs).
OU is tied for the national lead with its 21 forced fumbles and is tied for sixth with 12 fumble recoveries. The Sooners had three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries all of last season. Conversely, OU has lost just three fumbles on offense this season. Oregon has lost six fumbles this year.
The Sooners will be without their leading tackler and their three sack leaders against Oregon, as linebacker Brian Asamoah, defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto and defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey each declared for the 2022 NFL Draft and opted out of the Alamo Bowl. Asamoah paced the squad with 90 tackles (next most is 71), while Thomas ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 8.0 sacks, Bonitto is tied for sixth with 7.0 and Winfrey is tied for 12th with 5.5. Since the start of the 2020 season, Thomas (24.5 and 16.5) and Bonitto (25.5 and 15.0) combined for 50.0 tackles for loss and 31.5 sacks. The 50.0 combined tackles for loss are t
SOONERS 6-1 AGAINST OREGON
Oklahoma holds a 6-1 series record against Oregon and has outscored the Ducks by an average score of 33-11 in those meetings. OU was coached by Bob Stoops in the last three matchups, which included two Sooner victories.
Oregon’s lone victory in the series came in the last meeting, a 34-33 outcome in Eugene in 2006. The Sooners were ranked No. 15 and the Ducks were No. 18.
The only bowl meeting between the programs came in the 2005 Holiday Bowl when unranked Oklahoma posted a 17-14 win over No. 6 Oregon in San Diego, Calif.
Stoops’ other win against the Ducks came in 2004 when No. 2 OU won 31-7 against unranked Oregon in Norman. Adrian Peterson carried 24 times for 183 yards and two touchdowns (40 and 18 yards), while Jason White completed 17 of 23 passes for 213 yards and a score.
With Barry Switzer as head coach in 1975, No. 1 OU beat an unranked Ducks squad 62-7 in Norman in the season opener. The Sooners, who went on to win their second straight national title, rushed for 544 yards on 91 carries.
In 1972, which was Chuck Fairbanks’ final season as Oklahoma’s head coach, the No. 2 Sooners dealt unranked Oregon a 68-3 defeat in Norman. OU outgained the Ducks 731 yards to 178 (8.4 yards per play to 2.6) and averaged 8.0 yards on its 76 carries (609 rushing yards).
Head coach Jim Mackenzie led OU to a 17-0 win over Oregon in 1966 in a battle of unranked squads, and Bud Wilkinson’s No. 1 Sooners posted a 6-0 home victory against the unranked Ducks in 1958.
SCOUTING THE DUCKS
A member of the Pac-12’s North Division, Oregon is 10-3 overall and finished 7-2 in Pac-12 regular season play. The Ducks, who are No. 14 in the CFP rankings and No. 15 in the AP and Coaches polls, lost 38-10 to Utah in the Pac12 Championship, and its other defeats were at Utah (38-7 on Nov. 20) and at Stanford (31-24 in overtime on Oct. 2).
Oregon captured a signature win with a 35-28 victory at then-No. 3 Ohio State on Sept. 11.
The Ducks rank 45th in scoring offense (31.4 ppg) and 60th in scoring defense (25.5 ypg). They rank 53rd in total offense (418.0 ypg) and 60th in total defense (371.8 ypg).
Senior quarterback Anthony Brown, who played his first three seasons at Boston College, has completed 223 of 350 passes (63.7%) for 2,683 yards (206.4 per game) and 15 touchdowns against six interceptions. His 138.8 passing efficiency rating ranks fifth in the Pac-12. Brown has also rushed 142 times for 637 yards (49.0 per game; 4.5 per carry) and nine TDs.
Junior running back Travis Dye has run for a team-high 1,118 yards and 15 touchdowns, and averages 86.0 rushing yards per game and 5.8 per carry. He is also a threat in the passing game with his team-high 41 receptions for 374 yards and pair of scores.
Sophomore wide receiver Devon Williams has caught 35 passes for team highs of 557 yards and four touchdowns, while freshman receiver Kris Hutson (364 yards) and senior receiver Johnny Johnson III (311 yards) both have 25 grabs and one TD each.
Freshman linebacker Noah Sewell leads the Ducks with 106 tackles this season, which includes 4.0 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. Sophomore defensive end and second-team FWAA All-American Kayvon Thibodeaux registered team highs of 7.0 sacks, 12.0 tackles for loss and eight QB hurries in his 11 games, but opted out of the Alamo Bowl.
Oregon ranks 20th nationally in turnover margin with 22 takeaways and 13 giveaways. Its 17 defensive pass interceptions are most in the Pac-12 and tied for fourth most nationally. Sophomore safety Verone McKinley III leads the country with his six interceptions, while junior safety Bennett Williams has three (returned for 92 yards).
DEFENSE PLAYS BIG HAND IN 18-2 STRETCH
Oklahoma’s defense has figured prominently in the program’s 18-2 record that started on Oct. 10, 2020, against Texas. Here are some notes pertaining to the stretch:
The Sooners have held 17 of their last 20 opponents below a 50% third-down conversion rate and 12 of their last 17 opponents have failed to convert more than 33% of third downs. Oklahoma ranks 14th nationally since Oct. 10, 2020, with its 33.7% opponent third-down conversion rate. (Interestingly, Oregon ranks fourth nationally this season with its 51.5% offensive third-down conversion rate.)
OU has totaled 60 sacks over its last 20 games to rank 12th nationally since Oct. 10, 2020. In the same time frame, the Sooners have recorded 152 tackles for loss (average of 7.6 per game) for a total of 637 lost yards.
Oklahoma has registered at least one takeaway in 18 straight games and in 19 of the last 20. It is plus-19 in turnover margin (40 takeaways to 21 turnovers) over the last 20 contests.
The Sooners have 25 interceptions over their last 20 games to rank sixth nationally since Oct. 10, 2020.
NOTING THE OFFENSE
Oklahoma ranks 10th nationally with its 38.4 points per game and 28th with its 441.6 yards per outing.
OU’s 2.8 punts per game are tied for the fifth fewest in the country. The Sooners did not punt against Tulane or Kansas State and punted just once vs. Western Carolina, Kansas and Texas Tech.
The Sooners have committed only 13 turnovers through 12 games (one was a muffed punt and another was by the defense [fumble on a fumble return vs. TCU]).
Freshman quarterback Caleb Williams has completed 62.5% of his passes (115 of 184) for 1,670 yards and 18 touchdowns with four interceptions and ranks eighth nationally with his 166.7 efficiency rating. The 1,670 yards and 18 TDs are OU true freshman records. He has also been highly effective with his feet, running for 408 yards and six scores on only 72 carries (5.7 yards per rush). He has five of OU’s eight longest rushes of the season (74 yards for a TD vs. Iowa State is team’s longest scrimmage play of season, 66 yards for a TD vs. Texas is tied for second longest, 59 vs. Western Carolina is fifth longest, 55 at Oklahoma State is sixth longest, 41 vs. TCU is eighth longest and 40 vs. Kansas is ninth longest).
Five Sooners have caught at least 30 passes. Receiver Marvin Mims is tied for fourth on the squad in receptions (30) but leads the team with 648 receiving yards (next most is 399). Mims ranks fourth nationally and first in the Big 12 with his 21.6 yards per catch. All four of his touchdowns this season have come in the last six games (two vs. Texas and two vs. Texas Tech). u Receivers Mario Williams (33; four TDs) and Michael Woods II (32; two TDs) rank second and third on the team in receptions. Tight end/H-back Jeremiah Hall is tied for second with four TD grabs.
Redshirt junior Kennedy Brooks has handled the most of the rushing workload this season. He leads the team in carries (184), rushing yards (1,111), rushing yards per game (92.6) and rushing touchdowns (10). He has 793 rushing yards over the last six contests (113.3 per game).
Junior running back Eric Gray, a transfer from Tennessee, started OU’s first five games and has rushed 70 times for 330 yards (4.7 per carry; two TDs) and has 18 catches for 204 yards and a touchdown. Walk-ons Jaden Knowles and Todd Hudson earned carries against Western Carolina and each scored two TDs.
Redshirt sophomore running back Marcus Major sat out each of OU’s first five games this season but was deemed eligible by the NCAA the day before the Oct. 9 game against Texas. He made his season debut Oct. 16 vs. TCU but his only carries on the year came Oct. 30 against Texas Tech (five rushes for 29 yards).
OU FOOT NOTES
One of three Lou Groza Award finalists, redshirt junior Gabe Brkic has made 18 field goals on 23 attempts (.750) and is tied for the national lead with five makes (on seven tries) from over 50 yards.
Nationally, only nine field goals have been made from at least 56 yards this season and Brkic has two of the makes (both 56-yarders). He ranks second nationally with nine makes from 50-plus yards since the start of the 2020 season (LSU’s Cade York has 11), while the player with the next most 50-yarders has six. Brkic’s 10 career makes from 50 or farther are the most in OU history (next highest total is four). He also sits atop the Sooners’ career chart with 19 makes from at least 40 yards.
Brkic, who was a 2020 first-team All-Big 12 selection (coaches and AP) and Groza Award semifinalist, is 55 for 67 (.821) on career field goal attempts. The OU career record for field goal percentage is .833 (75 for 90) by Michael Hunnicutt (2011-14). Brkic has also made all 152 of his PAT tries. Only Austin Seibert (162) has a longer streak of makes in school history.
Over the last five seasons, Oklahoma ranks first in the Big 12 and fifth nationally with its 82.5% success rate on field goal attempts (94 for 114). During the same period, the Sooners rank first nationally in kicking points (639; next most is 610) and second in PAT conversion percentage among teams with at least 175 attempts, converting 357 of 358 tries (99.7%). Only Virginia Tech (205 of 205) has a higher success rate.
TURK’S KEY LEG
Redshirt senior punter and Ray Guy Award semifinalist Michael Turk, who transferred to Oklahoma from Arizona State in August and earned the starting job, is doing things no OU punter has done before.
Turk is averaging 51.3 yards per punt, a figure that would smash the OU single-season record of 47.8 by Jack Jacobs in 1940. In fact, the NCAA single-season record for punting average (min. 30 punts) is 51.0 by Texas A&M’s Braden Mann in 2018. Turk’s 51.3-yard average would rank second in the NCAA this season if he had enough punts to qualify for the category (the NCAA minimum is 3.6 punts per game; he is averaging 2.8).
Nineteen of Turk’s 33 punts (57.6%) have gone for at least 50 yards, and eight have gone for at least 60. His 85-yarder vs. Texas is the FBS’ second longest this season and tied for the fourth longest over the last 10 years, and is tied for the third longest in OU history.
Turk holds five of the top 14 single-game punting averages (min. three punts) in Oklahoma history, including the best and third-best marks (59.7 vs. TCU and 58.0 vs. Texas).
The 2019 and ’20 first-team All-Pac-12 selection averaged 46.2 yards per punt over the last two seasons at ASU and totaled 28 boots that went at least 50 yards. In 2019, he set the FBS single-game record by averaging 63.0 yards (on five punts) vs. Kent State in the season opener.
Combining his time at ASU and OU, Turk is averaging 47.7 yards per punt (5,435 yards on 114 punts). The FBS career record (min. 150 punts) is 46.3 yards by West Virginia’s Todd Sauerbrun (1991-94).
EXTRA POINTS
The Sooners’ 17-game winning streak that was snapped Nov. 13 at Baylor was the seventh longest in program history and OU’s longest since winning 20 straight over the 2000 and ’01 seasons. It was also the longest active streak in the country. Prior to the Baylor contest, OU’s last loss had come on Oct. 3, 2020, at Iowa State.
Oklahoma has registered winning streaks of at least seven games in a school-record seven straight seasons. The previous program record for seven-game winning streaks was six consecutive campaigns (1953-58) under Bud Wilkinson. Since 1980, only Boise State (11 straight seasons; 2002-12) and Alabama (10 straight seasons; 2011-20) have also posted winning streaks of at least seven games in seven consecutive years.
Oklahoma has already set the single-season school record with six wins by seven or fewer points (previous record was five in 2010 and 2019).
The Sooners are 23-7 all-time as the No. 14-ranked team in the AP poll (1-1 at neutral sites). OU’s only two neutral site games as the AP’s No. 14 team were in the 1947 Gator Bowl (34-13 win over North Carolina State in Jacksonville, Fla.) and in 2006 (28-10 loss to No. 7 Texas in Dallas).
Redshirt senior linebacker Bryan Mead played in his 56th career game Sept. 25 against West Virginia to break the previous school record of 55 games that was held by former quarterback and holder Connor McGinnis. Mead has now played in 64 contests. The Alamo Bowl will mark his final collegiate outing.
The Sooners have outscored their opponents 129-43 in the second quarter this season and 117-54 in the third quarter. OU has been outscored 101-97 in the first quarter.
Co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach Cale Gundy is OU’s all-time leader in victories (276) as a player (31) and/or coach (245). Barry Switzer ranks second with 215, all as an assistant or head coach.
The Sooners entered the season tied with Clemson for the second-longest streak of New Year’s Six bowl appearances (six). They trailed Ohio State (seven) and were followed by Georgia (four), Florida (three) and Oregon (two). From that list, only Ohio State (Rose) and Georgia (Orange) are in a New Year’s Six bowl this year.
OU is the only program that has produced at least four NFL Draft picks each of the last 14 years.
Oregon Ducks Notes
TALKING POINTS
AT A GLANCE
No. 14 Oregon will close out its 2021 season with a showdown against No. 16 Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl on December 29 in the Alamodome. The Ducks are looking to secure the eighth 11-win season in program history and create momentum for 2022 as a new era of Oregon football gets underway.
DAN LANNING NAMED NEXT LEADER OF OREGON FOOTBALL
Oregon athletic director ROB MULLENS announced DAN LANNING as the 35th head coach in program history on December 11, bringing one of college football’s brightest young coaches and top defensive minds to Eugene to lead the Ducks. Lanning has spent the last three seasons as Georgia’s defensive coordinator, directing the top defense in the nation during that span with a combined 13.5 points allowed per game. Lanning will remain on board as Georgia’s defensive coordinator through the College Football Playoff, with the Bulldogs allowing an astounding 9.5 points per game this season to lead the nation by a wide margin. Wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator BRYAN MCCLENDON will serve as Oregon’s interim head coach in the Alamo Bowl.
BOWL & SERIES HISTORY
Oregon owns a 15-19 all-time record in bowl games.
The Ducks are 1-1 all-time in the Alamo Bowl, beating Texas in 2013 and falling to TCU in triple overtime in 2016.
Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Oregon, 6-1.
The Ducks and Sooners last met in 2006, a 34-33 Oregon win in Eugene.
KT, VM3 HEADLINE AWARDS SEASON
The Ducks cleaned up on postseason awards, with KAYVON THIBODEAUX becoming the fourth unanimous all-American in program history and VERONE MCKINLEY III joining him as a consensus all-American. T.J. BASS, BRANDON DORLUS and NOAH SEWELL joined Thibodeaux and McKinley as first-team all-Pac-12 selections by the league’s coaches, while ALEX FORSYTH and CAMDEN LEWIS earned second-team honors.
ELITE DEFENSE
Lanning directed the nation’s top defense in his three seasons as Georgia’s defensive coordinator, including a historically dominant unit in 2021 as he helped lead the Bulldogs to a 12-1 record and a spot in the College Football Playoff. In three seasons with Lanning coordinating the defense, Georgia led the country in combined scoring defense (13.5 points per game) and rushing defense (76.7 yards per game), while also ranking No. 2 in total defense (280.6 yards per game).
Lanning’s 2021 Georgia defense leads the nation in scoring defense by a wide margin at an astounding 9.5 points per game, on track to become the first team since Alabama in 2011 to allow fewer than 10.0 points per game in a season. During the regular season, Georgia’s opponents mustered just 6.9 points per game.
The Bulldogs have allowed just 14 total touchdowns all season under Lanning, holding opponents to 10 points or less nine times in 13 games. Georgia played 11 full quarters to start the season before its defense surrendered a touchdown, and the Bulldogs pitched back-to-back shutouts against Vanderbilt and Arkansas while winning by a combined score of 99-0.
Georgia also leads the nation in yards allowed per play (4.01) and red-zone defense in 2021 while ranking second in total defense (253.2 YPG), and third in both rushing (81.69 YPG) and passing (171.5 YPG) defense. The Bulldogs have allowed less than 100 yards rushing in nine of 13 games and fewer than 200 yards passing 10 times. In the 2021 opener vs. No. 19 Clemson, Lanning’s defense surrendered just two rushing yards and 180 total yards.
Lanning also directed the nation’s top scoring defense in 2019 – his first year as defensive coordinator – when the Bulldogs allowed just 12.6 points per game. Georgia led the country in rushing defense (74.6 YPG) and set a school record with an FBS-best two rushing touchdowns allowed, while ranking second nationally in yards allowed per play (4.29) and third in total defense (275.7 YPG).
In a 26-14 win over Baylor in the Allstate Sugar Bowl to cap the 2019 season, Lanning’s defense held the Bears scoreless in the first half and allowed just 61 rushing yards and 295 total yards.
Lanning’s unit led the nation in rushing defense (72.3 YPG) for the second year in a row in 2020 while ranking 12th in total defense (321.0 YPG) and 16th in scoring defense (20.0 PPG). In a 44-21 win over Tennessee, Georgia allowed an incredible minus-1 rushing yards and 214 total yards while recording three forced fumbles and an interception.
The Bulldogs closed out the 2020 season with a thrilling performance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, with Lanning’s defense holding No. 8 Cincinnati scoreless in the fourth quarter as Georgia scored 14 unanswered points to win, 24-21. In Lanning’s first season at Georgia as the outside linebackers coach in 2018, the Bulldogs ranked 13th nationally in total defense (314.3 YPG) and 14th in scoring defense (19.2 PPG).
Lanning was the inside linebackers coach at Memphis in 2016 and 2017, helping lead a defense that ranked in the top five nationally in turnovers gained both years.
TEAM NOTES
A WIN WOULD…
Secure the eighth 11-win season in program history.
Be Oregon’s third in its last four bowl appearances.
Improve the Ducks to 16-19 all-time in bowl game appearances.
Give Oregon its second Alamo Bowl title in three trips.
Be Oregon’s second in a row over Oklahoma.
GOING BOWLING
Oregon is making its 35th all-time appearance in a bowl game and 17th postseason appearance in the last 18 years. The Ducks own the longest active streak of bowl apperances in the Pac-12, going to one in each of the last five seasons dating back to 2017. Oregon has split its two Alamo Bowl appearances, beating Texas 30-7 in 2013 before falling to TCU in the 2016 edition of the game, 47-41 in triple overtime.
ELITE COMPANY
Oregon made its third straight trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game, becoming the only Power 5 team – and one of just three nationally – to make a conference championship game in each of the last three seasons. The Ducks joined Cincinnati and Louisiana as the only three teams in the FBS to reach a league title game in each season since 2019. Oregon is also the only team in the 11-year history of the game to reach the Pac-12 title game in three straight seasons.
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
Oregon has been one of the best teams in the FBS when it comes to winning the turnover battle, sitting in a tie for 14th nationally and third in the Pac-12 with a plus-10 turnover margin. The Ducks are 15th nationally and second in the Pac-12 with 23 takeaways, highlighted by 17 interceptions, which ranks fourth nationally and leads the Pac-12. Oregon has won each of the six games in which it has won the turnover battle.
NEXT MAN UP
All season, Oregon’s depth has been put to the test as the Ducks dealt with injuries to a number of starters and key contributors. Oregon has had 44 different players start games, including 15 who have made their first career starts this year (5 offense, 10 defense). Just six Ducks have started all 12 games this season, while UO has used a different starting unit in 12 of the 13 games on both sides of the ball.
