2007 Oregon Ducks football team The 2007 Oregon Ducks football team represents the University of Oregon in the college football season of 2007 . The team is coached by Mike Bellotti and plays their home games at Autzen Stadium . The Ducks rose to a national rank of number 2 in the Bowl Championship Series poll , until an injury to star quarterback Dennis Dixon led to defeat at the hands of the Arizona Wildcats on November 15 , 2007 . The Ducks lost to Arizona 34 – 24 in that game . They lost the next game to UCLA in Los Angeles as backup quarterback Brady Leaf was also knocked out of the game . The final score was 16 – 0 . Oregon lost the season finale to rival Oregon State on December 1 , 2007 by a score of 38 – 31 in two overtimes . Oregon finished the season at 8 – 4 and qualified for the 2007 Sun Bowl in El Paso . On December 31 , 2007 freshman quarterback Justin Roper , making his first start , passed for 4 touchdowns ( tied for a Sun Bowl record ) and 180 yards as Oregon crushed the favored South Florida Bulls 56 – 21 . Jonathan Stewart rushed for a Sun Bowl record and career high 253 yards and a touchdown and was named the game ' s Most Valuable Player . The 56 points scored by the Ducks was a Sun Bowl record . The Ducks finished the 2007 season with a 9 – 4 record . They finished with a ranking of 23rd in the final Associated Press Poll . Previous season . The 2006 Oregon Ducks experienced an incredibly disappointing end to a season last year . After beginning the year with four wins and no losses , and achieving a No . 11 ranking in the AP Poll , the Ducks traveled to Berkeley to face the No . 16 ranked Bears . Unfortunately this game ended in a blowout against the Ducks . The Ducks then went on to win only three of the final eight games , which included a heartbreaking 28 – 30 loss to the Beavers in which a late Oregon field goal was blocked by the Beavers . The Ducks did play in a bowl game , representing the Pac - 10 in the 2006 Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl . The Ducks ended the season with a 38 – 8 loss to the 20th ranked Brigham Young Cougars . Pre - season . February 2 – After Gary Crowton , Oregon ' s Offensive Coordinator for the 2005 and 2006 seasons , resigned to perform the same duties with Louisiana State University , the University of Oregon hired University of New Hampshire Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly . While at UNH , Kelly ' s offenses averaged greater than 400 yards a game in seven of his eight years and over 30 points a game for the previous four years . April 28 – Green defeated White 20 – 6 in the 2007 spring game . April 29 – Jordan Kent , Dante Rosario , and Matt Toeaina were selected in the 2007 NFL Draft . Dante Rosario was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the 18th pick in the fifth round . Matt Toeaina was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals as the 13th pick in the sixth round . Jordan Kent was selected by the Seattle Seahawks as the 36th pick in the sixth round . May 9 – Former Oregon Running Back Ahmad Rashad , also known as Bobby Moore , was selected to the Class of 2007 entering the College Football Hall of Fame . July 26 – During the Pac - 10 ' s media day , the pre - season media poll picks the Ducks to finish 6th in the Pac - 10 . 2007 Recruiting Class . The 2007 University of Oregon Football Recruiting Class was selected by Scout . com as the 9th best recruiting class of 2007 and was selected by Rivals . com as the 11th best recruiting class of 2007 . The University of Oregon signed 27 High School Seniors and 2 Junior College Transfers . Schedule . ESPN College Gameday Game notes . Houston . Oregon ' s Dennis Dixon ran for 141 yards , with an 80 - yard run that resulted in a touchdown . Dixon also threw for 134 yards and two touchdowns , completing nine of 15 passes . Houston ' s Anthony Alridge converted 22 carries into 205 yards and one touchdown . Adridge also caught three passes for 88 yards and a touchdown . Dixon ' s 141 rushing yards were the most by an Oregon quarterback since Tony Graziani ' s 108 yards against Oregon State in 1995 . The score was tied at 20 points in the third quarter when Houston ' s Case Keenum attempted to throw a pass to Perry McDaniel in the end zone , but it was intercepted by Patrick Chung . The Ducks then went ahead 27 to 20 after Dixon threw a 24 - yard touchdown pass to Brian Paysinger . Forty seconds after the Paysinger touchdown , Dixon threw another to Jaison Williams , putting the Ducks up 34 to 20 . Houston scored once more and Oregon twice more as the Ducks beat Houston 48 to 27 . The game was also notable for a skirmish between the Ducks ' mascot and the Cougars ' mascot . The student fulfilling the role of the Duck was suspended soon after . The fight can be viewed on . Michigan . This game was Michigan ' s worst defeat since 1968 when they lost 50 to 14 at Ohio State . Dennis Dixon accounted for 368 yards and a career - high 4 touchdowns . Three touchdowns were thrown to three different receivers for 85 , 61 , and 45 - yard scoring passes on Dixon ' s way to 292 throwing yards . Dixon also rushed for 76 yards and one touchdown . The Ducks led by 25 at halftime , and faced little opposition in the second half . According to Oregon coach Mike Bellotti the game was a " good win because I think there were some questions about how Michigan was going to bounce back , and whether we would be competitive . I think our players took that to heart . " With this game Michigan opened the season with two home losses , the first time that had happened since 1959 . It also gave them a losing streak of four games , the most in four decades . Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr said " We have good kids and they ' re hurting . If losing doesn ' t make you hurt , you shouldn ' t be at Michigan . " Fresno State . Oregon ' s 52 – 21 defeat of Fresno State was Bellotti ' s 100th win as a coach at the University of Oregon . Dennis Dixon threw for two touchdowns and ran for another . Ducks running back Jonathan Stewart ran for 165 yards and scored two touchdowns , one touchdown being part of an 88 - yard run . Dixon said " The sky ' s the limit right now . This offense is really clicking . " Although Dixon didn ' t put up numbers as impressive as he did at Michigan the previous week , he had a solid performance , completing 14 for 20 passes for 139 yards and running for 59 yards . Oregon ' s mascot was suspended and watched the game , but not from the sidelines . Fresno State ' s quarterback Tom Brandstater completed 18 – 32 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown . The loss was Fresno State ' s second against a ranked team on the road . The previous week the Bulldogs lost 47 – 45 to Texas A & M in triple overtime . Fresno State coach Pat Hill said " [ h ] ow many times do I have to say it ? We got dominated in all three phases . We got beat pretty good today . That doesn ' t happen at Fresno State very often . Today we got beat by a better football team . They took it to us . End of conversation . " Stanford . The Ducks beat the Cardinal 55 to 31 . California . The Bears defeated the Ducks 31 to 24 . ESPN College GameDay was present ( Corso picked Ducks to win ) Washington State . The Ducks defeated the Cougars 53 to 7 . Washington . The Ducks defeated the Huskies 55 to 34 . USC . The Ducks defeated the Trojans 24 to 17 . Oregon ' s defensive back Matthew Harper interception on USC ' s final drive preserved Oregon ' s victory . Harper said " We knew somebody would make the play , and luckily it was me . " Oregon ' s victory set them up for a chance at the national championship . Number 12 USC ( No . 9 AP ) lost after Oregon ' s Jonathan Stewart rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns , while Dennis Dixon completed 16 of 25 passes for 157 yards . Oregon was fifth in the BCS standings , and Dixon became a serious Heisman contender with his 76 rushing yards and 157 passing yards . Arizona State . In a game that was considered important enough for ESPN ' s College Gameday to be broadcast in Eugene , the Oregon Ducks defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils 35 – 23 . Heisman hopeful Dennis Dixon threw for 189 yards and 4 touchdowns and led the Ducks to a victory that places Oregon in the lead for the Pac - 10 championship . After the Ducks scored a touchdown on their first possession , a 26 - yard pass to WR Jaison Williams , the Sun Devils began to march down the field . Showing the same poise as Dixon , ASU QB Rudy Carpenter led the Devils to the Oregon 2 - yard line before the Oregon defense lived up to their " bend but don ' t break " style and held ASU to a field goal . That goal line stop would set the tone for the remainder of the game as Oregon held Arizona State to only 3 points in the first quarter and 13 in the first half . Trailing 13 – 21 at the half , Arizona State was able to make a field goal on their first possession in the second half , cutting the Oregon lead to 5 . However the Ducks were able to score the next 14 points of the game , giving the Ducks a 35 – 16 lead with one quarter left to play . Unfortunately approximately 2 minutes into the fourth quarter , Dennis Dixon was taken out after an awkward tackle and sat out the remainder of the game . Luckily his injury did not seem serious and he was seen jogging on the sidelines soon afterwards . Arizona State did score one more touchdown later in the fourth quarter , making the score its final 35 – 23 . In a game which Rudy Carpenter was sacked 9 times , it seemed only fitting that the last play of the game was a sack as time ran out . Arizona . The Ducks entered the game ranked No . 2 in both the AP poll and the BCS standings . A win in this game , followed by wins against UCLA and Oregon State , would almost assuredly result in a berth in the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans . The Ducks started the game hot , with a 39 - yard touchdown run by Dennis Dixon and a successful two - point conversion . Following an Arizona interception , the Ducks had the ball back on the Arizona 4 - yard line threatening to score again . However , Dixon threw an interception that was returned 45 yards and eventually capitalized by the Wildcats as a touchdown , cutting the score to 8 – 7 . The Ducks responded with another solid drive getting the ball to the Arizona 15 and looked set to score again . On 2nd and 7 , Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon ( the leading Heisman candidate at this point of the season ) fell to the ground without being touched . Upon review it was clear that Dixon twisted his already - injured knee and tore his ACL . It would later be revealed that Dixon had actually torn the ligament in the previous week ' s game against Arizona State . Following the injury , Dixon — having amassed 183 yards on 19 plays — was replaced by Brady Leaf . Oregon ' s misfortunes mounted : Arizona scored a touchdown on an interception return , another on a punt return , and Leaf suffered an ankle injury , all before halftime . Oregon tried to rally from the 14 – 31 halftime deficit , but lost 24 – 34 , ending their National Championship hopes . The following day it was announced that Dixon ' s injury would end his season , and any hopes of a Heisman Trophy . Oregon State . The 111th Civil War , the Ducks now lead 55 – 46 – 10 in the series all time . This was the first time the home team had not won since 1996 , the first time Oregon State had won at Autzen Stadium since 1993 , and the first time Oregon State had won two years in a row since 1973 – 74 . Sun Bowl . After losing the last 3 games of the year , many analysts expected the Ducks to fare poorly in the Sun Bowl . But the Ducks came out strong . Making his first career start , freshman quarterback Justin Roper completed 17 of 30 passes for 180 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions . Running back Jonathan Stewart rushed for a career high and Sun Bowl record 253 yards and a touchdown and was named the Most Valuable Player of the game . Oregon , despite being a 7 - point underdog , dominated the game , especially the second half . Holding on to an 18 – 14 lead at the half , Oregon came out and outscored South Florida 28 – 0 in the third quarter . The Ducks won 56 – 21 . The 56 points scored was a Sun Bowl record . Jonathan Stewart ' s 253 rushing yards were a Sun Bowl record . The 35 - point margin of victory was the second largest of the 2007 – 2008 bowl season . The Ducks finished the season 9 – 4 with their first bowl win since the 2001 season . They finished the season ranked 23rd in the final Associated Press Poll .