2009 Oregon Ducks football team The 2009 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon in the college football season of 2009 . The team was led by head coach Chip Kelly in his first season as a head coach at the Division I FBS level . Kelly was only the third Ducks head coach since 1977 and led the Ducks to a Pac - 10 Championship and was named Pac - 10 Coach of the Year . He took over for Mike Bellotti . The Ducks finished the season 10 – 3 , 8 – 1 in Pac - 10 to claim the Pac - 10 championship and earn the conference ' s automatic BCS berth where they were invited to the Rose Bowl , the schools fifth Rose Bowl and first since the 1994 season . They were defeated by Ohio State 17 – 26 . Previous season . The 2008 Oregon Ducks football team entered the season ranked 21st in the AP Poll , after finishing the 2007 season ranked 23rd . The major question going into the season concerned the position of quarterback . Oregon ' s top two quarterbacks , Dennis Dixon and Brady Leaf , had graduated the year before , with Dixon being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft . Sophomore Justin Roper was named the starter after Nate Costa suffered a season ending injury before the season began . As a freshman , Roper had led the Ducks to a Sun Bowl win over South Florida in 2007 . He was injured in the third game at Purdue , and was replaced by junior college transfer Jeremiah Masoli . Masoli had led his junior college team to a national championship the year before . Masoli was inconsistent in his first few games , as he put up good rushing numbers but shaky passing stats . But he came on strong the last three games of the regular season and led the Ducks to a 9 – 3 regular season record and a victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Holiday Bowl . Senior Jeremiah Johnson led Oregon in rushing with 1 , 201 yards while LeGarrette Blount record 1 , 002 yards and set a school record with 17 rushing touchdowns . Oregon scored over 500 points for the second straight season , and finished the season being ranked 10th in the AP Poll . Pre - season . July 29 – Senior Ed Dickson is named to the Mackey Award watchlist , given out to the nation ' s best tight end . August 4 – Junior Jeremiah Masoli is named to the watch list for the Davey O ' Brien Award . August 8 – Senior LeGarrette Blount is named to the watch list for the Walter Camp Award . Pre - season departures . Quarterback and wide receiver Chris Harper , quarterback Justin Roper , and wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad all decided to transfer from the team before the 2009 season . Schedule . University of Oregon official schedule Game notes . Boise State . " 2nd Meeting . 0 – 1 All Time . Last Meeting Boise State 37 , Oregon 32 " Uniform combination : white helmet , white jerseys , white pants " Oregon ' s offense was completely shut down in the first half and was unable to gain a single first down . They allowed the Broncos to get into their red zone multiple times , but Oregon ' s defense held them twice . Both times resulted in Boise State attempting field goals after having a first and goal situation . Both field goals in the first quarter were missed by kicker Kyle Brotzman ( 29 and 47 ) . In the second quarter , the Broncos scored on a TD pass from quarterback Kellen Moore to wide receiver Austin Pettis . Michael Choate ran in the two point conversion . Billy Winn added to Boise State ' s first half score by tackling running back LeGarrette Blount for a safety . At the end of the first half , Kyle Brotzman booted in a 45 yard field goal to make the score 13 – 0 . A low - scoring second half did not stop the Ducks from scoring a touchdown along with a two point conversion . The rest of the game was back and forth until the clock expired , Boise State winning by 11 . After the game , Blount , who earlier in the week was quoted as saying , " We owe that team an ass - whuppin , " punched Bronco DE Byron Hout in the chin after Hout had taunted him in front of Boise State head coach Chris Petersen . Blount then went after fans in the front row of the south end zone before being restrained and escorted off the field by security , police , and Oregon coaches . The next day , Oregon suspended Blount for the rest of the season , seemingly ending his career . However , in October , Kelly announced that Blount could return as early as November provided he meets certain academic and behavioral benchmarks . Purdue . " Uniform combination : green helmets , green jerseys , green pants " The Ducks evened their 2009 record at 1 – 1 with a thrilling 38 – 36 win over Purdue in their first visit to Eugene . Jeremiah Masoli rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown and LaMichael James rushed for 56 yards . Walter Thurmond III returned an interception for a touchdown in the first half and Javes Lewis returned a fumble for a touchdown in the third quarter . With a minute and one second left to play Purdue failed on a two - point conversion that would have tied the game . Oregon recovered the onsides kick attempt and ran out the clock . Jamere Holland had 72 yards on 4 receptions but dropped a sure touchdown pass in the fourth quarter . Utah . " Uniform combination : white helmet , green jerseys , silver pants " Utah brought the Nation ' s longest winning streak of 16 into Autzen Stadium this year . This was the first meeting between the schools since a 17 – 13 Utah win at Salt Lake City in 2003 . The Utes last trek to Autzen Stadium was in early September 2001 , when Joey Harrington and the Ducks handled Utah 24 – 10 on their way to an 11 – 1 record and No . 2 in the Nation finish . California . " Uniform combination : throwback uniforms , yellow helmet , green jerseys , yellow pants " Cal has run off three in a row against the Ducks , more than any other Pac - 10 school against Oregon . The Golden Bears streak is their longest versus Oregon since the 1970s . Cal won a waterlogged game at Berkeley last year , 26 – 16 . The Oregon Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli struggled in previous games but had a major breakthrough against Cal , throwing 253 yards with 21 completions out of 25 attempts , three for touchdowns . Oregon tight end Ed Dickson had a career day with 11 catches for 148 yards and three touchdowns . The Oregon defense played very well , holding Jahvid Best who tied a Pac - 10 record for rushing touchdowns the week prior , to just 55 yards on 16 carries . Before the game , Best was quoted as saying Autzen Stadium was the only venue where the crowd noise troubled him . The Ducks had a rough start to the game when Walter Thurmond fumbled the opening kickoff reception . Thurmond was hit in the knee on the return and was later diagnosed with a torn ACL and ended up missing the rest of the season . Cal took possession and , on a drive that went for negative eight yards , scored a field goal , their only points in the game . The two teams went back and forth on several miscues . In the first quarter on the Ducks ' first scoring drive , running back LaMichael James fumbled the ball and was picked up by Cal ' s defensive back Josh Hill . During his run back , Hill fumbled the ball again which was recovered by Oregon . In the second quarter , Cal recovered a fumble by Oregon , only to fumble the ball back on the very next play . Later that quarter , Oregon punter Jackson Rice kicked the ball off the side of his foot for a 5 yard punt . After a quick three - and - out by Cal , Brian Anger , Cal ' s punter , booted the ball off the side of his foot for another 5 yard punt . Masoli ' s first touchdown pass of the season occurred in the first few seconds of the second quarter , a 26 yard completion to Ed Dickson . Since Cal ' s first field goal , the Ducks went on to score 42 unanswered points to win the game . It was Cal ' s worst loss with Jeff Tedford as the head coach . Washington State . " Uniform combination : black helmet , yellow jersey , black pants " Oregon has won two in a row , and four of the last five against Washington State . The last two games have resulted in 63 – 14 and 53 – 7 victories by the Ducks . The Cougars have not won at Autzen since 2003 when they defeated Oregon 55 – 16 . UCLA . " Uniform combination : green helmet , white jersey , green pants " " Oregon won last year ' s match - up with UCLA 31 – 21 in Eugene . The Ducks last trip to the Rose Bowl in 2007 was a humbling experience , as they were shut out for the first time since 1985 by a score of 16 – 0 . That game however was played the week after they had lost star QB Dennis Dixon to injury for the season . At game time , current Bruins head coach Rick Neuheisel was 4 – 2 against the Ducks going back to the days he coached the Colorado Buffaloes and the Washington Huskies . Since the first game in 1928 , UCLA was leading the series 39 – 23 . With a solid performance in the first half and taking a field goal lead into the locker room , the Bruins gave up three quick touchdowns within few minutes of the third quarter to give the Ducks their fifth win of the season . The Ducks scored on Kenjon Barner ' s 100 - yard kickoff return , on Talmadge Jackson ' s 31 - yard interception , and on Nate Costa ' s 20 - yard pass to Jeff Maehl , which was resulted from a UCLA fumble . The Bruins scored their only touchdown when Akeem Ayers intercepted a Costa pass in the back of the Rose Bowl north end zone by keeping his feet in bound . Kai Forbath kicked a 52 - yard field goal to give UCLA the early lead . Oregon ’ s Rob Beard attempted a 51 - yard field goal , which was blocked by Jerzy Siewierski . Mogan Flint kicked a 33 - yard field goals for the Ducks in the fourth quarter . Washington . " Oregon has won a school record five in a row over their hated rivals to the north , all by 20 or more points . Washington ' s last win over the Ducks came at Husky Stadium in 2003 . " " Uniform combination : black helmet , white jersey with silver numbers , black pants " After Erik Folk ' s 33 - yard field goal in the first quarter for Washington , Oregon blocked a punt and recovered the ball in the endzone in the second quarter to give the Ducks their first lead . Javes Lewis intercepted Jake Locker ' s pass in the end zone to give the ball back to Oregon , which resulted in Jeremiah Masoli ' s 1 - yard touchdown . With a second left , Folk kicked a 48 - yard field goal to end the half , which was aided by a personal foul on Oregon . With good field position at their own 47 - yard line , the Ducks scored their third touchdown on Masoli ' s 3 - yard run in the top of the third quarter . USC . " USC had not won a game in the state of Oregon for the past three years , a streak that the Ducks kept alive . USC beat Oregon in the Los Angeles Coliseum last year , 44 – 10 . " Uniform combination : green helmet , green jersey , black pants " The tenth ranked Ducks handed the Trojans their worst loss since 1997 and Pete Carroll the worst loss in his tenure at USC . Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli passed for 222 yards , and a score , and ran for 164 more , including a touchdown , while LaMichael James ran for 183 yards . Stanford . " The Ducks will go for their 8th straight win against Stanford this season . It is their longest current win streak against any Pac - 10 school . The seven straight wins also ties the longest stretch of dominance in school history over the Cardinal ( 1957 – 63 ) . Oregon came from behind and won last year in Eugene on a last minute touchdown , 35 – 28 . Stanford ' s last win against Oregon came in Eugene in 2001 . That was the Ducks only loss that season , on their way to a 11 – 1 finish and No . 2 final ranking . " " Uniform combination : green helmet , white jersey , white pants " Oregon ' s undefeated conference season came to an end at Stanford , 51 – 42 . Both teams have five victories in the Pac - 10 championship race . Arizona State . " Oregon has won four straight over the Sun Devils by an average of 23 . 8 ppg , including last year ' s 54 – 20 win in Tempe . " Uniform combination : black helmet , black jersey , black pants " Arizona . " Uniform combination : green helmet , white jersey with silver numbers , black pants " The previous trip the Ducks took to Tucson in 2007 was a crushing one as the Ducks saw their BCS National Championship Game hopes fade as their star quarterback Dennis Dixon tore his ACL in the first half of the game . The 2009 game was also important , as it involved the only two teams that week in the Pac - 10 who were able to control their path to earn an outright Pac - 10 Championship . It was a hotly contested game as neither team led by more than 10 points after Arizona ' s first touchdown in the second quarter . Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli started with a sluggish game with two recovered fumbles and an interception to set up Arizona ' s first touchdown . Late in the game , however , he led the Ducks to a narrow victory with two key touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown of his own . After Arizona scored a touchdown in the only score of the third quarter to put them up by 3 , the game turned into a frantic sprint with numerous close calls . Morgan Flint attempted a 43 yard field goal for the Ducks that bounced in after hitting the crossbar , tying the game . With three minutes left in the game and Arizona ahead by a touchdown , Talmadge Jackson intercepted Arizona quarterback Nick Foles ' s pass in the end zone on a 3rd and 16 play at Oregon ' s 40 yard line . As Oregon drove down the field in the remaining minutes , the student section poured into the Arizona sideline as they prepared to rush the field . However , the drive ended with a touchdown pass from Masoli to Dickson . The Ducks tied the game as Oregon backup quarterback Nate Costa corralled an errant snap for the extra point kicked by Flint . The Arizona student section made their way back to the stands as overtime began . The two teams traded a pair of touchdowns in the first overtime but in the second overtime , Arizona settled for a field goal and Oregon scored a touchdown to win the game . After the conclusion , the Arizona section at one end of the stadium next to the visiting section began to throw debris at the Oregon players . An Oregon cheerleader , Katelynn Johnson , was struck in the head with a full water bottle , giving her a concussion . Oregon State . " Uniform combination : yellow helmet , throwback green jersey , white pants " The Ducks crushed the Beavers ' Rose Bowl aspirations for the second year in a row and managed to secure their own with a 37 – 33 home victory over the Beavers at Autzen Stadium . Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli ran over safety Lance Mitchell in order to reach a first down much like his performance against UCLA and Oklahoma State last year where he ran over other players . Suspended running back LeGarrette Blount saw his first action since the Boise State loss and took out his frustration this time in a sportsman like way by running over Oregon State linebacker Keaton Kristick who was regarded as the most feared player in the Pac - 10 . Blount also stiffarmed and threw Stephen Paea to the ground who was regarded as the best defensive tackle in the Pac - 10 . When Oregon was down 30 to 21 Blount broke free and rushed for a 12 - yard touchdown to bring the game closer before Lamichael James broke free for 52 on a touchdown run . In total Blount rushed for 7 times for 51 yards and a touchdown . Ohio State ( Rose Bowl ) . " Uniform combination : white helmet , green jersey , white pants " " Oregon returns to the Rose Bowl for the fifth time and first since the 1994 season . That year the Ducks lost to No . 2 ranked and undefeated Penn State , 38 – 20 . Oregon has never beaten Ohio State in their seven previous meetings . Their most recent meeting occurred in Columbus in 1987 , with the Ducks losing 24 – 14 . Oregon and Ohio State have played in the Rose Bowl once before . The 1958 Rose Bowl game turned out to be a defensive struggle as the Ducks eventually lost to the heavily favored Buckeyes 10 – 7 . Ohio State would go on to share the National Title that year , the Ducks would have to wait 37 more years to return to Pasadena . Ducks QB Jack Crabtree was named MVP of the game that year , the last and only second time ever that a person from the losing team had been bestowed that honor . This time the Ducks will try to win the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1917 , a 14 – 0 victory over Pennsylvania . The Oregon Ducks lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl in 2010 , 26 – 17 . " 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter