72 Interesting Facts about Oregon Ducks Football
July 21, 2024
Interesting Facts about Oregon Football – The University of Oregon Ducks football program has risen to national prominence over the past few decades. Since the 1990s, Oregon has become known for its innovative offenses, flashy uniforms, and consistent success on the field.
This season, the Ducks make a jump from the Pac-12 Conference to the Big Ten Conference, which is a huge change considering Oregon has been playing in some form of the Pac Conference (Pac-8, 10, or 12) since 1968. To get ready for the upcoming season, here are some interesting facts you might not have known about this legendary program.
Interesting Facts about Oregon Ducks Football
1) The University of Oregon mascot is the Oregon Duck.
If the Oregon Duck looks eerily similar to Disney’s Donald Duck, that’s because in the 1970s, Disney granted Oregon the right to use Donald’s likeness as a symbol for Oregon sports.
2) Oregon’s first football game was on March 24, 1894, defeating Albany College 44–3.
3) The Ducks’ first head coach was Cal Young, who only coached one game (against Albany College) and has a lifetime winning percentage of 1.000!
The football program has had 39 head coaches in its 129-year history.
4) The program’s biggest rivalry is against the Oregon State Beavers. Known as “The Civil War” it is one the oldest rivalries in all of college football.
Dating back to 1894, the Ducks have played the Beavers 127 times. Oregon holds the all-time series lead 68-49-10.
5) Oregon’s second-most played team is the University of Washington Huskies
The Ducks have played the Huskies 116 times dating back to 1900. Washington holds the all-time series lead 63-48-5.
6) The Ducks’ fight song is “Mighty Oregon,” composed by Albert Perfect in 1916.
7) The official team colors are green and yellow.
8) The Ducks have won 13 conference championships
9) Oregon has never won a national championship but they have made two appearances in the national championship game (2010 and 2014).
10) In 2014, quarterback Marcus Mariota became the only Oregon player to ever win a Heisman Trophy
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At the time, Mariota became the first Polynesian player and first player from Hawaii to ever win the award, too.
11) Mariota holds many records at Oregon, including most wins by a quarterback (36), most career passing yards (10,796), and most career passing touchdowns (105).
12) Third-year head coach Dan Lanning is Oregon’s current head coach. Lanning has a record of 22-5 in his first two seasons.
13) The winningest coach in Oregon history is Mike Bellotti
Bellotti coached from 1995-2008 and amassed a total of 116 wins. He is largely credited with turning Oregon into the national program it is today.
14) The best winning percentage of any Oregon head coach belongs to Chip Kelly
Kelly only coached the Ducks from 2009-2012, but he had a record of 46-7 (a staggering 0.868 winning percentage!)
15) The team’s “Win the Day” motto was popularized during Chip Kelly’s tenure as head coach.
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16) The longest tenured head coach in Oregon football history is Rich Brooks.
Brooks coached the Ducks from 1977–1994, a total of 204 games. His record while at Oregon was 91-109 (0.456). His best season was his last, going 9-4 in 1994 and losing in the Rose Bowl. He left Oregon for the NFL, becoming coach of the St. Louis Rams.
17) Oregon’s home stadium is called Autzen Stadium
Autzen Stadium holds 54,000 and was named after Thomas J. Autzen, a Portland-based philanthropist. The stadium opened in 1967.
18) Oregon has hosted ESPN’s College GameDay 10 times at Autzen Stadium.
19) In addition to their fast-paced style of play, Oregon gained popularity in the mid-1990s due to their flashy and unique uniforms.
The history of Oregon’s eye-catching uniforms can be traced back to 1996, when Nike co-founder Phil Knight (who is an Oregon alum) started a partnership with the team in an effort to attract better players to the program. Matter of fact, Oregon was the first team in college football to wear Nike’s “Pro Combat” uniforms in 2009.
20) Oregon’s first-ever uniform was designed by coach Hugo Bezdek in 1906.
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21) In 2023, the Ducks had one of the most exciting offenses in college football averaging 531.4 yards per game and 44.2 points per game.
22) In 2024, Oregon hosts the Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be the first time Ohio State has traveled to Eugene, Oregon to play the Ducks since 1967.
23) Royce Freeman has the most rushing yards in Oregon Ducks history with 5,621 yards. He played for Oregon from 2014-2017.
24) Samie Parker is the all-time receiving leader, having caught 2,761 yards in his Oregon career. He played from 2000-2003.
25) Oregon’s football program has 704 total wins over its 129-year history. Their all-time record is 704-511-46.
26) Oregon has been to 37 bowl games and has a record of 17-20 in those games.
27) Their first bowl game appearance was in the 1917 Rose Bowl, where they defeated the University of Pennsylvania 14-0.
28) The program has played in the Rose Bowl eight times – more than any other bowl game.
29) The last time Oregon played in the Rose Bowl was in 2020, when the Ducks beat Wisconsin 28-27.
30) The Ducks have produced 244 NFL draft picks, which ranks 36th nationally in college football.
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31) The “Pit Crew” is the name of Oregon’s enthusiastic student section.
32) On Sept. 2, 2023, Oregon beat Portland State 81-7 and set the modern program record for most points scored in a game.
The all-time historical record was set in 1910 when Oregon defeated the University of Puget Sound 115–0!
33) The Oregon Duck mascot performs a push-up for every point the Ducks score during a game.
34) The “O” hand gesture, formed by connecting thumbs and index fingers, is a popular symbol among Oregon fans.
35) The Ducks have retired three numbers: No. 14 (Dan Fouts), No. 20 (Mel Renfro), and No. 42 (John Kitzmiller).
36) The University of Oregon’s first football team was known as the “lemon yellow” due to their uniform color.
37) The nickname “Webfoot” was first used for Oregon’s football team in 1894. The school first used “Webfoot” officially in 1902 for its yearbook.
The team was commonly called the Webfoots until the 1960s.
38) Various names like Pioneers, Condors, and Fighting Drakes were considered before Webfoots was chosen.
39) The nickname “Ducks” was initially used informally by sportswriters to save space.
40) An off-campus fraternity started bringing a live duck to games in the early 1920s.
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41) The team has a tradition of releasing a live duck named “Puddles” at games.
42) The 19983 Civil War rivalry game between Oregon and Oregon State was played in a rainstorm and ultimately ended in a 0-0 tie. That game was the last 0-0 tie in college football history.
43) In the 1940s, Oregon was one of the first college football teams to utilize pre-snap motion.
The technique was known as “Oliver’s Twist,” which was named after the team’s head coach Tex Oliver.
44) The Ducks’ practice facility, the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, is considered one of the best in the country.
45) Oregon is known for its track and field program (aka “Tracktown USA”) and the football team has had many players over the years who play football and also run on the track team.
Some of the top two-way players include Mel Renfro, JJ Birden, Ronnie Harris, Patrick Johnson, and all-time receiving yards leader Samie Parker.
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46) Oregon has had six players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Dan Fouts, Alphonse Leemans, Mel Renfro, Norm Van Brocklin, Dave Wilcox, and Gary Zimmerman.
47) Dan Fouts, aka “Mountain Man,” was one of the best Oregon players of all time.
Fouts played quarterback for the Ducks from 1970-72 and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers. He played in the NFL for 15 years and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
48) Another top Oregon player is Ahmad Rashad, who played wide receiver alongside Fouts in the early ‘70s
Rashad played in the NFL for St. Louis, Minnesota, Buffalo, and Seattle and was a four-time pro bowler. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
49) Mel Renfro is another Duck in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Renfro played running back (and ran track) at Oregon in the early ‘60s and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1964. He played defensive back for the Cowboys for 14 seasons and won two Super Bowls.
50) The song “Shout” by The Isley Brothers plays between the third and fourth quarters of Oregon home games.
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This tradition comes from the use of the school in the film Animal House.
51) Looking ahead to the 2024 season, the Ducks landed Oklahoma transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel who will lead the team amid high expectations.
52) Many preseason rankings have Oregon as a top-5 team and there are high hopes the Ducks will be competing for the program’s first national championship trophy in 2024.
53) In addition to Oregon, the Big Ten Conference also added the Washington Huskies, UCLA Bruins, and University of Southern California Trojans.
The addition of these four schools makes the Big TEN … 18 total schools!
54) Oregon linebackers Jestin Jacobs and Jeffrey Bassa both decided to forgo the NFL draft and return to Oregon. The duo forms one of the best linebacker tandems in the country.
55) In the 2024 NFL draft, Oregon had eight players drafted, which set a program record. The previous record was five players, set in 2023.
The highest pick in this year’s draft was quarterback Bo Nix, who was picked 12th overall by the Denver Broncos.
56) The highest draft pick in the history of Oregon football was quarterback George Shaw, who was the first pick of the 1955 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts.
57) The University of Oregon is located in Eugene, Oregon. The town was named after Eugene Skinner, one of the city’s original settlers.
58) The nearby town of Springfield inspired the fictional Springfield in “The Simpsons.”
59) In 1953, the Ducks played in the first nationally televised college football game. Oregon beat the University of Nebraska, 20–12.
60) The most accomplished kicker in Oregon history is Aidan Schneider.
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Schneider played on the team from 2014-2017. During that time, Schneider made 51 field goals out of 60 attempts. He holds the record for most made field goals and he is also #2 in career field goal percentage (.850).
61) The most accomplished punter in team history is Jackson Rice, who played from 2009-2012. Rice punted a total of 8,404 yards in his career.
62) The least amount of career punting yards belongs to Jared Siegel, who played for Oregon from 2001-2004. Siegel punted one time for 16 total yards.
63) The program has had 11 consensus All Americans.
The first Oregon player to earn the distinction was running back Mel Renfro in 1962. The most recent All-American was offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson in 2023. Powers-Johnson also won the Dave Rimington Trophy, which is given annually to the best center in college football.
64) In 2010, the Ducks were ranked #1 in the AP Poll for seven consecutive weeks, the longest stretch in program history.
65) In 1974, the Ducks went 2-9, the worst season of the program’s last 50 years.
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66) In 2014, Oregon went 13-2 – the most wins in a single season in program history.
Despite the team’s success, the Ducks lost in the College Football Playoff National Championship game to the Ohio State Buckeyes, 42-20.
67) Bo Nix, who played quarterback for the Ducks in 2023, set the program’s single-season passing record. He threw for 4,508 yards and passed the previous record holder, Marcus Mariota.
68) Two players hold the single-game passing record of 489 yards: Bill Musgrave (1989) and Justin Herbert (2016).
Herbert is currently the quarterback of the Los Angeles Chargers.
69) The single-season rushing record was set by Royce Freeman, who ran for 1,836 yards in 2015.
Freeman was drafted into the NFL as the 71st overall pick in the 2018 draft. He is currently a running back for the Dallas Cowboys.
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70) Running back Kenjon Barner set the single-game rushing record. Barner ran for 321 yards in 2012 against USC.
71) Kenjon Barner and running back Saladin McCullough hold the single-game rushing touchdown record of five rushing touchdowns.
Barner scored five times against USC in 2012 in the same game where he set the single-game rushing record. McCullough scored five times in 1996 against Arizona.
72)The single-game reception record was set by Samie Parker in 2003. Parker caught 16 passes in a single game against Minnesota.
73) The record for most receiving yards in a season belongs to Troy Franklin, who caught 1,383 yards in 2023.
Franklin was drafted as the 102nd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and he currently plays for the Denver Broncos. Franklin also set the single-season receiving touchdown record in 2023, having caught 14 touchdowns.
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