The 1997 Las Vegas Bowl was the sixth edition of the annual

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

, held at

Sam Boyd Stadium Sam Boyd Stadium (formerly the Las Vegas Silver Bowl) is a football stadium in the western United States, located in Whitney, Nevada, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas Valley. It honors Sam Boyd (1910–1993), a major figure in the hot ...

Whitney, Nevada Whitney (formerly East Las Vegas) is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 38,585 at the 2010 census. Background Stowell E. Whitney, a dairy farmer from Bunkerville, Neva ...

on Saturday, December 20, 1997. It featured the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. ...

, and the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athl ...

. Despite being decisive underdogs, Oregon soundly defeated the nationally ranked Air Force team.

Game summary

Oregon scored first on a 69-yard touchdown pass from quarterback

Akili Smith Kabisa Akili Maradufu Smith (born August 21, 1975) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round (3rd overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft, the third quarterback in the first three choices, beh ...

to wide receiver Pat Johnson for a 7–0 Oregon lead. The big plays continued for Oregon, as running back

Saladin McCullough Saladin McCullough (born July 17, 1975) is a former American football running back who played three seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos, Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders. He first enrolled at Pasadena C ...

rushed 76 yards for a touchdown, but the extra point attempt failed, and Oregon had a 13–0 lead. In the second quarter, Oregon blocked an Air Force punt, and Kevin Parker recovered it in the end zone for another Oregon touchdown, but again the extra point failed, and Oregon had a 19–0 lead. Jason Maas threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hartley to put the Ducks up 26–0 at halftime. In the third quarter, Air Force finally got on the scoreboard, with a 1-yard touchdown run from

Blane Morgan Blane Morgan (born 1977) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Lamar University, a position he held from 2020 until 2022. Morgan also played college football as a quarterback at the United States Air Force ...

to make it 26–7. Later in the third quarter,

Jason Maas Jason Maas (born November 19, 1975) is the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and a former Canadian football quarterback in the CFL. He is best known for his playing career with the Edmonton Eskimos where h ...

threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hartley, and a successful two-point conversion made it 34-7. Air Force scored its final touchdown, on a 45-yard runback of a fumble by Bryce Fisher. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 34–13. Oregon scored its final points on a 78-yard touchdown pass from Maas to Pat Johnson, making the final score 41–13.

References

External links

Review of game by USA Today

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...

Las Vegas Bowl Air Force Falcons football bowl games Oregon Ducks football bowl games Las December 1997 sports events in the United States {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub