The 1990 Freedom Bowl was an American

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 ...

between the

Colorado State Rams The Colorado State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Colorado State University (CSU). Colorado State's athletic teams compete along with 8 other institutions in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and sp ...

and 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 Conferenc ...

Background

The Rams had finished second in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

to earn a bowl appearance, their first since 1949, in

Earle Bruce Earle Bruce (March 8, 1931 – April 20, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tampa (1972), Iowa State University (1973–1978), Ohio State University (1979–1987), the University of N ...

's second season as head coach. The Ducks finished third in the

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

in Brooks' 14th year with the Ducks. This was the first time the Ducks made consecutive bowl appearances. This was the first and only Freedom Bowl for both teams.

Game summary

Despite outgaining the Rams by nearly 100 yards, Oregon fell short, with their three fumbles and limited rushing attack not helping their cause. Mike Gimenez ran in for a touchdown midway through the first quarter to give the Rams a 7–0 lead. Anthony Jones caught a touchdown pass from

Bill Musgrave William Scott Musgrave (born November 11, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the senior offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He is also a former quarterback, offensive coor ...

to tie the game back up as the first quarter ended soon after. Gregg McCallum gave Oregon a lead on his 23-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but Tony Alford responded nearly four minutes later on a touchdown run. With :23 remaining in the half, Sean Burwell caught a touchdown pass from Musgrave to give Oregon a 17–14 halftime lead. The third quarter proved crucial as the Rams scored five points despite only gaining five yards and no first downs the whole quarter. It started on a muffed punt attempt that was recovered by Oregon in the end zone, resulting in a safety. Mike Brown kicked a field goal late in the third quarter to give the Rams a 19–17 lead as the fourth quarter began not long after. Michael McClellan caught a touchdown pass from Musgrave early in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion succeeded after Burwell's catch to make it 25–19.

Greg Primus Greg Primus (born October 20, 1970) is a former American football player for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). Primus attended George Washington High School in Denver as well as Colorado State University Colorado St ...

caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Gimenez to give the Rams the lead again. Todd Yert added on to the margin on his 52-yard touchdown run with 4:59 remaining. But Brown's extra point kick was blocked, keeping the score 32–25. The Ducks went on a 79-yard drive with the help of third-down completions of 31 and 21 yards to Joe Reitzug. With 61 seconds remaining, Sean Burwell ran in for a touchdown to narrow the score to 32–31. They decided to go for the win on the two point conversion attempt. Musgrave threw to McClellan, but he fell short of the endzone, as the Rams held on to win the game. Musgrave went 29 for 47 on 392 yards with three touchdowns. McClellan caught 9 of those passes for 148 yards. Yert rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries for the Rams. This was the first ever bowl victory for the Rams.

Aftermath

Both teams did not win another bowl game until 1997, under different coaches.

Statistics

References

Freedom Bowl The Freedom Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, from 1984 to 1994. The bowl frequently invited a team from the Western Athletic Conference to compete against an at-large opp ...

Freedom Bowl Colorado State Rams football bowl games Oregon Ducks football bowl games

December 1990 sports events in the United States {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub