By Layton Shumway
When I look at the University of Oregon football team, I see a lot that looks familiar.
Not on the surface, of course. Outwardly, the brightly colored Ducks look nothing like the Cougars. Clad in green and yellow with the latest Nike designs, Oregon is always making a fashion statement. BYU?s stoic uniforms deliberately remind fans of the glory days of old ? and hopefully, those yet to come.
But I look beyond that and see something I recognize. A team pow-ered by an explosive offense. A pro-gram with a rich history. A team that has beaten ranked opponents (and lost to them).
Coaching similarities are easy to spot, mostly because Oregon offen-sive coordinator Gary Crowton served as BYU?s head coach for four years. In fact, he and current BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall have been on the same side more than once, beginning in the mid-?80s at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where Crowton was an assistant coach and Mendenhall a player. They teamed up again at Louisiana Tech in 1997, and in 2002, Crowton lured Mendenhall away from New Mexico to serve under him as defensive coordinator for the Cougars.
But I see more than that. I see a team who has enjoyed recent success, like the Ducks? 2002 Fiesta Bowl win over Colorado. I was there that day at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, and I felt a certain kinship between the victorious Ducks and the BYU team that marched undefeated through the Mountain West Conference in the same season (although the Cougars? bowl that year was significantly less successful).
I see a team that has had to weather recent failures. A three-game losing streak to end the season sounds exactly like the Cougars, who ended each of the last five years with two or three losses before this season?s breakthrough. Ducks fans have had to deal with 5-6 seasons like 2004. That same year, Cougars fans suffered through a 5-7 record.
I see a team that has struggled to escape the shadow of conference opponents. The Ducks wage a yearly war to prove they belong with USC and other national powers. In the last two years, Utah and TCU com-manded more respect than BYU, a statement that would have been un-thinkable ten years ago.
Oregon leads the Pac-10 in total offense. BYU leads the Mountain West in total offense. Oregon aver-ages over 30 points a game. BYU averages almost 40 points a game. Oregon leads the Pac-10 in pass de-fense. BYU leads the Mountain West in scoring defense.
Even in the differences between the two teams, there are similarities.
Oregon comes into the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl on a three-game losing streak, including a two-point loss to archrival Oregon State. BYU is riding nine straight wins, including a two-point win over archrival Utah. Oregon has been to bowl games in four of the last five seasons, but hasn?t won one since that 2002 Fiesta Bowl. BYU is making its second bowl appearance in five sea-sons, but hasn?t won one since the 1997 Cotton Bowl.
Oregon is looking to maintain a decade of success. BYU hopes to get back to the dominance they enjoyed in the ?80s and mid ?90s. But both need a win in Las Vegas to achieve their goals.
I cheered for Oregon at the Fiesta Bowl that day, because I felt like I was cheering for a mirror image of my beloved Cougars.
Sorry, Ducks. This time, I?m cheering for the real thing.
