FREEDOM BOWL : Oregon’s Offense Looks for a Return to Health

The Oregon Ducks hope the quack is back in their attack.

The Ducks didn’t score a touchdown in their last two regular-season games, losing to California, 28-3, and beating rival Oregon State, 6-3.

But the Ducks (8-3), who were hampered by injuries in those games, think they’ll be in good shape when they play Colorado State (8-4) Saturday night in the Freedom Bowl at Anaheim Stadium.

“We should be as healthy as we were since the middle of the season, which is good news to our offense, which has struggled,” Oregon Coach Rich Brooks said.

The last touchdown scored by the Ducks was a 16-yard pass from All-Pac-10 quarterback Bill Musgrave to Vince Ferry with 2:01 left in the fourth quarter that gave them a 28-24 win over UCLA on Nov. 3.

But Musgrave, a senior who passed for 2,219 yards and 14 touchdowns, missed the last six quarters of the season with a bruised throwing shoulder.

Flanker Michael McClellan had all 27 of his receptions in the first seven games before undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. He played sparingly in the final two games. The other starting receiver, Joe Reitzug, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery after the Oregon State game but will play Saturday.

Redshirt freshman tailback Sean Burwell, who led the Ducks with 949 yards rushing, was sidelined early in Oregon’s win over Oregon State with a slight crack in his lowest vertebra. He returned to full practice last Saturday. Fullback Juan Shedrick has been bothered by an ankle injury all season, and tight end Jeff Thomason broke his left ankle against UCLA.

“Even with the injuries, I felt we should have been able to do more on the offensive side of the ball,” Brooks said. “The offensive line is as big a part as the injuries we had at the skill positions, so we need to re-establish that we can get into the end zone. We need to re-establish our offense and rediscover the end zone, so to speak.”

The Ducks beat Tulsa in the 1989 Independence Bowl, their first postseason game in 26 years, and they are making consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in school history.

Colorado State, meanwhile, is making only its second bowl appearance and its first in 42 seasons.

The Rams had their best record since 1977, and are 13-9-1 in two seasons since Earle Bruce took over. In the two seasons before Bruce’s arrival, the Rams were 2-21.

Bruce is 6-5 in bowl games at Tampa, Iowa State and Ohio State.

While the Ducks lean toward the passing game, the Rams lean toward the run. Colorado State generally spreads the ball among three players: tailback Brian Copeland (169 carries, 896 yards, five touchdowns), tailback Tony Alford (140 carries, 647 yards, eight touchdowns) and fullback Todd Yert (169 carries, 589 yards, 16 scores).

Yert, who averages 3.5 yards per carry, has fumbled only once in 491 carries.

Colorado State averages 219.3 yards per game rushing; the Ducks allow only 106.2 yards on the ground, 12th best in the NCAA.