Bellotti Proves a Lot in Ducks’ Victory

If we weren’t sure about the reasons USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett was so eager to hire Oregon’s Mike Bellotti as the Trojans’ head coach, we should be now.

This man and his staff can coach.

I suppose that should have been evident to those of us on the West Coast. It certainly was to Garrett, who had watched as his Trojans lost to Bellotti’s Oregon teams three times in four games.

But Bellotti hasn’t been doing anything against the Trojans that he hasn’t been doing against virtually every other team in the Pacific 10 Conference. In six seasons since he became the Ducks’ head coach, they have the conference’s best record. They also have been to bowl games in five of those seasons.

The only thing missing on his resume before Friday night was a victory in a bowl game over one of the nation’s marquee teams. Sure, his Ducks had regular-season victories over teams such as USC, UCLA and Washington. They were the only team to beat the No. 4 Huskies this season.

But in bowl games, he could count only two losses to Colorado and victories over Minnesota and Air Force.

Those were hardly results to wake up the echoes.

The 35-30 victory over Texas on Friday night at Qualcomm Stadium before a crowd of 63,278, the second largest to see the Holiday Bowl, might not have done that, either. But it should have shown everyone who follows college football that space is going to have to be made on the marquee for Oregon.

And that Bellotti can coach.

Did I already mention that?

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The reason that this victory is special is that it came against the Longhorns.

One of the first clear memories I have of seeing the Longhorns play was in the 1964 Cotton Bowl, in which they beat Roger Staubach’s Navy team, 28-6, to finish undefeated and win the national championship for Coach Darrell Royal. It was revealed later that the task had been made considerably easier by the fact Texas coaches had deciphered some of the Midshipmen’s signals.

That had to scare the heck out of the Pentagon. I mean, if some football coaches in Texas could figure out our Navy’s plans in advance, how were we ever going to keep any secrets from the Russians?

Beyond that, the victory established Texas as a national power. Over the next 20 years, the Longhorns would win another national championship--amid a 30-game winning streak--and come close to winning two or three more.

They suffered through a drought in the years after Royal retired, but the reputation remained as big as the Big Bertha bass drum and Bevo steer mascot that accompany them to games.

Even though Oregon came into this game as co-champion of one of the nation’s most competitive conferences and ranked No. 8 in the nation, it was No. 12 Texas that was favored by a touchdown.

Texas’ players also were receiving most of the media attention. They had two super quarterbacks in Major Applewhite and Chris Simms, two super defensive tackles in Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers, two super freshman receivers in Roy Williams and D.J. Johnson and a running back in Hodges Mitchell who had run almost out of the shadow of Ricky Williams.

How could Oregon expect to compete?

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We could theorize that Texas was overrated, at least by the oddsmakers. After all, this is a team that lost to 3-8 Stanford by three and to Oklahoma by 49. There is little question that the Longhorns under Coach Mack Brown are coming back, but they’re not back yet.

We also could theorize that Oregon had some super players of its own. Simms, playing the entire game because of an injury to Applewhite, was sabotaged by dropped passes, particularly in the waning moments. But he also threw four interceptions and was outplayed by the Ducks’ Joey Harrington.

The Ducks’ tailback, Maurice Morris, who sustained a series of injuries in the second half of the season that slowed, and ultimately ended, the team’s drive toward the Rose Bowl, was healthy again Friday, gaining 96 yards rushing and 104 receiving.

But if the Ducks were giving away a game ball afterward, they should have given it to Bellotti.

Give Garrett some credit for pursuing this man because he can coach. Did I mention that already? For family and quality of life reasons, Bellotti decided to remain in Eugene, Ore. He also received a raise, but, even so, he is still making less than half the salary of his counterpart in this game.

Brown, who was recruited to Austin by the same man who recruited Alex Rodriguez to the Lone Star State, Texas Ranger owner and former University of Texas Regent Tom Hicks, recently had his salary increased to $1.4 million per year.

But, in this game, it was Bellotti who had all of the answers.

Oregon’s second touchdown came on a pass from wide receiver Keenan Howry to the quarterback, Harrington.

The last touchdown, the one that won the game, came on an end around.

In between came a fake punt that would have worked if only the punter could have passed the ball more than three yards.

It was a brilliant offensive plan, brilliantly executed, and the result was 35 points against a defense that had allowed more than 21 only twice this season and the first 10-win season in Oregon history.

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Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.