The pick With 1:05 left in the game, the Ducks ahead by 4 and the Huskies on the Oregon 8 with a first down, Kenny Wheaton gambled his way into Duck football history with an interception and a 97-yard return for the killer touchdown.

Oh, what a memory

Kenny Wheaton’s seminal play still resonates 20 years later

Over the years, Kenny Wheaton has learned to embrace his rockstar status in Oregon. Two decades after changing the course of history for the program, the author of “The Pick” will return to Eugene this week as the grand marshal of the university’s homecoming parade.

Here we go. Your browser does not support the video tag. 1:05 remaining,

first and goal

from the 8-yard line.

Wheaton will also be signing throwback jerseys and other memorabilia at The Duck Store. Throngs of fans already welcomed him back to campus last month when he was a special guest on ESPN during the network’s pregame coverage of Oregon’s key nonconference game against Michigan State. The Eugene Emeralds minor league baseball team even had “Kenny Wheaton bobblehead night” at PK Park this summer. “The bobblehead freaked me out,” Wheaton said of being a local celebrity. “When I have moments like that, it’s a feeling that’s unexplainable. It’s more special now because my 6-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter say, ‘I guess Daddy was pretty good.’ ” The 1994 Oregon Ducks were supposed to be pretty bad. The team was picked to finish eighth in the Pac-10 preseason media poll. After a shaky 1-2 start with losses to a pair of WAC teams (Hawaii and Utah), Rich Brooks and his staff were able to calm the pitchfork mob, which was clad in “Ditch Ritch” T-shirts, with notable wins over Iowa and USC.

Wheaton’s play to seal the 31-20 victory over Washington on Oct. 22, 1994, is arguably the most important moment in the history of Oregon football. At that moment, the Ducks started to believe they could actually win the conference and end the program’s 37-year Rose Bowl drought. “I’m proud of this stuff because it’s friggin’ awesome.” – Nick Aliotti,

former Oregon defensive coordinator “Our whole lives changed,” Aliotti said during a recent trip down memory lane. “My whole life changed because of those kids and the other coaches.” During Brooks’ first season as Oregon’s head coach in 1977, the Ducks were drubbed 54-0 by the Huskies. He had a 3-14 record against Washington to start the 1994 season.

Huard, with Kaufman behind him now.

Will he get the ball? Your browser does not support the video tag. Huard, going to go back to throw the ball. Sets up, looks, throws toward the corner of the end zone...

Before the improbable ending delivered by Wheaton, the Huskies had a commanding 54-28-5 overall record against Oregon. Since Wheaton returned the fateful interception for a 97-yard touchdown, the Ducks are 15-4 against their rivals from Seattle, including a 10-game winning streak in the series for this Saturday’s 107th meeting at Autzen Stadium. “Sometimes you need the dam to break,” said Josh Wilcox, who was a sophomore tight end on the 1994 Ducks. “And that was the one that helped break it.” Before Wheaton’s momentous pick-six, Oregon’s all-time record was 359-366-34 (.495). Since the seminal moment, the Ducks are 177-65 (.731). “At the time I was joyful and excited, but I didn’t know the play would be what it is today,” Wheaton said. “I didn’t understand the rivalry. I just wondered if my mom saw it on TV.” ‘Maybe our mothers thought we could do it’ Two years earlier, it snowed during Wheaton’s recruiting visit to Oregon. The unusual wintry conditions had assistant Denny Schuler, the secondary coach who recruited the coveted prospect from Phoenix, nervous about sealing the deal. “My one trip to Eugene, I didn’t like it,” Wheaton said. “Me being from Arizona, I had never been in a snowstorm before. But I had a good time meeting the guys. Isaac Walker was my host and is still one of my best friends to this day.” Wheaton respected Brooks for not promising him anything, as other Pac-10 coaches had. He was told he would have to earn playing time at Oregon. He accepted the challenge, choosing the Ducks over Arizona, and then redshirted in 1993 while studying behind a deep group of cornerbacks, including Alex Molden and Herman O’Berry.

...it is

INTERCEPTED! Your browser does not support the video tag. INTERCEPTED!

The Ducks have

the ball!

“I didn’t want to redshirt and I was unhappy about that. As time went on, I realized it was the best thing for me,” Wheaton said. “It was different as an 18-year-old when you leave home for the first time and you have to go to class and go to practice and go to study table. It really helped me get into the swing of things.” In 1993, Oregon was 4-2 and on track for a third bowl appearance in four years before the pivotal showdown with Washington. The Huskies smothered the Ducks 21-6, which led to a 1-4 downward spiral to end the campaign. Wheaton said the younger players in the program made a vow to change the team’s fortunes in 1994. He remembers a prophetic prediction made by Jaiya Figueras before the season began. “The mood of the team to me, being a young guy, it was almost like that class I showed up with, we wanted to change the attitude. Before it was almost like we were accepting of the fact there was no bowl game,” Wheaton said. “Figueras, my old roommate, was the guy leading the charge for my freshman class. He would say things in the dorm room, and I’d look at him like he was crazy, saying we were going to win the Pac-10 and all this stuff. “But it started to rub off on the rest of us.” Before the famous pick, Wheaton came up with an interception of USC quarterback Rob Johnson on the opening series to set the tone for the Ducks’ first win at the Los Angeles Coliseum since 1971. “I’ve always said the USC game is probably the best game I’ve ever played in my life. It’s the game I still think about 20 years later.” – Kenny Wheaton “I really think when you look at that season, you have to start at the USC game,” Wheaton said. “I don’t think anyone, or even their girlfriends, thought we were going to win. Maybe our mothers thought we could do it. That’s it.”

Down to the 35, the 40.

KENNY WHEATON'S GONNA SCORE! Your browser does not support the video tag. KENNY WHEATON IS GOING TO SCORE!

The Ducks, who went to backups at key positions all over the field because of a rash of injuries, were 17-point underdogs to the mighty Trojans. “We went there with a different attitude. We went there to win,” Wheaton said. “Those injuries helped Oregon football forever because it allowed guys with a chip on their shoulder to get in there.” The injuries caught up with the Ducks during a loss at Washington State a week later. However, after beginning a four-game homestand with a dominant 23-7 victory over California, Aliotti’s “Gang Green” defense was feeling sanguine about the Washington game. ‘Kenny Wheaton is going to score!’ After an immaculate 11-play, 98-yard drive — which began with a gutsy 36-yard pass play to Dameron Ricketts, was extended on a fearless scramble by Danny O’Neil and capped by fullback Dwayne Jones’ 12-yard touchdown scamper — Oregon was in position to upset No. 9 Washington. Then Damon Huard, Napoleon Kaufman and the Huskies’ powerful offense turned the cheers from the crowd of 44,134 into groans and murmurs by executing a clutch two-minute drill, converting two third-and-10s and a fourth-and-10 along the way. With the Ducks clinging to a 24-20 lead, longtime radio play-by-play man Jerry Allen set the scene as follows: “Here we go, 1:05 remaining, first-and-goal from the 8-yard line. Huard with Kaufman behind him now. Will he get the ball? Huard is going to go back to throw the ball. Sets up, looks, throws the ball toward the corner of the end zone, it is … ” If Huard had handed off to Kaufman, there’s a good chance the Heisman Trophy candidate and future NFL standout would have scored or at least advanced the ball closer to the goal line with time for more snaps.

20, the 10,

touchdown! Your browser does not support the video tag. KENNY WHEATON ON THE INTERCEPTION!

“I was on the sideline. You just feel kind of helpless,” longtime Oregon running backs coach Gary Campbell recalled. “The thing I was hoping is if they scored that they would do it really quick, so we could get the ball and take it back down.” Aliotti had a feeling Washington would keep the ball in Huard’s hot hand. So after a timeout, the aggressive young coordinator put his “Falcon” defense (five defensive backs) on the field and called for a blitz, which left the cornerbacks in man-to-man coverage. Sure enough, Huard dropped back to pass. “I would have given the ball to Napoleon Kaufman. When I saw they threw it, I said, ‘Good,’” Aliotti said. “I mean, we’re bringing pressure, we want them to throw the ball. He had to get the ball off quick because we had edge pressure.” With inside linebacker Jeremy Asher and strong safety Chad Cota pass rushing behind defensive linemen Silila Malepeai and Bryant Jackson and linebacker Derrick Barnes, both Huard and Wheaton had to make split-second decisions for the ages. If Huard had pump-faked, sure-handed flanker Dave Janoski would have been uncovered in the end zone. If Wheaton, who anticipated the play call after doing extra film study in his room on the Thursday night leading into the game, had tipped his hand, Huard and Janoski would be the heroes of the day. Instead, Wheaton jumped the quick out just as the ball was leaving Huard’s fingertips. “Once they lined up in the set, I felt it was coming my way,” Wheaton said. “As the ball was in the air, I was telling myself to be patient and don’t drop it. Then once I picked it I was thinking, ‘Now score.’”

THE MOST

IMPROBABLE

FINISH TO A FOOTBALL GAME.” Your browser does not support the video tag. - Jerry Allen,

1994 radio call