The 1992 Independence Bowl was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

postseason

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

between the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

and the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

Background

The Ducks finished 6th in the

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

. The Demon Deacons rebounded from a 1–3 start to win six of their next seven games to finish fourth in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. This was Wake Forest's first bowl game since 1979 and Oregon's first since 1990.

Game summary

John Leach scored on a touchdown run to give Wake Forest a 7–0 lead. But Oregon would dominate the quarter and the first half with a Sean Burwell touchdown run from 40 yards and ended the quarter on a Herman O'Berry 24 yard fumble recovery for a touchdown to have a 13–7 lead at the end of one quarter. Wake Forest narrowed the lead on a Mike Green field goal, but Oregon increased their lead on a Vince Ferry touchdown catch from

Danny O'Neil Danny O'Neil (born August 4, 1971) is a former American football quarterback. O'Neil was a star high school quarterback at Mater Dei in Orange County, California and was heavily recruited by Alabama and USC but chose to play for Rich Brooks at t ...

, with a Thompson field goal making it 22–10 with :47 remaining in the half. Oregon increased their lead to 29–10 on an

Alex Molden Alex M. Molden (born August 4, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round with the 11th overall pick of ...

interception return for a touchdown with 9:43 in the third. Wake Forest took over from this point, scoring 29 straight points in the third and fourth. Ned Moultrie made it 29–17 on a touchdown run with less than four minutes remaining in the 3rd. Todd Dixon made it 29–24 on a 30 yard touchdown catch from Keith West with :45 in the quarter. Dixon caught another touchdown pass, this time from Bobby Jones, to give the Deacons a 32–29 lead after the two point conversion succeeded. Leach scored his second touchdown from 6 yards out to make it 39–29 with 5:19 remaining. Ronnie Harris scored for the Ducks on a 10 yard touchdown pass from O'Neil to make it 39–35 (after a missed kick) with 1:05 remaining, but the Demon Deacons held on to win their first bowl game since

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

Aftermath

Dooley retired after the bowl win, and the Demon Deacons would not return to a bowl game until

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. As for Oregon, they returned to a bowl game three years later, in the Rose Bowl. Neither team has returned to the Independence Bowl since this game.

Statistics

References

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bow ...

Independence Bowl Oregon Ducks football bowl games Wake Forest Demon Deacons football bowl games December 1992 sports events in the United States 1992 in sports in Louisiana {{collegefootball-bowl-stub