As I go on and speak, I forget about the question. And they’re sitting here in front of you as Rose Bowl champions - not only as Rose Bowl champions but as MVPs of the Rose Bowl after winning the Pac-12 Championship. I think he’s a guy that you can’t - it’s hard to even script this kind of Hollywood story, right? Right down the road, born and raised, just like Brady, been watching Oregon Duck football forever. It’s just been incredible.ĬOACH CRISTOBAL: Well, I think Justin, you know, he - I mean, I mess with him all the time. We’ve been through a lot as a team and as a defense and offense and special teams, we’ve been through so many ups and downs. I want to make sure to give thanks to Coach and my teammates, thanks for all the guys that stuck together and stuck through it. And I couldn’t have dreamed or even fathomed playing in a Rose Bowl let alone winning the Rose Bowl, scoring a touchdown in a Rose Bowl and seeing Justin score three touchdowns, it’s just amazing, two kids from the state of Oregon just going out there having fun and playing football and I made sure to take it all in. And the stars aligned and God has answered all my prayers as a kid - all I wanted to do was to play for Oregon. And I just want to give all my glory to God and so thankful for the opportunity. But I kept working and finally got an opportunity to finally start a game, and finally got to make some plays. And being able to get this opportunity to play for Oregon, I was happy with that. I was just a fan, dreaming of playing in these type of games. And it’s cool to see all these people waving at us in the stands and stuff, all these fans, all these little kids, just like I was when I was at the game watching Ohio State play Oregon and watching Florida State play Oregon. And a guy from Eugene, Oregon scoring touchdowns in the Rose Bowl, tying Vince Young’s records or something. Everyone cheering and high-fiving each other and people crying because we’ve been through so much - 4-8 my freshman year. And seeing them run out the clock at the end, it was amazing to see. We’ve worked so hard as a defense and as an offense and special teams, it’s nice to see us come together and come together as teammates. And to be able to make plays in the Rose Bowl like that is just incredible. It’s been a blessing and our team has just stayed faithful. And we’ve got this guy as our head coach. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world because it’s made us better men and better teammates. I mean, three D coordinators in four years. We’ve had three head coaches in four years. And life’s come full circle and I’ve stayed faithful as a team. And I’m looking - when I scored the touchdown - I went and looked at the section I was sitting when I was at that game as a fan, and now I’m scoring the touchdown in the Rose Bowl. I’m thinking to myself, wow, this is just like when Washington scored that touchdown against Florida State. And I pick it up and I’m running in the end zone. As Washington quarterback Damon Huard rolled out to pass, Wheaton stepped in front of the Husky receiver, intercepted the ball at the 3-yard line, and ran 97 yards for a touchdown.Īnd I had a perfect view of the back of Kenny Wheaton's head.BRADY BREEZE: One of my teammates came through the gap and made a great play on the ball and blocked it, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, the ball’s sitting right there. I was on the north.Īfter the Huskies got a first down and with Heisman Trophy candidate Napoleon Kaufman in the backfield, I was convinced Washington would run the ball. The Huskies had the ball on the 9-yard line. On that sunny day in Eugene, the Ducks led Washington 24-20 with less than a minute left. 23, 1994, following Oregon’s 31-20 win over the ninth-ranked Huskies. Those are among the moments frozen in time from the photograph that ran in The Register-Guard on Oct. A reporter jumps in the air, another man points Wheaton toward the end zone, a couple of ballboys stand stunned, and a father holds his daughter in one arm while pumping his fist with the other.
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