Led by seventh-year head coach Len Casanova, the Ducks were 7–3 in the regular season and 6–2 in the PCC, co-champions with rival Oregon State.
Although the Beavers won the Civil War game in Eugene,[1][2] the PCC had a no-repeat rule for the Rose Bowl, so the Ducks had clinched the berth the previous week with a win in Los Angeles over struggling USC.
[3][4] In the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, Oregon met Big Ten champion Ohio State (8–1), second-ranked and led by head coach Woody Hayes.
The Buckeyes were ranked first in the UPI coaches poll and heavily favored, by up to twenty points,[5][6][7][8] but needed a fourth quarter field goal to break a tie for a 10–7 win.
[9][10][11] Outside the 27–26 win at Stanford,[12] the Ducks did not allow more than thirteen points in their ten other games, which included two shutouts, and finished at 7–4.