With the official formation of the Pacific Athletic Conference, notable improvement to 4-6-1 eased the tension in Webfoot football circles but a few of the contests were blowouts against the Ducks. One that was played much better than the final score was the 21-6 loss to National Champion Ohio State in Columbus. The Ducks fought hard to the very end in response to the remark made by Ohio State assistant coach Esco Sarkkinen who told Buckeye fans the week of the game, “This Saturday we will welcome you to our version of ‘Laugh-In’”. QB was to be handled by Tom Blanchard but he was redshirted as his knee injury of ’67 had not yet healed. John Harrington whose father was an All American at the University Of Portland and whose son, Joey, would follow him to Oregon decades later took the spot. HB Claxton Welch spearheaded the rushing attack and played for the Cowboys in '69, made a quick stop at the Saints the following year only to return to Dallas before the season was over, and then played another two years with the Cowboys and Patriots. WR Bob Newland showed promise and 6’3”, 235 pound Maurer saw plenty of playing time. The defense played a great game in a 20-13 loss to USC where they held star back O.J. Simpson to sixty-seven yards, perhaps his worst game as a Trojan. Both MG George Dames and Monster Omri Hildreth were All Pac-8 in leading the defense. With the inauguration of the new conference, Frei changed the 1967 helmet by replacing the popular and rather simple “UO” with a decal that depicted somewhat slanting kelly green "UO" letters, trimmed in yellow, within a white oval.

If interested in any of these Oregon helmets please click on the photos below.