PASADENA, Calif. -- For most of the 1994 college football season, Danny O'Neil went quietly about his business as Oregon's No. 1 quarterback. His statistics weren't overwhelming, and he wasn't flashy in and out of the pocket.

But the 6-foot-2, 179-pound signal caller was a winner. He led the Ducks to a 9-3 record and their first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1958.

However, in the 81st Rose Bowl game, O'Neil didn't win. Although he lost to Penn State 38-20, he threw for some amazing numbers, and in the process, rewrote the Rose Bowl record books.

Prior to the game, Penn State's Kerry Collins was the more talked about quarterback of the two. After all, Collins had been a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and the recepient of the Maxwell Award, which goes to the best college player.

Nevertheless, throughout the Rose Bowl, O'Neil picked apart the Nittany Lions suspect defense with precision passing. For his efforts, he was named co-most valuable player with Lion tailback Ki-Jana Carter.

But O'Neil didn't walk off the field a winner.

"I came up short and that is ungratifying to me, " he said afterwards. "I'd give up all my stats for the victory."

And his stats were impressive.

He completed 41 of 61 passes for 456 yards and two touchdowns. O'Neil broke the Rose Bowl passing records for attempts, completions and yardage set by Wisconsin's Ron VanderKelen in 1963.

Ironically, VanderKelen also came up short in his bid to win college football's most tradition-laden bowl, losing to USC, 42-37.

O'Neil also established Rose Bowl marks for most plays with 74 and total offense (456 yards).

Against Penn State's soft-zone defense, Oregon's feisty quarterback threw most of his passes short to wide-open receivers. His main target was Oregon tight end Josh Wilcox, who ended the game with 11 catches for 135 yards.

"I see my numbers and I'll probably enjoy it some time," O'Neil said. "But I didn't come here just to give them a good fight and go home with a smile on my face."

He wanted to win.

Before this season, O'Neil had been chastised by Duck fans and the media for not bringing victories to Eugene, Ore. He muddled through the 1992 and '93 seasons, going 11-12 as the starter.

This season didn't start out too well either, as O'Neil lost two of his first three games. Then, after sitting out the USC game with a staph infection in his right hand, O'Neil returned to lead Oregon to a Pac-10 championship and into the Rose Bowl.

Although his Rose Bowl numbers were superb, his game was not flawless. Two of O'Neil's passes were intercepted, both by Penn State free safety Chuck Penzenik. The second interception led to a Nittany Lion score.

"We would like to have them back," Oregon Coach Rich Brooks said.

Aside from those mistakes, O'Neil couldn't have played better.

"O'Neil had a great football game," Brooks added. "That's one of the reasons we kept throwing the football."

But he didn't walk off the field a winner.