SAN DIEGO — The Holiday Bowl built its reputation with high-scoring games and thrilling finishes.

Oklahoma and No. 6 Oregon maintained part of the tradition in the Sooners’ 17-14 victory over the Ducks before a record Holiday Bowl crowd of 65,416.

“It typifies our whole year,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “We had to fight and scratch our way through it all.”

Sooner quarterback Rhett Bomar, who threw for 229 yards, hit fullback J.D. Runnels for a 17-yard touchdown and reserve tailback Kejuan Jones followed it with an 8-yard run to give OU a 17-7 lead late in the third quarter.

At the time, it looked like the start of a rout and a coming-out party for OU, albeit in the season’s final game. The Sooners hadn’t beaten a ranked team all season, losing to No. 2 Texas, No. 14 TCU, No. 17 UCLA and No. 18 Texas Tech.

The Sooners also needed a victory to avoid finishing out of the Top 25 for the first time since 1999. Thursday night’s win qualified on all counts, but OU couldn’t celebrate it until the final seconds.

The Ducks were fifth in the final Bowl Championship Series standings and carried a chip on their shoulder after failing to receive an at-large bid to a BCS bowl. Their only regular-season loss was to No. 1 Southern California, but Oregon bared little resemblance to a powerhouse.

And still, with 33 seconds remaining, the Ducks had a chance to win or send the game into overtime.

But that’s when OU linebacker Clint Ingram intercepted a Brady Leaf pass at the Sooner 5-yardline to seal OU’s first bowl victory since the 2003 Rose Bowl.

“This was the biggest play that I’ve ever made in any sport,” Ingram said. “I didn’t hear the call for the blitz, so I just stuck with it and was able to make a play on the ball.”

It ended a wild night. The Sooners picked up 361 yards, getting a huge contribution from freshman wide receivers Juaquin Iglesias and Malcolm Kelly. Iglesias caught five passes for 85 yards and Kelly added seven for 79.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 84 yards with 76 coming in the second half.

In the first half, OU’s only points came on Garrett Hartley’s 34-yard field goal on the Sooners’ opening drive.

But that changed in the second half.

“We established balance in the second half,” Bomar said. “In the first half, they stopped the run, but we got that going and that opened up the passing game. Oregon is very aggressive, so we used a short passing game giving us more options. Coach (offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson) called some good plays and opened up our playbook.”