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By OICK Mr.KINNKY
HKliMTiild Asn't Sports Kditor mam
VVhat happened to the Webfoots Saturday?
'I'his and many similar questions were asked by Oregon
students, alums and townspeople following (tregon’s poor
weekend performance again-t Washington State. The result
of Saturday's tilt clearly indicates how important it is for a
hall club to have a proper mental attitude during grid prac
tice the week before a given game and while the contest is
jii progress.
Coach Casanova expressed concern all week long regard
ing the attitude of Webfoot gridders. The early season suc
cesses against Idaho, (tklahoma and California along with
the press ballyhoo given the Ducks during the week pre
ceeding the WSC game definitely appeared to affect the
attitude of the Webfoots.
From the start of the homecoming clash the espirit de
corps and tremendous desire to win that had been so char
acteristic the week before against USC was lacking. The
players appeared to only be going through the motions
of playing football.
To the 18,5(XJ spectators who witnessed the Duck downfall
Saturday it must have looked like the Webfoot gridders were
so impressed with their football'ability that they thought a
win would result merely by stepping onto the Hayward Field
turf.
With all the praise given the Duck- during the week and j
the high national rating, the Webfoots must have thought!
they were invincible and incapable of going down to defeat
to a twice conquered foe. The Cougars proved otherwise I
Saturday.
Spirit important Factor
()regon docs have a good ball club and is certainly one of
the finest squads in the nation, yet it must be remembered
that the Duck arc not so powerful that a fired up squad like
the Cougars cannot defeat them.
Another point that stood out was the fact that Oregon’s
bench appeared to lack the spark and enthusiasm which
has typified Webfoot squads in the past. Normally the
Ducks' reserves are full of fire, but even this outstanding
feature was lacking Saturday.
Webfoot fans know the Ducks have a much better club
than the one that merely went through the motions Saturday.
Most Oregon fans hope that the 1 tucks learned a valuable
lesson this past weekend.
No team is unbeatable and a large amount of desire and
spirit is needed along with playing ability to play winning
ball every week.
Ability Not Only Ingredient
Ability is not the only ingredient needed for a suc
cessful football squad, but the spirit, desire, hustle and the
will to win are essential features which go to make up a
consistent winner
Many fine teams have come back after suffering a setback
so disheartening as Saturday's loss, and this come-back abil
ity is the mark of a truly great team. The Ducks have the
capabilities to go all the way to the PCC crown this season,
but it will take more team spirit and desire than was shown
Saturday.
It has been proven time and time again throughout the
last two seasons that on any given day a lightly-regarded
spirited squad can rise to the heights and dump a highly
rated squad. This can be evidenced in Northwestern’s
trouncing of Michigan by a 31-point margin on Saturday.
Undoubtedly the Northwestcrners are not that much
better than Michigan, but a fired-up squad can combine foot
ball ability and spirit to win important games.
Last season ()SC suffered a mental lapse and as a result
was upended 26-7 by UCLA and 19-6 by Washington, but
the Beavers then staged a strong comeback and managed
to tie the Ducks for the l’acific Coast Conference title, prov
ing that fine teams do lose, but can shake defeat off and
come back.
The upcoming tussle with California is probably the most
important game that Coach Lett Casanova’s squad has had to
date. At the present time Cal leads the conference and Coach
l’ete Klliott undoubtedly realizes the importance of defeat
ing Oregon tlijs coming Saturday. If the Oregonians are to
win the title, a win over California is a must, and most
Oregon fans believe that the Ducks realize the importance
of the task at hand and will prove once again that the 1958
Webfoots are the class of the PCC. However, it will take
hard work and a better showing than was performed against
the WSC squad Saturday to achieve this goal.
WASHINGTON STATIC Quarterback Geoff Price (22) is brought to a halt on this play by unidenti
fied Webfoot gridder while Marian Holland (44) and tackle Jim Linden (71) come up to give assist
ance as Ducks lost a 6-0 decision to the spirited WSC squad on Saturday.
(Emerald photo by Louis Parker)
Ducks prepare for Cal
The Oregon Ducks, unable to
avoid the familiar upset by los
ing to Washington State last Sat
urday, are back to work this
week preparing for another Pa
cific Coast Conference crucial
against the roused California
eleven at Berkeley Saturday.
The Bears, currently leading
the PCC with a 2-0 record, drop
ped their first two games, but
have made an outstanding come
back with three straight victor
ies.
Last weekend they clipped
Southern California 14-12 and
once again the big gnn for Cal
was all-American candidate Joe
Kapp, the do-everything quarter
back.
Kapp leads the conference in
total offense. He’s one of the
top runners in the coast as
•veil as a dangerous passer.
Cal's split-T attack has aver
aged better than 23 points per
game in five games.
The Ducks, while in pretty
good condition physically, will
have to improve their mental at
titude if they wi3h to top the
Bears. Saturday's 6-0 loss proved
that.
The Webfoots now stand 2-2
on the season with a 2-1 mark
in PCC games. This ranks a tie
with OSC for third behind Cal
(2-0) and WSC (3-1).
Physically the Ducks appear in
good shape for the crucial Cali
fornia game as just two minor
injuries resulted from the Cougar
battle: end Ron Stover, with a
bruised leg, and guard Joe Schaf
feld, who injured a knee. Neither
injury is regarded serious enough
to prevent the two Duck grid
ders from action against the
Bears.
The Webfoot starting lineup
may be revised come Saturday
afternoon in Berkeley as coach
Len Casanova indicated after the
loss to WSC that there might be
some changes made.
Comparing the two team’s
performances against the Con
gars gives the Bear’s a decided
advantage. Cal beat Jim Suth
erland’s club 34-14 in the same
Memorial Stadium that Oregon
must play the Bears.
If Oregon can pull itself to
gether, however, the game could
be a different story, as the Web
foots have one of the best de
fenses in the land. Even in their
poor showing against the Cou
gars, they displayed a rugged de
fense near their own goal line.
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University of Oregon—October 27, 1958
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