Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, EUGENE, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26,” 1968 vn 9*
1 Fighting Ducks' Take on Utah
Wed ski ns Exciting,
Explosive Ball Club
Ilfhe Utah Redskins bring an
citing, explosive offense to
Len Stadium today for a 1:30
|n. battle against the Oregon
The Utes, 2-3 on the season
:e Oregon, lost their last en
unter to Wyoming, 20-9. They
it their first two contests, 31-0
Nebraska and 27-24 to Ore
n State, but brought them
Ves back to .500 in their next
o games with victories over
jshington State (17-14) and
w Mexico (30-7).
I Thomas Leads Club
■Leading the Salt Lake City
liib is senior split end Louis
■peedy” Thomas. In five con
|ts this year, the 6-0, 176
ftund Houston. Tex., product
|s latched onto 23 passes. But
pat he does with the ball after
E catches it is even more im
[Thomas has scored four touch
Iwns this season—on pass-run
lays of 48, 56, 53 and 51 yards.
|n those 23 receptions he has,
E’s racked up 447 yards.
[Directing the Utah forces is
fcarterback Ray Uroth. Groth
I an average thrower, accord
■g to Oregon Head Coach Jerry
pi, but is a good scrambler
lid likes to run the ball.
■ Actually, the Redskins have
I better rushing than passing
[tack. With fullback Steve Mol
Ir running out of the Utes’
jot-T formation, the Ducks
luld be in for a rough day.
lolnar, a senior from Canada,
p rushed for a 3.8 average
kainst some of the toughest
lotball teams in the country.
[Halfback Dave Smith, with
I yards in 20 carries, will start
I another back field spot, with
fill Fowler opening opposite
piith on the left side.
I Line Satisfactory
jlohn Marshall, the Frosh as
lant who scouted the Utah
fyoming game last weekend,
eported that the Ute line was
Itisfactory but not very big—
averages 206 pounds.
On defense, the Redskins
ave a big, strong line. They
wploy a split-six line forma
on, thus not using a middle
aard. Most eared pair on the
n® are the defensive ends,
°rm McBri e and Gary Kerl.
they re very strong and
lg’ Marshall said. "They do a
>od job of anchoring the line.”
oth are 6-3 and in the 220
>und range.
, dn sports Information Di
Th°r, Ron Fessenden adds,
y re two of the finest, most
^lfpS1Ve*dffensive men in the
ip i m Athletic Conference,”
Maff f,ln which Utah Plays
i K3 laid he felt Oregon
„ai d able to get outside
Vhf,Ute defense. “They
o LfUnt’ he said’ “but they
;a,,hj ® g00d linebackers,” in
en y Stone and Fred McFar
iXS®,. defensive backfield,
otatirm $kl-ni use a three-deep
oe f a,’Wlth Dick Worley and
larv rJTe ,at halfbacks and
osition! kCr Sted at the safety
The in °°d Puntin«
he punti™ f6 weR'suited in
hey have Ppdepartment. There
•unted 4n t a's ^mith, who has
1.4IverL!"16!,1111’3 year for a
f 63 yardSs ^ 3 longest kick
One of Utah’s downfalls is a
tendency to fumble frequently.
They’ve dropped the ball 16
times this year and lost it on
12 of those occasions.
Although the Ute roster lists
a total of 33 returning letter
men, that figure tends to be
somewhat deceiving. Last sea
son the Redskins posted a 4-7
overall record and a 2-3 mark
in league play, but the thirteen
Utah lettermen who ran out of
eligibility accounted for the
bulk of what punch the Utes
had.
Coach Bill Meek is in his first
year at Utah, the second week
in a row Oregon meets a first
year coach. Meek, 45, had been
offensive coach at Army for
two previous seasons, and dur
ing his time there the Cadets
posted a pair of 8-2 records.
Meek installed the forward
pass, missing for several sea
sons at West Point, and added
outside running to the Army
attack.
Meek in Pros
Meek, a standout quarterback
at Tennessee in the early 1940's,
spent five years with the Denver
Broncos ajid Dallas Cowboys in
the professional ranks begin
ning in 1961 before going to
West Point. He previously had
been head coach at Kansas
State, Houston, and Southern
Methodist.
Utah has met the Ducks 12
times previously and has lost
eight of those games. But
they’ve won the past two, 17-14
in 1966 and 21-0 last season in
Autzen Stadium. Biggest Ore
gon win was 35-8 in 1962.
UTAH END LOUIS ‘SPEEDY’ THOMAS
23 receptions for 447 yards and four touchdowns
Oregon Tries for Number Three
Webfoots Rolling info High Gear
The “Fighting Ducks” of the
University of Oregon, starting
to roll into high gear after two
straight victories, face a tough
Utah squad today at Autzen
Stadium.
The Utes are coming off a
20-9 loss to Wyoming while Ore
gon tripped Idaho 23-8 in its
600th football game after up
setting Washington 3-0 the week
before.
Both Teams 2-3
Although both teams are 2-3
for the season, all losses have
been to one-time top twenty
teams. Utah dropped contests
to Nebraska, Oregon State and
Wyoming while Oregon lost to
Colorado, Stanford, and the
number two team in the coun
try, Ohio State. If the Ducks
should win today it would be
the first time they have reach
ed the .500 mark since the ninth
game of the 1965 season.
Oregon’s two straight wins
clearly give them the momen
tum edge as they prepare to
meet USC, the top team in the
country, next Saturday also at
Autzen Stadium.
The Ducks appear to be in
their best physical shape with
only slotback Andy Maurer still
out of action. Maurer will be
on the injured list for at least
two more weeks.
The return of several key
players in the last two weeks
may be just what Oregon needs
to rack up win number three.
Coach Jerry Frei will have
both his top signal callers back
in action with the return of
junior Alan Pitcaithley. John
Harrington took over for Pit
caithley last Saturday and com
pleted 5 to 16 passes including
a 28-yard bomb to Bob New
land. He also scrambled for
another 63 yards on the ground.
Harrington was also instru
mental in Oregon's 3 0 win over
Washington.
Pitcaithley has completed 11
of 34 passes in three games. His
totals include two touchdown
tosses and 94 yards rushing.
Welch to Start
Teaming with Harrington to
start in the Webfoot backfield
will be one of Oregon’s all-time
great rushers, Claxton Welch.
The former all-state high school
football and basketball star now
stands eighth on the Oregon all
time rushing list with 1,012
yards during his three year
career as tailback. Last, Satur
day he gained 139 yards in 28
carries against Idaho to move
from tenth to eighth on the
rushing list and receive "back
of-the-game” honors. Welch is
now fast approaching Jake
Leicht who gained 1,240 yards
during his varsity career.
Roger Smith, filling in for
injured Andy Maurer, will be at
slotback. Smith was Oregon’s
leading receiver in 1967 with
28 receptions but has caught
only 2 aerials for 11 yards this
fall.
Marshall at Fullback
Sophomore Greg Marshall
will again assume fullback
duties and possibly share the
punting chores with Pitcaithley.
Marshall is the second leading
rusher on the squad with 133
yards in 47 carries.
With the return of Bob New
land to his offensive end posi
tion last week, Oregon’s passing
attack should give the Utah de
fense plenty of trouble. New
land, who caught his first var
sity pass for a TD against Idaho,
will team with Denny Schuler
and Greg Lindsey to give the
Ducks three good pass re
ceivers.
Schuler leads the club in pass
receptions with 12 and also has
two touchdowns to his credit.
Lindsey has caught seven pass
es for 170 yards and a 24.3
average.
Oregon’s offensive interior
line, which provided good pro
tection for Harrington against
Idaho, will remain intact for to
clay’s contest. Dave Roberson
will be at tight end with War
ner Wong, Nick Shur, Tom
Wooton, John Luger and Joe
Phillips forming t h e interior
line.
Improvement has been the
byword for Oregon’s defensive
alignment which has allowed
only one touchdown in the last
two games.
The Duck's defensive unit led
by George Dames limited Idaho
to -12 yards on the ground last
week and limited the Vandals’
quarterback, Steve Olson, to -52
yards rushing.
Dames Leads Charge
Dames was named “lineman
of-the-game” as he led the de
fensive charge from his middle
guard position. Joining him on
the front line today will be Jack
Rust and Jim Nicoliasen at
tackles and Dennis Gassner and
Mike Kish at defensive ends.
Kent Grote, the Ducks’ leading
tackier, will open at linebacker
along with Keith Sherman.
Steve Hilbert, second in Pa
cific Eight pass interceptions
with 5 for 77 yards, is Oregon’s
top pass defender and will be
at the lone safety position.
Oregon looks in good shape
overall but will have to go "all
out” to win their third consecu
tive game.