Oregon daily emerald., October 25, 1973, Page 9, Image 9

Two records were es
tablished simultaneously
Wednesday in intramural
flag football action, or
inaction, if you prefer. For
the first time this season, it
rained. Also for the first
time, only six of the twelve
teams scheduled to play
even showed up. The
result: five forfeits, in
cluding one double forfeit.
Consequently, two more
teams qualified for the IM
championship tournament
which will begin the first
round of single elimination
Monday. The Billion Dollar
Babies finished its regular
season with a 3-0 mark and
got out of the rain Wed
nesday with a forfeit.
Follow Through, however,
in the only game played,
earned a spot in the
tournament by crushing
previously undefeated
Burn-Outs & Friends, 20-0.
In action at right,
quarterback Ray Lemke of
victorious Follow Through,
fires a pass that was
caught by teammate Dave
Gibson, who is not pic
tured.
noto by Matt Johnson
Herb Singleton has completed the adjustment
By BOB WELCH
Of the Emerald
Can a junior college transfer quar
terback who is used to flipping 20 com
pletions and a couple of touchdown passes
enroute to victory under the warm
California sun, find happiness calling
signals for a 1-5 team that must cope with
not only the nation's best teams every
other week, but also the cold Oregon rain
in between?
Yes, according to Herb Singleton, the
new Duck signal-caller who has—in only
six weeks—been thoroughly baptized into
the world of major college football.
In those six weeks Singleton has been
through it all. The 6-3, 215 pounder has: (1)
been nearly idolized as the next savior of
Oregon football after his stirring per
formance against Arizona State; (2) spent
an entire game on the sidelines because of
the fear of his eligibility; (3) lost the
confidence of many after throwing two
interceptions and fumbling one against
Utah; (4) faced 80,000 people and the no. 5
team in the nation in Michigan; (5) won his
first major college football start; and (6)
seen his squad waste a half-dozen op
portunities that could have enabled the
Ducks to upset USC.
Herb Singleton isn’t a rookie anymore.
Yet, he’s felt the pressure of major college
football. And it’s one of the few things that
he dislikes about playing in the big-times.
After Arizona State people expected
me to lead the team 80 yards for a touch
down every time Icamem,”he says. “They
wanted everything, not just the 100 per
cent that I had to give. It was a big factor
in how I played afterward. They really
want you to win alot. I love to win; I’ll do
anything to win, but if the breaks aren’t
going my way there’s nothing else I can
do.”
The press is a little different, Singleton
feels.
“The newspapers here, well, they’re just
doing their job but they made it difficult
cuz they’re always talking about winning
and if we don’t win we’re nothing.”
While Singleton is affected by the
pressure, he’s also learned to cope with it.
“It doesn’t bother me so much
anymore,” he says. “I think a lot of it is
that I’ve put too much pressure on myself
to do great. I think I’ll do better if I just let
time take its course.”
There’s another difference between JC
football and Pac-8 football Singleton has
found. Your opponent.
“The main thing I’ve had to do is make
mental adjustments,” he says. “I’m used
to playing mediocre community college
teams and all of the sudden I’m looking at
films and reading in the papers about a
team we’re going to play that’s ranked no.
5 in the country. You can play mediocre
teams and get away with it. Now I’m
playing teams with 11 great players. You
give 110 per cent against a team like USC
and still come out on bottom. It’s just a
matter of me trying harder on every
play.”
Another difference between the two
levels of football that Singleton sees lies in
the coaching. And realizing that a
coaching staff is the most important thing
Herb Singleton
Photo by Matt Johnson
to a football player, it’s a difference that
Singleton likes.
“Hie relationship between coaches and
players here is much better than in junior
college,” Singleton says. “They’re con
cerned with you here as a football player
and as a person. There can be a lot of
friction if they only care about you as a
football player. Also, they don’t pressure
you here to play better than you are. They
just ask you to do your best.”
Preparation for games is much different
also, Singleton notes.
“In junior college we didn’t worry about
technique or the different defenses like we
do here. They really emphasize technique
here. We spend a lot of time going over
films and just talking to the coaches about
our assignments. There’s as much lear
ning involved as there is practicing.”
Singleton’s statistics aren’t over
whelming; he’s completed 56-120 for 679
yards and four touchdowns, but he has
already moved into third place in the
conference total offense leadership.
Tm really dissatisfied with my per
formances so far,” he says. “I haven’t
been able to come up with the big play or
the important pass like I should be doing.”
Still, he’s proved that he can move the
ball club.
Only wasted scoring opportunities lie
between the Ducks and greatness, ac
cording to Singleton. He cites for evidence
last week’s encounter with USC.
“We had four or five opportunities and if
we’d taken advantage of them, we could
have come out on top.”
Singleton, however, doesn’t see the USC
loss dampening the Duck’s spirit as they
prepare for Saturday’s clash with
Washington at Autzen Stadium.
“Losing one conference game in the
Pac-8 means nothing. We still have a shot
at the conference title; we can’t give up
now.”
And he isn’t about to take 1-5 Washington
lightly.
“They’re a pretty good team and their
defense mixes up their coverage a lot. We
can’t go into the game lightly, we have to
get psyched up.”
As the Ducks prepare for the Huskies
this week at Autzen, Singleton has to feel
out of place. He’s never played a game in
the rain before.
But he likes Oregon anyway. And he’d
like it a lot better if the Duck’s win column
was a bit fatter.
Singleton and the Ducks will see what he
can do about that this Saturday.