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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1981)
Oregon ’s quarterbacks have been as durable as a house of cards From right, the Ducks have gone \ <<_ 1/_i ,.Ni, liilrn /nr/<ioncAn ar»W hai/o nou/rnmorc Dannic r'.lau anti Dannv kArC'.alf'Ztar \ KJItjyun O LfUZli loruauno - --- --- - C7. ... ^ through Kevin Lusk and Mike Jorgensen, and have newcomers Dennis Clay and Danny McCalister to back up starter Mike Owens Shuffling quarterbacks Defensive back may take snap before game is over By STEVE TURCOTTE OMhe EmaraM Like an actor who has barely had a chance to memorize his lines Danny McCalister may be thrown into the spotlight without a rehearsal Saturday at Autzen Stadium McCalister, a sophomore on the University of Oregon foot ball team, who has yet to play one down in a year and a half at Oregon, may get that chance when the Ducks face Air Force, because of a lack of quarter backs on Oregon's part McCalister was recruited by the Ducks as a quarterback out of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, Calif But when he arrived for practice his first collegiate season last year, he was moved into the defensive secondary Now with injuries to starting signal-caller Kevin Lusk and freshman Mike Jorgensen, it leaves the Ducks with just one full-fledged quarterback in freshman Mike Owens But McCalister, who is now the backup, says he is ready to contribute “I came here as an athlete, not really at any one position After a day or two of practice I found myself back-peddling in stead of throwing the ball. I came up here to play quarter back because they told me I'd get a shot But when they thought I wouldn’t play, they _emu Cultural Forum Presents St » 1 The return of Northumbrian Folk Musician ALISTAIR ANDERSON Traditional music from Northumberland, Scotland and Ireland Sunday, Oct. 25 8 p.m. Beall Hall Tickets: *3.50 UO Students *4.50 General Public Available at • EM U Main Desk • Lights for Music in Springfield • Mr Mike's Really Reusable Records moved me " Before the season started the Ducks' quarterback position appeared to be soldified Lusk Reggie Ogburn's understudy last year, seemed to have the job in hand until he underwent knee surgery during the sum mer and caused some to think he might not be at full strength It wasn't Lusk's knee which has sidelined him. however — it was his chest The junior quarterback suf fered a separated collarbone at the sternum against Arizona State and has only seen limited action since Freshman quarterbacks Owens and Jorgensen were al so slated to see action, and they both have But Jorgensen went down with injured ribs last weekend, and Owens went to the sidelines with an injured left knee Owens will be the starting quarterback this Saturday But waiting in the wings will be his backup — McCalister McCalister says being thrown into the quarterback position has not been all fun and games “You have to learn a lot of stuff,” he said "That s really the hard part But once I {jet into it more, maybe a few weeks, it could be better “Basically I've learned about 62 W. Broadway 343-8418 GRAND OPENING SALE! All NEW records & tapes on sale until Oct 23 Incredible selection ot Rock Jazz Imports Nu Music A Audiophile Discs Oldies but Goodies Thousands ol used records in stock' We buy sell A trade Highest prices paid for quality records CHINA BLUE RESTAURANT BEEF WITH BROCCOLI Tender marinated sliced Beef with Broccoli and delicious special Chinese Oyster Sauce $5.25 China Blue 879 E. 13th Ave. 343-2832 Hours Mon thru Fn 11 .im-10 pm S.il 5-11 pm Sun 5-11) pm J 15 plays — up the middle runs and a couple of passes If I get in, someone else will be calling the plays The other guys on offense will help out — I just don't want to go out and go the wrong way " “In high school, our offense was much like it is here," said McCalister “I would run 10-15 times a game But given the opportunity I can throw the ball " "I do get nervous some times," he said “But I get tp a point where I get relaxed We had pressure games in high school and you have to be calm out there Since I was the quar terback, it wasvespecially im portant for me to be calm I was able to stay pretty much relaxed " However, Oregon coach Rich Brooks feels kind of jittery about the quarterback situation this weekend "I wouldn't feel too good about putting McCalister in because he hasn't worked a lot on quarterbacking/' said Brooks Right now though, we re working him pretty hard ' He has a feeling for quarter back He has an adequate passing arm We re just teach ing him the basics Just a few selected plays like a couple running plays and a couple passing plays In addition to McCalister be ing a newcomer at quarterback, the Ducks are also working with defensive back Dennis Clay on the fine art of quarterbacking “Clay hasn’t played as much quarterback as McCalister has," said Brooks “But he's a good athlete " Oregon may be stocked with good athletes, but it should be interesting to see if that’s all it will take at quarterback for the Ducks to beat the Falcons this weekend
