Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, September 29, 1983, Page 14, Image 13

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It's a Pac-10 nemesis
By Steve Turcotte
Of the Emerald
The Pacific Coast Athletic
Association. The name itself may
not strike terror in the hearts of
many opposing football teams,
but for some, like Oregon's
Ducks, the PCAA has provided
ample competition.
The Pac-10, usually one of the
premier football conferences in
the country, has not fared well
against the PCAA in recent years.
In fact, last season, the Pac-10 won
the season series 5-4, and this
season, the more prestigious
league holds just a 4-3 edge.
Oregon in particular has taken
its lumps from the PCAA. The
Ducks have already lost to one
PCAA team this season, Pacific, in
the season opener for both teams.
Last season, the Ducks faced
two PCAA teams — Fresno State
and San lose State — and lost to
both. A couple of freak losses?
PCAA coaches don't think so.
"I really believe that this is a
very good football conference,"
says Pacific coach Bob Cope,
whose Tigers upended the Ducks
21-15 Sept. 3. "I really don't think
that the conference thing has
anything to do with it because
when two teams get together, the
score is decided on the field, not
by what conference they are
from."
Oregon coach Rich Brooks
doesn't even think twice about
whether the PCAA is a good foot
ball league.
"They beat us twice last year,
didn't they?" Brooks says.
"They are definitely a good foot
ball league," he adds. "They can
play with anybody in the country.
They have really improved offen
sively as well.”
Other Pac-10 teams besides
Oregon have been shown up by
teams from the PCAA. This
season, San Diego State beat
California and San lose State
whippped Stanford.
The PCAA's resurgence isn't just
a stroke of good luck. There are
two things which both Pac-10 and
PCAA coaches have pinpointed as
the turning point for the league in
recent years — quarterbacks and
the 30 scholarship limit imposed
on Division I schools by the
NCAA.
"As far as I'm concerned, the 30
scholarship rule has leveled foot
ball off," says Fresno State coach
)im Sweeney. "There's now very
much parity between teams."
Cope, thinks the rule aids all
teams.
"The PCAA, especially, has
benefited from the 30 rule to
become more competitive," says
the first-year Pacific coach. "It has
really brought some parity to the
game."
Quarterbacks, too, have also
helped the PCAA become a
widely-recognized conference.
Last season, San lose State had a
gem in Steve Clarkson, since
graduated. This season, PCAA
quarterbacks appear to be solid
again with freshman Kevin
Sweeney at Fresno State and Paul
Berner (before being injured) at
Par ific.
"In our conference last season
we had a lot of top-flight quarter
backs who were capable of mak
Emerald Photos
Rich Brooks (above) has seen PCAA players like San lose State's
Tim Kearse (below) riddle his Ducks too many times.
ing things happen," Cope says.
"And when you have the ability to
move the football like teams in the
conference do, you can play with
anybody."
"We have always been an offen
sive conference," San Jose State
coach Jack Elway says. "This
league stacks up with any other
conference — there are a lot of
good people in the skill
positions."
Sweeney, the former
Washington State head coach,
agrees.
"There are good football teams
in this conference. I'm not going
to say that we can beat
Washington, UCLA or USC
^gularly, but I will say that the
•earns can play with them."
The PCAA has always had its
share of good athletes. Last
season Henry E Hard, a wide
receiver at Fresno State, was
dratted by the Los Angeles Rams
and is playing regularly. Gil Byrd,
a defensive back from San Jose
State, earned a starting assign
ment with the San Diego
Chargers.
"There's never been any ques
tion that the PCAA has talent,"
says Cope. "A lot of great football
players have played in the
conference."
The abundance of talent
enables the PCAA to assemble
top-flight schedules. For instance,
this season Pacific played Oregon
and West Virginia; San Jose State
has California, Stanford and
Arizona State on its agenda while
Cal State-Fullerton went against
Arizona last weekend.
"It's nice that finally this con
ference is receiving recognition
and getting some top teams."
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