Hargain lives up to potential, stars for Duck offense
By Ashley Conklin
Emerald Sports Reporter
A year of exporienc e and ma
turit\ has meant all the differ
ence in the world on the fool
hall field for Tony Ilargain this
season
After struggling through his
first two seasons at Oregon,
flargam. a junior, lias lived up
to his enormous all around ath
letic potential to start at split
end for the I 1 Dm ks, and play
a leading role ill the offense
"I wasn't ready for the inten
sity of college football.''
Ilargain said "I didn't do a
good job ol ( flanging for the do
gree of play (at the college lev
el | "
After catching 18 passes in
1 1 games as a redshirt fresh
m.in two years ago. Ilargain
slumped to only five rec options
last season, all in the first seven
games Ilargain knew it was
11me to do something ahout Ins
lac k of produc tion, and worked
hard this summer to gel ready
for the 1 *»««» season
"I stayed up here this sum
iiier and worked out." ilargain.
from North Highlands < hi 11 f .
said "If I want something I
really have to go after it
"I control my own destiny."
lie added It wasn't that I
didn't have the athletic ability
to play I wanted to pla\ more
so 1 worked harder to net it
If there was one thing that
llargain had from the begin
ning, it was athletii ability
llargain played flanker Ins
first two seasons, and even
quarterbacked the team briefly
when Hill Musgrave was out of
a< tion And then then* was has
kethall season where llargain
has pn ked up three letters, and
w ill return to the court this sea
son After last season, the foot
hall i oaches just wondered
when llargain would arrive
Ills off season work ethil and
prodm tion this year have put
all those thoughts to rest
though
"1 wanted to come in and
start." llargain said, "and help
the team as much as possible
llargain is tied tor the team
lead in receptions with 14. has
J()7 yards in receptions lor a
14 H average and two tone h
downs
llargain has also had some
lug games and lug plays for the
Ducks this season, catching
five passes against Arizona and
hooking up with Musgrave for
a 4(1 -yard pass plav at Stanford
Yes lolks. Tony llargain has
arrived
"lie's come up with some
lug plavs lor us," offensive co
urdinator Mike ifellotli said
"lie's liecome a solid performer
at the I’ai 10 level
■Sports Crew;
EDITOR: Tracy Sumner
CONTRIBUTORS: Ashley
conklin, Cam Sivesind
COPY EDITOR: Christopher
Blair
PRODUCTION: Sandi Daller,
Yvette Gill, Elisa Lichtman,
Angela Muniz, Michele Ross,
Ingrid White, Mark Ylen
Cover photo by
Andre Ranieri
Ill' s toucher mentally ilus
season," Bi'llotti said, "and
that factor has made him much
better I'm happy for Totiv be
cause he's a great young man
who has continued to improve,
and because he has. he's made
himself into ,i complete football
player.''
While many might not see
much connection to catching
passes on the gridiron to hand
mg out assists on the basketball
court Hargain and Bellotti see
a definite correlation
"It helps me judge different
situations," Hargain said "The
quii kness in basketball helps
me to rear t to areas the defense
leaves open in football Basket
ball is a faster sport and you
have to react quicker with your
eyes and hands, and that tar
ries over to football
"The basketball thing keeps
him in shape," Bellotti said
"He misses our off-season lilt
ing that would help his upper
body strength, but it's great
from an athletic standpoint and
helps Ills 11tiit kness and elu
siveness for football
Despite playing both flanker
and split •■nd Hargain has no
preferenr e lietween the two,
and has no desires to quarter
bai k again, despite having
played the position during high
sc liool
"You get an equal number of
passes thrown to you at either
position," he said "You pist
have to wait for your number to
lie c ailed The c oar hes make
the game plan and you can't
i hange that
"I think if 1 wanted to play
quarterbar k I would have gone
to a sc hool that wanted me to
start at quarterback." Hargain
continued "Basically I want to
stick with being a receiver and
work on having another good
season
After two years of playing
under former offensive coordi
nator Bob Toledo's system, the
Ducks brought in Bellotti for
this season However. Hargain
said the c lianges between the
two offensive systems have
been minimal
"Basic alls we have the same
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Hard work and perseverance have helped Tony Haryain to be
come a key cor in the Oregon attack
s( hemes." he said, "just differ
ent terminology Hill (Nlus
grave) mostly has the same
reads as before, and so do we
llargain likes how the Ducks,
ranked 2 trd in the latest Asso
ciated I’ress Top 25 poll, are
playing with Hellotti’s offense
as they head into Saturday's
game with No 2 1 Washington
State
"I think our passing attack is
really strong rigtit now.'
ilargain said, "and we can use
the pass to set up the run.
"This is an opportunity to
improve as a team and gain
some national recognition, he
added, "and hopefully 1 can
continue to improve and gel
some national recognition for
myself.
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