Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, April 01, 1992, Page 8, Image 7

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    SPORTS
Spring means back to the gridiron for Ducks
□ Coach Rich Brooks
hopes to revive a
sluggish offense for
the 1992 season
By Dave Chartxinneau
f marakl '.[xvls Rtrportor
The () regon football ton in
will rnturn lu the field .is spring
pnii Ini’ kn ks oil today .ii the
Aul/on Siuriium prat.Hi <’ field
Hi .iil i out h K H Ii Brooks
hopes more Hum anything his
Dm ks i iin regain Ihe i onfi
rieni e they oni e hurt
"Last m ason we w ere no! a
productive offensive football
team,'' brooks >11 "We were
not the strong offensive football
team that we were the previous
seven or eight years I'm hoping
we can get that production and
confidence bar k
bast season saw Oregon fol
low two straight bowl appear
ant es with a painful display of
innplness After two convincing
victories to start the season, the
Dili ks offense flew south, as
Oregon lost eight of Its next
nine games. Inc luding the. final
six games of the season
[ hi Dili ks finish! d tie sea
son al I It overall and 1-’ In th*
I "a! 11 u it) (Ion fere nt t , Iru lud
EMU CULTURAL FORUM PRESENTS
Low Man on the Totem Pole Tour 92 with
fIREHOSE
DOS
HAMMERBOX
SPRINKLER
Thursday,April 9th
WOW HALL 8th & Lincoln
Doors open 7:30pm, Showtime 8pm
TICKETS: $6 U0. $10 GENERAL
AT EMU MAIN DESK CO WORLD. FACT THE MUSIC HOUSE OF
RECORDS i RECORD CARDEN
1
(I HIGH! OF FESTIVALS
SUNDAY 6 OO Pfl
The 5th Of APRIL. 1992
[HU BALLROOM
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
fulfil l» DIMM* UNO IHGb Wf ftNV «l * I HI {MU MN:N Dt U HHi H UNO
miHwiiiONrti siuttin wia imion oi-:i i«u nodm .•» «cm *6
tlllftlfW thMIOHUUMNHHhOi.'iWiOKW^NHl
mg .i humiliating loss In Ore
gon Stair in ihr w.ismi finale
A tug rrason (or the collapse
of ihr Out ks season was the
unbelievable numhrr of inju
rirs the Irani suffered doing
into spring prat tire, there are
pros .inti tons to last seasons
injuries
On the positive side, many
players ret rived playing lime
who wouldn't have if no! for
!fie Injuries
However many of the plav
ers affei led t>v injuries were
young players who losl valu
a file e xper i ont e name IV
quarlerli.it ks Danny O'Neil and
Doug Musgrave
O'Neil ys as lost lor the season
in the fifth game with a broken
thiimh, and Musgrave was losl
two games litter ys ith a broken
hand
As a result of the injuries, the
question that gave Brooks
nightmares Iasi year still looms
Wild w ill !»■ '.lie Dm ss starling
quarterback'
Bui he seems io have a better
idea who will lie "the man"
lh.m he did al this lime last
year
"O Neil anti Musgrave did a
belter job than the other two
(hvle Ornwston anti Brett Sails
hurv) Iasi year. Brooks said
l imy have the edge going Into
spring
Here s a look at what Brooks
will have to work with position
tiv position
A! latlbut k. Oregon has a
host of candidates lo lie run
ning tlie hall tome (all Thn oh
vious choice seems to lie Sean
Burwell, wlio has started a! the
position for tlie past two years
when healthy
But Burwell Is not a shoo-in
at the jiosttion by any means
Brooks suld the position is
"wide open," with redshirt
freshmen Jeremy Fogle and
Rn kv Whittle and senior Dono
van MtKire all having a reallstlt
shtit at earning the darting role
*We were not the
strong offensive
football team that
we were the
previous seven or
eight years. I’m
hoping we can get
that production and
confidence back.'
Rich Brooks,
Oregon football coach
Hri mts did nol seem .is ( onfi
ti. nl about tiic fuiiii.nl j)()M
lion Orison used .1 handful of
players ,ii (hr position Iasi year
hut had Inti.' sin cess from any
of them
Juan. S h od ri 1 I., D w a \ n .•
Jones. and Brandon lumper
shared time at file position last
season Jumper will not partici
p.ite m spring prm in .• hecause
of a< udemic problems
The Dm ks return virtually ail
of a talented receiving crew
Brian Brown, Ronnie Harris,
Anthony Jones and James Jessie
all saw considerable playing
time last year
A big (oncern of Brooks is
the offensive line “It's .1 little
lot of u question mark," lie
said “I was not pleased with
their performance last year
Brtxiks said the key is finding
u center to replace the gradual
ed (.reg Philips and |oe Baguio
Tom Curran is the only return
ing Irttermun at center
To try and help matters at
renter. Brooks brought in ju
nior college transfer Mike
Dll-on/.o Sophomore Heath
Howirigton may also move
from guard to < enter
The rest of the line seems up
in the air Among the players
Brooks mentioned as possible
starters on the line are Steve
Hardin. David Collinsworth,
Matt Martin and Dave ( uttrell
Finding a replac ement for
tighl end J<• ff Thomason could
be tough for Oregon Going into
practice*, it looks as if Vinci*
Ferre is the loading candidate
to replace Thomason
The defensive hack field
could Ih- tile strongest us pee I ol
the team.
Oregon returns three proven
talents at the safety positions
with all-1’.ii It) safety KrU ('as
tie. Chad T.ota and I’.Utl. Rodri
quez. At the corners the Ducks
are solid with sophomore Her
man O'Berry. F.ugene Jackson
and Devon Hosov
Brooks also spoke highly ot
ml shirt freshmen Isaac Walker
and Alex Molden
At inside linebuc ker. the
Ducks seeth to be in good
shape "I see this as art area
where voting players will he
able to push up," Brooks said
Kedshirt freshmen Jeremy
Asher and Hu h Ruhl yvill cha!
lenge senior Joe Harwell and ju
nior John Taumoepeau lor a
starting position
A t outside I inehai ker, the
Dut ks are not in as good ol
shape as one might expect. Fr
nest Jones and Terrell Kdvvards
played well last year, but inju
ries yvill keep them from prac
ticing .it lull speed
Brooks expects good compe
tition at the defensive line posi
tion
Gary Williams, who played
well last year, is suffering from
a knee injury and will not par
ticipate in contact drills With
Williams on the mend. Brooks
will get a chance to look at a
talented group of defensive
ends that includes Jeff Cum
mins. who is returning from a
season-long injury. Romeo
Bandison, and Mark Slymen
Sililu Malepoai will likely be
the starter at nose guard
Oregon will practice 15 days
running through Apr 25 The
spring game will be Apr 27
COACH
Continued from Page 1
has lApiTicnif in dealing will) liutm I wanted un
outstanding liasketball coach and person, some
one wiio could rei rull student-athletes and ndati'
lo them as well 1 wanted wmimnc who was a
gixid pidge of talent
After I had been with (errs (Ireen for five min
utes. I knew he was the basketball couch for the
l 'inversiIv of Ornyn and the person lor us
(ireen said that despite tiemg anxious to get
started a! Oregon, it wasn’t easi having a pro
gram he had helped ai < ompllsh so mut h
The most dtlfli till part alum! .it i opting the job
ill Oregon is leaving Roy Williams (ireen said
He has lieen like a brother to nit; It’s also diffi
cult to leave the players and the staff .it Kansas
Anyone expecting to see a similar system to
what Oregon used under Mon son is dkelv to be
surprised. If (Ireen s i ommnnts are to lie believed
We would like to average 10(1 points a game,
he said We want to entertain and score points
We want to recruit players who cun run up and
down the court
It's not just running It's running within a sys
tem Nobody wants to play a 40-point game
(Ireen said he has seen only two films of this
year's team, and that he saw strengths and weak
nesses' among the players He said he looks lor
ward to trying to rejuvenate an ailing Oregon
team that finished ti-_M this year, its worst record
smie 1057
1 would rather come to a place where you go
in and the 25 or 2’ wins have not been there and
you've got something that hasn't been done for a
while, hut that can lx' done," (ireen said
(Ireen said rei rutting would lie a main focus for
his staff which he is in the prix ess .if pulling to
gether
On a scale ol one to ft) in rwi rutting elfort, my
effort would lie 18b, l.reen said 1 he I diversity
**hO*o ,m9
Jerry Green was named the new Oregon men s
basketball head coach Tuesday.
of Oregon, in my opinion, hits contributed
enough money to recruit nationally You can't
have a narrow recruiting list
Green was hmisell an excellent college basket
bull player He was named Spartanburg SCI
Methodist College s most valuable player and
i upturn two straight years
Green received a degree in physical edui ation
from Appalachian State in 1‘tnw and finished Ins
master's degree in education at Hast Tennessee
State In 19/1 after a two-year stint in the Army
Green coached throe high schools in North and
South Carolina U'fore taking the assistant posi
tion at I N( -Asheville