■ SPORTS EXTRA FOOTBALL
i
Falling
down: The
Ducks
hope to
trip-up
‘ Kaufman
this year.
Chris Metz
Oogwi Pai>y t merakf
The University of
Washington's Napoleon
Kaufman is perhaps a
defensive coach's worst night
mare Measuring a fill short of
the ideal size for a star running
back (5-9,185), Kaufman's play
is no small offair.
KAUFMAN
■ THE RECORDS:
No 1 In all-pur
pose funning and
rushing at
Washington
■ THE SEASON:
Second In the
nation in rushing
Second in all-pur
pose yards
■ THE COUNT
DOWN; 345 rush
ing yards to
become 40th play
er in NCAA history
to rush tor 4 000
yards In a career
296 rushing yards
needed to set sin
gle season record
157 all purpose
yards to move
into tilth place on
l'ac-10 career list
i no
thing
about
Napoleon
Kaufman
in ho can
go all the
way In a
heartbeat.”
C )rwgon
defensive
coordina
tor No k
Aliotti
said. "It's
going to be
a hack of a
challenge
for our
defense."
Kaufman
has three
times boon
named
l’ut.ifli-10
offensive
player of
the week
this sea
son, large
ly on his
ahiliK this
season to
break
away for
the long
touch
down He
has had
tour cm too live longest rushing
tone hdowns in the I'm H) this
s» 1,1 son with a 78-yard scamper,
two 7<l-varders-nnd a 91-vard
marathon against San lose
State*
Three times this season
Kaufman has gained over 200
yards in a game, leaving no
doubt in the opposition's mind
that a key to stopping the
Huskies lies in shutting down
Kaufman
"You shut Napoleon down."
Oregon strong safety Chad Cota
said, "and you're doing pretty
good."
T"* ew teams have found the
1. all-time Washington
c areer rushing leader.
Kaufman's low running mark
this season was HO yards in
both the win over Miami and
last week's victory over
Arizona State.
Cota views the task of slow
ing down Kaufman as a total
team defensive effort.
“You can't just give that guy
any lanes," Cota said. "The
whole defense has got to con
tain him."
Kaufman's 167.3 yards per
game average puts him sec ond
in the nation behind Colorado's
Ra&haan Salaam. The Heisman
Trophy talk has followed
Kaufman oil season and is real
ly starting to heat up as manv
—,——-~ _—. ...
Jkff P**4>Ytrnutk)
view last week's 80-yard effort
as a major setback for the senior
tailback from Lompoc. Calif.
Kaufman downplays the
hype and concentrates on just
MVf PA$i*r fVwwaiu
The Ducks were unable to cor
ral Kaufman last season as he
ran for 142 yards and two
touchdowns, including a 58
yard dash.
going out and playing his game.
"I think it's kind of what you
make it." Kaufman said of the
Heisman hype. "1 mean there's
so many guys up for the run
ning right now in the Heisman
race It's kind of hard to think
about it much.”
The 1994 season has seen
Kaufman improve in nil facets
of his game. Ho needs just 295
yards to eclipse last year's mark
and has scon improvement in
receiving, punt returns and
kick returns.
All this comes as no surprise
to Oregon head coach Rich
Brooks, who has witnessed
. i, > u i. i,,
1 he thing about
Napoleon Kauf
man is he can go
all the way in a
heartbeat
— N ick Aliotti
0>fy»iiHinteiTOr#MK>
Kaufman's accent to greatness
since he was a freshman.
"He’s a lot more physical
now than when he first came
into the league." Brooks said.
"He's much stronger now. He
now has the physical strength
to pound into linebackers. He
takes the fight to the tacklers."
The Washington tailback
believes that his increased pro
ductivity and output has been
affected not only his increased
strength over his time in
Seattle, but also a better mental
approach to the game.
"I feel like I'm making some
pretty good decisions running
the ball and blocking,"
Kaufman said. "Every game 1
feel like I'm blocking a little bit
better."
Kaufman has been selected to
the AII-Pac-10 team twice and
earned All-American honors
last year. Both seem likely once
again this season as Kaufman
hasn't disappointed.
The Huskies have rallied
around his success and
have been one of the best
teams in the nation this season.
The ninth-ranked Huskies can
not go on to postseason play
but. according to Kaufman, the
team is confident and ready to
play each week.
"1 think it has a lot to do with
attitude." Kaufman said.
“There's a lot more commit
ment this year."
Kaufman gained 142 yards in
the 1993 battle between Oregon
and Washington, and Brooks
admires Kaufman’s style of run
ning but doesn't look forward
to defending against it
"I’ve enjoyed watching him
on film," Brooks said. "I'm just
disappointed that I'll have to
watch him from the sideline
trying to stop him."
The trend these days for star
college players has been to opt
out early and join the ranks of
the NFL. but Kaufman came
back for his senior year, adding
that it wasn't a very difficult
choice.
"I just wasn't ready to go on
to that yet." he said "I'm hav
ing a great time in college, and
I'm happy I stayed."
No doubt the Huskies are too
as Kaufman has helped them to
a 5-1 record and powered them
to a 211 yards a game average
"He's the real deal." Brooks
said. "He’s fast, he’s tough."