football
OREGON VS PACIFIC
Tony Grazlanl has
developed Into one of
!he football teams
vocal and emotional
leaders since taking
over the quarterback
position this year,
and has shown
composure under
pressure doing it.
Saturday's game is junior Tony Grattan is chance to show that ho can
overcome adversity and provide his team with the leadership it needs
By Trevor Kearney
Sports tamo*
Som« quarturbat ks provide the leader'
ship that is nee usury to lead a team lw< k
from « tough loss, while some simply
have the raw power to put up the big
numbers required to win games
Hut some quarterbacks — the really
great quarterbacks poss*rss (Kith of these
qualities and utilize them to the fullest
In the past year. Otvgon's Tony Grn/.iam
has proved to he that kind of quarterback
Me has proved that he can play in pres
sure situations and bounce back front
lough outings Me has proved that ho can
overcome injury and let there for his team
And he isn't about to stop now
Me is a serious football kid and I think
that is what I like about him the most,"
Oregon offensive coordinator Al Borges
said of Oregon's junior play caller, "I
wouldn't say that he is immersed in the
game, but he is very dedicated to it, and 1
think his dedication is very contagious to
the other players "
Tabbed the Pacific-10 Conference's liest
backup quarterback in 1994. Or.maul
watched from the sidelines for the first
■ '! *: C mu-s ,.f tii*- se.isi ■ !• ■; mer ():>y. .n
quarterbai k Dannv O'Neil showed no
signs of giving Gra/iani the chance to
prove he could live up to his preseason
title
But an Injury to O'Neil shoved Gra/.iam
into the unfamiliar starting rule, giving
him the chance to prove to Oregon coach
es and fans that he deserved to t>e the
Ducks' starting play caller in 1995
And lie did
A lB-for-31 performance — good for
28? yards and one touchdown — against
DSC last year showed that Gra/.iam lived
up to his title and that he was < apable of
taking over the helm after the 1994 cam
paign,
Gra/iani is coming off his worst oerfor
mam e a three-interception perfor
mance — of the soar against Stanford The
outing vvas tin* only game in which
Gramm has both started and finished that
the Duels did not w in. But. Graziani said,
his mishaps weren’t a result of any ner
vousness of starting for the first time at
Autzen
"1 had a little bit of the jitters on the first
drive and that was my best drive — but
after that I was fine," Graziani said Dur
ing that first drive. Graziani connected on
five consecutive passes for 59 yards, but
then threw the three interceptions and
found himself on the sidelines at the end
of the first half
Tile he has done during his whole Ore
gon career. Graziani showed poise when
the Ducks needed it. completing 20 of 36
passes without turning the twill over in the
second half.
Graziani doesn’t expect any different in
Saturday's game against Pacific.
“I'm just going to go out and play my
game." Graziani said of his plans against
Pacific. “I hove never had too many prob
lems believing in myself. ! came back in
the second half and 1 think 1 played pretty
well.”
According to Borges. Graziani provides
the Ducks with needed leadership and is
without a doubt the starting quarterback
of the present and of the future
"I don't think . ed up to Ins
own expectations |against Stanford),”
Borges said. "1 know he can play better
and I think he would be the first one to
tell you that, but he has a done a nice job
of leading us and a nice job of handling
our offense
"There is going to he some growing
pains that go with lhaving a new quarter
back!. hut sometimes a kill has been start
in)4 two years and has a had game 1 think
if you jump ofT of the bandwagon, that is
when you start really playing with the
chemistry of your football team."
Going into Saturday's game against
Pacific, the southpaw has led his team to
a ( 1 rts ord, showing smatterings of bril
liance and poise in the process More
impressively, however, is the fact that
Graziani has quietly put up the statistics
needed to become fourth in the nation in
total offense — and he didn’t even play a
down m the Din ks sei ond game of the
season against Illinois. That kind of play
has earned him respei t as one of the Pacif
ic 10 Conference's best at his position
But predictions, titles and praise aside,
Gra/iani has gotten down to business this
year, both as an emotional leader and as
an effective play caller.
"You can't pay too much attention to
titles or you lose focus.” Graziani said.
It's always nice to hear but you can't
dwell on it. If anything, they give you
more incentive to work hard."
He also attributes his success and per
severance to the undying support that his
teammates and coaches have given him.
"They have pretty much carried me on
their bucks and 1 think that has shown,"
Graziani said. "| That makes) you feel
freedom so you don't play tight or
uptight."
And Graziani has utilized that incen
tive. completing 73 passes in 134
attempts, good for 869 yards, a .545 per
centage and a 289 I-yard average His 79
rushing yards gives him 9-tH total net
yards in 152 total plays this season and
6.2 average yards per play. He also has 7
touchdowns and is averaging 3lfi total
yards per game.
In his i .truer at Oregon. Graziani has
thrown for over 1.400 yards and has a .541
overall passing percentage.
“1 definitely feel like 1 am the man that
inn kind of lead this team to good things.”
Graziani said.
And he has In the Ducks’ third game of
the season, Graziani. who had sat out the
Saturday before with a shoulder injury,
led his team to an upset of UCLA at the
Hose Bowl in Pasadena. Calif. Graziani hit
19 of 35 passes for 255 yards in the game,
and did not toss up an interception om e
during the game.
Ho plays a very high profile position
that we are very dependent upon to win
football games." Borges said "If he is
healthy and he is confident. I think he can
play as good as any player in this confer
ence and he may be one of the best in the
country
'1 think, particularly on the offensive
perspective, when he is feeling good aiiout
himself and he feels that every time he
drops back he is going to complete the
pass, it makes our running game go, it
does so much for our field position —
which helps our kicking game. So I think
it is reflective of our overall performance "
And as far as the team suffering its First
loss, Giuliani and ilorgi-s both agree that
the defeat served as a wake-up call to the
players and a reminder to the team as a
whole of what the season could be like if
the players don't get down to business.
”1 see this as a good situation for the
team to get back into our winning ways.”
Graziani said "Wo have had a really good
practice week ! think we want to come
out strong and hungry 1 think I could go
out there and play an error-free game.”
"I think we are ready,” Borges said,
“because the last time we played we
didn't win and it was a week and a half
ago I think the kids are hungry to play
again, 1 think we are practicing harder and
I think we are ready to go.”