OREGON VS WASHINGTON STATE
Maly
LIFE AS A TAILBACK
RICKY WHITTLE — !*,<>
incft, '95 pound ww toltoc* \
horn f sesno. Caul. and na$ iiwee
va^ly -efieis
8 si
PERSONAL
.V an
EngMsfi major,
#3', born on
December 21
19?! if) Ires
o Leonard
Dense
8le He
amended fd<
son High School and m% ccactaed py
i any W ais be<o»t coming io Oregon
m 199! and redshirttng his lirst yew
RECORDS
All time single game
bin t Qngest Rum (W) yards vs Ca:
lorma) II?®
5lh! ongesi Kn *oH R«-' »m (92 yvC'.
v\ rij 1 ■ j) 11 12 94
Season
2nd '!► * ?« re? .•■ • |9 30), 33 4
avg} 1994
This season
M " : i ■ *,i 1 31. . :■ !' ,
!> «./• .1) 10 14 95
M ■,! ya»dS , ' ng (161 yc i\ .
CaiiUxma) 10 )4 ‘ft
l c ■ jrd' ' 1 a (24 *r ;• ,
minors) 9 9%
WHITTLE AVERAGES...
113? rushing yards per game
21 ? 5 aM purpose yards per g»w
41 recephoos per game
49 6 relieving yards per game
tO potnis per game
TRIVIA QUESTION
Wmi outer sport did Went? play m
high schooP
ACHIEVEMENTS
” - has a,. i. med lor 1 JOS a.'
purpose yards Ifus season
Was a lust mm All Pac-10 selectors
las! season
Was the tslOivg,' player to u
on both a 50-yard pass play (51
yards 11 12234) ami 50 yard run rfe?
yards 11/5/94)
Has 25 cliches lor <1% yards and one
ID this season
CAREER STATISTICS
G AT T Hi y A. j IfiG TQ . ,yq
!«?■*»i <? !ja aa4 4» si i ac
IWfeM! V 294 4j?_ai4 * 44
9 >30 806 4? $7J » 87
HSfcSM 6 M3 6&? 48 113? a 79
dm 38 44.1 not*! S3 8 19
TRIVIA ANSWER
Whiffle was a cenief forward on h>s
high school soccer seam
After a strong game against California last week, senior tailback Ricky Whittle has proved that he is among the nation's best running backs
By Trevor Kearney
Soort* f ditur
Right from the beginning of the season,
Mtniortnilh.t( k Rii ky Whittle know |uvt what
he had to do and hmv to do it But what no
one could have known was |ust how often
he was going to end up doing it
Whittle, who last year split time with for
mtir Oregon tailback Dino Philyow, has
emerged as the Duck's primary offensive
weapon in the first six gonu's of the 1095
season But that < nines as no surprise to the
native of Fresno, Calif
“A lot of people hadn’t seen what I ■ an do
(coming into this season)," Whittle said of
Ins talents But what Whittle had previously
done was no small feat, as he had a I reads
amassed 1.524 total rushing yards. 401
rei eiving yards and scored 12 touchdowns
in his first three collegiate sea
sons He had also recorded the
Dm ks' fifth longest run ever,
an HO-yard touchdown dash
against California in 1902.
"But I still believed 1
could do more," he
said Ti
Ana mis year ne
has ihlllx ills! !h i' .
The Ducks'Sept 'J. ^
game against Utah
s no mod to sot the
tone for the
vonr. as Whittle
(arried a team
high 30 times
for 160 yards
and one touch
ciown. ana pickeo up an additional
touchdown and 26 yards on the receiving
end of tile football
He has kept up that pace, racking up 6H2
total rushing yards and to total touch
downs on the year Whittle is third in the
1
nation in all-purpose yards and ranks sec
ond in the Pacific-10 Conference and 25th
nationally in rushing with a 113 yards-per
gatne average, lie also has the team's longest
rushing score of the year (24 yards against
Illinois) and has three games of 100-plus
yards this season and eight in his career
One of those Derfor
mamw was la*.!
weekend against
California, when .
Whittle put on one 1
of the most awn- I
some perfor
mances of his —
earner. He
ran for Hit
yards on 27
You have got to
get lost in the
game You’ve got
to go i>ut there
ami play,
66
Ricky Whittle
Oregon Tailback
99
carries ami racked up an incredible 312 all
purpose yards on the day in the Ducks' 53
30 rout of the Golden Bears
“Those 312 all-purpose yards took me
hack," Whittle said, adding that he doesn't
think about how many yards he has during
the game. "I was like. 'Where did that come
from?' And then 1 watched the game and 1
said 'Oh, that’s where.'"
That kmd of performance has earned
Whittle the role of go-to guy when the Ducks
, need it This season, Whittle has carried
^ the ball 143 times, unchallenged by any
B other Oregon player Whittle is not unac
costumed to running the ball play
ifB after play after play, hut that role
hasn't drained him in the slight
wmm ©si
Pi in not tired. Whittle said
of his extensive role. “This is
something ! have envisioned
for myself — to be healthy
enough to come through for my
earn — for a long tune."
In fact. Whittle wouldn't want to be
any less of a part of the Oregon
offense.
"You have got to get lost in the
game." he said. "You’ve gat to go
out there and play. 1 feel in a lot
of ways our com dies do look lo
me for that.”
Whether it be running the
ball, catching the ball or
throw ing a key block Whit
tle just wants to be in on
crunch-time.
"! also want to be the one to
throw that key block," he said.
“In a lot of ways, 1 just want to
be in on the key situations."
Whittle redsnirted in 1991.
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