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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1996)
Emerald ONE TO WATCH Damon Griffin was impressive last week and now brings his show to Autzen WOUNDED DUCKS Injuries suffered by the Ducks have left them depleted entering this weekend SPORTS EXTRA October 4, 1996 ducks vs. bruins (C One quarterback keeps throwing for a gagillion yards, but can’t put the finishing touches on a game, and another is primed and ready, and anxious to make his comeback. So who do you play? — Mark McTyre -99 Ryan Perry-Smith, who has thrown for 1,359 yards this season, will start for the fourth straight time since Tony Grazianl went down against Nevada. ANDREW BRACKENSICK/Emerald Quarterback Controversy? QB Ryan Perry-Smith has been impressive on paper, but hasn’t been able to win the big games. With Tony Graziani quickly recovering who deserves the starting role? The last few weeks of Oregon football have been very inter esting and frustrating, to say the least. First, backup quarterback Ryan Perry Smith gets his first start of the 1996 sea son, in place of injured Tony Graziani, and was nothing less than “en fuego in a 35-28 victory over Colorado State. The senior threw for 395 yards, fifth on the school’s all-time single-game list. The following weekend against Wash ington State, the Ducks got spanked 55 44, by a Cougar squad that had a rough go-of-it against Temple one game earlier. Perry-Smith, like the week before, had impressive numbers, but this time could never rise to the occasion when needed. The reason the deficit was only 11 points can be accounted for by the tremendous effort turned in by Oregon’s second and third-string players. So myself, and most Oregon fans, took that loss as a fluke; one of those unex plainable occurrences. Boy were we wrong! In what was by far the biggest game to date this year, Perry-Smith choked hard core against Arizona State. He threw two interceptions at crucial points in the game, ending any chance of an Oregon Turn to McTYRE, Page 3B OPINION f nrt Mctyre Injury-depleted Ducks set to battle Bruins at Autzen ■ PREVIEW: Both the Ducks and the Bruins are in search of their first conference win of the season By Chris Hansen Sports Reporter Oregon’s Pacific-10 Conference home-opener against the UCLA Bruins will pit two teams against each other that are dealing with the same frustra tions of losing, but for different reasons. Oregon (3-2 overall, 0-2 in the Pac-10) is in the midst of a two-game losing streak because of an of fense that takes too long to heat up and a defense that melts down too early. These problems are pri marily the results of a team that has been hurt by injuries to key players at nearly every position. UCLA (1-2, 0-0) is opening its Pac-10 season after playing one of the toughest non-conference sched ules in the country. The Bruins losses came on the road against now-No. 9 Tennessee and now-No. 6 Michigan. "I think UCLA is a better football team than any body knows,” said Oregon head coach Mike Bellot ti. “Especially when you look at their statistics and who they have played. They have played a veiy dif ficult schedule.” The significance this game holds for the Ducks cannot be overstated. Not only will the outcome af fect their future bowl status, but the confidence and morale of the team is in dire need of a lift. “[The outcome] of this game will have an effect on this team,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “ [It’s about] where we want to be at the end of the season and where we want to be right now. We believe that we can compete for the conference championship, but we have put ourselves in a very, very deep hole.” Winning the Pac-10 title may be a lofty goal, right now, for a Duck squad that currently resides in the conference cellar along with Oregon State. Oregon’s immediate concern is just being able to field a com petitive team. Turn to PREVIEW, Page 8B Key Player Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti has to be consid ered the key player as his decision making will have major implications on the Ducks’ future this season. If Ryan Perry-Smith doesn't produce, Bellotti will have to decide if he should bring in Tony Graziani or not. TOTAL OFFENSE PER SAME UCLA University of Oregon ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 20 1. Florida 4-0 2. Florida St. 3-0 3. Ohio St. 3-0 4. Penn St. 5-0 5. Arizona St. 4-0 6. Michigan 4-0 7. Nebraska 2-1 8. Miami 4-0 9. Tennessee 2-1 10. Colorado 3-1 11. Notre Dame 3-1 12. Virgina 4-0 13. Alabama 4-0 14. LSU 3-0 15. UNC 3-1 16. Kansas St. 4-0 17. Southern Cal 3-1 18. Washington 2-1 19. West Virginia 5-0 20. Auburn 3-1
