EMERALD
Junior safety Jaiya Figueras suffered a season ending ankle injury in the fourth game of the 1995 season. Since the injury, Figueras has struggled to regain his past form.
Duck Disappearing Act
Strong safety Jaiya Figueras has
been a virtual no-show in the
Oregon defense this season
By Chris Hansen
Sports Reporter
You remember Jaiya Figueras, don’t you?
How about a little refresher: In game
number two of last season, Oregon was los
ing 31-28 to Illinois midway through the
fourth quarter, Illinois was beginning a dri
ve inside its own 20-yard line when
Figueras broke through on a safety blitz and
sacked Illinois quarterback Johnny John
son. Johnson fumbled the football back into
the Oregon end zone and was recovered by
Figueras for the winning touchdown.
The next weekend at UCLA, Oregon was
leading 38-31 with only seconds to go in
the game, and the Bruins were facing
fourth-and-goal. UCLA tailback Karim-Ab
dul Jabbar took the handoff and ran to his
left, put his head down and attempted to
barrel his way into the end zone. Instead he
was stuffed at the goal line by Figueras to
seal Oregon’s victory.
Two consecutive games, two consecutive
game-winning plays by Figueras.
But the following week against Stanford,
Figueras suffered a season-ending injury
when he tore ligaments and broke his an
kle.
After sitting out spring drills, Figueras was
expected to come in this fall and make an
impact in a Duck secondary that was in need
of a playmaker other than Kenny Wheaton.
But so far this season, Figueras has been
nearly a non-existent factor in the Ducks’
defense. He has started only twice while
playing the other games almost exclusively
on special teams, a position he excels at.
I....■■ I
FIGUERAS
So why is Figueras
not seeing significant
action on a defense that
is in desperate need of
someone to step up and
make the big play? That
depends on who is do
ing the talking. The
coaches say he hasn’t
completely recovered
from his injury.
Figueras, on the other
hand, says he is healthy
and doesn’t understand
why he isn’t playing.
“1 was hurting in fall camp because I had
n’t played on the leg for so long,” Figueras
said. "But the coaches say that I’m too slow
and flat-footed and not playing up to my
ability and potential.”
But head coach Mike Bellotti insists that
the injury is the reason for not playing
Figueras.
“Being cleared to play and being ready to
play physically and mentally are two dif
ferent things,” Bellotti said. “Part of it is the
physical process of healing that takes place
even after he is medically cleared. Then it
is the mental process of having the confi
dence in that leg.”
And Figueras’ mental healing has been
slower in coming than the coach would
like.
“Sometimes there is an emphasis in
thinking about what the next step will be,”
Bellotti said, “thinking about pushing off
that leg, thinking about coming up to make
a tackle and protecting that leg. The injury
has not allowed him to be the player he was
last season.”
Turn to FIGUERAS, Page 6B
Big game lights fire
for harsh word-war
■ COACH: Husky
head coach Jim
Lambright had
some choice
words about the
Ducks following
his team’s loss
last season
By Ryan Frank
Sports Reporter
The fire burning in the Northwest known
as the Oregon-Washington series had a little
more fuel added to it last season.
Oregon’s 24-22 squeaker at Husky Stadi
um on Nov. 4, was its second win over the
Huskies in as many years, the first time that
had happened since 1987 and 1988.
The victory put the Ducks on their way to
their second-straight New Year’s Day bowl
berth and pushed the Huskies toward a Dec.
29 date in the Sun Bowl.
But at the time, Washington head coach
Jim Lambright was not willing to settle for
anything less than a New Year’s Day bowl.
Turn to COACH, Page 8B
UW quarterback ready to make his mark
■ HUARD: After seeing his older brother get
booed last season, Brock Huard wants to
redeem his family name
By Ryan Halvorsen
Sports Reporter
Before Washington’s game against UCLA last week,
there was a quarterback controversy. Now there is not.
At least not this week, when the Huskies visit Eugene.
Brock Huard, the Huskies’ redshirt freshman, will
be making the calls this weekend against the Ducks
while junior Shane Fortney will be on the sidelines
giving his ailing knee a rest.
The starting role is nothing new to Huard as he has
already started three of Washington’s six games this
season and has played in all of them. Huard has also
already established himself as one of the top quarter
backs in the Pacific-10 Conference, ranking fifth in the
league with 122.2 yards per game and 817 total yards
passing in shared time.
Being part of the Huard family and being a Husky
is nothing new either. Brock is the brother of last
HUARD
year’s starting quarterback Da
mon; Brock grew up with the
Huskies and now he finally is
one.
“1 would say that the two
biggest factors [for going to Wash
ington] would be playing in front
of 75,000 Husky fans every game
— being from the state of Wash
ington and being a huge fan of
Washington football — and sec
ondly my family and friends,”
Brock said. “I wanted to be
around them and share all of the
experiences with them because they are a big reason
why I’m playing football anyway. If I would have gone
somewhere else I would have had to make a whole
new set of friends.”
Huard is staying close to his family and friends, es
pecially Damon, who, after a brief stint as a backup
with the Cincinnati Bengals, has returned to Seattle to
Turn to HUARD, Page 6B