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Oregon defense prepares for tough Cougar offense
Averaging 490yards per game,
Washington State poses a serious
threat to a meager Duck defense
By Chris Hansen
Assistant Sports Editor
Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Oregon
Ducks with No. 15 Washington State coming to town on
Saturday.
This holds particularly true for the Oregon defense,
which has been torched for 98 points and 1,050 total
yards in the two previous games against Fresno State and
Stanford.
Now here come the Cougars, owners of the Pacific-10
Conference’s top-rated offense led by one of the coun
try’s top quarterbacks, Ryan Leaf. Averaging 39.5 points
and 498 yards a game, the Cougars must be licking their
chops in anticipation of getting their claws on Oregon’s
porous defense.
The only relief that Oregon can hope to get is the kind
that comes from within.
“Where are we? We're not where we want to be,” head
coach Mike Bellotti said. "I was disappointed that we
played as well as we did against Arizona and played ad
equately against Nevada and then played as poorly as
we did the last two weeks. I am at a loss at this point to
figure it out. I think we have good emotion, we have good
support, we just have to make the plays.”
After playing solid defense in the season’s first two
games, the Duck secondary has been picked apart with
relative ease by their last two opponents.
Fresno State quarterback Billy Voleck threw for 288
yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Stan
ford’s Chad Hutchinson threw for 340 yards, four touch
downs and no interceptions. Both also did an outstand
ing job of selling the play-action pass, which burned
Oregon time and again in both games.
But it has been a combination of poor tackling and
poor coverage that has been the bane of the secondary
the last two games.
“Except for the end when we were getting beat a little
Turn to FOOTBALL, Page 24
MICHAEL CRISP/E merald
Jaiya Figueras and the Duck secondary allowed Stanford
quarterback Chad Hutchinson 340 yards passing.
Women’s Cross Country
Feeling, not fighting, the pressure
A11-A merica n long-dista nee
runner Marie Davis uses the
pressures of running for
Oregon to her advantage
Joel Hood
Sports Reporter
Behind Autzen Stadium, among the
tall grass and cedar bark, runs one of
Oregon’s most accomplished athletes —
a 5-foot-4 muscled dynamo more likely
to break a course record than break
down under the pressures of cross coun
try competition.
Marie Davis has literally run to the
top of the collegiate mountain in only
her third season of competition with the
Ducks.
However, Davis, an All-American in
both cross country and track, admits
that the pressures of running for Oregon
can be great, and she approaches each
race as if it were her first.
“I get really nervous before each
race,” Davis says. “I get so nervous,
sometimes, that everything else I can’t
remember. Once the gun goes off, it's
just a big relief, but then you have to feel
the pain of the race.”
In two races this season, Davis has led
the No. 11 Ducks with a first- and sec
ond-place overall finish. Her time of 17
minutes, 45.88 seconds in the season
opener in Pasco, Wash, fell just three
seconds off the course record.
“I’m a competitive runner,” Davis
says. “I’m here at Oregon because I want
to race, not just because I like to run. To
me it’s not what you do in practice, but
how well you run in the race.”
A season ago, Davis was Oregon’s top
finisher in every event. She finished
third place or better in three races dur
ing the season and earned her first All
American honor in cross country with
an 18th place finish at the NCAA Cham
pionships last November.
“I like to remind myself of my goals
before each big race,” Davis says. “My
teammates are such a huge help to me
before and during the race. If they are re
laxed, then it’s easier for me to be.”
Injuries to some of Davis’ teammates
forced her to assume a leadership role
on the team last season, but the return of
those runners this season will help fill
that role.
Turn to DAVIS, Page 22
Marie Davis (above) is leading the Ducks ’
hopes to return to the NCAA Champi
onships. Milena Glusac (right) returns
from an injury in 1996 to help the Ducks.
ARCHIVE PHOTOS
Women’s Cross Country Schedule
Sept. 20 Big Cross, Pasco, Wash.
Sept. 27 Roy Griak Invitational, St. Paul, Minn.
Oct. 11 Furman Invitational, Greenville, S.C.
Oct. 19 University of Oregon Invit,, Eugene, Ore.
Nov. 1 Pac-10 Championships, Palo Alto, Calif.
Nov. 15 NCAA District VII Champ., Tucson, Ariz.
Nov. 24 NCAA Championships, Greenville, S.C.
Who needs a
bullpen?
Seattle in six
After seven months, 2,268 games
and one of the better division
races in recent memory, this
year’s baseball playoffs are upon
us. And for fans who love to see great
pitching, the game’s second season should
be a pleasure to watch.
This year’s most intriguing matchup is
in the National League, where the pitch
ing-rich Atlanta Braves, champs of the
Eastern Division, face the Central Divi
sion-vvinning Houston
Astros. Game 1 features
two Cy Young Award
candidates in future Hall
of-Famer Greg Maddux
for the Braves, and Astro
ace Darryl Kile, master of
the curve ball. If Houston
can take the opener, they
might have a shot at a
major upset. The best bet,
however, is for Atlanta to
Rob
Moseley
take the series in a three
game sweep, saving staff ace Denny Nea
gle for the championship series.
Waiting for Atlanta in the NLCS will be
the winner of the NL’s other divisional
matchup, the wild card Florida Marlins
and the West-winning San Francisco Gi
ants, fresh off a successful division race
with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
While the fatigue factor could hinder
the Giants, who have had to play every
game for the last two weeks as if it was
their last, San Francisco’s biggest problem
will be, you guessed it, Florida’s pitching.
After signing Alex Fernandez away from
the Chicago White Sox during the off-sea
son, the Marlins feature three starters as
good as any in the game. Fire-baller Kevin
Brown should sew up the first game at
home for Florida, and although Shawn
Estes can probably win Game 2 for the Gi
ants, that should be the Giants’ swan song.
I see Florida winning the next two at
3Com Park and taking the series, 3 games
to 1.
The American League should be a little
more difficult to call.
By matching the top two teams against
each other, a lesser team will make the
championship, while either Baltimore or
Seattle, the league’s best, will go home af
ter the first round.
Turn to MOSELEY, Page 23