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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1997)
Oregon 31, Washington28 The Improbable Win MARK McTYRE for the Emerald Tight end A.J.Jelks mid the rest of the Oregon football team celebrated with their fans in the west end zone after its upset victory over the Washington Huskies on Saturday Oregon scores in the game’sfinal minutes to overcome No. 6 Washington in Seattle By Chris Hansen Assistant Sports Editor SEATTLE — It has to be November. A month that has been so kind to the Oregon football team, 10-0 during the last three seasons, only got kinder on Saturday. In a game that can only be described as remarkable, the Ducks flew into Washington and unloaded a sea son’s worth of angst on the No. 6 Huskies. Before 73,775 Homecoming fans crammed into Husky Stadium, Oregon shocked Washington 31-28 to become the first Pacific-10 Conference team to be vic torious in Seattle since Nov. 4, 1995. That, fittingly, was also the Ducks (5-4 overall, 2-4 Pac-10) who have won three of four games against rival Washington (7-2, 5-1). The loss for the Huskies, who were playing without starting quarterback Brock Huard and starting tailback Rashan Shehee, broke their string of 12 straight wins against conference opponents. “Not a lot of people gave them a chance to win this football game,” Oregon head football coach Mike Bel lotti said of his team, "but they believed and they knew that they could. Our kids just believed. We talked a lot about faith, and I’m not to sure if I can describe it or de fine it, but our kids lived it today.” Oregon quarterback Akili Smith completed 15 of 25 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning toss to Pat Johnson with 2:33 left in fourth quarter capping one of the Ducks’ most memo rable games in recent history. Down 28-24 with eight minutes remaining, Oregon began its game-winning drive on its own 27-yard line. On the first play, Smith threw a high pass to tight end Blake Spence over the middle, who juggled, then caught the ball for a 23-yard gain. Six plays later, facing a third and 16 at the Washing ton 46, Smith hit wide receiver Donald Haynes for a gain of 27, putting the ball at the 19-yard line. After an incomplete pass and a sack that pushed the ball back to the 29, the Ducks called a timeout with a Turn to WIN, Page 12 Ducks buck trend in memorable upset SEATTLE — It seemed all too good to be true. The 4-4 Ducks, who couldn’t seem to catch a break for four conference games, were now basking in the glory of a 24-6 halftime lead over the No. 6 Huskies in Seattle, a place Washington hadn’t lost since Oregon won there in 1995. The Duck fans in tire West end zone stands were waving yellow pom-poms, and their muted chants drowned out the sounds from the sea of purple made up of 60,000 Husky fans. Turn to FRANK, Page 10 Ryan Frank Scores Oregon .31 Washington (6) 28 Oregon St.7 Arizona.27 Stanford.21 USC.45 Arizona State (15) 28 California.21 SW Louisiana.7 Wash. St. (16) ....77 Nebraska (1).45 Missouri.38 Michigan (4).34 Penn State (2).8 Florida St. (3) ....20 N. Carolina (5).3 Ohio State (7) ....31 Minnesota.3 S. Mississippi (24) 20 Tennessee (8) ....44 Iowa (12).10 Wisconsin.13 r OREGON PUCKS VS .WASHINGTON HUSKIES Saturday’s Star Oregon quarterback Akili Smith completed 15 of 25 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns. Play of the Game jf Pat Johnson made a diving catch in the end zone with 2:33 left in the game to give Oregon the lead and the win. The Numbers 1 2 3 4 Final Oregon 14 10 0 7 31 Wash. 0 6 15 7 28 Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Oregon Smith 25-15-0 193 3 Wash. Tuiasosopo 30-15-1 261 1 Rushing No. Yds TD Long Oregon McCullough 28 115 1 21 Wash. Tuiasosopo 32 95 1 42 Receiving No. Yds TD Long Oregon Spence 5 56 1 23 Wash. Pathon 7 1 64 0 43 Pac-10 Standings Pac-10 Overall W L W L Arizona State 5 17 2 UCLA 5 17 2 Washington 5 17 2 Washington State 5 1 8 T USC3 3 5 4 Arizona 2 4 4 5 Oregon 2 4 5 4 Stanford 2 4 4 5 California 15 3 6 Oregon State 0 6 3 6