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Pac-10 Picks ** *
Last week: ^ JF
Ernie Kent went 4*4
Ryan
Frank
31-23
Chris
Hansen
29-25
Joel
Hood
27-27
Rob
Moseley
26-28
Alex
Pond
27-27
Matt
Garton
30-24
Sarah
Kickler
31-23
Jerry
Allen
Guest
Receiver: Collins frustrated with playing time
R Continued from Page 2B
his body, and his lower body
strength is not what it should be. ”
But what about all the hype?
“Guys who are real heavily re
cruited have expectations set for
them that are way too high,” says
Oregon wide receivers coach
Chris Peterson. “We knew when
we were recruiting him that he
had a lot of developing to do. That
other stuff was created by the me
dia and fans.”
Collins admits that he has felt
the pressure of people’s expecta
tions and that comparisons to
players like Stokes and Johnson
have been occurring since his
high school days.
When you see two big 6-foot-4
receivers, and here comes a third
one out of high school who is hav
ing so much success, it’s only nat
ural to make comparisons,”
Collins says. "I was a man among
boys in high school, so there were
great expectations. I am just try
ing to live up to them.
“But that’s hard. If you listen to
all that, then you go out there
thinking you have to do this and
do that just to live up to the expec
tations. So I just do what I know I
can do and eventually the stats
and everything else will be
there.”
The question is when?
The freshman’s work ethic has
come into question this season by
players and coaches. It’s not so
much that he is lazy or unwilling
to work, they say, it’s whether or
not Collins understands what it
takes to be successful at this level.
“He just needs to work harder,”
quarterback Akili Smith says in a
point-blank manner. “And I don’t
know if he is working as hard as
he can. The sky’s the limit for La
Corey, but it’s going to take disci
pline and maturity and until he
has that, he’ll just be regular.”
Discipline and maturity are just
Collins file
■ WHO:
Oregon
wide re
ceiver La
Corey
Collins
■ SIZE: 6
foot-4,220
pounds
■ STATS:
Has 15 receptions and two
touchdowns in his career
a few of the things that, according
to Peterson, Collins needs to im
prove on.
“It’s knowing the system and
learning the routes and reacting
to the defense,” Peterson says.
“It’s developing competitiveness
and getting his mind into it. It’s a
combination of a lot of little
things.”
But it’s nothing that all great
players don’t do to be successful.
Collins admits that earlier in
the season he got so frustrated
with lack of playing time, that it
affected his performance in prac
tice and on the field.
“I started the season off doing
okay in the first couple of games
and then 1 didn’t play very much
after that. I became so frustrated
that I started to slack off,” Collins
candidly admits. “I came into this
year thinking that I had done the
things 1 needed to do to get in the
mix of things. But there were
some things I did that didn’t help
the team very much. ’’
He also did some things that
didn’t help himself.
Collins spent this past off sea
son trying to strengthen his in
jured leg and increase his speed.
In the process, he ignored the
weight room. That left him sus
ceptible to injuries in fall camp
where he got dinged up.
But again, that is all part of the
learning process for younger
players, says Peterson.
“I tell LaCorey all the time, ‘The
ball’s in your court, you have the
skills we are looking for,’ and if he
gets it done Monday through Fri
day, Saturday will take care of it
self," Peterson says. “Hey, we
love to sign blue-chip recruits,
but we play blue-collar players.”
Something al 1 involved hope
Collins will soon become. With
his size and natural athleticism,
Collins has the potential to be a
dangerous offensive weapon for
the Ducks.
"From a quarterback’s stand
point, he is the perfect target,”
Smith says. “You don’t have to
place the ball as perfectly, you
can just lock in and throw.”
And, says Collins, if given the
chance, he will come down with
the ball.
“It's hard for a defensive back
to cover a big, tall receiver,”
Collins says. “But not just being
taller, but having the ability to
bang and separate from the defen
sive back. I might not be the
fastest guy out there, but I can go
up and get the ball.”
Collins will get the opportuni
ty to show others what he can do
and why there is good reason to
still be excited about having a
player with his abilities on the
Oregon team. After all, Collins is
but a redshirt freshman with
three years of eligibility ahead of
him, a rough road hopefully be
hind him and way too much tal
ent to keep bottled up.
"This will be a big off season
for LaCorey," Bellotti predicts,
"preparing for next year and now
knowing what he has to do. He
will respond to that challenge
and become a big receiver for us,
which is what we saw in him to
start with.”
Pac-10: California and
Stanford play for pride
■ Continued from Page 8B
the second quarter until midway
through the fourth quarter. Quar
terback Cade McNown passed
for 320 yards and three touch
downs on the day. He also
rushed for one touchdown.
However, the Trojans have had
a bit of a resurgence of late, win
ning two games in a row and four
out of five since a lackadaisical
35-7 loss at Arizona State on Oct.
11, which caused head coach
John Robinson to challenge his
players and question his future
with the team.
Last week, the Trojans shut out
a fast-fading Oregon State team
23-0 as they held the Beavers to
just 152 yards of total offense, and
only 29 of those on the ground,
A win Saturday would give the
Trojans a 7-4 record and put them
in position for a pretty decent
bowl.
An interesting key to the game
will be whether or not the Bruins
can establish a running game
against a USC defense which
ranks first in the conference
against the run. The Trojans are
allowing opponents just 2.5 yards
per rush.
If the Bruins can get a running
game going, that should open up
a dangerous passing attack. They
rank second in the Pac-10 in pass
offense while the Trojans rank
last in pass defense.
UCLA has won the past six
games in the series, including last
season’s remarkable 48-41 dou
ble-overtime victory. The Bruins
came back from a 38-21 deficit
with less than seven minutes re
maining to tie the game and force
overtime. The teams combined
for 757 yards passing and 1,033
yards of total offense.
UCLA is 3-0-1 in the last four
games in the Los Angeles Colise
um.
Calilomia (3-7,1-6) at
Stanford (4-6,2-5)
After beginning the season 4-1
amidst talk of a Rose Bowl berth,
the Cardinal play for nothing
more than pride when it takes on
California in the 100th edition of
the Big Game.
Stanford's supposed dream
season has completely fallen
apart, thanks to a five-game losing
streak it hopes to snap Saturday.
The Cardinal did look impres
sive at times during its 38-28 loss
at Washington State last week
and actually led 28-27 early in the
fourth quarter before the Cougars
pulled away down the stretch.
Cal hasn't exactly been setting
the world on fire, either, losing
seven of its past eight games. Its
only victory during that span
came over Oregon State, which is
winless in the Pac-10.
The series between Cal and
Stanford is the oldest college foot
ball series on the West Coast, dat
ing back 105 years to 1892.
Go Beavers!
Good Luck at the Civil War Game
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