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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 1998)
Football: Return of WR Griffin from wrist injury may ease loss of Johnson ■ Continued from Page 7 The game was initially the sea son-opener for the Spartans as well, but Michigan State secured a date against Colorado State on Aug, 29. “The most improvement in a football team comes from game one to game two,” Bellotti said. “There’s no question in my mind that it’s a tremendous advantage to play a game. Us being able to see, and being able to do it, are two dif ferent things. If they could >-ade with me, I would in a heartbeat. There’s a lot of things that we're going to find out in a first game, when you finally play an oppo nent, that you don’t find out play ing against yourself. So I’d like to play a game.” That extra week of playing against themselves will give the Ducks more time to resolve several posi tion battles, especially tailback but including the second annual quar terback competition between se niors Jason Maas and Akili Smith* Smith started the first two games of 1997; Maas took over for the next three; Smith returned to start the sixth game; Maas got the call for two more; and Smith fin ished the season with a streak of four-straight starts. All of that switching was confusing for fans and foes alike but not, Bellotti said, for the team. “Both of those men want to play, deserve to play and have proven they can win, not just at the Pac-10 level but beyond,” Bellotti said. “We wouldn’t have done what we did last year, and I’m not just talk ing about rotating them but their accomplishments in breaking three all-time school records, if they wouldn’t have been able to support each other, which they did, if they wouldn’t have been able to handle it emotionally, which they did, and if it had been any type of a divisive thing for the team, which it wasn’t.” The duo of Maas and Smith combined to throw for 3,016 yards and 31 touchdowns on 212 of 387 passing with 15 interceptions. The pair led the team to school records in total offense with 5,049 yards, scoring with 380 points and touchdowns with 51. Maas said he would be content should the situation continue, as long as the Ducks are winning. “It’s not a problem if that’s the way it happens,” he said. “Both of us worked really hard in the spring and the summer so that one of us could actually play more than the other, but if it does hap pen to work out that way, then I’m all for it, as long as it’s working.” Maas and Smith were two of what Bellotti estimated at 65 play ers who stayed in Eugene this sum mer to practice, work and work out. “Obviously it should help our team unity a lot, and that's basical ly what it comes down to; you can hold everyone accountable,” Maas said. “Last year we had 15 people stay and we still did pretty good, and Rose Bowl year we didn’t have that many people stay. So it’s not to say that everyone works that much harder when they’re here, it just unifies everyone.” Another fierce position battle is being waged at tailback, where no less than six Ducks are vying for the starting nod against Michigan State. Joining Droughns and fresh man Herman Ho-Ching as candi dates for the job are veterans Kevin Parker, Derien Latimer, Jason Cooper and Jerry Brown. Although Parker is listed at the top of the depth chart entering fall prac tice, the senior tallied just 18 yards on eight carries last season. Latimer is the top returning running back with 115 yards on 29 carries last sea son, while Cooper spent most of 1997 on special teams. Brown sat out last season after severely injuring a hamstring in fall camp. Parker hopes to retain the start ing tailback job after alternating between the backfield and wide receiver last season. “I’ll be getting a lot of work at tailback [this fall],” Parker said. “That’s my job title. Hopefully I can be the No. 1 guy. It’s going to be tailback by committee, but hopefully I’ll be the chairman of that committee.” There is added pressure on whoever wins the competition af ter the graduation of Saladin Mc Cullough, who in 1997 set an Ore gon single-season rushing record in winning the Pac-10 rushing title with 1,343 yards on 267 carries. “He was the Pac-lO’s leading rusher, so there is pressure,” Droughns said. “All of us have got to work together to get the job done. That’s the only way we’re going to do it. I’m sure all of us would like to rotate in, but it’s not going to happen like that, and we all know that.” Also graduated is wide receiver Pat Johnson, who was taken in the 1998 Oregon Football Schedule Date Sept. 5 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31 Nov. 7 Nov. 14 Nov. 21 Opponent Michigan St. UTEP San Jose St. Stanford Was. St. UCLA use Arizona Washington Arizona St. Oregon St. Time 12:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 2 p.m. 1p.m. 2 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. Place Autzen El Paso, Tex. Autzen Autzen Pullman, Wash. Los Angeles, Calif. Autzen Tucson, Ariz. Autzen Autzen Corvallis, Ore. second round of the NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens after accumu lating 1,072 yards and eight touch downs on 55 catches last season. Helping to ease the burden of re placing the All-American will be senior Damon Griffin, who returns to the Ducks after missing all of last season with a thumb injury in curred in fall camp. The ligament damage prevent ed Griffin from following up on a 1996 season in which he was sec ond in the Pac-10 in catches with 43 and racked up 711 yards and seven scores. “I think the appreciation for what he had and missed is impor tant for all of us to see and pass on to our other players,” Bellotti said. “He’s tremendously excited to be here. If you saw our spring game, he was a dominant player. I think he can do that every game and be an all-league-type receiver. ” Griffin tallied 188 yards and three touchdowns on 12 catches in the Oregon spring game May 2, the Ducks’ last real game prior to their showdown with Michigan State. Notes: Freshmen offensive line man Mike Belisle and tight end Danny Pulido will each miss sev eral weeks of action due to injuries suffered in the first week of prac tice. Belisle, a Parade All-Ameri can from Marshfield in Coos Bay, will be sidelined indefinitely with a sprained left ankle. Pulido could miss as many as four weeks with a broken bone in his left hand ... Redshirt freshman quarterback Joey Harrington, expected to bat tle junior A.J. Feeley and true freshman Adam Kennybrew for the third-string role, had hernia surgery earlier in the summer and, according to Bellotti, is just getting back into shape ... Ruben Vaugh an, who missed his initial cam paign at Oregon last season with a preexisting knee injury, is still sidelined after undergoing surgery in November... Former Duck tight end A.J. Jelks was cut by the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL on Monday. "Coffee Drop by For some CoFFee Counter Culture. Cool sounds meet smooth espresso at Coffee People* On Friday and Saturday niyhts From 8-10, Coffee People will be serving up local talent ai well as our Fabulous espresso drinks and delectable pastries. Smooth jazz, acoustic rock, Folk, world beat: call to find out what treat sounds are on the schedule or just drop by For a CoFFee People good time. Addreff: 840 E. 13 (across the rtreet from the University Bookstore) Phone: 302-1771 No rover charge. One drink minimum for all shows.
