Oregon 63, Stanford 28
Matt Hankins/Emerald
Oregon quarterback Akili Smith passes to tight end Jed Weaver during the Ducks’ win at Autzen Stadium on Saturday.
Hood
Continued from Page 11A
games to Stanford; last year we re
ally thought we had them,” wide
receiverTony Hartley said. "But
we let it slip away. They haven’t
been saying pleasant things about
us. They have downplayed us, said
we weren’t that good.
"When we came out today we
really had a sense of urgency. We
were going to let them know that
we are for real. I think it was evi
dent.”
What was also evident was ex
actly how far this team has come
since its game against Stanford
last season.
“I challenged [my team) at half
time to come back,” Bellotti said.
“The best thing about it was we
had another half of football to get
that taste out of our mouth. ”
Not quite. The best thing about
this win is that Oregon is 4-0 for
the first time since 1988. The
Duck defense, which was ma
ligned and poked fun at all of last
season, held Stanford in the sec
ond half to just 179 yards of of
fense and seven points.
The best thing about this win
was that it came against Stanford,
which has owned the Ducks since
1991— a stretch of seasons that
has resurrected the football pro
gram at Oregon.
There is no question that Ore
gon came out to make a statement
in its first Pacific-10 Conference
game. However, the difference
this season is that the conference
and all of college football are tak
ing notice.
Joe! Hood is the sports editor for the
Emerald. He can be reached at
hood@gladstone. uoregon. edu
Ducks
Continued from Page11A
in place of Reuben Droughns,
who left the UTEP game with an
injured ankle then sat out last
week against San Jose State.
The second quarter Saturday
resembled the shootout from last
season, as the two teams traded
scores and the Cardinal closed
the gap to 42-21 at halftime.
Kevin Parker gave the Ducks a
four-touchdown lead on a one
yard run before the Cardinal’s
Maxwell Stevenson answered
with a one-yard score of his own.
Damon Griffin then ensured
his spot on Saturday's edition of
SportsCenter when Smith hit
him at the 20-yard line with a
bullet that bounced into the air
and off a defender before Griffin
could regain control. The senior
dragged cornerback Tank
Williams for 10 yards before
Stanford’s Riall Johnson hit him
at the two, propelling them both
into the endzone and the Ducks
to a 35-7 lead.
The Cardinal bounced back
with a 23-yard DeRonnie Pitts
touchdown grab with just under
six minutes remaining in the
half. The Stanford defense held
on Oregon’s next possession,
forcing the Ducks to punt. Ore
gon fans then witnessed some
ming mey naa
n’t seen for four
years, as Emory
Brock ended
Josh Bidwell’s
streak of 189
consecutive
punts without a
blocked at
tempt and gave
Stanford the
ball on the
Duck 10-yard
line.
The Cardinal
closed the lead
to 35-21 on
load Husak s seventh-consecu
tive completion, a 10-yard scor
ing strike to Dave Davis, before
the Ducks could answer with a
23-yard touchdown pass from
Smith to tight end Jed Weaver
with 46 seconds remaining in the
half.
“We were trying to do too
much,” rover Michael Fletcher
said of the defensive lapse. “We
were a little overzealous at the
time, trying to make too many
(( Our receivers are
making plays, and our
running backs are
making plays when they
get the opportunity. I
would not want to have
to try to defend us.
Mike Bellotti
UO head coach
plays, we cor
rected all that
in the second
half.”
The Oregon
defense al
lowed Stanford
just seven
more points
and held the
high-powered
Cardinal pass
ing attack,
which was av
eraging 308
yards per
game, to just 92
yards in the second halt.
In fact, the Cardinal managed
only 179 yards of total offense in
the second half, one yard less
than Droughns. After returning
with 34 yards on seven carries in
the first half, the junior exploded
in the second half with 180 yards
on 15 carries, including touch
down runs of one, 67 and 40
yards.
Droughns became the first
player in Oregon history to rush
for 200 yards in a game twice in
one season with his 213-yard
performance. The JC transfer ran
for 202 yards in the Ducks’ open
er against Michigan State.
“Reuben did a heck of a job to
day,” Smith said. “He had some
nice gaping holes to run through
that the offensive line created.”
The line, including seniors
Marco Aguirre, Stefan deVries
and Michael Klews, as well as ju
niors Deke Moen and Josh Beck
ett, was lauded by the coach as
well.
"The offense is playing very
well right now,” Bellotti said. “I
think it starts with the offensive
line. They’re a veteran group.
They understand each other,
they communicate well, they’ve
given Akili a lot of time, and he’s
been very accurate with his pass
es. Our receivers are making
plays, and our running backs are
making plays when they get the
opportunity. I would not want to
have to try to defend us.”
Conspicuous in his absence
Saturday was middle linebacker
Peter Sirmon, the Pac-lO’s lead
ing tackier in 1997 who was list
ed as questionable with a pec
toral injury entering Saturday’s
game.
Starting in his place was senior
Chris Vandiver, who led the team
with 19 tackles, two for loss, and
a sack on the day.
“Peter’s our general out there
on defense,” Fletcher said. “But
Chris Vandiver did an awesome
job today. I just saw him all over
the field, covering everybody,
making big hits. That’s just the
sign of a good team — the ring
leader goes down, the next guy
up in line comes in and makes
plays.”
The Ducks now have a week
to prepare for consecutive Pac-10
road games, first at Washington
State on Oct. 10, then at No. 5
UCLA a week later.
Man Hankins /Emerald
Inside linebacker Chris Vandiver takes down Stanford quarterback Todd Husak during
Saturday’s game.
Defense holds up under pressure
Fill-in linebacker Chris
Vandiver leads with 19
tackles in one game
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
That the Duck offense could
score on Stanford’s defense in its
Pacific-10 Conference opener on
Saturday was not in question.
The ability of the Oregon de
fense, ranked seventh in the con
ference, to contain the Cardinal of
fense, ranked fourth, was a major
question.
Adding to the pressure on the
defense was the absence, because
of injury, of preseason all-confer
ence linebacker Peter Sirmon, the
unit’s emotional and physical
leader.
Taking over both roles Saturday
was a familiar face. Senior line
backer Chris Vandiver took over
Sirmon’s play-calling duties and
led the Oregon defense with 19
tackles, two for loss, and a sack in
the 63-28 victory.
“Those were some big shoes to
fill, and I was a little worried,"
Vandiver said. “I was scared, defi
nitely excited, but I felt like I could
do it, and with the guys around
me, it made it easy. ”
It was a triumphant return for
the 6-foot-2, 213-pound Lebanon
native. Vandiver recorded 49 tack
les and two sacks as a sophomore
in 1996 before being relegated to
mostly special teams duty with the
emergence of Sirmon last season.
Vandiver managed just nine
tackles in 1997 and entered this
season listed below both Sirmon
and junior Aaron Cheuvront, who
leads the Ducks in tackles this sea
son with 37 so far.
“The way Aaron plays, he plays
great, so 1 don't mind backing up ei
ther of those guys,” Vandiver said.
“I’m ready to stand there and do
what I could do to help the team. ”
With Sirmon possibly facing
season-ending surgery due to a
tom pectoral muscle injured in fall
camp, Vandiver may be expected
to repeat his performance against
the Cardinal in the coming weeks.
“Chris is no stranger to playing
for us,” head coach Mike Bellotti
said. “He has started many games
in the past. He’s been a good foot
ball player; obviously, Peter Sir
mon is a great football player. We
don’t have Peter Sirmon anymore.
Vandy’s going to step up. I have
great confidence, and I think our
team now has confidence, in guys
like both Aaron Cheuvront and
Chris Vandiver stepping up and
playing great football. ”
Cheuvront acknowledged Sir
mon’s absence, but echoed the
team’s confidence in Vandiver.
"I think the biggest tiling we miss
in Peter is just the comfort zone, be
cause Peter’s been out there, and
he’s been a solid starter for us,”
Cheuvront said of Sirmon, whose
streak of 17 consecutive starts was
snapped. “We’re missing it a little
bit, but Chris came in and didn’t
miss a beat. There was no panic at
all without Sirmon out there.”
Bellotti said Sirmon would
have an MRIMonday to determine
whether the junior would indeed
miss the remainder of the season.
Although that would provide
Vandiver with the opportunity to
start for the remainder of the sea
son, he said he would rather see
Sirmon in uniform.
“It’s exciting and it’s nice to be
back in that spot, but the way it
happened and also under the cir
cumstance — he’s our best player
—you never want that to happen,”
Vandiver said. “I don’t have a prob
lem backing up a guy like that.”