Getting his Chance
Junior tailback Derien La
timer uiUfinally get a chance
to excel on
Saturday af
terspending
most of his
. first three
* seasons on
the bench '
i PAGE 3
Kridav Oc iubcr lx I‘MS
Oregon Ducks vs.
Southern California Trojans Q
3-30p. m. at Autzen Stadium Q
An independent newspaper
Volume 100, Issue 39
INSIDE:
Oregon Feature 3B
USC Feature 4B
Pac-10 l*review 6B
Pac-1() Picks 7B
Pac-10 Statistics 12B
Offensive Line Spotlight 15B
m
Scoring
Offense
I Oregon 1st
use 3rd
Total
Offense
Oregon 1st
USC 6th
Rushing
Defense
Oregon 7th
USC 5th
Total
Defense
Oregon 7th
USC 3rd
Turnover
Margin
Oregon 8th
USC 3rd
• Pa-10 rani:
Quotable
"Obviewry, H
impacts what we
<o offenthrety
betas** ha wax
the best reusing
backtafta
CMferncaW!
have to love
others take ip
the stack.'
— Mike Bebotti,
UO head coach,
on the season
ending injury to
tailback Reuben
Drougtms
fey
Player
With three of
Oregon’s
offensive starters
sidelined with
injuries. VUiegas
may be retied on
to kick the Ducks
to victory, thereby
exorcising the
ghost of last
year's loss to the
Trojans.
Oregon tries to rebound from loss
Emerald
Jason Cooper is one of three Oregon tailbacks who wifi be expected to make up for tee loss of injured Pac-10 rushing leader Reuben Droughns
USC game could mean deia vu for Ducks
Opinion
Joel
Hood
Kenny Wheaton is usually the player
given credit for ushering in the new
era of Oregon football. His 97-yard
interception return against Washington in
1994 was the most dramatic play in a re
markable season for the Ducks, culminat
ing in a Rose Bowl berth.
But the new era of Duck football actually
began three weeks earlier with a road victo
ry against then-No. 19 Southern California.
Oregon was 2-2 following a convincing
victory against Iowa at Autzen Stadium but
entered its first Pacific-10 Conference game
as a 19-point underdog and had to start
back-up Tony Graziani at quarterback.
Playing in the Los Angeles Coliseum,
where they hadn’t beaten the Trojans since
1971, the Ducks stormed out to a 10-0 first
quarter lead and never looked back. A 19
yard pass from Graziani to flanker Cristin
McLemore widened the Duck lead to 16-7
at halftime. Matt Belden added a pair of
second-half field goals as Oregon cruised
to a 22-7 victory in front of 44,232 dejected
Trojan fans and another million at home
watching the game on television.
It was the first game that season that Ore
gon dominated. I mean really dominated.
The defense held Keyshawn Johnson to be
Turnto HOOD, Page14B
The offensive-minded Ducks
must overcome a tough Trojan
defense and a rash of injuries
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
For four weeks the No. 12 Oregon Ducks
entered games on the high of a winning
streak. Include the Las Ve
gas Bowl and Oregon
played its First five games
of this season after a win.
Now comes the hard
part, as the Ducks (5-1
overall, 2-1 Pacific-10
Conference) enter Satur
day’s 3:30 p.m. matchup
with Southern California at Autzen Stadi
um after a bitter 41-38 overtime loss to No. 2
UCLA last weekend.
“We’re a tad disappointed,” Oregon head
coach Mike Bellotti said. “To play that hard
and to get that close and to not win is diffi
cult.”
The Ducks tied the game with 22 seconds
remaining in regulation, only to be stopped
on their first overtime possession. UCLA
kicker Chris Sailer then atoned for two ear
lier misses with a game-ending field goal on
the Bruins' first possession.
“I told the kids that they had a couple of
hours to be disappointed, but that we are
not discouraged,” Bellotti said. "We’re 5-1
and just took the second-ranked team in the
nation to overtime. The other thing I said
was that, win or lose, every game we play af
ter that is going to be tremendously impor
tant.”
The Trojans (5-2, 3-1) disposed of Wash
ington State 42-14 last weekend, one week
after Oregon did the same, 51-29.
USC is bolstered by a defense that boasts
size and speed, Bellotti said, and that could
pose significant problems for the Ducks.
Oregon is dealing with major injuries to key
players on both the offensive line and in the
starting backfield.
Tackle Marco Aguirre partially tore liga
ments in his right knee, while tailback
Reuben Droughns will miss the rest of the
season with a broken right leg.
Starting in Droughns’ place will be junior
Derien Latimer, the Ducks’ fourth-leading
rusher this season with 101 yards on 26 car
Turnto DUCKS, Page 13B
HacKett working to get legendary program back on track
USC has encountered a rocky>
road since its last trip to the Rose
Bou l after the 1995 season
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
In Southern California’s storied football
history it has won eight national titles, pro
duced 120 all-Americans, played in 28 Rose
Bowls and had four players win the Heis
man Trophy.
Not surprisingly, the Trojans hold a com
manding 33-11-2 edge against Oregon,
which dates back to a 34-0 Ducks’ win in
1915. In the last 19 meetings, USC has been
even more dominant, compiling a 16-2-1
mark.
Recently, however, the tides of success
for these two programs have turned.
While Oregon has played in three bowl
k games in the last four seasons. USC has not
appeared in the postseason since the 1996
Rose Bowl.
That type of mediocrity is not acceptable
to Trojan alumni. Thus, head coach John
_ Robinson was fired after last
season, and Paul Hackett, for
merly of the Kansas City
Chiefs, was brought in to try
and bring back the winning
Trojan tradition.
It has worked so far this
season for USC (5-2 overall, 3
1 Pacific-10 Conference)
heading into its game against the No. 12
Ducks in Eugene on Saturday.
USC rebounded from a devastating home
loss to California — in which the Trojans
had a 31-10 lead before losing. 32-31 — with
an impressive 42-14 drubbing of Washing
ton State last Saturday.
“That was a good win for us and a good
bounce back after the debacle against the
Golden Bears, Hackett said. "It was nice to
go up into a foreign situation and play in the
rain, with the crowd noise, on the Astro
Turf. That’ll get us ready for Eugene.”
Offensively, the Trojans average 31.4
points per game. Quarterbacks Mike Van
Raaphorst and Carson Palmer have both
played in each of USC’s seven games.
Van Raaphorst has played more minutes,
completing 47.6 percent of his passes with
seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
Palmer, a freshman, has completed nearly
43 percent of his throws and has three
touchdown tosses and one interception.
"The thing that is improving every game
is their passing attack,” Oregon head couch
Mike Bellotti said. “Their quarterbacks are
both very young, but they're getting better
and better.”
Turn to USC,Page 130
On tap
WHO: No. 12 Ore
gon (5-1,2-1) vs.
USC (5-2,3-1)
WHAT: Pacific-10
Conference football
WHERE: Autzen
Stadium
WHEN: Saturday.
Oct. 24 at 3:30p.m.