Northcutt
Continued from Page 7
training camp, Northcutt was
forced to fill a greater role.
And boy, did he rise to the chal
lenge.
In 1997, Northcutt led the Wild
cats in receiving and ranked
fourth in the Pac-10 with 58 catch
es. This year, he is on track to
eclipse last year’s mark, having 49
catches midway through this sea
son.
“I'm always working harder be
cause I get more experience as I get
older,” Northcutt says. "If some
thing happened last year, I’ve got
to do it better this year. It takes a
lot of hard work and staying late
after practice, but I work harder
than the next person.”
Arizona head coach Dick
Tomey agrees that Northcutt has
improved.
“I think he’s better,” Tomey
says. “I don’t think the number
of receptions indicates if some
body is better or worse. It's the
team result that counts. Dennis
is contributing to our team. I
think he’s a much better player
than he was a year ago. He’s
blocking better and trying harder
without the ball.”
((I don'/ need to lead
right now, but soon it
will be my turn to step
up D
Dennis Northcutt
Wildcats receiver
Northcutt has done more than
work without the ball; he has im
proved without even stepping
onto the field. He often wakes up
early in the morning so he can
spend more time practicing or
working out.
Teammates Jose Portilla and
Rodney Williams — who are
Northcutt’s roommates — have
discovered this the hard way.
“We try to outwork each other,”
Northcutt says. "They’ll ask me ifl
want to work out and there’s no
way I’ll say no. Sometimes I’ll
catch them early in the morning
all ready to go, and there’s no way
they are going to say no because
I’m younger.”
As his role on the team contin
ues to grow, Northcutt says he is
ready to be a leader. He looks for
ward to next year and says he
wants it to be his best.
But until then, Northcutt says
his role as a Wildcat is to work
hard and continue to improve. He
does not like to say that he is “the
man” on the team because one
man alone can’t win a football
game.
“Right now, this team has some
really good leaders,” he says. “I
don’t need to lead right now, but
soon it will be my turn to step up."
Northcutt does admit he is, in a
sense, already a leader. He says
younger players look at his yardage
and receiving and want to accom
plish what he has done.
Many players in college football
don’t see heavy playing time until
later in their careers, and North
cutt knows this can be frustrating.
However, he has a way of looking
at life that seems to put his career
at Arizona in perspective.
“What I tell younger guys is that
they don’t have to wait to take their
turns," Northcutt says. “You’vegot
to be ready, because you’ll get your
shot. You just have to be ready
when your shot comes. ”
Sports brief
Ice Hockey
It was the little mistakes that
robbed the Oregon club ice hock
ey team of victory last weekend
against last year's Pacific-8 Con
ference champion Southern Cali
fornia. These errors will have to be
eliminated this weekend against
Washington State if Oregon is to
earn its first home win this season
at Lane County Ice.
USC sealed the Ducks’ fate with
a 5-4 shootout last Friday and a 5-3
victory Saturday. These wins
marked the fifth time in two sea
sons that the Trojans have had
Oregon’s number.
“We made small mistakes and
they capitalized,” said Oregon
player Aaron Olson. “We need to
avoid these against Washington
State and play as a team.”
Oregon split with the Cougars
last season, who finished in fifth
place in the Pac-8 right behind
the Ducks. Oregon needs a
sweep to bring its record above
.500 for the season.
“They are a well rounded, hard
working team with no real star
player,” Olson said. “But we have
a better team than we had last
year."
The only injured Oregon play
er going into this weekend is Rob
Chasen. Chasen is out indefinitely
with a torn anterior cruciate liga
ment in his right knee, which he
injured in the season opener
against California.
Victories over Washington
State could give Oregon the mo
mentum it needs for next week
end, as it endures three games in
Washington against the Huskies
on Friday and Saturday and
Western Washington on Sunday.
Club Soccer
The Oregon men’s club soccer
team continues its three-game
home stand this weekend with
two games. Its first game is Sunday
at South Bank field against the
University of Portland at 1p.m.
The last game for the Ducks will be
Monday at 4 p.m. vs. Umpqua
Community College.
Ultimate frisbee
Members of the Oregon men's
and women’s club ultimate fris
bee teams will be taking part in
the Humboldt Harvest Tourna
ment this weekend.
It will be Oregon's first trip to
the annual co-ed Halloween tour
nament, in which each team par
ticipating will wear thematic cos
tumes.
“It’s all about costumes and fun
and just playing," said team mem
ber Tiana Grzebik. “And it will be
good for some of the new players
to get introduced to the sport be
fore we go to Santa Clara.”
On Nov. 8, both teams will be
competing against the best
teams on the West Coast at the
regional tournament in Santa
Clara, Calif.
Slow start for Seahawks offense
By Jim Cour
The Associated Press
KIRKLAND, Wash. — The
Seattle Seahawks gave Ricky Wat
ters $13 million to add his run
ning talents to Warren Moon’s
passing.
After seven games, it isn’t
working.
Moon might miss his second
consecutive start this week be
cause of two cracked ribs and
Seattle’s running game is sputter
ing.
“I’m not disappointed in
Ricky’s play,” coach Dennis Er
ickson said Wednesday. “Ricky’s
played good. When he’s had
some areas to run, he’s run real
well.”
Not well enough, though. Go
ing into a Sunday night home
game against the Oakland Raiders
(5-2), the Seahawks are 4-3 after
escaping with a victory in San
Diego last week.
They rank 22nd in the NFL on
offense and 18th in rushing.
“I feel good. I feel healthy. I feel
like I’m running hard. But we’re
trying to get things going right
now as an offense,” Watters said
after Wednesday’s practice.
Watters, held to a season-low
32 rushing yards on 18 carries
against the Chargers, is averaging
3.8 yards and has run for two
touchdowns. He has two 100
yard rushing games — giving him
23 in his career — with his third
pro team but hasn’t had a perfor
mance like that since Week 3.
In addition, he’s caught 22
short passes for 131 yards, includ
ing five for 56 yards from backup
when we have to,” Erickson said.
“I have confidence that we can.”
Said Watters: “I can look in the
mirror and say, ‘Hey, you’re doing
all you can for this team.’ That’s
all 1 can do.
“Sure, it’s very frustrating, but
I don’t think it’s just frustrating
for me. It’s frustrating for the
whole offense.”
The Seahawks — and Erickson
— bet a lot of owner Paul Allen’s
millions to bring Watters to Seat
tle. With pressure to get the Sea
hawks into the playoffs, Erickson
knows the Seahawks’ offense
needs to improve dramatically in
the final nine weeks.
quarterback
John Friesz in
San Diego.
“We think we
can run the ball
Watters is a durable 6-foot-l,
217-pounder who has started in
71 consecutive games. He’s also
29 and in his eighth season as a
workhorse back in the league.
The Seahawks picked Watters
over free agent Natrone Means
and gave him a four-year con
tract that included a $5 million
signing bonus. This week, Wat
ters ranks ninth in the AFC,
while Means, now of the Charg
ers, is second in the conference
with 800 rushing yards, 278
more than Watters.
“They’re trying to use my tal
ent,” Watters said. “They’re try
ing to get me the ball on offense. I
think it’s just a matter of time be
fore it all comes together.”
Watters will see an old friend
across the sidelines this week in
first-year Raiders head coach Jon
Gruden, who was his offensive
coordinator for three years in
Philadelphia. Or maybe Gruden
is an old enemy.
Gruden and Watters had their
share of problems. Watters want
ed the ball more than Gruden
wanted to give it to him at times.
After last season, the Eagles elect
ed not to try to re-sign Watters.
V
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