Reluctant Star
Sophomore Saul Patu is
thriving at defensive end af
v~ der spending his high
m yJ school career at line
P JBRk fcacfer/PAGE 2
An independent newspaper
Volume 100, Issue 44
INSIDE:
Oregon Feature 2B
Pac-10 Prei 'ieu1 6B
Pac-10 Stats 6B
Pac 10 Picks 7B
Pac-10 Standings 7B
l Top 25 Schedule 7B
©reg<m#€meraU>
Scoring
Offense
Oregon 1st
Arizona 3rd
Total
Offense
Oregon 1st
Arizona 3rd
Rushing
Defense
Oregon 5th
Arizona 1st
Total
Defense
Oregon 7th
Arizona 1st
Turnover
Margin
Oregon 8th
Arizona 4th
' Pac-10 rank
Quotable
“Ortega, or
Ortega, or
whatever Ms
name is... ”
— SaulPatu, UO
defensive end.
on Arizona
quarterback
Ortege Jenkins
“Traditionally
when you think
of Arizona you
think of ‘Desert
Swarm’ and
their great
defenses, and
they’re back
doing the same
things.”
— Mike Bellotti,
Oregon
head coach
Key
Player
Derien
Latimer
The junior tailback
earns his second
straight start in
place of injured
Pac-10 rushing
leader Reuben
Droughns.
Challenge awaits Oregon—again
Matt Hanktns/Emerakl
Hie Oregon defense will have to repeat last week's performance against Chad Morton and Southern California to beat Arizona on Saturday.
Think these teams are opposites? Think again
Opinion
Joel
Hood
And then there were two. I
With UCLA off and running toward
an unbeaten season and a Pacific
10 Conference title, Oregon and Arizona
will try to nab that No. 2 spot and a possi
ble Rose Bowl berth on Saturday.
On paper, these two teams couldn’t be
more different. The Ducks rank first in the
Pac-10 in rushing, scoring and total of
fense. Arizona ranks first at stopping the
run, defending the score and total defense.
The Ducks play in the rain, the Wildcats
play in the sand. Oregon is the land of a
million trees, Arizona is the land of one
ree.
But these two teams are more similar
han one might think. Five of their last sev
in meetings have been decided by a touch
lown or less. And both these teams will
lave to run the table the rest of the season
o go to the bowl game they deserve.
Before the season started, Arizona and
Oregon were predicted to finish fifth and
eventh, respectively, in nearly every na
ional publication. So much for the ex
>erts.
These teams are guaranteed to get bowl
Turn to HOOD, Page2B
The Ducks will have to repeat
last week 's defensive showing
Saturday against Arizona
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
A nationally ranked opponent, one of the
better rushing defenses in the Pacific-10
Conference, a hostile environment and a na
tional TV audience.
For the second time in
three weeks, the No. 12
Oregon football team will
face all these factors when
it meets No. 13 Arizona in
Tucson on Saturday at
3:30 p.m.
"Their offense has got
ten the majority of the
publicity, but their defense is No. 1 in the
conference in three categories,” Oregon
head coach Mike Bellotti said. "Traditional
ly when you think of Arizona you think of
Desert Swarm and their great defenses.
They're back to doing the same things.”
The Wildcats (7-1 overall, 3-1 Pac-10) are
allowing just 315.5 yards per game to lead
the conference in total defense and are first
against the run (116.5 ypg) and in scoring
defense.
All of which make this game resemble a
meeting between the unstoppable force and
the immovable object. The Ducks (6-1, 3-1)
are first in total offense with 504.4 yards per
game, first in rushing offense (229.7 ypg)
and first in scoring offense in the confer
ence.
The Ducks will again start junior Derien
Latimer at tailback in place of injured Pac
10 rushing leader Reuben Droughns. But
Bellotti said he will not rely on the pass.
"We will try to stay balanced,” Bellotti
said. "We’re only averaging about 30 passes
a game. Our best chance for success is to es
tablish a solid ground game that allows us
to do play action off it and allows us to
throw when we want to throw.”
Latimer rushed for 87 yards in Oregon’s
17-13 win over Southern California last
week. The Ducks relied predominantly on
their defense for the first time this season,
Turn to DUCKS, Page3B
Defensive-minded Wildcats now on the offensive
With two athletic quarterbacks
and a talented receiving corps,
Arizona can score in a hurry
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
This Oregon-Arizona matchup could eas
ily have been a showdown between unbeat
en national-title contenders.
If the Wildcats had not collapsed in the
fourth quarter against UCLA three weeks
ago and allowed 28 straight points in their
52-28 loss, they could be 8-0.
If the Ducks had not been plagued by a se
vere case of the fumbles in their 41-38 over
time loss to the Bruins two weeks ago, they
could be 7-0.
Both teams may feel bewitched by those
close calls entering Saturday’s game in Tuc
son, but the contest still has rosy implica
tions. Come Halloween night, Rose Bowl p?
pirations will continue to dance, but only i.
the victor’s head.
Speaking of that delicious holiday, Wild
cat fans are probably still waiting for their
team to toss aside its disguise. For the first
time in head coach Dick Tomey’s 12-year
is its defining element.
Gone are the days of the
Desert Swarm defense.
These days, the prolific
quarterback tandem of
Keith Smith and Ortege
Jenkins directs a potent
Arizona offense, which
averages 32.5 points and
more than 420 yards per game. Jenkins and
Smith have combined for 1,942 passing
yards and 14 touchdown passes.
“Keith is probably the more accurate
passer, although Ortege is probably the big
ger playmaker,” Oregon head coach Mike
Bellotti said. “They’re both great quarter
backs and they compliment each other
well.”
The quarterbacks throw to perhaps the
Pacific-10 Conference’s best pair of re
ceivers in Dennis Northcutt and Jeremy Mc
Daniel. Northcutt has 49 catches for 759
yards and six touchdowns, while McDaniel
has grabbed 42 passes for 614 yards and
eight touchdowns.
Tailbacks Trung Canidate and Leon
Callen and fullback Kelvin Eafon give the
Wildcats a well-balanced rushing attack
that averages more than 176 yards per game.
Canidate leads the team with 494 rushing
yards and a 4.7 yard-per-carry average,
while Eafon has made the end zone his
home away from home, visiting it 11 times.
But Tomey said the offensive line’s devel
opment has been the key to his offense's
success.
“We did have some [offensive] skill com
ing into this season, but the offensive line
was a question mark,” Tomey said. “1 think
Turn to ARIZONA, Page 3B
On tap
WHO: Oregon (6
1,3-1) vs. Arizona
(7-1,4-1)
WHERE: Arizona
Stadium, Tucson,
Ariz.
WHEN: 3:30 p.m.
TV: FoxSports
Northwest
(TCI, 23)
RADIO: KUGN 590
AM