Pass-happy Beavers will
be tested by California
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
California (4-3 Pacific-10 Confer
ence, 2-2 overall) at Oregon State (4
4,1-4)
Not that the always optimistic
Beaver fans needed a reason to
think tiieir team is about to break
out its 27-season losing funk, but
Oregon State played courageous
ly in nearly pulling off a win
against Washington in Seattle last
week.
However, the Beavers came up
short again, as a two-point con
version fell incomplete with no
time remaining in the Huskies’
35-34 victory.
Redshirt freshman quarterback
Jonathan Smith’s brilliant perfor
mance in relief of starter Terrance
Bryant gives Oregon State head
coach Mike Riley another dilem
ma besides trying to end the
Beavers' losing ways. After Smith
passed for a school-record 469
yards and three touchdowns in
three quarters, many Beaver fol
lowers believe he deserves the
starting job.
Riley agreed, naming Smith the
starter this week.
The Golden Bears were able to
contain No. 2 UCLA, but they still
lost, 28-16, because of a lack of of
fense. Those scoring problems
have plagued Cal all season, as
evidenced by its No. 10 Pac-10
rank in scoring and total offense.
Comparably, the Bear defense is
ranked No. 2 in the conference.
For Oregon State to secure its
first five-win season since 1971,
whomever is playing quarterback
will need to produce against the
vaunted Cal defense. The Beaver
defense will have to keep the Bear
offense from finally breaking out
as well.
Arizona State (3-4,2-2) at
Washington State (3-4,0-4)
My, how times have changed.
In 1997, this matchup would
have been one of the best in the
Pac-10. Now, the only people
who care probably either current
r,
ly attend or have attended one of
these two schools.
Actually, whichever team wins
this game will reach .500 and still
have a remote chance at a bowl
game. Especially if the winner is
the Sun Devils.
The Cougars are just attempting
to ensure
they will not
fall from the
high of the
Rose Bowl,
which they
made in
1997, to the
low of a win
less, last
place season.
Arizona State tailback/kick re
turner J.R. Redmond, who leads
the Pac-10 with 198.4 all-purpose
yards per game, is the Sun Devils’
— maybe the conference’s —
most exciting player. Running
through Washington State should
not provide much of a challenge
for Redmond. The Cougar de
fense is the second worst in the
conference.
Washington State head coach
Mike Price is still searching for a
productive quarterback seven
games into the season. He re
placed struggling starter Steve
Birnbaum with Paul Mencke
against Southern California two
weeks ago. Mencke promptly
tossed six interceptions.
Stanford (1-6,0-4) at
No. 2 UCLA (6-0,4-0)
It does not look like the Cardi
nal is going to bust out of the Pac
10 cellar this week.
Quarterback and Heisman Tro
phy hopeful Cade McNown has
probably been licking his chops
while watching film of the Stan
ford defense, which gives up an
average of almost 39 points per
game. McNown should be
padding his stats and practicing
his pose come Saturday afternoon.
Stanford quarterback Todd
Husak leads the Pac-10 with 301
passing yards per game.
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Game of the Week
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
Washington (5-2,3-1) at Southern
California (5-3,3-2)
Both the Huskies and Trojans
will be vying for magic win No.
6, which makes a team bowl eli
gible, when they butt heads for
an ABC audience in Los Ange
les on Saturday.
While Washington survived a
35-34 scare from Oregon State
in Seattle last weekend to re
main in the conference-title
race, USC will try to equal its
win total from last season after
losing a hard-fought battle at
Oregon, 17-13.
As with most of their oppo
nents, the Trojans have domi
nated the all-time series, with a
41-25-4 edge. However, the
Huskies have won the last two
meetings, including a 27-0 vie
tory in Seattle last season.
The Washington defense was
dominant in that game, holding
USC to 157 yards of total of
fense and recording five sacks
among its 11 tackles for a loss.
Such a performance by the
Husky defense is unlikely this
time, as it is giving up more
than 385 yards per game and
ranks No. 9 in the Pac-10.
Beaver redshirt freshman quar
terback Jonathan Smith torched
Washington fora school-record
469 passing yards in just three
quarters last Saturday.
The Huskies seem to be im
proving offensively after the re
turn of star quarterback Brock
Huard, who threw for 240 yards
and four touchdowns in last
week’s win. But Washington is
still having severe tailback dif
ficulties.
R. Jay Soward must play a
key role for the Trojans to score
points. Soward, a multi-pur
pose threat, averages more than
144 yards per game, but the
Ducks held him to a career-low
19 total yards last week.
Tailback Chad Morton is an
other speedy threat for USC and
is averaging 128 all-purpose
yards, including 87 rushing
yards. Morton showcased his
explosiveness on a 70-yard
catch and mn against Oregon.
Linebacker Chris Claiborne
and Sultan Abdul-Malik are the
most punishing players on a
tough Trojan defense that ranks
No. 3 in the Pac-10. Claiborne, a
Butkus Award candidate, has
recorded 69 tackles, five sacks
and four interceptions. Abdul
Malik leads the team with six
sacks.
Pacific-10 Conference Leaders
Rushing Team G Att Yds Avg ID YPG
DroughnsORE 5 112 824 7.4 9 164.8
Redmond ASU 7 139 742 5.3 9 106.0
Simonton OSU 8 169 734 4.3 8 91.8
Morton, C USC 6 112 522 4.7 5 87.0
Canidate ARIZ 7 105 494 4.7 3 70.6
Ell. Team G Att Cm Int Pet Yds TD Eff
Smith ORE 7 185 103 5 55.7 1870 19 169
Smith ARIZ 8 117 80 5 68.4 1117 9 165
McNown UCLA 6 176 96 5 54.5 1607 12 148
Kealy ASU 7 158 86 7 54.4 1214 10 131
Jenkins ARIZ 8 111 56 2 50.5 825 5 124
Pass. Team G Att Cmplnt Pet. Yds TD Ave
Husak STAN 7 304 161 6 53.0 2107 13 301
McN. UCLA 6 176 96 5 54.5 1607 12 267
Smith ORE 7 185 103 5 55.7 1870 19 267
Huard WASH 5 168 91 5 54.2 1047 10 209
VedderCAL 7 228 125 6 54.8 1385 6 197
Ttl Off. Team G Rush Pass Plays Total YPG
Husak, T STAN 7 -17 2107 332 2090 298
Smith, A ORE 7 167 1870 226 2037 291
McNown UCLA 6 71 1607 207 1678 279
Huard, B WASH 5 -26 1047 182 1021 204
Vedder.J CAL 7 -98 1385 290 1287 183
Receiving Team
Pitts STAN
Farmer UCLA
Douglas CAL
Northcutt ARIZ
Griffin ORE
All Pur. Team G
Redmond ASU 7
Droughns ORE 5
Northcutt ARIZ 8
Soward USC 7
Alexander OSU 8
Punt Ret. Team
Redmond ASU
Fletcher ORE
Northcutt ARIZ
Jarzynka WASH
O’Neal, D CAL
Kick Ret. Team
Moronk. WSU
Butler, T WASH
O’Neal, D CAL
Alexander OSU
Foster, D UCLA
Yds TD YPC YPG
741 4 14.0 105.9
581 4 21.5 96.8
667 3 11.9 95.3
759 6 15.5 94.9
642 5 19.5 91.7
PR KR Yds YDG
242 235 1389 198
0 0 868 173
292 185 1283 160
178 256 1011 144
87 565 1040 130
Yds TO AVG
242 1 14.2
357 2 12.8
292 0 11.2
314 1 10.1
245 0 9.8
Yds TD AVG
457 2 35.2
385 1 32.1
467 0 31.1
565 1 29.7
189 0 27.0
G Rec
7 53
6 27
7 56
8 49
7 33
Rush Rev
742 170
824 44
47 759
146 431
3 385
G Ret
7 17
7 28
8 26
7 31
7 25
G Ret
7 13
7 12
7 15
8 19
5 7
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