Q& A with Akili Smith
The Oregon quarter
back talks about his
short but storied ca
reer in Eugene
v and what lies
ahead/PAGE
An independent newspaper
Volume 100, Issue 49
INSIDE:
Oregon Feature 2B
Column 2B
UO-UW Rivalry 4B
Pac-10 Preview 9B
Pac-10 Picks 10B
Pac-10 Stats 11B
Pac-10 Standings 11B
Top 25 Schedule 1 IB
€>regotf# €meralb
Btftt
Scoring
Offense
Oregon 2nd
Washington 6th
Total
Offense
Oregon 1st
Washington 7th
Rushing
Defense
Oregon 8th
Washington 4tn
Total
Defense
Oregon 6th
Washington 8th
Turnover
Margin
Oregon 9th
Washington 8th
' Pac-10 rank
Quotable
“Our spirits
have been good,
not anything like
they were after
the UCLA
game.”
— Mike Bellotti,
UO head coach
“When you are a
rival school, like
we are with
each other, then
it creates an
atmosphere that
Is harder to hear
In. You have to
work more at
your players
overcoming the
emotions of the
crowd.”
— Jim
Lambright,
UW head coach
Key
Player
Tony
Hartley
As teams
continue to key
on Damon Griffin,
Hartley needs to
continue making
big plays for the
Oregon offense.
Washington offers stiff test for Ducks
Nick Medley/HmeraU
Oregon tailback Derien Latimer (above) will start his third straight game Saturday in place of the injured Reuben Droughns, who broke his leg against UCLA on Oct 17.
(( We just
hare to more
on. / can't
think of a
better game to
more on to
than coming
home to play
Washington.
V
Mike Bellotti
UO head coach
Oregon hopes to rebound after loss to Arizona
The Ducks could win their fourth
game in five years against the Huskies,
whom they beat in Seattle last season
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon head football coach Mike Bellotti said dur
ing fall camp that it was imperative for his team to
start this season on a high note.
Wins in their first five games, including over Pa
cific-10 Conference foes Stanford and Washington
State, surely provided that hot start, but after losing
two of their last three, the Ducks are probably wish
ing they could play one of those two last-place teams
this Saturday.
Unfortunately for No. 21 Oregon (6-2 overall, 3-2
Pac-10), those teams appear on the schedule just
once, but the Ducks get to settle for the next-best
thing: the Washington Huskies.
Washington (5-3, 3-2) travels to Eugene this Sat
urday for a 12:30 game that gives the Ducks their first
chance to rebound from a 38-3 loss at Arizona last
week.
“We just have to move on,"
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti
said. “I can’t think of a better
game to move on to than coming
home to play Washington. ”
The Oregon-Washington ri
valry has become, in recent
years, one of the most emotional
games on the schedule for the
Ducks. Oregon has won three of its last four against
the Huskies, including a 31-28 victory over then-No.
6 Washington in Seattle last season.
With two minutes, 39 seconds remaining in that
game, Oregon quarterback Akili Smith dropped back
on third-and-20 from the 29-yard line and hit a div
ing Pat Johnson for what proved to be the game-win
ning score.
That game, among others, will have Washington
coach Jim Lambright and his players focused on the
task at hand come Saturday.
“From my standpoint, it is a pretty easy rivalry to
get your players focused on,” Lambright said. “And
each year, you have the carryover from two, three
years before, where players know what’s going on.”
Both teams will see a vastly different opposition
from what they saw last season. Gone from Oregon is
every player who scored against the Huskies last sea
son, while Washington welcomes the return of quar
terback Brock Huard, who missed last year’s game
as well as a large portion of this season because of in
jury.
Marques Tuiasosopo started in the place of
Huard both this season and last and was in fact the
Turn to DUCKS, Page 5B
Struggling Huskies look to get back on track
Washington will use a wide-open
passing attack led by junior
quarterback Brock Huard and
leading receiver Dane Looker
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
Neighborly pleasantries do not figure to
be among those words exchanged on Rich
Brooks Field at Autzen Stadium on Satur
day.
And loving thy neighbor will be com
pletely out of the question when heated re
gional rivals Oregon and Washington tangle
beginning at 12:30 p.m. fora sold-out crcwd
and ABC audience.
While the Huskies will be trying to con
tinue their purple reign as the Northwest’s
premier football program, the No. 21 Ducks
will be looking to solidify their own claims
to regional supremacy by beating Washing
ton for the fourth time in five seasons.
Husky head coach Jim Lambright said he
I!
is eager for the game
to begin.
"When you are a
rival school, like we
are with each other,
then it creates an at
mosphere that is
harder to hear in,” said Lambright, who has
a 2-3 record against Oregon. “You have to
work more at your players overcoming the
emotions of the crowd. And that is a great
thing for college football — it is exactly what
you want to go into as a coach.”
Although the Huskies have struggled by
their lofty standards this season, they enter
Saturday’s game with the same 3-2 Pacific
10 Conference mark as the Ducks. The win
ner of the game will continue to entertain
first-tier bowl hopes, not to mention earn re
gional bragging rights.
“I know it’s a big rivalry for our fans, so
we’d like to get the win for them,” wide re
ceiver Dane hooker said. “It’s a Washington
Oregon thing, so we’d like to get it for the
state of Washington. And most of all, we
need to do it for ourselves because we’ve got
to come back and get a win after losing to
USC [33-10 last week] and get ourselves
back in the bowl hunt.”
Turn to HUSKIES, Page 8B
On tap .
WHO: No. 21 Ore
gon (6-2,3-2) vs.
Washington (5-3,
3-2)
WHERE: Autzen
Stadium
WHEN: 12:30 p.m.
TV: ABC
(TCI, 10)
RADIO: KUGN 590
AM