Struggling Ducks plan to keep running despite rash of injuries
Herman Ho-Ching hopes
to revitalize the Duck
running game Saturday
By Allison Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
When you have the Pacific-10
Conference's leading rusher as
well as its most efficient quarter
back, there isn’t much you cannot
do on offense.
It sure seemed that way early on
for Oregon.
But with Reuben Droughns out
after sustaining a season-ending
leg injury against UCLA on Oct.
17, Herman Ho-Ching thought to
be lost for the season after an in
jury against San Jose State and
third-string tailback Kevin Parker
also out with an ankle injury, Ore
gon’s once dominant running
game has practically run dry.
Oregon began the season with a
48-14 drilling of Michigan State in
which Droughns exploited the
Spartan defense for 202 yards. He
was on his way to a record-break
ing season, accumulating 824 to
tal yards in just the first six games
of the season.
But Droughns wasn’t Oregon’s
only weapon on the ground. Ho
Ching was the Ducks’ second
leading rusher with 177 yards
heading into the game against
Southern California on Oct. 24 de
spite having not played since in
juring his knee against San Jose
State on Sept. 19.
The injuries to Oregon’s top two
tailbacks meant that junior Derien
Latimer would have some pretty
big shoes to fill. In his first start
against the Trojans, Latimer
seemed to prove all the skeptics
right early on, rushing for just
eight yards in the first half. How
ever, Oregon kept with him and
Latimer rushed for 79 yards on 16
carries in the second half.
Even though they struggled, the
Ducks never shunned their run
ning game. They still haven’t.
“We still run the same plays,”
(( [Herman Ho-Ching
is] a very talented back
who makes a lot of
things happen on his
own. But you’d like to
think that people always
have to be honest with
the run. D
Jeff Tedford
UO offensive coordinator
offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford
said. "We pretty much have the
same running game every week.
The offense is the offense.”
With Ho-Ching set to start this
week against Arizona State, the
plays may be the same, but the
outcome may not be. In his first
game back last week against
Washington, Ho-Ching seemed to
spark Oregon’s offense even when
he wasn’t carrying the ball.
As soon as Ho-Ching entered
the game mid-way through the
first quarter, quarterback Akili
Smith promptly baited the Husky
defense with play action and com
pleted a 53-yard bomb to wideout
Donald Haynes. Ho-Ching then
banged for nine yards on three
straight rushes to set up the first
points of the game on Nathan Vil
legas’ 27-yard field goal.
Despite an injured knee that
was not completely healed, Ho
Ching finished the game with 47
rushing yards. But it was Ho
Ching’s effort — lunging on one
leg, with a defender in tow, to pick
up extra yards the first time he
touched the ball — that awoke
Oregon's sleepy running attack.
“It’s critical to have a running
game," Ho-Ching said. "I can’t say
that just because I’m in the game
we’re more balanced, but I try to
prove myself every time.”
The Ducks hope to control the
ball and clock with Ho-Ching an
choring a revitalized running
game against Arizona State. The
Sun Devils embarrassed Oregon
with their own running prowess
for 405 rushing yards last season.
Tedford said Oregon will attack
this game just as they have at
tacked the past three opponents —
by attempting to establish the run
ning game.
“[Ho-Ching is] a very talented
back who makes a lot of things
happen on his own,” he said. “But
you’d like to think that people al
ways have to be honest with the
run. Maybe they respect it a little
more with him in there, but you
hope that every time you run a
play-action pass that they respect
the runner whomever it is.”
Ducks’ postseason hopes may de
pend on it.
Nick Medley/Emerald
Freshman tailback Herman Ho-Ching returned from a knee injury to ran for 47 yards on 17
carries last week in the win over Washington at Autzen Stadium last Saturday.
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