Smith suffers
from Oregon’s
lack of visibility
One quarterback threw for 3,307
yards and 30 touchdowns and
completed 191 of his 325 pass
The other threw for 2,617 yards and 18
touchdowns and completed 162 of his 288
passes.
The first led his team to an 8-3 record,
two overtime losses shy of a top-10 ranking
and one short of the best season in school
Opinion
Rob
Moseley
mstory.
The second is admittedly
10-0, but he dodged more
than a few bullets on his
way to a probable national
title game.
The first will be remem
bered for thrice being
named the ABC Sports play
er of the game in nationally
broadcast games and twice
being named Pacific-10
Conference player of the
week.
The other will be remembered for his na
tionally broadcasted stomach problems, re
siding in a two-page, full-color spread in
Sports Illustrated that featured him vomit
ing on the 50-yard line of the Rose Bowl.
And yet the conference powers that be
for some reason felt the need to grant the
Pac-10 offensive player of the year award to
both quarterbacks.
The first, Oregon senior Akili Smith, de
served it. The second, UCLA’s Cade Mc
Nown, did not.
Certainly, McNown’s four-year accom
plishments in Los Angeles are impressive.
In 41 consecutive starts, the West Linn na
tive set a Pac-10 record with his 10,415
yards of total offense and is second in ca
reer passing yards with 9,855. McNown
also set school records for completions and
touchdown passes and has led the Bruins
to the nation’s longest current winning
streak, 20 games and counting, and a possi
ble national championship.
A hell of a career by all accounts. B ut the
player of the year award is no way to recog
nize a stellar career, especially at the ex
pense of a more-deserving candidate.
Akili Smith took a team of a couple stars
and a bunch of tireless role players and near
Turn to MOSELEY, Page 8
Oregon Basketball
UO hopes centered around Carson
Emerald
Senior center Mike Carson skies to the hoop in Oregon's 86-69 victory against Nevada at McArthur Court.
After injuries sidelined him
last season, Mike Carson is
hack for a second attempt at
his senior season
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
Just when the pieces were finally
starting to fall into place, Mike Carson
was forced to start over.
After starting the first six games at
center for the Oregon men's basketball
team last season and producing the most
consistent play of his collegiate career,
Carson suffered an ankle injury in prac
tice to go along with an already ailing
knee. The injuries kept the senior on the
sidelines for the remainder of the sea
son.
“I was just coming
along with basketball
and was getting my
confidence going,” the
7-foot, 256-pound,
fifth-year senior says.
“I really started feeling
like I had a role on the team. Going
down, I think the biggest thing was I felt
like I let some of the guys down."
Carson's career would have been fin
ished had the NCAA not granted him a
medical hardship and ensuing fifth year
of eligibility.
Now, Carson is back.
Back in the starting lineup, back in the
paint and back looking for a fairy tale
ending to his frustrating career.
Head coach Ernie Kent expects noth
ing less than an excellent finale from
Carson.
“I’m looking for him to be one of the
dominating centers in the conference,
and that’s what his role needs to he on
this team,” Kent says. "He needs to he a
guy we can count on — count on to
score, count on to defend and just to do
his part to help.”
Last season was not the worst period
of anguish in Carson’s career. He says
his freshman season in 1994-95 takes
that dubious honor.
After tearing up the Baseline League
as a prep at Don Lugo High in Chino,
Calif., to the tune of 21.7 points, 13.8 re
Turn to CARSON, Page 9
Ducks capable of competing with nation’s best wrestlers
The Oregon
wrestling team
hopes to place
higher in this
season’s NCAA
championship
than last year’s
third place
finish
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Just two matches into this season, the po
tential of the Oregon wrestling team is not
yet in focus. But its goals are clear.
Both the players and coaches have ex
pressed the desire to beat last year’s third
place finish at the Pacific-10 Conference
Championships and send more wrestlers to
the NCAA Championships this season.
But the Ducks have faced both surprise
and disappointment in the early going.
Chael Sonnen, who finished eighth last
March at the NCAA Championships in
Cleveland, Ohio, has had troubles on the
mat this season.
Sonnen, ranked fourth in the nation at
197 pounds, finished second in his weight
class at the Southern Oregon Open in
Ashland on Nov. 23. One week later, he
placed third at the Mat-Town Invitational
in Lockhaven, Pa. Both were tournaments
that Sonnen would have liked to have
won.
But head coach Chuck Kearney said last
week that the Ducks are “a step ahead” of
where they were last year.
The Ducks have captured two weight
class championship titles this season. In
Ashland, 157-pound Daryl Christian and
184-pound Doug Lee won the titles for
their respective weight
classes. Christian is
ranked eighth in the na
tion and Lee is ranked
10th.
Lee had another solid
performance the follow
ing week in Lockhaven, finishing in third
place. Christian lost a decision to Cornell’s
Leo Urbinelli to finish in sixth.
Redshirt freshman David Watson,
wrestling at 141 pounds, has performed
above expectations to this point. In his Ore
gon debut in Ashland, Watson advanced to
the championship round before losing.
The Ducks have also made some adjust
ments since last season. The biggest of
WRESTLING
which is the move of heavyweight Kevin
Keeney from the 167-pound weight class
that he wrestled in last season.
Keeney did not place in the Southern
Oregon Open due to the cancellation of the
fifth- and sixth-place matches. At the Mat
Town Invitational, Keeney finished fourth
after being pinned by Lehigh’s Shawn
Laughlin.
The Southern Oregon Open was a pre
season match and had no bearing on the
team’s standings. Oregon finished fifth
overall at the Mat-Town Invitational in a
field of 12 teams that included three with
top-25 rankings, according to Amateur
Wrestling News.
Oregon’s fifth place finish at the Mat
Town Invitational showed that the Ducks
are capable of competing among the na
tion’s best teams.
The next chance for success as a team
will come at home when the Ducks face UC
Davis in its first dual meet of the season on
Dec. 12.
SONNEN