Droughns, Villegas foremost among injured Ducks
■ Herman Ho-Ching, Saul
Patu and a pair of offensive
linemen are also hurting for
Oregon
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Dejd vxi?
Although the Ducks won, Ore
gon’s Sept. 25 victory over
Southern California seemed eeri
ly similar to last season’s crush
ing loss at UCLA.
Just ask Reuben Droughns.
The Ducks’ starting tailback
and Nathan Villegas, the starting
placekicker, both sustained in
juries during Oregon’s triple
overtime win against the Trojans.
Droughns may see limited ac
tion off the bench against Wash
ington on Saturday, but both
players could be out for two
weeks or more.
The senior tailback suffered a
separated rib and torn cartilage
on a first-quarter hit against the
Trojans — reminiscent of the bat
tle with the Bruins, when
Droughns’ season came to an
abrupt end with a broken fibula
and ankle ligament damage.
And to further recreate the cir
cumstances of last season, back
up tailback Herman Ho-Ching
sustained a foot injury against
USC. First thought to be a slight
ailment, Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti said Ho-Ching
won’t play against Washington.
“Things kind of flip-flopped,”
Bellotti said. “Herman Ho
Ching’s injury is deemed to be
more serious, and I doubt he will
be available for this week, and it
may be for an extended period of
time.
“Reuben’s injury may be an
old injury. Evidently, he hurt his
ribs in junior college, and if that’s
the case, they can tend to heal
much faster or the pain factor is
not as great.”
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Oregon's ailments
Reuben Droughns, tailback: sep
arated rib, torn cartilage
Nathan Villegas, kicker: torn ACL
H erman Ho-Ching, tail back: foot
injury
Lee Gundy, offensive guard: knee
Al Cotton, offensive tackle: leg
Saul Patu, defensive lineman:
knee
The current depth chart starts
tailback Derien Latimer, with
freshman tailback Allan Amund
son backing up.
Latimer started four games in
the second half of last season.
Then, the running game strug
gled, and much of the offense de
pended on quarterback Akili
Smith.
But Latimer has more confi
dence in himself than he did a
season ago. Forced to enter the
game against the Trojans, he
rushed for 33 yards to keep Ore
gon’s offense moving.
“Part of me being a different
back now than I was last year is
keeping the faith that I believe in
Jesus,” Latimer said. “That was
the main difference [against USC]
going into the game at the end. In
any normal situation, I might be
a little jittery or something, but
I’m a believer, so I had peace
about what was going on.”
Villegas went down during the
celebration that followed his
game-tying and overtime-forcing
field goal. He was diagnosed
with a tom anterior cruciate liga
mgnt.
Replacing Villegas is place
kicker Josh Frankel, who came
onto the field against USC to hit
the game-winning field goal.
“Those are tough shoes to fill,
with Nate being out,” Frankel
said. “I wish I could be here un
der different circumstances. He’s
not only a great kicker, he’s also
one of my closest friends in the
world. I’m going to go in there
and do the best job that I can do.”
Frankel’s head was still swim
m
■ ■«■:■■■! .
Scott Barnett Emerald
Tailback Herman Ho-Ching, who sprained his foot after scoring this touchdown against
USC last Saturday, is one of a handful of key Ducks who are hurting heading into
Saturday’s showdown with rival Washington in Seattle.
ming from the rush of Saturday’s
victory, but he said he will be fo
cused when he kicks against the
Huskies.
“My confidence is where it’s
always been,” Frankel said. “I’m
going into the game trying to be
very level-headed — not too up
and not too down.”
The offensive line also took a
beating against the Trojans. Of
fensive guard Lee Gundy (knee)
and offensive tackle Al Cotton
(leg) are banged up but expected
to play Saturday.
Defensive lineman Saul Patu
injured his left knee during Ore
gon’s 72-10 rout of Nevada on
Sept. 18. His status is question
able for Saturday.
Brees’ mind on Michigan, not Heisman
By Hank Lowenkron
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue
quarterback Drew Brees isn’t pay
ing attention to talk that he’s a
strong candidate for the Heisman
Trophy at a school known as a
cradle of NFL quarterbacks.
The junior from Texas has
been busy helping the 11th
ranked Boilermakers putting to
gether a 10-game winning streak
— the school’s longest since win
ning 11 straight from 1928-30.
“You can’t sit there and say,
‘Vote for me for Heisman.’ I just
try and go out there and have fun
and play football. Everything else
will take care of itself. I know it
will, if you’re winning and you’re
successful,” he said.
The Boilermakers face a tough
challenge to extend the streak
this week at No. 4 Michigan.
Both teams are 4-0 this year after
winning their conference open
ers Saturday.
“I look to every game like it is
just another game,” Brees said.
“We want to come out with a
win, so I’m going to do my best
that week to watch film, in the
weight room and do my best in
practice.... Just go out that week
end and try and win the football
game, not think about any of the
outside pressures or the distrac
tions.”
Brees has completed 487 of
784 passes (62.1 percent) for a
school whose former quarter
backs includes Hall of Famers
Len Dawson and Bob Griese, and
NFL veterans such as Mark Her
rmann, Jim Everett and Mike
Phipps. The percentage is the
highest in school history for any
Purdue quarterback who has
thrown 450 passes.
Coach Joe Tiller does see a
weakness in his star.
“Sometimes he has a tendency
to be a little too hard on himself.
He’s a very competitive person
and he wants to be right every
time,” Tiller said. “He actually
does believe he can play a perfect
game and complete every pass. I
appreciate that.”
Brees, who knew nothing of
Purdue’s quarterback history
while in high school, is among
Purdue’s career leaders in nearly
every passing stat after only 24
games with 17 starts.
“I just think I should complete
every pass, unless I’m trying to
throw the ball away to avoid a
sack,” he said.
Despite passing frequently,
Brees has been sacked only once
in four games this year. Tiller
says that's a credit to the entire
offensive unit.
“Every team will blitz. If noth
ing else, they’re going to blitz to
tl You can’t sit there and
say, ‘Vote for me for Heis
man.’ I just try and go out
there and have fun and play
football. - -
DrewBrees 99
Purdue quarterback
check out to see if you’ve worked
on the blitz during the week,”
Tiller said. ‘‘If you pick up the
blitz, you’re probably not going
to see it as much.”
And Tiller is confident Brees
and the spread offense with five
or six potential receivers on
many plays keeps opposing de
fenses busy.
“Michigan probably feels like
they can match up athlete-wise,
and they’re not real concerned
about our receivers in terms of 1
on-1 situations, so maybe we will
see a little more blitz than usual
out of Michigan,” he said.
Tiller said he has “stopped
paying that much attention to the
numbers that he’s putting up,”
instead focusing on his quarter
back’s “demeanor and how he
limself, his presence on
___ 1 around the team.