Pac-10 Picks
Katie Nesse
tries to keep
the lead.
PAGE SB
7:15 p.m.
Saturday
Arizona Stadium
Ducks in need
of road victory
■ With seven straight
road losses as unwanted
baggage, Oregon travels
to Arizona
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
Five games left, and Oregon
is thinking Rose Bowl.
Who cares that the Ducks
are 1-2 in Pacific-10 Confer
ence play? So what if they’re
tied for sixth place with South
ern California and Washing
ton State?
This is the Pac-10, and all
things are possible.
That is, as long as Oregon
wins.
For the Ducks to make a run
at the Pac-10 title, a win
against Arizona (2-1, 5-2) on
Saturday night is a must.
“I don’t think two losses
count anybody out,” Oregon
head coach Mike Bellotti said.
“But certainly, more than two
losses pushes you back so far
behind that you can’t catch up.
For us it’s a five-game span.
We’re starting over, and we
have a chance to climb right
back into this race.
“We’re capable of making
that step.”
His players agree.
“We still feel like we’re in
this race,” senior rover
Michael Fletcher said. “If we
get the win this weekend,
we’ll be fine.”
The Ducks used last week’s
bye to nurse themselves back
from six straight weeks of ac
tion, ending with painful road
losses against arch-rival
Washington and growing
nemesis UCLA.
“We were a little banged
up,” defensive tackle Caleb
Smith said. “The bye week
was helpful for the whole
team. A lot of guys had bumps
and bruises and things that
just tear your body down, so it
was nice to get a little rest and
have your body recuperate.”
Still, Oregon is without sev
eral important players. Tail
back Herman Ho-Ching re
mains sidelined with a foot
injury that might cost him the
rest of the season. Offensive
lineman Al Cotton, linebacker
Garret Graham, placekicker
Nathan Villegas and receiver
Ray Brust aren’t expected to
play either.
The Ducks did have one ca
sualty during the bye week.
Cornerback Tamoni Joiner
was suspended for the second
time this season — this time
for at least three games — for
violating team rules. The sus
pension leaves Oregon thin in
the secondary and makes de
fending Arizona’s ever-explo
sive offense more difficult.
“Tamoni’s a great player,”
Smith said. “That’s a tough loss
not to have him back there, but
our defense feels that we have
capable backups in guys Ike Bri
an Johnson and Ryan Mitchell.
They’ll be really up for this
weekend ‘cause [Arizona has] a
I
L^......
Scott Barnett Emerald
great receiver in [Dennis] North
cutt. They’re going to fill in just
fine and exceed everyone’s ex
pectations.”
Stopping Northcutt, quite
possibly the best athlete in the
Pac-10, may be the Ducks’
biggest concern. But it’s not
their only one.
Not by a long shot.
Even though only half of the
‘Cats quarterback tandem is
expected to play, Ortege Jenk
ins alone is enough to put Bel
lotti and team on guard.
“Both of their quarterbacks
are extremely dangerous be
cause they possess great speed,
and they’re very, very good ath
letes,” Bellotti said.
And Trung Canidate will be
attempting to recreate his per
formance last season. During
then-No.13 Arizona’s 38-3
blowout of then-No. 12 Ore
gon, Canidate rushed for 180
yards on 17 carries.
Undoubtedly, the Ducks will
be thinking about that when
they take the field Saturday.
“It definitely gives us some
thing to be motivated about for
Turn to Oregon, Page 6B
Reuben
Droughns is
the healthiest
he’s been
since the
Sept. 25
game against
USC, accord
ing to head
coach Mike
Bellotti.
Left-for-dead Wildcats still very alive in Pac-10 race
■ uuarterhack Keith Smith may be
sidelined as Arizona hopes to remain
in chase for the Rose Bowl
By Scot! Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
This isn’t the same Arizona team that was
the overwhelming preseason favorite to win
the Pacific-10 Conference title.
Instead, this is the Wildcat squad that sal
vaged a disappointing start to its season by
clawing its way back to a second-place tie
in the conference.
“The guys know every game is a must for
everybody,” Arizona head coach Dick Tomey
said in a released statement. “The league race
appears to be wide open, depending on what
happens with Stanford, but we can’t even
think about that. We just have to take it one
play at a time against Oregon.”
Arizona can stay in the conference race
by beating the Ducks. Considering Oregon
hasn’t won on the road this season, many
teams would take comfort in playing the
Ducks at home.
But the Wildcats shouldn’t get too com
fortable.
Oregon has won four-of-the-last-five out
ings against Arizona, but the Wildcats are 8
4 against the Ducks at Ari
zona Stadium. Tomey
said his team needs to
show improvement from
last weekend’s 34-21 win
over Texas El-Paso.
“We just need to play better,” Tomey said.
“We have to assume that everyone is getting
better, and if we’re not getting better, we’re not
going to be competitive. ”
After losing to Stanford 50-22 in its Pac-10
opener Sept. 18, Arizona’s running game,
17th-best in the nation, led the ‘Cats to three
straight 500-yard games and three wins.
Pac-10 offensive player of the week Trung
Canidate needs just 341 more yards to become
the Wildcats all-time leading rusher. The se
nior running back had 27 carries for 202 yards
and one touchdown against UTEP.
Dennis Northcutt’s production has made
him a Biletnikoff Award and All-American
candidate. The star receiver, who has seen
time at comerback this season, is averaging
18 yards per play on 75 touches. Against the
Miners, he accumulated 193 all-purpose
yards, falling just short of his fourth 200
yard game of the season.
However, the Wildcat’s total offense
could be even more potent than No. 12 in
the nation if the offensive line had more sta
bility. The line has allowed 22 sacks, com
pared to 21 last season and 25 in 1997.
“We’ve come a ways, but I don’t think we
can make any determinations [on the quali
ty of the line] right now,” Tomey said. “I
don’t think we’ve played against the better
defenses in the league. We have a huge chal
lenge this week.”
A rib injury sustained by senior quarter
back Keith Smith against the Miners could
give Ortege Jenkins his fourth start of the
season. Against UTEP, Jenkins completed
10-of-17 passes for 113 yards and one
touchdown while carrying the ball 11 times
for 83 yards.
Meanwhile, Butkus Award candidate Mar
cus Bell is Arizona’s best linebacker with 60
tackles. Bell and linebacker DaShon Polk, who
has 38 tackles, lead the Cat’s defense.
Tomey compares Bell to Oregon’s Peter Sir
mon.
“They are both very intense, and they
play hard,” Tomey said. “They have both
led the league in tackles — Marcus last year
and Sirmon the year before.
“But we wouldn’t trade Marcus, and I’m
sure they wouldn’t trade Sirmon.”
Sizzling Stats
Scoring Scoring
Offense Defense
Oregon 36.8 Oregon 27.2
Arizona 27.6 Arizona 30.0
Quotable
"Droughns has made a huge dif
ference in what they've done
when he's played. He’s a tough
guy, he’s a warrior, and we just
have a lot of respect for him,”
— DIckTomey,
Arizona head coach
‘There's more riding on the ;
game this year than there was :
last year. ..I think [the players] *
understand th^ sense of ur- :
gencyto [play afull game].” •
—Mike Ballotti, :
UCLA head coach *
Key Player
Reuben Droughns
After a bye week let his
sore ribs get some rest,
Droughns is primed for
a breakthrough that the
Ducks sorely need.