With crowd behind them, Ducks bound to win
Finally, they’re back.
They last played here
Sept. 25 and left us ex
hausted, optimistic and
most of all thrilled after a 33-30
triple-overtime victory against
Southern California.
They induced many of the
same emotions last Saturday al
though they were far from home
in a 44-41 win at Arizona.
In between, there were consec
utive weekends of pain, doubt
and missed opportunities in loss
es at Washington and UCLA.
But that’s all in the past now.
All that matters is that the Ore
gon football team (4-3 overall, 2
2 Pacific-10 Conference) is back
at Autzen Stadium, where it will
play three of its final four regular
season games.
All that matters is that the
Ducks have a realistic shot at
ending the season with a five
game winning streak and earning
a berth in at least the Holiday
Bowl, if not — gasp! — the Rose
Bowl.
And with more than 40,000 of
us cheering them on — in rain,
wind, sun or all three — they
could very well accomplish that
season-ending sweep and make
the last season of the century go
down in Oregon football lore.
That’s not to say it will be easy.
First, the Ducks have to tame
explosive J.R. Redmond and tal
ented Arizona State (4-3, 3-1). Be
fore last season, beating the Sun
Devils seemed to be too much to
ask of Oregon teams that were
routinely mauled by Duck alum
Bruce Snyder and his powerful
Arizona State running game.
But then Oregon got even —
big time. Last November, the
Ducks burned the Devils with an
old-fashioned Autzen whipping,
51-19, in the eighth straight of a
home winning streak that now
stands at 11.
Although Arizona State has al
ready won somewhere Oregon
couldn’t — at Husky Stadium —
I don’t think the Devils have
what it takes to beat the Ducks at
Autzen on Homecoming week
end.
Especially when Oregon has
not played at home in more than
a month, making the already
rowdy Duck faithful that much
more fired up than usual. After
yelling at television sets for the
last three games, Oregon fans are
just bursting to let loose in shout
ing distance of their adversaries.
And trust me, the Sun Devils
will hear it, as will the Ducks.
“We feel really good when
we’re playing here,” senior line
backer Peter Sirmon said. “It’s
the crowd and the energy.
“No one likes to play here. So
whatever [the Oregon fans] are
doing, they should keep it up.”
The Ducks fans will because
they know just as well as the ac
tual team does that a loss Satur
day would kill all that momen
tum gained last Saturday.
How is Oregon going to go
about beating Arizona State?
Well, you can expect a large
dose of Reuben Droughns for the
second straight week, although
he won’t approach those eye
popping 45 carries of last week.
With Droughns running as ef
fectively as he has all season and
the Ducks home for the first time
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in what seems like forever, quar
terback A.J. Feeley should
bounce back from consecutive
subpar performances against a
banged-up Sun Devil defense.
Flanker Tony Hartley would
love nothing more than to have a
huge game Saturday, breaking a
couple of all-time Oregon records
— career touchdown catches and
receiving yardage — while con
tributing to a big win.
As for the defense, it seems to
draw even more from the
crowd’s emotion than does the
offense. This season, the Ducks
have given up just 23 points per
game at home versus 34 per out
ing on the road.
On special teams, you know
Michael Fletcher and company
will make some kind of positive
impact for the Ducks as has been
their penchant.
And if the wet weather persists
Saturday, Oregon is assuredly
much more comfortable in slip
pery conditions than is Arizona
State.
Yup, pretty much any way you
look at it, Homecoming is bound
to be happy for the Ducks.
Tim Pyle is the sports editor of the Emerald. He
can be reached via e-mail at
tpyle@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
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