Emerald
Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz
Sports Editor: Tim Pyle
Best Bet
College Football
Kentucky vs. Mississippi State
5 p.m., ESPN
Bellotti not revealing QB
■ Head coach Mike Bellotti
said he probably won’t name
the starting quarterback until
game time
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
Mike Bellotti is experiencing deja
vu, and he likes it.
With three games to go, the hub
bub over Oregon’s quarterback situ
ation is as intense as it was before
the season began—but in a slightly
different way.
No longer is A.J. Feeley or Joey
Harrington facing pressures associ
ated with having to replace super
star Akili Smith.
Instead, one or both quarterbacks
will face a different burden — lead
ing the Ducks to victory in a must
have game.
“We’re obviously considering
who’s gonna start this week and
who’s better coming off the bench,”
Bellotti said. “All those questions
are great for the press, [but] actual
ly, not as bad for the coaching staff
as people think. It’s nice to have the
dilemma of having two very good —
and potentially great — quarter
backs that can both get the job
done.”
Feeley has been the Ducks’ starter
all season. And despite having two
consecutive rocky performances, he
still ranks first in the Pacific-10
Conference with 14 touchdown
passes, second with 134 comple
tions and third in passing with 241
yards per game.
Despite limited playing time,
Harrington is second in passing ef
ficiency with a 183.3 rating. He’s
also fresh off directing his second
straight game-winning drive.
So who’s gonna start, Coach?
“Probably after Thursday’s prac
tice I’ll know,” Bellotti said. “But I
may not announce it anyway, just to
keep Washington State off-balance.”
And again, just like he had all
spring and summer,'Bellotti finds
himself being asked to compare and
contrast his two starting candidates.
And again, he’s mostly comparing.
“They’re about the same size,”
Bellotti said. “They’re about the
same speed. Joey may be a half-step
quicker. A.J. may possess a little bit
stronger arm. They’re both students
of the game. They both understand
defensive fronts and secondaries
and the way they work. There’s not
a lot of difference.”
In the game, probably
They might not be 110 percent —
as tailback Reuben Droughns likes
to say — but Bellotti said there’s a
good chance they’ll be out there.
They are fullbacks Todd Brooks
and Chad Chance, defensive tackle
Zack Freiter and cornerback Justin
Wilcox, who’ve all been suffering
from a variety of injuries.
“My gut feeling is that all of those
kids will play,” Bellotti said.
Wilcox separated his shoulder in
the win against Arizona State, but
he was up and jogging at Wednes
day’s practice.
“I’m gonna see if I’m able to run a
little bit and see how it feels,”
Wilcox said.
Not so close
These incredulous, down-to-the
Turnto Football, Page 8A
Ducks hope
to solve
NCAA puzzle
■ Both Duck teams hope to gain
at-large berths to the NCAAs, but
don’t ask them how
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
If you think college football’s Bowl Cham
pionship Series system is confusing, wait
until you read this.
All season, the Oregon men’s and
women’s cross country teams have been ey
ing Nov. 22. On that day, the NCAA Cham
pionships will be held in Bloomington, Ind.,
and both teams plan on being there.
But it’s not a sure thing, and here’s why:
In the recently expanded
championship field of 31
teams - increased from 22
before last fall - there are
18 automatic entries. To
qualify automatically, a
team must finish in the top
two in its region. There are nine regions, so
there are 18 automatic qualifiers.
With the talent the Duck men possess,
Oregon should be a sure thing. But in the
Pacific-10 Conference there is talent galore.
“In order for us to advance to nationals
we will probably have to receive at least two
to four at-large bids,” men’s head coach
Martin Smith said.
Here is where it gets confusing.
With the 18 teams in, that leaves 13 “at
large” schools who are chosen by a NCAA
committee based on specific criteria. Both
Duck teams have performed well enough
throughout the fall, gaining at-large points
in order to get in the right position to be se
lected.
There are four main criteria in the at-large
qualifying formula. The most important is a
team’s regional finish, which makes the
Western Regional race on Nov. 13 in Port
land the most important race of the season
for the Ducks. A finish lower than sixth
place could prove to be costly.
“We’re going to have to run up to our abil
Tum to Cross country, Page 9A
UICK
Learner
Although she began playing
volleyball just four years ago,
Heather Gilmore has emerged
as a force for the Ducks
Freshman Heather Gilmore has been one
Jeffrey Stockton Emerald
of the few bright spots in a dark season for Oregon.
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Heather Gilmore’s volleyball ca
reer began four years ago at an
outdoor court in Salt Lake City,
Utah.
With such little time to gain valuable
playing experience, Gilmore could not
have expected to end up where she is
now.
She had no idea that her letter to Ore
gon head coach Cathy Nelson would be
answered so quickly. She didn’t expect
for Nelson to fly to Salt Lake City to
watch her play. She must have been
thrilled to take a recruiting trip to the
Oregon campus and receive a scholar
ship, thus securing a spot in the coveted
Pacific-10 Conference.
But most of all, Gilmore probably did
n’t expect to be in the Ducks’ starting
lineup.
“Cathy said something about it when
she recruited me, but recruiting is kind
of like a sales pitch,” Gilmore said. “She
said I would be subbing in off the bench,
so I expected this year—especially since
Mo [Monique Tobbagi] and Amy [Ban
ducci] are such consistent players — I’d
be the first person off the bench, but I
wouldn’t be starting. ”
Gilmore made her starting debut
against California on Oct. 1. Her play in
that match wasn’t spectacular—she had
no kills, one error and a dig — but she
had earned the position the previous
night against nationally-ranked Stanford.
“The first time I started, I was ner
vous,” Gilmore recalled. “It was like, ‘Oil
gosh, I’m starting in my first college Pac
10 game,’ but after awhile you get a little
more used to it... You’re just thinking to
start off strong, maybe be the first to score
Turn to Gilmore, Page 9A