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Pac-10 loses last year’s ghosts
■ Conference teams look to
roll.against undermatched,
non-conference foes in the
fourth week of play
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
The hard part is over.
The tarnished image of the Pa
cific-10 Conference was given a
makeover in the first two weeks of
play, and the conference has come
out as one of the toughest in the
nation.
Impressive wins by UCLA,
Southern California and Washing
ton over top-25 teams shocked the
college football world and earned
credibility for the Pac-10. UCLA’s
wins over No. 10 Michigan and
No. 15 Alabama, as well as Wash
ington’s 34-29 win over No. 12
Miami, were the most crucial.
Last season, the Pac-10 earned
the infamous “Pathetic-10” title
after a sub-par showing in the
non-conference portion of play.
That reputation was confirmed in
the postseason when Pac-10
teams lost all but one bowl game
— Oregon’s 24-20 victory over
Minnesota in the Sun Bowl.
Now, the Pac-10 has the best
non-conference record in the na
tion at 19-4. The conference also
has three teams in the AP top 10
and six in the top 35. The confer
ence also has a 5-3 record against
top-25 teams.
This week, Pac-10 teams get a
breather after a fast start. Besides
the Oregon-UCLA match-up, all
other games are non-conference
contests against teams outside the
top 25.
Idaho (0-3) at 'i v
Washington State (1-1)
The Vandals will try to rebound
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from a 42-13 loss at Oregon last
weekend with a contest at Wash
ington State, the third Pac-10 non
conference road game for Idaho.
The trip won’t be as long for the
Vandals, who only have to travel
eight miles to Pullman, Wash.,
from Moscow, Idaho.
Last season, the Vandals upend
ed the Cougars in Pullman, 28-17.
Washington State is the only Pac
10 team with a conference loss af
ter a 24-10 loss to Stanford in the
season opener.
However, the Cougars looked
sharp in a 38-21 win over Utah
last week, a game that wasn’t as
close as the score depicted.
Cougar quarterback Jason Gesser
threw four touchdown passes
more than 25 yards and earned
211 yards in total offense, a feat
that earned him Pac-10 offensive
Player of the Week honors.
Washington State has an unusu
al schedule for this upcoming sea
son, as it alternates between home
and away games throughout its
schedule. The Ducks visit Pull
man on Nov. 4.
San Diego State (0-3) at
Oregon State (2-0)
The Beavers will try to better
themselves after escaping with
two narrow wins over sub-par op
ponents including 1-AA opponent
Eastern Washington and New
Mexico.
After the two non-conference
games, two bright spots remain:
Junior tailback Ken Simonton,
who/has carried the Beavers thus
far, is the second leading rusher in
^he nation, and Oregon State has
the highest-ranked defense in the
Pac-10 and the third-best rushing
~j defense in the nation.
Defensive statistics should im
prove against the Aztecs and their
dismal offense. In three losses this
season, San Diego State has scored
only 23 points. The Aztecs are fa
miliar with-the Pac-10, playing
Arizona and Arizona State prior
to the Beavers.
The Aztec offense was hurt
when junior quarterback Jack
Hawley was sidelined for the sea
son with a fractured vertebra.
Hawley passed for 338 yards in
two games, but completed only
one touchdown pass.
The Beavers own a 12-game
non-conference win streak, dating
back to 1998.
Utah State (1-1) at
Arizona State (2-0)
Arizona State looks to go 3-0 on
the season for the first time since
its Rose Bowl year in 1997, when
the Sun Devils were a perfect 11
0. Arizona State head coach Bruce
Snyder will play his former team,
which he coached for seven years.
Leading the Sun Devil attack is
true freshman Michael Williams,
who was thrust into the starting
tailback position when the top
two on the depth chart went
down with injuries. In his first
start, Williams rushed for 143
yards and the winning touch
down against Colorado State.
The Sun Devils have the top
scoring defense in the Pac-10 after
holding its first two opponents to
17 points. However, Arizona State
is last in the conference in scor
ing.
California (1-1) at
Fresno State (0-2)
After a narrow victory and a
close loss, California will look to
get a big win over winless Fresno
State. The Golden Bears nearly
upset No. 19 Illinois 17-15 after
edging Utah 24-21 in the first two
weeks of play.
A win may not be so certain
against the Bulldogs, who staged a
blazing rally against UCLA last be
fore falling 24-21. Fresno State is
led by junior quarterback David
Carr, who threw for 249 yards in a
season opening loss to Ohio State.
Cal features two Pac-10 Players
of the Week. Defensive end Andre
Carter was the defensive Player of
the Week Sept. 11 and punter
Nick Harris was awarded the spe
cial teams award Sept. 18.
Broadcast
continued from page 4
head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It
also puts our game front and cen
ter; playing in the spotlight, there’s
no place to hide.”
At practice this past week, many
Oregon players seemed genuinely
“pumped” that ESPN will be on
hand for the 12:30 p.m. game,
which also happens to be
nationally televised live by Fox
Sports Net.
“It’s going to be sweet not only
for the players here, but also for
this program as a whole,” senior
wide receiver Marshaun Tucker
said. “So we can go out there and
prove to everybody what Oregon’s
all about. And also, it can help
place us on the map and let people
know we’re out here.”
Oregon junior starting quarter
back Joey Harrington mentioned
how the addition of ESPN has defi
nitely added a little bit of excite
ment, but that nothing has really
changed as far as his team’s
pregame mindset goes. He said that
the exposure is great, but it’s more
for the fans and for the city.
He does, however, want to catch
a little bit of the program and see
what kind of talk is being tossed
around about the game and the
conference. Particularly from
Corso, who has been known to kick
a little dirt on Pac-10 teams.
“I usually watch it on Saturday
mornings, and if I can’t this time,
I’ll probably record it,” Harrington
said. “I got to see if good ol’ Lee
Corso decides to bash the Pac-10
again. I don’t know what he’s going
to do this week since there’s two
good Pac-10 teams playing.”
Tucker also said that he’ll be ea
ger to watch the show in the morn
ing before his own game day prepa
ration.
“Oh you know I am,” said the
senior wide receiver. “I’m gonna
check it out a little bit. It should be
fun, but really, my mind is going to
be on that big game that afternoon.”
The GameDay team plans on do
ing a live feed for the Friday
“SportsCenter,” but that’s pending
on whether the crew’s trucks get
into town in time after driving on
short notice from Tennessee.
“We’ll try to do our best to get it
on Friday, but if not, we have ESPN
reporter Shelley Smith already in
town, who will be giving reports
during the week,” Nwulu said.
In any regards, the show will be
live on air Saturday morning, and
ESPN is hoping that the early Pacif
ic Coast start time will not result in
a poor showing of fans who will be
standing all around the set and get
ting their faces on national televi
sion.
“We’re all excited for it and I
hope the people of Oregon are too
so they can show the college foot
ball community what Eugene is all
about,” Nwulu said.