Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2000)
Smith continued from page 19 when they were No. 2 in the na tion in 1998 and last year when we lost at the one-foot line. So it’s a re ally great feeling.” Senior Lee Gundy, a native of Marysville, Calf., admitted that when Oregon went up 22-10 in the fourth quarter, the feeling of finally beating the Bruins started sinking in. “We were up by 12 at one point, and I look up and I was like, ‘Wow, this is going to happen. This is re ally going to happen,”’ Gundy said. “But I didn’t want to really believe it because there was still five minutes left. Then when we got the ball back and scored again, man, simply an unexplainable feeling.” It was certainly a pride-filled group of seniors following the win. On one corner of the interview room was Matt Smith talking about the character of his team. To his left was Nikolao, boasting about shut ting down Bruin running back De Shaun Foster and holding him only to 49 rushing yards. But if you took a look on the oth er side of the room you’d see a player, all by himself, leaning against the wall with a proud smile on his face. Meet Jeff Austin. The 6-foot-l, 265 pound senior was also very happy to have finally beaten UCLA, but more importantly, he was thrilled just to have been a part of the win. You see, the walk on center made his first career start on Saturday because regular center Ryan Schmid moved over to guard to replace the injured Josh Jones. Austin is a graduate of Beaver ton High, where he earned all Metro League honors for both de fense and offense, and has been at Oregon for the past five years with out a scholarship. He saw his first action last year against UTEP, Nevada and Washington St., and was really surprised to see himself in the starting line-up on Saturday. “I was nervous, but it just felt so great to be in there,” Austin said. “I’ve waited five long years for something like this.” Just as all of the Duck players, coaches, fans, etc., have endured that same long wait to celebrate a { { We were up by 12 at one point, and I look up and i was like, ‘Wow, this is really going to happen. But I didn't want to really believe it because there was still five minutes left. Lee Gundy Marysville, CA victory over UCLA. So when the clock showed 0:00, there was indeed some celebra tion. But not too much. As most Ore gon players reminded people, the revelry of the UCLA win will last for “about eight hours”, and then all talk and focus will turn to next week’s “big-time” game that will again be nationally televised. “All this week did was make next week’s game against Wash ington that much bigger,” Smith said. “That’s what you want.” The Ducks also wanted to get into the national spotlight. Well, with the win, Oregon has clearly opened some eyes. And if the Ducks keep performing with such passion and emotion, those eyes could stay glued on them all season long. Jeff Smith is the sports editor of the Emer ald. He can be reached at Smittside@aol.com Bruins continued from page 23 game, Toledo decided against blast ing loud noise during practice to simulate what it would be like to play at Autzen because he doesn’t like “those blaring speakers.” In stead, he opted for “whisper drills”, forcing his players to pay attention to the snap counts in silence. His drills didn’t seem to help his players that much as the offense was out of sync all afternoon. No more so was that evident than in a defining series at the 4-minute mark of the first quarter. It was a first-and-ten for the Bru ins at its own 38-yard line. McCann attempted to call out the play amidst the charged-up crowd, but to no avail. Result: False start. It was then a first-and-15 from its own 33. Again the crowd was going berserk. Result: False start. Now it was first-and-20 from its own 28. The fans were loving it. The Duck defense was getting fired up. The Bruin offense was sputter ing. Result: A third straight false start. “We’ve had adversity in the past, and we’ve come back from it,” said McCann, who was 13-for-33 for 152 yards. “We had that today, and we didn’t execute when we needed to.” Many of the Bruins cited Autzen Stadium’s worn down turf — in stalled in 1991 — as one of the rea sons for their poor play. McCann said he felt a hamstring pull while running on the turf. “It was different,” McCann said. “We’re not used to it. We could simulate the crowd noise at home, but not the turf, but it really should n’t come down to that.” Bruin wide receiver Freddie Mitchell also had a complaint. Mitchell, who had eight catches for 158 yards, did not come away im pressed with Oregon cornerback Rashad Bauman. Mitchell, who said that the crowd didn’t really have a big affect on him, was not too pleased with Bauman’s mouth. “He’s the easiest cornerback I’ve played against all year,” Mitchell said. “And I felt that he was so easy tt If you stop DeShaun Foster then you shut down the UCLA offense. Rashad Bauman Oregon cornerback to beat, but he talks so much. It’s so disrespectful for him to talk so much.” Bauman called Mitchell a “de cent receiver”, but says that the key to beating the Bruins isn’t by stop ping its receivers, but rather shut ting down the run. UCLA running back DeShaun Foster, who had averaged 141 yards in the previous three games, was targeted all game long and fin ished with only 49 yards on 19 car ries. Due to quarterback sacks against them, the Bruins finished with a net rushing yardage of mi nus-nine. “If you stop DeShaun Foster then you shut down the UCLA offense,” Bauman said. “And if he isn’t run ning the ball then their offense isn’t running neither.” The loss hurt the Bruins in the polls, as UCLA dropped from No. 6 to No. 15 in The Associated Press poll and from No. 8 to No. 17 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll. SEPTEMBER SPECIAL Czech Glass Beads 50% off 8 Loose Czech Beads3 25% off Czech Strands Sale expires September 10 HarleqGfin Beads & Jewelry 10% Off with Student I.D. 1016 Willamette ♦ 683-5903 "Tasty Thai Kitchen RESTAURANT & CATERING Authentic Thai Cuisine • Ready-to-cook entrees and catering available • Dine-In or To-Go RECYCLE keep in touch www.dailyemerald.com Virtual Office Systems toe. to Partnership with The University of Oregon Bookstore 3131 West 11th Ph. 343-8633 Open Mon-Sat 10-6 AMD K7 Athlon 750® nunderhird $1139.99 • Microstar MS 6330 Board • 16 MB TnT2 AGP Video • 20 GB A TA 66 Drive • 64 MB 100 MHz SDRAM • 17”.27SVGA Monitor With Athlon 800, 81159.99 With Athlon 850, $1249.99 Add 100 MB Zip Drive $90 Back to School with VOS and AMD! HMD Duron 600 “Power Player” $749.99 • Microstar MS 6330 Board •8 MB TnT2AGP • 15 Gig AT A 66 Drive • 64 MB 100 MHz SDRAM • Monitor Additional AMD Duron 650, $879.99 AMD Duron 700, $879.99 Add 100 MB Zip Drive, $90 All systems include A TX case, Windows 98 Se or Me, 52X CD, 56K v. 90 I modem, mouse, keyboard, floppy, sound, speakers, 1 Year parts/2 Years labor VOS Inc. Systems are also available at the UO Bookstore. Parts available only at VOS lne. I’riees good through 10/6/00. AMI). K6. K7. Duron. AMD logo and 3DN.o\v! arc trademarks 'of AMD. Inc. Specs subject to change: tio Ducks! ition 009842 presents 1 .Icend Wan er 29th and 30t| sic * dancing away all nigh After 10:30 - Prizes, Music and Fun ALL NIGHT LONG. The best dance party in Eugene is always at Scandals 2222 Centennial Blvd. (Next to Autzen Stadium) 3 43-4734
