SEPTEMBER29,2000 VOLUME 102, ISSUE XXIII
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
Total
Offense
(Pac-10 rankings)
OREGON 2nd
WASH. 4th
f
Total
Defense
OREGON 2nd
WASH. 7th
Passing
Offense
OREGON 2nd
WASH. 5th
Rushing
Offense
OREGON 3rd
WASH. 1st
Passing
Defense
OREGON 1st
WASH. 6th
Rushing
Defense
OREGON 5th
WASH. 6th
Turnover
Ratio
OREGON +4
WASH. +2
QUOTABLE
"Oregon is a de
fense that's going
to take advantage
of the fact that it's
difficult to com
municate in their
stadium."
-UW coach Rick
Neuheisel
Key Player
Joey Harrington
The UO quarter
back had four
touchdown passes
two weeks ago
against Idaho, but
none against
UCLA.
Dan Brunell Emerald
Junior tailback Maurice Morris is the third-leading rusher in the Pacific-10 Conference, carrying 118.3 yards per game.
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Expectations are a funny thing.
When one hears of a certain junior
college All-American running back,
you expect a whole lot in terms of
this player helping a Division I col
lege football team win a number of
games.
And when you hear of his as
tounding numbers and by whom he
was recruited, you immediately ex
pect something else.
Cockiness.
The Keyshawn Johnson “Give
me-the-damn-ball-and-get-the-hell
out-of-my-way” cockiness.
The Deion Sanders “I’m-God
and-you-should-pray-with-me-as-I
side-step-my-way-into-the-end
zone” cockiness.
So when you finally get the
chance to meet this hyped-up re
cruiting gem, you’re taken aback by
his “ I’m-so-humbled-to-even-be
here-with-all-these-great-players
and-coaches” attitude.
And as it turns out, you aren’t the
only person pleasantly surprised by
Maurice Morris, the 6-foot, 205
pound junior college tailback that
had Oregon Duck boosters already
smelling roses back in August.
“He’s such a nice, quiet guy,” sen
ior linebacker Matt Smith said. “I
mean, with all of this press and pub
licity coming in, it’s nice to see
someone with that much exposure
come in and still be a level-headed
guy who is really nice to talk to.”
It seems the only problem in talk
ing with Morris is that his words are
sometimes spoken with the softness
of a whisper that can leave people
leaning forward just to catch a com
plete sentence.
“Everybody has welcomed me
along with all of the other JC trans
fers and freshmen, and that’s been
very nice,” said Morris, who arrived
in Eugene early in the summer after
completing classes at Fresno City
College in the spring. “The coaches
and the teammates are a big reason
why I’m here today.”
But when you think about it, it
shouldn’t come as that much of a
surprise that Morris is the subdued
hard-worker who is looking to earn
respect before acting like he already
has it.
After all, Morris comes from a
family of six brothers and eight sis
ters. One can only imagine the strug
gle of trying to get a word in edge
wise around that dinner table.
With all of those siblings, the nat
ural thinking may be that you would
want to get out on your own and be
free. But with Morris, it’s just the op
posite. In California, he missed his
family greatly, so when he made the
decision to come to Oregon, he also
made the decision to bring his fami
ly with him.
Turn to Morris, page 19B
Huskies stand between Ducks and road to Pasadena
SCOTT PESZNECKER
PEZ
SEZ
Jrust when a Pacific-10 Confer
ence football game seemed like
it couldn’t get bigger, it did.
1 Duck fans in Eugene and else
where held their breaths in the
days leading up to last Saturday,
when UCLA, then the sixth-ranked
team in the nation, donned its
gleaming gold helmets and walked
into Autzen Stadium.
It’s safe to say the Bruins weren’t
the only ones unaware of the harsh
beating they were about to receive.
Not even the Las Vegas boys, who
made the Ducks slight favorites, pre
dicted a rout. Oregon was just a
three-point favorite, no more advan
tageous than a field goal. The Duck
defense took a gamble when they
hounded Bruin running back De
Shaun Foster and made sophomore
quarterback Ryan McCann try to
beat them.
If McCann had only connected on
some more passes, the game could
have fallen on the other side of that
three-point betting line.
McCann didn’t deliver, so Oregon
won — by a lot.
Sigh.
Now, if the implications of last
week’s matchup weren’t enough to
make nerves stand on end, well, the
necessity of beating the Huskies
might do the trick.
Another No. 6 team. Been there,
done that.
But the last sixth-ranked team
Oregon faced was, in the words of
more than 45,000 people who at
tended the UCLA game, “overrat
ed.” Make no mistake, Washington
is anything but overrated.
Here is a Husky team that presea
son analysts picked to win the Pac
10. Not by coincidence, Washington
Tu rn to Pez Sez, page 15B