Pez Sez
continued from page 9
season, had another sub-par per
formance and connected just nine
of 22 passes.
“Every time we beat Washington
it’s a great feeling, especially for a na
tive Oregonian,” Harrington said af
ter the game. “But there is a sense of
dissatisfaction because we feel like
we missed a lot of opportunities. ”
Those missed opportunities
turned a should-have-been route
into a nail-biting fourth quarter,
with Husky quarterback and Heis
man Trophy candidate Marques Tu
iasosopo leading his team within
one score of tying the game. The ob
vious scapegoat for the score’s
closeness would be Josh Frankel,
who missed three field goals and an
extra point.
However, Frankel is not the only
Duck to blame. Looking at the play
by-play, the Oregon offense failed to
score on drives starting at their own
43,46,48, and Washington’s 41 and
17.
“The score just disgusts me; the
score should not have been so
close,” defensive end Jason Nikolao
said. “The offense has got to put
points on the board.”
Harsh words from Nikolao, con
sidering that Oregon is now in the
driver’s seat in the race for the Rose
Bowl, but he has every right to be
upset. After all, it was the Ducks’
magnificent defense, not the of
fense, that is largely responsible for
the team’s first two conference vic
tories.
But the defense could use some
improvements of its own. Oppo
nents have tormented Oregon with
big plays this season, starting with
long runs by Wisconsin’s Michael
Bennett and most recently, by an
airborne fourth-quarter assault from
Tuiasosopo.
“It feels great when the defense
does the job,” linebacker Matt
Smith said. “We gave up a couple of
touchdowns in the second half, so
we probably won’t be too happy
when we watch film.”
The line that “defense wins cham
pionships” is more than a cliche in
the world of sports — it is a sacred
truth, a mantra and a solid founda
tion on which to build success.
So far, the Ducks are living, run
ning, hard-hitting evidence that the
popular motto is true.
But defense is just a foundation,
and Maurice Morris can only carry
the ball so far before opponents be
gin to catch on that the passing
game is struggling. What then?
Harrington hasn’t regained his
last-season form, and his receivers
aren’t catching the ball consistent
ly. The one game in which Harring
ton and his receivers did click was
against Idaho, and Oregon lit up the
Vandals for 35 first-half points.
And in clutch situations, Frankel
has to put the ball through the up
rights, at least in the easy attempts.
One of his missed field goals was
from a mere 28 yards out, and scor
ing the extra point is critical — his
missed extra point allowed Wash
ington a chance to win.
Fortunately for the Ducks, the de
fense muscled them past another
tough opponent. Unfortunately, no
matter how good a defense is, a
game can’t be won if the score is 0-0.
But Oregon fans shouldn’t worry.
Harrington is a seasoned veteran. He
accomplished a major feat last sea
son, taking control of the Ducks mid
way through the season and leading
them to victory in the Sun Bowl.
Soon, Harrington will be forced
to step it up a notch. Opponents
will begin focusing their defenses
on stopping Morris’ runs. When
that happens — when there is less
pressure on the quarterback and the
pass routes — expect Harrington to
make opponents pay dearly for it.
With only the running game in
tact and the rest of the offense sput
tering, the Ducks remain the top
contender for the Rose Bowl. If the
rest of the offense would fall into
place, they’d be a sure-fire bet.
These Ducks clicking on all
cylinders? The Pacific-10 should be
scared.
Soccer
continued from page 9
for much of the first half.
“They’ve got the ability to knock
the ball around,” Baker said about
Oregon’s keep-away skills. “I
thought they did a better job of pos
session than we did. ”
Florida State didn’t have an of
fensive chance until seven minutes
had ticked by in the first half, and
its first shot came 15 minutes into
the game.
“We were passing the ball well,”
Baysa said. “We were keeping pos
session and moving the ball well.”
Another bright spot for Oregon
was the play of the defense and
sophomore goalie Peters. The net
minder made key saves on three
corner kicks in the second half,
stepping up to take the ball from the
Florida State forwards in each in
stance.
But Peters’ most stunning save
came in the middle of the first half.
After a Florida State cross went un
touched by Oregon players, Peters
had to fight a diving Florida State
forward for possession. The ball
then trickled past her and rolled to
wards the open goal. After an Ore
gon defender cleared the ball to the
edge of the 18-yard box to Brelan,
Peters dove back into position and
saved Brelan’s ensuing shot.
With Peters playing at that level,
Oregon’s defense stepped up to
match her. Junior sweeper Starr
Johnson was formidable anchoring
the defense, while sophomore Lind
sey Peterson and junior transfer An
gela Romero joined her, and even
threatened offensively in the game’s
final minutes.
“We were fortunate to get one
goal,” Baker said.
The worst news on the day for the
Ducks wasn’t even the loss to Flori
da State. With 10 minutes to go in
the game, David went down to the
ground after tangling with a Florida
State midfielder. After struggling to
get up, David found that she could
n’t stand and had to be helped off
the field. She did not return to the
game. David is the Ducks’ leading
scorer this year with eight points.
Oregon will open up its Pacific
10 Conference schedule at home
next Friday against Arizona. The
Wildcats are the only Pac-10 team
with a worse record than the Ducks.
They are 1-6 overall, while Oregon
is now 3-8.
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