Oregon at crossroads in crucial away game
■ Oregon faces new
challenges and old foes on the
road this weekend at USC
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
The sweet confines of Autzen
Stadium have been called by many
as the Ducks’ 12th man. But that
12th man won’t be able to make
the trip to Los Angeles for No. 9
Oregon’s matchup with Southern
California.
Although the Pacific-10 confer
ence game has lost some of its ear
lier luster, the matchup is still cru
cial for both teams and their
post-season hopes. On paper, the
unranked, 3-2 Trojan’s don’t stand
much of a chance against Oregon
and its three-game win streak.
But top-10 national rankings
have been more of a curse than a
blessing this season for Pac-10
schools, especially for teams on
the road. The Ducks look to break
that trend.
On Sept. 23, then-No. 6 UCLA
fell from the national spotlight
with a 29-10 loss at Oregon. A
week later, a new No. 6 team,
Washington, was dealt a setback
on the road in Eugene.
Now Oregon is in the Pac-10
drivers seat on the road. The
Ducks make their second appear
ance on the road Saturday, and
Duck players have something to
prove.
“We’ve played real good at
Autzen, and everyone is like ‘Oh,
it’s just the crowd,’” senior wide
receiver Marshaun Tucker said.
“We have to show them that Ore
gon can go on the road and win
some games.”
As successful as Oregon has
■
been at home, it has been
mediocre at best on the road. In
the past four years, the Ducks are
10-13. At Los Angeles Coliseum,
Oregon is 1-8-1 against USC
through the past 25 years. In the
history of the series, in which USC
leads 33-13-2, Oregon has only
won four times at the Coliseum.
“Playing on the road always
concerns me,” Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti said. “I would rather
play every game at home, but we
have to go on the road in order to
compete in this conference, you
( (/ think about the [Wis
consin] game and it kills
me. We should have won
that game. We missed a
couple of tackles and let
them get a couple of
breaks that they shouldn’t
have gotten.
Jason Nikolao
senior defensive end
have to prove that you can win on
the road.”
Oregon’s lone miscue this sea
son came on the road in Madison,
Wis. Then-No. 5 Wisconsin nar
rowly defeated Oregon 27-23 at
Camp Randall Stadium in a loss
that burned Oregon players.
“I think about [the Wisconsin]
game and it just kills me,” senior
defensive end Jason Nikolao said.
“We should have won that game.
We missed a couple of tackles and
let them get a couple of breaks that
Turn to UOside, page 8B
-——-— .
Emerald
Oregon got the best of USC last season on Josh Frankel’s (32) game-winning field goal, but things will be tougher on the road.
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