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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2000)
Monday ^_nmm _SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com Heading to Pasadena one game at a time ...... Oregon inside linebacker Kevin Mitchell (39) rips down Wildcat wide receiver Brad Brennan, while fellow linebacker Matt Smith (49) and team mate look on. The Duck defense continued to dominate and made sure that the offense’s 14 points would hold up for the huge Pac-10 victory. In the end, it's all about the scoreboard cs . - HAKUNA v MAIAXA JEFF SMITH It seems that every team that goes through a spectacular season has these kinds of games. The game where its quarterback completes only nine of his 22 passes and it takes the tailback 34 carries to rack up 114 yards. The game where the offense sputters. The game where both teams score a combined zero points in the second half. The game where the opposing team has the ball in the final seconds of the game with a chance to put the ball in the end zone for the win. And, lastly, the game where, despite all of that, it wins. Such was the case on a cold, Satur day night in Autzen Stadium where the temperature dipped as low as 37-de grees, leaving 45,950 fans blowing in their hands in between claps. Folks, this was football. Oregon’s 14-10 victory over Arizona Saturday night may not have glittered with long runs and 60-yard pass plays, but the result was what mattered. As the old saying goes, “a win is a win is a win.” “This is a huge win,” cornerback Rashad Bauman said. “It gives us the number one spot in the Pac-10 and the edge for the Rose Bowl.” The Ducks are in control of their own destiny. Granted, the football that was being played was not pretty, but it was football — smash-mouth style. Did you see the hit that Oregon line backer Wesly Mallard laid on Wildcat cor nerback Michael Jolivette in the first quar ter? Mallard certainly let the dogs out on that one as Jolivette’s helmet and mouth piece flew off as he was getting crunched. One reporter compared it to a cork fly ing off a champagne bottle. “I saw him coming, but it was just too quick,” said Jolivette, who was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital to receive 11 stitches in his lower chin. “I couldn’t do anything about it.” Many Oregon fans have mentioned how they didn’t enjoy the game as much as the others. But how could you not en joy the great theater of watching an Ari zona team faced with a first-and-10 with only 26 seconds left in the game. Turn to Smith, page 9 A sigh of relief: Ducks win in Pac-10 ■ Coach Ferreira and the volleyball team pick up their first conference win in a Civil War sweep at Oregon State By Adam Jude Oregon Oaily Emerald CORVALLIS — Oregon State’s Gill Coliseum was filled with smiles Friday night — and they weren’t on the faces of Beaver fans. In a much-needed confidence booster, the Oregon volleyball squad won its first Pa cific-10 Conference match of the season and redeemed an ear lier-season loss by sweeping its Civil War rival in front of 1,387 fans in Cor vallis. The match was broadcast live VOUEYBAU on Fox Sports Northwest. “I am just ecstatic for these players,” head coach Carl Ferreira said after snapping a six-match losing skid. “Amy [Banducci], Halie [Mazza], ‘Mo [Monique Tobbagi] and Julie [Gerlach] are the reason we are here, and I am re ally happy for them.” After defeating the California-River side Highlanders Sunday, the Ducks are 9-10 overall and 1-9 in the Pac-10. “This is a brand new team,” said Banducci, a senior outside hitter who tallied eight kills and 25 digs in the two matches. “We’re finally putting to gether what we knew we had. This was huge. It proves that we can play in this conference, and gives us a big con fidence booster.” After a 15-10 win in game one, Ore gon found itself down by two late in the second to the Beavers. But three straight kills by Mazza and a service ace by Tobbagi gave the Ducks a 12-11 lead, and they eventually headed into the intermission with a 15-13 win. “I thought game two was critical,” Ferreira said. “It didn’t allow them to gain momentum heading into the lock er room. Before game three we reiterat ed what we had learned since the last time we played them and were ahead 2-0.” Flashback to Sept. 19 at McArthur Court: The Ducks appeared to be on their way to a win over the Beavers with a two-game lead, but Oregon State battled back to win 3-2. Alas, another come-from-behind vic tory was not in store for the Beavers this time, as the Ducks rolled past its Turn to Volleyball, page 9 ■ The Oregon football team beats Arizona with defense and now controls its Rose Bowl destiny By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald Beaten by Arizona's “Desert Swarm” defense and facing one last charge by the dangerous Wildcat offense, the Oregon football team rested its Rose Bowl hopes on the team’s most reliable force. Desert Swarm, meet the Green Swarm. The Oregon ‘D’ took Arizona’s of fense by storm under the Saturday night sky, holding it scoreless in the second half and putting the brakes on a last-minute drive to preserve the Ducks’ 19th-straight win at Autzen Stadium, 14-10, in front of another sellout crowd of 45.950. Oregon’s offense, which tallied an average 428 yards total offense through its first six games, mustered just 260 yards total against Arizona (3-1 Pacif ic-10 Conference, 5-2 overall). But that didn’t matter on a night when the Wildcats were held to 217 yards of total offense. “We talked about it before the game, about how everything is ordained, and we believe that — we believe that we were going to come out here and beat these guys today,” defensive end Saul Patu said. “(Our offense] not moving the ball was fine with us — if that’s the way it’s supposed to happen, that’s the way it’s supposed to happen.” The victory gave Oregon (4-0, 6-1) sole possession of the Pac-10 lead and the inside track to the Rose Bowl. “We always think about the Rose Bowl, but we have to think about it in terms of the next game and one game at a time,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “There are no gimmies in this conference. I think this is as bal anced as a conference from top-to-bot tom as there is. “Now that we’ve done a good job at putting ourselves in the drivers’ seat, we’ve also made that bulls-eye on our backs a little bit bigger.” Arizona quarterback Ortege Jenkins had one last chance to lead his team to victory when the Wildcats began the game’s final drive at their own 10-yard Turn to Autzen win, page 9 a We always think about the Rose Bowl, but we have to think about it in terms of the next game and one game at a time. There are nogimmies in this conference. I think this is as bal anced as a conference from top-to bottom as there is. Mike Bellotti Oregon head coach Dan Brunell Emerald Senior Amy Banducci dives for one of her nine digs against UC-Riverside Sunday. The Ducks won their first Pac-10 match Friday at Oregon State.
