Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 2000)
THE BOX Total (Pae-10 rankings) OREGON 1st 6th Defense 3rd 10th OREGON 3rd 2nd Offense OREGON 3rd WSU 9th Passing Defense OREGON 1st 00) - ■ 5th Rushing Defense OREGOM 1st mi 7th he wins. Turnover Ratio +9 QUOTABLE "He's a winner. Even when aren't pretty, he's a land he finds a way "They came and smacked us in the face. It wasn't X's and Q's; it wasn't M's or S's; it was standing up, going toe to toe and kicking your ass." »WS0 head coach Mike Price on the OSU defense Key Player Maurice Morris Oregon's tailback hasn't had a game over 120 yards since rushing for 152 against Washington more than a month ago. Morris had only 91 yards against Arizona State last week, and only 85 in a nail-biter at USC. w. c. , , , . . _ Courtesy Washington State Media Services Washington State s Jason Gesser leads the Pac-10 s second-best passing offense against the Ducks this week. Gesser ranks 23rd in the nation in total offense. Gesser and Co. do it through the air ■ Washington State’s high-powered aerial attack will meet the Pac-10’s toughest passing defense in Saturday’s matchup By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald Washington State is, basically, a one-dimensional football team. This season, the Cougars have found out that a team needs more than one dimension to win games in the Pacific-10 Conference. Washington State (3-5, 1-4 Pac 10), to give them credit, could have a better record. They dropped overtime thrillers to Arizona and Arizona State on consecutive weekends before being blown out by Oregon State 38-9 last Saturday. Besides putting up a load of points on the Cougars Saturday, the Beavers also shut down Wash ington State’s high-flying offense for only the second time this sea CC It was bad football. The defense hung in there. The offense was miserable. Mike Price Washington State head coach jj son. Discounting that game and the Cougars’ 24-10 loss to Stanford to start the season, the men from Pullman have scored nearly 34 points a game. The emergence of Washington State’s offense has come thanks to Jason Gesser, the Cougars’ sopho more quarterback, whose statistics are almost mind-boggling. The sig nal caller has a 136.9 pass efficien cy rating, the best in the Pac-10 and 23rd in the country. He throws for 241.5 yards per game, the best in the Pac-10. Gesser averages 248 yards per game of total offense, slightly lower than Joey Harring ton’s 249.5, but still 21st in the na tion. “He does a great job of scram bling and buying time,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said about Gesser. “One of the things that [Washington State coach] Mike Price talks about is ‘1-800 DIAL-GESSER.’ He’s probably one of the quickest kids on the field.” The Washington State offense has benefited from Gesser’s out standing play. The Cougars have the most touchdown passes in the conference, and their passing of fense is second in the Pac-10 to Jeff Krohn and Arizona State. On the ground, Washington State has a dual threat behind Gesser in tailbacks Deon Burnett and David Minnieh. But the threat comes only when the passing game needs a rest, because Burnett and Minnieh average only 104 yards per game combined. the other side of one of the Pac 10’s best offenses is the Pac-lO’s worst defense. The Cougars have the league's worst rushing defense (174 yards/game), give up the most points (31.1 points/game) and have the league’s worst total de fense (404.6 yards/game). Just looking at the Cougars’ scores, it’s easy to see their short comings. They lost 38-34 to Idaho. They dropped a game to Arizona 53-47 in triple overtime. Before the Oregon State game, the Cougars had played five games that were decided by less than seven points, but Washington State scored at least 20 points in each. But last Saturday, the Cougars had a role reversal with Oregon State. “It was bad football,” Price told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “The defense hung in there. The offense was miserable.” The Beavers shut down Gesser, who went 11 of 29 for 104 yards and two interceptions. The Cougars had only 240 total yards of offense in that game, 184 through the air. Washington State’s nine points were the least they have scored all season. Spirits are low in Pullman as the prospects of going to a bowl fade from view. The Cougars need to win the rest of their games to be come bowl-eligible, and the road is tangled with thorns. Price told the Seattle Times that his team needs to look forward, not backward, calling the Cougars’ final games a “three-game season.” “To heck with the last game,” Price said. “I’m not even going to show it [on videotape] to the play ers.” After Oregon, which is undefeat ed in Pac-10 play this season, Washington State faces Southern California — the only team below V the Cougars in the conference — and No. 8 Washington in the Ap ple Cup. Washington State’s only Pac-10 win came against California two months ago. Since that game, the Cougars have beaten Boise State, and then lost four straight Pac-10 games. USC is the only other Pac-10 team with three consecutive con ference losses this season. Wash ington State also has the second most losses overall in the confer ence; only USC, with five losses, has more. The Pac-lO’s best team against the Pac-lO’s worst defense? You do the math. DISCOUNT SPORTS & VITAMINS (VITAL FOOD) BEST PRICE & SELECTION 255 E. 18TH, EUGENE 343-0971 JVJ.D. ® CAC American Sports Nutrition Bio-Tech Pinnacle Champion Nutrition Sportspharma Prolob Muscle Tech Optimum Nature's Best Twin Lab Atkins LaBrada Cybergenics Metoform Isopure Next Nutrition BEST SELECTION OF BRANDS AND PRICES N. OF SAN FRANCISCO
