Oregon football mirrors basketball in drama
HAKUNA
S*0 MATATA
JEFF SM3TH
Now, I know there is a
whole new game this
weekend to discuss and
dissect, and a whole
new set of challenges that await
the Ducks up in the Palouse.
But my thoughts still drift back
to Saturday’s “I-can’t-believe
what-I-just-saw” game.
Seriously, it was the type of col
lege football game that dumb
founds you when you think of
how Oregon came up on the win
ning end.
In fact, it made you think of an
other thrilling Duck win in which
you thought for sure Oregon was
going to lose.
But this game didn’t take place
on the gridiron. It took place in
McArthur Court.
And it was also against the Ari
zona State Sun Devils.
You remember, don’t you?
March 2, 2000: The Oregon
men’s basketball team miracu
lously drains two three-pointers
in the final 2.8 seconds to win by
two. It was a remarkable finish.
As was Saturday’s. Man, those
Sun Devils must hate the Ducks.
Look at both games in a com
parison:
In football, Oregon trails by 14
with 3:30 left in the game. The
game is basically clinched. The
Sun Devil fans in attendance be
gin screaming the overused chant,
“Ov-er-rated.” (Which, by the
way, still doesn’t make sense to
me because wouldn’t you want
the team that you are beating to be
considered a good team?)
Anyway, as Arizona State nears
a presumable big victory, some
Duck fans in attendance at Sun
Devil Stadium begin to stroll out.
All throughout Eugene, televi
sions begin to get clicked off in
frustration. Game’s over, these
people say.
It was going to take a miracle to
pull this one out.
Hmm. Sounds familiar to what
happened in the hoops game.
Sun Devil sharpshooter Eddie
House drills two free throws to up
the lead to four with six ticks on
the clock. The Sun Devils then
call a time-out. At that point,
every aisle in Mac Court has at
least a few people head for the ex
its with sunken heads. A few Eu
gene drivers are switching from
radio play-by-play man Jerry
Allen’s voice to their favorite ra
dio station to help ease the pain of
a difficult defeat.
• r
It was going to take a miracle to
pull this one out.
And wouldn’t you know, in
both cases, a miracle is what they
got.
Too strong a word, you think? 1
don’t believe so. The word mira
cle is defined in the American
Heritage College Dictionary as,
“an event that appears inexplica
ble by the laws of nature.”
Well, consider these “inexplica
ble” events.
The Duck football team scores a
touchdown to cut the lead to sev
en. It then gets the ball back, but
falls one yard short of the end
zone on a fourth-and-seven to
turn possession back to the Sun
Devils with only 1:22 remaining.
All Arizona State must do is
run out the clock and then take a
knee and this one’s in the books.
Sun Devil tailback Mike Williams
goes casually up the middle. The
gqme appears done as he crosses
the first-down line to clinch the
win and ... he fumbles. Huh?
Oregon recovers with 33 sec
onds left and on its first play,
quarterback Joey Harrington finds
tight end Justin Peelle for a 17
jjjard touchdown to tie the game at
49 and send it to overtime. We
}tnow what happened from there
on out: 56-55, Ducks.
Similarly, the Oregon hoops
team faced the improbable task of
in-bounding the basketball from
the opposite end of the hoop with
a four-point deficit and less than
six seconds to play. Guard Ben
Lindquist heaved the ball down
court, and somehow, it landed in
the hands of Alex Scales, who
promptly banged home a trey to
cut the lead down to 74-73.
Then Arizona State’s Kyle
Dodd’s ensuing inbound pass
bounced off House’s fingertips
and out of bounds in Oregon’s fa
vor. Lindquist proceeded to heave
it downcourt again, and again it
bounced off House’s hands. Ore
gon’s Darius Wright scooped it up,
launched it and watched it swish
through at the buzzer to give Ore
gon the improbable 76-74 win.
It is these types of games that
happen to teams during their mag
ical seasons. Last season’s basket
ball team recorded its first 20-win
season since 1945.
This year’s Oregon football
team is off to its best start since
1959, and is only three games
away from becoming the first
team in Duck history to have a 10
win season.
Now, given the crazy circum
stances in both AS13 games, and
the special seasons they were a
part of, it makes you think of a dif
ferent definition in the dictionary:
“The fate to which a particular
person or thing is destined.”
“Destiny” may have led the
men’s hoops team to its second
*NCAA Tournament appearance
since 1961.
And with the month of Novem
ber upon us, it should be fun to
see where it takes the football
team.
Jeff Smith is the sports editor of the Emer
ald. He can be reached at
Smittside@aol.com.
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Game preview
continued from page 1B
Hours before Oregon State drubbed
Washington State, 38-9, in Corval
lis last Saturday, Oregon ran itself
ragged in an offensive shooting
match with Arizona State.
“I’m tired. I’ll admit it, I’m tired,”
Oregon quarterback Joey Harring
ton said. “It took a lot out of us; it
was a very draining game. But we
have a lot of time to rest this week
and get some good work in, and
we’ll be ready to go by Saturday.”
Several Oregon players were in
jured while battling the Sun Devils.
On the D-line, defensive tackle
Zack Freiter will replace Jason
Nikolao, who injured his right knee
in the first quarter of the Arizona
State game.
Everyone else, despite bumps
and bruises, should be able to play
Saturday.
“The loss of [Nikolao’s] presence
hurts a lot,” defensive end Saul
Patu said. “Obviously he’s been a
good player for us. Seth and Niko,
Boice and me have been able to de
fend well. Just knowing that Niko
is on that side of the line builds
confidence. I felt confident that I
could defend my side of the field.”
Gesser and the Washington State
passing attack have made the
Cougars a force to be reckoned
with. The Cougs played five
straight games, winning two and
losing three, which were decided
by seven points or fewer.
Only the Beavers have been able
to find a way to stop Washington
State’s high-flying offense. Most op
ponents have found themselves
guessing how to contain Gesser.
Judging by the quarterback’s
stats, many opponents have
guessed wrong.
Gesser’s 241.5 passing yards per
game leads the conference in aerial
offense. His quarterback rating,
136.9, leads the Pac-10 and is good
for No. 23 nationally.
But more recent statistics indi
cate that Gesser may be stopping
himself. Before throwing a fourth
quarter interception against the
Wildcats Oct. 14, Gesser’s quarter
back rating was 153.76, a mark that
was top in the conference and sixth
in the nation. Since the pick, he has
completed just 29 of 70 passes.
Regardless of which Gesser
shows up Saturday, Oregon’s de
fense seems ready to take his best
shot.
“He likes to scramble,” corner
back Rashad Bauman said. “He’s a^
good scrambler; that’s where he
does best. We just have to makew
sure to control the pocket and we’ll
have a good chance.”
Washington State also poses a
potentially potent ground attack in
tailbacks Deon Burnett and Dave
Minnich. Burnett, a sophomore,
has rushed for 1,313 career yards
and is 426 yards short of a spot on ~
Washington State’s top-10 list. Min
nich, a former Marine, has rushed
for 445 yards and two scores in £
eight games this season.
Burnett and Minnich may seem
like small potatoes when compared
with a Ken Simonton or a DeShaun
{ ( The loss of [Nikolao’s]
presence hurts a lot
Obviously he's been a
good player for us.
Saul Patti
Oregon defensive end j j
Foster. Last Saturday, Arizona State
walk-on tailback Tom Pace also
seemed like small potatoes - until
he rushed for 158 yards and two
touchdowns.
Oregon defensive line coach
Steve Greatwood isn’t sure why the
Ducks’ rushing defense broke
down at Sun Devil Stadium, but
said he doesn’t think it will happen
again.
“For whatever reason, we just
didn’t play with the same tempo
that we played in previous games
last Saturday,” Greatwood said.
“Assignments were okay and
things like that, but we just didn’t
play with the same fire and emo
tion. We have to realize that we’re
going to get everyone’s best shot
from here on out.”
In the event that Oregon’s de
fense has another bad day, statistics
indicate that the offense should
once again flourish. Washington
State has the seventh-best pass de
fense in the Pac-10 and is last in
rushing defense, allowing 174.5
yards per game on the ground.