Monday
Best Bet
Monday Night Football: Minnesota at Green Bay
6 p.m., ABC
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
Ducks dodge the bullet in overtime*.
* again
■A clutch kick and a blocked field goal propel the
Ducks to another overtime win
ii We’re in
the driver’s
seat and we
have two
games left.
If we win
both, we’re
going to the
Rose Bowl.
There’s no
question
about that
so it makes
it pretty
easy for us
actually.
Jed Boice
Oregon
defensive
tackle yy
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
PULLMAN, Wash. — The
combination of Josh
Frankel’s right leg and Jed
Boice’s right hand provided
Oregon with just the right re
sult.
In yet another down-to
the-wire game, the Ducks
somehow found a way to
win in typical Duck fashion.
Oregon trailed by eight, ral
lied to tie it up in the fourth
quarter and survived in over
time to post the 27-24 victo
ry over Washington State in
front of 23,314 fans who bat
tled the erratic weather in
Martin Stadium.
In the overtime, volatile
kicker Frankel split the up
rights for a career-long 47
yard field goal to give the
Ducks the three-point advan
tage.
“It was about time I got
some of those through,”
Frankel said.
Then it was up to the Ore
gon defense. Two offensive
penalties forced a third-and
26 upon the Cougars, but
back-up quarterback Matt
Kegel completed a 19-yard
pass to Dave Minnich to set
up a 39-yard field goal at
tempt.
The Ducks had practiced
all week on getting a stronger
push on the line, and Zack
Freiter helped the Ducks do
just that. Boice followed his
lead and stuck up his right
hand to deflect Anousith
Wilaikul’s kick and clinch
the Oregon win.
“Zack got through the hole
really well and I slipped
right in and got a hand on
it,” Boice said. “We just
talked about coming out and
finding a way to win.”
The victory keeps Oregon
(8-1 overall, 6-0 Pacific-10
Conference) atop the league
as the only undefeated team.
It also came in front of Nike
CEO Phil Knight, who was
visibly caught up in the Rose
Bowl-hype after attending
his first football game since
his much-publicized break
up with the university over
labor relations.
The Ducks could have still
gone to the Rose Bowl had
they lost to the Cougars and
won their final two games.
But now they have an oppor
tunity to clinch the Pac-10 ti
tle next week with a win
over California and an Ore
gon State loss to Arizona.
“We’re in the driver’s seat
and we have two games
left,” Boice said. “If we win
both, we’re going to the Rose
Bowl. There’s no question
about that so it makes it pret
ty easy for us actually.”
Easy is certainly not the
correct adjective to describe
the way Oregon has been
getting wins lately. A week
after outlasting Arizona State
56-55 in double overtime,
the Ducks again gave their
fans and their coach some
late-game suspense.
“I just told them that
they’re making me an old
man before my time,” Ore
gon head coach Mike Bellot
ti said. “I’ll take it anyway
we can get it. I don’t care if
it’s one point in overtime or
Turn to Football win, page 8
Courtesy Washington State media services
The Oregon defense kept a tight grip on Washington’s offensive strategies Saturday and held on for the overtime win.
The going got tough,
so Frankel got going
Soccer finishes season on sour
note against Bay Area schools
Oregon’s Josh
Frankel gets
fan
appreciation
—and the
monkey off his
back — by
kickingthe
game-winner
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
Pullman, Wash.— After
the clock stopped, and the
disappointed Cougar fans be
gan to scramble for the exits,
a jubilant crowd of Oregon
supporters packed together
in the northwest corner of
Martin Stadium.
They knew exactly who to
thank for an exhausting 27
24 overtime victory.
“Frankel, Frankel,
Frankel!”
It was a cheer that many
Oregon fans have yelled
throughout this season, but
not necessarily in the same
context.
Heading into Saturday’s
game in a chilly, snow-filled
Washington State stadium,
Oregon kicker Josh Frankel
had made just four of his pre
vious 14 field goal attempts.
But that didn’t matter to
the Duck fans after the senior
from Pacific Palisades, Calif.,
hit a career-long 47-yard field
goal in overtime to keep the
Ducks undefeated in the Pa
cific-10 Conference.
“That definitely touched
me,” Frankel said of the
crowd’s post-game chant.
“The fans make this pro
gram, and those are the die
hards. They sat through the
rain and the snow, and for
them to be here and for them
to start chanting my name
was just unbelievable. If I
knew all of their names. I’d
start chanting ... back to
them.”
After missing a potential
game-winner in the first
overtime of last week’s game
at Arizona State, Frankel was
able to convert on an extra
point attempt to secure a 56
55 win for Oregon.
In practice last week, the
Turn to Football, page 8
■The Oregon soccer team finishes up their season
with back-to-back 4-0 losses to Stanford and
California
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
In a season full of disap
pointment, the Oregon soc
cer team ended its 2000 cam
paign on a disappointing
weekend in the San Francis
co Bay Area.
The Ducks dropped two
games on the weekend. The
first loss was a 4-0 decision
to No. 15 Stanford Friday,
and the second was a 4-0 de
feat at the hands of No. 8 Cal
ifornia Sunday.
Oregon ended the season
4-15-1 overall, 1-7-1 in the
Pacific-10 Conference, and
eighth place in the league.
For the second game in a
row, the Ducks were beaten
by one player in Friday’s
match against Stanford. After
Washington’s Theresa Wagn
er notched four goals and an
assist against Oregon last
Sunday, the Ducks couldn’t
stop Stanford’s Marcie Ward
Friday.
Ward had two goals within
10 minutes of play in the first
half Friday night. The first
came on a breakaway seven
minutes into the match, then
Ward put away a Marcia Wal
lis pass two minutes later. The
two forwards then switched
spots as Ward fed Wallis for
the Cardinal’s third goal. Brit
tany Oliveira scored Stan
ford’s last goal at the 66
minute mark.
Ward’s goals were her 11th
and 12th of the season, but
her one assist was her most
Turn to Soccer, page 10
Dan Brunell Emerald
Forward Beth Bowler and the Ducks fell 4
0 twice this weekend