War of words
■ Oregon cornerback Rashad Bauman missed all of last
season, but has rebounded this fall to become one of the
leaders of the defense
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
He has the advantage before the
game even begins.
He gets in the minds of his oppo
nents.
His reputation precedes him.
And he loves every bit of it.
Oregon junior cornerback Rashad
Bauman knows that he is labeled as
one of the “loudmouths” of the Pacif
ic-10 Conference, but he also knows
that he can back up that talk with his
play.
“I’m always confident when I’m
out there on the field,” Bauman said.
“Confidence is a good thing. Bring it
on.”
Bauman thrives on lining up
against a team’s top receiver and
matching him stride for stride—and
sometimes word for word. He wants
the quarterback to challenge him and
throw in his direction. And so too do
Bauman’s teammates.
“I don’t know why quarterbacks
keep thinking they can throw on
him,” linebacker Michael Callier
said. “He’s one of the top comers in
the game.”
He was also a top corner who the
Ducks sorely missed last year. Bau
man was forced to sit out the entire
1999 season with an injured right
knee that he suffered during a routine
drill that April.
At the time, he was coming off a
sophomore campaign in which he
led the team in passes broken up and
started in 23 straight games. But then,
during a spring practice drill, Bau
man planted his right leg to switch di
rections with a receiver. The knee
gave out and he screamed in pain as
he fell to the ground.
The fists that Bauman pounded on
the grass at the time were a sign of his
pure frustration because he knew
that the ‘99 season was his time to
shine.
“It’s a worst nightmare kind of
thing ... a very difficult loss. It's not
good when you see a leader go
down,” head coach Mike Bellotti said
at the time of the injury.
Bauman had surgery on the knee
and did the best he could with the sit
uation. He patiently waited for his
opportunity to rise once more. And
he says the time off from the game ac
tually helped him in many respects.
“For one thing, I’ve been a lot more
humble than I have been in the past,”
said Bauman, who grew up in
Phoenix, Ariz. “Yeah, I wished I was
out there last year and playing with
the team, but this is what happened.”
Bauman knew that his healthy re
turn to the lineup this fall would be
crucial in helping the Ducks shut
down opposing teams’ offenses. He
was still coming along gingerly last
spring, but then all doubts were
erased in Oregon’s season-opening
36-7 win against Nevada Sept. 2. Bau
man got right back in his groove by
breaking three passes and intercept
ing one.
Since then, he’s gone on to inter
cept two more, including a 42-yard
interception return for a touchdown
against Washington State Nov. 4 that
has given him at least one touch
down off a pick in each of his three
years of action.
“I had to keep my streak alive,
right?” Bauman said after the game.
Bellotti attributes much of Bau
man’s success to the redshirt year of
‘99, in which Bauman got an oppor
tunity to see up close what the sport
is all about.
“I think not being able to play last
year increased his hunger a little bit
and allowed him to sit back and
watch things develop as a spectator
or from a coaching aspect,” Bellotti
said.
Even if Bauman claims he is more
humble than ever before, he still finds
time to exchange a few jabs with his
adversaries around the league. The
most notable exchange on the year
came with touted UCLA receiver
Freddie Mitchell.
Mitchell and the Bruins entered
Autzen Stadium with a No. 6 nation
al ranking and lofty expectations on
the year.
‘‘Before that game, he said how
he’s going to make everyone quiet
and make them pay for this and that,”
said Bauman, who admits that he en
joys feeding off an opponent’s men
tal weakness. “Well, he talked that big
trash, and when he came out of the
stadium, he had a rude awakening.”
Mitchell did have eight catches for
158 yards, but he still had trouble
with Bauman. After the game,
Mitchell voiced his displeasure with
Bauman’s in-game war of words.
“He’s the easiest cornerback I’ve
played against all year,” Mitchell
said. “And I felt that he was so easy to
beat, but he talks so much. It’s so dis
respectful.”
Said Bauman: “To make himself
feel good after that game, he had to
keep his image up and talk that trash
in the paper.”
The person who hears the most
from Bauman is his roommate and
fellow Duck, Steve Smith. Smith en
joys seeing his buddy get in the heads
of opponents, who usually let a few
of Bauman’s words affect their play.
“He’s a fun guy to play with and I
can hear him talking across the field,”
Smith said. “It’s just a mind game. He
Civil War
Come watch the Civil War
on our big screen TV with DMX sound
• Voted #1 Pizza (Eugene Weekly, Readers Poll) • 15 Brews / Micros On Tap
• Famous Hand Tossed Gourmet Pizzas • Giant Caesar / Greek Salads
790 East 14th Avenue (Parking In Rear) • 344-4471
Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald
Oregon cornerback Rashad Bauman keeps his eyes on the receivers he’s guarding. The
junior is healthy again after missing all of last season with a knee injury.
gets people out ot their game.
No doubt Bauman will try and get
every advantage he can in Saturday’s
104th Civil War game against Oregon
State. He missed last season’s in-state
rivalry and is geared to put on a show
this time around.
Bauman admitted that during his
first two Civil Wars, he didn’t really
treat the game as that huge a deal.
“At the time, it was just like play
ing anybody else, but as I’ve gotten
older, the rivalry has become thick
er,” Bauman said. “I pretty much
don’t care for the Beavers. I’ve started
to see where the seniors are coming
from when they say that by the time
you leave here, you will hate this
team.”
That’s just how opposing receivers
must feel after being out-talked and
out-played by a comerback who only
measures 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds.
Rashad Bauman
Year: Junior
Position:
Cornerback
Hometown:
Phoenix, Ariz.
Notable:
He missed all
of last season
with a knee in
, wi vuw i u ju vu n 23 straight
starts. He was a 1998 honorable
mention all-Pac-10 pick, and in
1997, The Sporting News named
him as a second-team freshman All
American. In
honored as the
Cellular Phones & Beepers
The Beeper King Special
Includes a.Motdrola beeper.
105 S. 14th St. Springfield, , 2585 River Road Eugene,
(541) 747 - 5474 (541) €89 - 5166
Ten delightful garden-theme rooms await you.
1910 University Street, Eugene, Oregon 97403
541-484-6735 • fax: 541-431-1699 • 1-888-484-6755 Toll free
g www.secretgardenbbinn.com
S _