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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2000)
Monday Best Bet NFL: Washington vs. St. Louis 6 p.m., ABC SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com Crumble in Corvallis Tom Patterson Emerald Oregon State safety Jake Cookus is tackled by fullback Josh Line after one of his three interceptions in the game. ■ Oregon fumbles away its Rose Bowl hopes with two fourth quarter turnovers By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald CORVALLIS—In a season filled with late-game comebacks, the Oregon foot ball team found itseif trailing Oregon State by 10 points in the fourth quarter. But in the state’s 104th Civil War, the Beavers made all the late-game heroics. Ducks’ quarterback Joey Harrington fumbled on the Oregon State’s 10-yard line with six minutes to play and his team went on to lose 23-13 in front of a sellout crowd at Reser Stadium. While he did connect 25-of-48 pass es, Harrington spotted the Beavers (10 1 overall, 7-1 Pacific-10 Conference) five interceptions to accompany his late-game fumble. One of those inter ceptions came after the fumble, when the Ducks (9-2, 7-1) had one last chance to drive down field. “Some of them were not his fault, but the quarterback always takes more the credit, more the blame than he de serves,” Oregon head coach Mike Bel lotti said. “He battled, unfortunately the ball a couple times did not go where he wanted. ” Harrington said he was confident that the Ducks would win before his fourth-quarter fumble. “I had no doubts. We had the ball at the 10-yard line, we score, we cut it to three points with six, seven, five min utes left,” he said. “It didn’t matter; be cause we’d battled back all year.” Regardless of his turnovers, Harring ton’s teammates rallied behind him be neath Gill Coliseum after the game. “Joey’s put together a great season,” comerback Rashad Bauman said. “Joey’s gone in there day-in and day out and handled business. Some games just don’t go your way, and this is one of those games that just didn’t go our way. It’s part of the game. ” In Pullman, Washington beat Wash ington State, 51-3, in the Apple Cup, giving the Huskies the Rose Bowl berth and most likely sending the Beavers to the Holiday Bowl. Oregon will probably go to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, or one of the two bowls in Hawaii. “I don’t have a feeling on any bowl right now,” Bellotti said. “I’ll wait and ■ see what happens.” In his second year as OSU’s head coach, Dennis Erickson led his team to a 10-1 overall record, its best-ever in ; history. This, just one year after snap ping a 28-year span of losing seasons. “When you go 10-1 at a school that has never been 10-1, and was at rock bottom a few years ago, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Erickson said. The Beavers scored their first 17 Turn to Corvallis, page 9 Even until the bitter end, this team kept us watching ^lHAKUNA H*# MATATA JEFF SMITH CORVALLIS—They made you watch until the final second. There were times you might not have wanted to look away, but you just couldn’t. Ten point deficit with seven minutes to go? For most teams, it’s a time to at least let the possibility of defeat cross into your mind. But for this Oregon football team, after all the improbable comeback wins it had this season, you had to give them their full 60 ■ minutes of football. Because we 1 all have seen the magic that has happened in those precious final ticks of the clock. There Oregon was, on the Ore gon State 10-yard line with 6:10 to play in the game. The Ducks had driven 70 yards down the field, and actually had the benefit of three holding penalties on the Beaver secondary—as opposed to the numerous flags called on the Tucks throughout the game. Maybe this was it. If Oregon scores here, and cuts it to three, then it’s anybody’s game. Maybe Oregon needed to be down by 10 in the fourth to come back and clinch the prestigious Rose Bowl berth. After all, it would only be fitting. Joey Harrington accepts the snap... He begins to roll out and looks for an open receiver in the end zone... And then bam! Oregon State defensive end Sefa O’Reilly blindsides Harring ton from the right side and drills him in the back. The ball drops out of the quarter back’s hands, and gets scooped up by Oregon State’s DeLawrence Grant with 6:06 to play in the game. The sold-out Reser Stadium crowd — except for the clusters of green and yellow clad people — goes berserk. Ballgame, Rose Bowl and in state supremacy all gets dashed for the Ducks in that one play. The minutes slowly wind down as Harrington paces the sidelines. Five minutes... four three... and then the Oregon de fense forces a Beaver punt at the 2:57 mark. But the punt is pinned at the Oregon three-yard line. All the Ducks care about is that it gets the ball back. Harrington completes two crucial passes to wide receiver Sarnie Parker to move the ball to the 34-yard line. | Then Oregon State commits a per sonal foul on an illegal blow to the head to push it all the way to the Turn to Smith, page 9 Men’s hoops comes on strong late to secure the win A second half surge gives Oregon an 85 70 win against Mississippi Valley State at Mac Court By Jeff Smith Oregon Daily Emerald Overshadowed by some other game in some oth er sport, the Oregon men’s basketball team quietly opened its season Friday with a win. The Ducks demonstrated signs of early season sluggishness at times — and signs of perfection at others — in their 85-70 victory against Mississippi Valley State. The visiting Delta Devils gave the 7,664 fans in attendance at McArthur Court an early scare, when they battled the Ducks hoop-for-hoop and only trailed 40-35 at the half. “For some reason, things just weren’t going our way and we didn’t have a big enough lead,” said senior forward Bryan Bracey, who recorded his first career double-double with 22 points and a per sonal best 12 rebounds. “So we were really excited to get out there in the second half and throw a press on them and get after them. ” The second session began with MVSU’s Henry Jordan draining a jumper to cut the margin to 40 37, but then Oregon’s Julius Hicks took charge. Hicks went in strong to the hoop and banked one in. Then, he rebounded a Freddie Jones miss and tipped it in, while getting fouled in the process by Jordan for a three-point play. On the other end of the floor, he made his pres ence felt by sending a Dewayne Jefferson shot at tempt into the fifth row of the student section. And, just for good measure, Hicks received a pass from Bracey and converted the bucket to ex tend the Duck lead to 47-39 with 18:02 to play. “Tonight, we really came out wanting to be in tense,” said the senior center, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Then, as if they were on a relay track team, Hicks seemed to pass the baton to teammate Anthony Norwood, who put the game away. Norwood con tinued the Oregon run by connecting a three-point er to up the margin to 11. On the very next play, freshman point guard Turn to Hoops, page 9 Catharine Kendall Emerald Oregon junior guard Anthony Norwood had 15 points to help lead the Ducks to their season-opening win against Mississippi Valley State.
