Thomas Patterson Emerald
Onterrio Smith (2), Josh Line (47) and Jared Siegel (25) celebrate after Siegel hit the game-winning field goal Saturday.
Football
continued from page 13
“We knew when we got the ball
back with |0:56], we knew we’d do
it,” said senior tight end Justin
Peelle, who had two touchdown
catches. “I wish we could do it ear
lier and stop with this crap, but
we’ll take it. We’ve just done it so
many times and have that swagger,
that confidence in ourselves.”
"I had a gang of confidence” (that
we were going to win), sophomore
tailback Onterrio Smith said. “I told
the defense we needed one big stop
at the end, and that’s what they did.
And when the offense took the
field, I looked in Joey’s eyes and
saw how relaxed he was, so I knew
it was going to be no problem going
down there and getting one in.”
The Ducks did have problems
keeping a lead, though. Harring
ton’s only touchdown pass of the
day, a 21-yarder to Peelle, gave the
Ducks a 21-6 lead early in the third
quarter. From there, the USC of
fense exploded.
McCullough scored on a 75-yard
screen pass from Palmer with 6:12
remaining in third, and on the first
play of the fourth quarter, Palmer
hit receiver Kareem Kelly for a 93
yard score, the longest offensive
play in Autzen Stadium history.
Then, at the 10:36 mark in the
fourth, David Davis hit a 39-yard
field goal to put the Trojans ahead
22-21, where it would stand until
the game’s final drive.
Despite the two big plays, Ore
gon’s defense played arguably its
best game of the season, holding the
Trojans to 40 total yards on the
ground (on 32 carries). Defensive
back Steve Smith, who struggled in
the first two games of the season,
had three interceptions, tying the
Autzen record, one returned for a
touchdown.
“I am still singing the praises
about the defense,” head coach
Mike Bellotti said. “We stopped the
run, forced the pass and got the
turnovers. I feel like we made a pos
012081
Don't want to
BREAK
into your
savings?
Plasma donations
earn around
* 175 every month.
$20 on 1 st donation $30 on 2nd donation
$50 for the first week
$5 extra for first-time donors if you bring in this ad!
Seramed Biocenter • Eugene
1 Block east of 8th and Garfield
1901 West 8th Ave., Eugene
683-9430
also at 225 B Main St. in Springfield
itive step today because I think we
can take care of the mistakes that al
lowed the big touchdowns. We
proved that we can stop a Pac-10
team running the ball.”
Oregon opened the scoring on a
trick play in the first quarter. Onter
rio Smith took a pitch and threw a
perfect spiral to a wide-open Peelle
for a 35-yard score.
Climbing back from two sub-par
performances, Oregon tailback
Maurice Morris rushed for 86 yards
on 15 carries.
Before play began, however, a
few words — and punches — were
exchanged between the two clubs.
With the USC marching band in the
way, Trojan players took the field
before the game by running through
the Oregon players. Several Ducks
took offense, including senior de
fensive back Rashad Bauman, who
got into a pushing match with
USC’s Antuan Simmons.
“The emotions were real high
tonight,” Onterrio Smith said. “We
were playing with a lot of heart.”
Freshman kicker
shines in die end
■With the game on the line,
Oregon turned to freshman
kicker Jared Siegel—and he
delivered
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
While Joey Harrington com
pleted clutch pass after clutch
pass in that memorable last
minute drive, there were two
kickers on the Oregon sideline
preparing to end the game in dra
matic fashion.
One was Jared Siegel, the true
freshman from Sacramento,
Calif., who had missed an earlier
second quarter field goal.
The other was David Rosen
berg, the junior transfer from Cal
abasas, Calif., who had a field
goal attempt blocked late in the
fourth quarter.
“We have two great kickers,
and I have confidence in both,”
head coach Mike Bellotti said.
Bellotti had told both of them
to be ready and saved the deci
sion of who to go with until the
final tense moments.
“He grabbed me and said,
‘You’re kicking it,’ and then
about five seconds later he
yelled, ‘Field goal!’,’’ Siegel said.
“So I just went out there and let it
fly.”
Let it fly he did, as the 32-yard
field goal sailed through the up
rights to clinch his team’s 24-22
come-from-behind victory Satur
day night against USC and send
the fresh-faced freshman on top
of the arms of his adoring team
mates.
“Put me down, put me down.
I’m just doing my job, nothing
special,” Siegel could be heard
saying to his teammates as he
rode the hero ride.
But afterwards, once he was
away from the stadium atmos
phere and out of uniform, the re
ality of a game-winning field goal
in a Pacific-10 Conference game
began to sink in.
“As a kicker, you dream about
the opportunity to pull through
and win one for your team,”
Siegel said. “You go to bed at
night dreaming about it. You go
to practice and dream about it.
So when it finally came true,
you’ve seen it a thousand times
already in your head; it’s almost
like deja vu when it happens in
real life.”
What made the kick that much
sweeter for Siegel was that he
was able to redeem himself from
his earlier miss, which he admit
ted was “kind of a mental error
on my part.”
And as Siegel jogged onto the
field with the clock showing 0:16
and with 45,765 nervous eyes ze
roed on him, he was greeted by
teammate George Wrighster.
“George’s helpful advice before
the kick was, ‘Siegel, don’t miss.
Put it through the pipes,’” Siegel
said.
“As a kicker, you dream
about the opportunity to
pull through and win one
for your team.”
Jared Siegel
kicker, Oregon
“George said a little something
to him, and I was about to pull
him away,” said Harrington, the
holder on all field goal attempts.
“It’s bad luck. You never say any
thing to the kicker.
“But I never doubted that he
was going to make it. ]ared is a
picture of composure for a fresh
man.”
So now Siegel goes down in
the Oregon history books, just as
Josh Frankel did in the Ducks’
33-30 triple-overtime victory
against the Trojans in 1999, as
the hero who ended a thriller.
But what next? In just his third
collegiate game, Siegel has ful
filled one of his ultimate dreams.
“Now you dream about putting
it through again when it counts,”
he said.
please recycle this paper!
001782
EMERALD CITY COMICS
Your campus connection for...
COMICS & GAMES
New Releases • MAGIC • Back issues • AD & D
Subscription • Vampire • Discounts • Mage Knight
Plus we RENT/BUY/SELL Movies (VHS)
770 E. 13th • Eugene • 345-2568 • io« Mon-5un
In the Smith Family Building
TM