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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2001)
Tailback Maurice Morris (9), fresh off an 81-yard performance against California last week, returns home to host the Pac-10’s fifth-ranked defense. In six games this season, Morris has a team-leading 528 yards on 106 rushes. ■ Maurice Morris and Onterrio Smith are running Oregon’s offense to a new level By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald . Just like last year, the numbers will tell the story this season for Maurice Morris. At least, that’s the hope. En route to being named to the all-Pacific-10 Conference second team last year, Morris rushed for 1,188 total yards, the fifth-best sin gle season mark in school history. But nearly 60 percent of those yards — 710 to be exact — came in the first half of the season. And even more exhausting are the school-record 286 carries the sen ior tailback had in 2000. Enter Onterrio Smith, the solu tion to Morris’ late-season ail ments. From now on, there’ll be no more running down Morris, so to speak. Morris said that injuries and fa tigue played a big factor in his second-half slowdown last sea son, but with another star back eager for playing time, Morris knows he’ll have a stronger end ing this year. last year),” said Morris, a 6-foot, 208-pounder from Chester, S.C. “Me and Onterrio, we go in there with fresh legs, and that’s the most important thing. The de fense is going to get tired. And if we go in there and keep poppin’ six, seven, eight (yards), you’re going to break one every now and then because the defense is going to be wearing down, and the run ning backs have fresh legs. It’s a big help.” With “fresh legs,” Morris and Smith have led the Ducks to 178.6 yards per game on the ground, third-best in the Pac-10. “You can see the difference from last year to this year by having fresh legs in there at all times,” senior fullback Josh Line said. “Right about now last year is when our running game really started to taper off because Maurice was real ly banged up.” On 106 carries so far this season, Morris has rushed for 528 yards. Smith, who scored 60 touchdowns in his senior year of high school in Sacramento, Calif., has 69 rushes for 434 yards this year. Oregon has never had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season. “The thing I respect the most is that they run hard,” Lina said. “They don’t go down easy. The thing I need to remember to do is that I need to stay on my blocks a long time because you never know what can happen.” Listed generously at 5-foot-ll, 200 pounds, Smith’s elusiveness and speed have brought a dimen sion to the back field that Oregon has never seen before. “It’s working great,” Smith said of the shared playing time. “You got Maurice coming in there and with his moves, you never know Turn to Running backs, page 14B Featuring: Tommy Hilfiger Columbia Woolrich Levis Dockers Arrow sseao L*axton's big & TALL 505 South “A”, Springfield • 747-9412 Just 5 blocks over the bridge in Springfield Mon-Fri. 9:30t6:00; Sat. 9:30-5:00 TUg/vVniBileA^Viencuig^ i& having. ajmve£ngsAa£e. All the Cool Cats and Swingin' Sisters who bring in this Killer Coupon will get 15* off their jewelry purchase. Choose from the Hippest Selection this side of Palookaville. Th&imfyiilleneiiakduiempmcjdandunpmceil people, ii Ihalpmcedpeople turn mote fun. and look leUen, doity iL ’ Run, don't walk, to our location nearest you: 675 Lincoln St Eugene 542-6585 1425 NW Monroe #C Corvallis 738-7711 Limit one per person per day. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Expires 12/31/01 off! • every frame • every ens • every option Contact Lenses as low as $ 17.95 per box Receive a complimentary Kfiffy starter kit with proof of a contact lens examination. Complete pair purchase required. No other discounts apply. Offer does not include non-prescription sunglasses or value packages. See optician for details. Offer expires 11 /2/01. We honor AARP vision care plans! Linda Gray • Rx #875284 • 281-508-3101 EYE VALU VISION CENTER located at Fred Meyer 3333 West 11th Avenue (541)338-0467 EVE EXAMS NOT INCLUDED • VISION CARE PLANS • OVERNIGHT SERVICE AVAILABLE ADVERTISE. GET RESULTS. Oregon Daily Emerald 346-3712
