Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, November 28,2001
Best Bet
College hoops:
Indiana at North Carolina,
6 p.m., ESPN
Linebackers
David Moretti
(44) and Kevin
Mitchell (39) are
two California
natives who
quickly learned
the significance
of theOregon
Oregon State
rivalry.
The 105th Civil War
Oregon State vs. Oregon
Saturday, Dec. 1
1:30 p.m., ABC
^ Adam Amato Emerald
Focused Harrington earns another honor
■ Oregon also announces its
schedule for the 2002 season
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon football practice remained
closed Tuesday — and will be closed
the rest of the week in preparation for
Saturday’s Civil War game—but doors
were wide open for quarterback Joey
Harrington.
A day after he was announced as the
Pacific-10 Conference Offensive Play
er of the Year, Harrington was named
Tuesday as one of three finalists for the
Dave O’Brien Quarterback Award, giv
en to the nation’s best signal caller. The
6-foot-4, 220-pound senior also re
mains one of the top candidates for the
Heisman Trophy, which will be hand
ed out Dec. 8.
Despite the awards, Harrington has
his mind on revenging a 23-13 loss to
Oregon State last year.
“Joe is very focused right now,’’
head coach Mike Bellotti said. “I
think he’s been focused on the game
for 360 or 361 days. 1 just told him to
relax and play football, and I think
he’ll do that.”
Eight is great
The expansion of Autzen Stadium
couldn’t come at a better time.
The Oegon football team will kick
off the 2002 season against Mississippi
State on Aug. 31, the first of eight games
at the soon-to-be renovated Autzen Sta
dium.
In the first of four straight home games
to begin the season, Mississippi State will
be the first Southeastern Conference op
ponent to visit Eugene. The Ducks have
agreed to play the Bulldogs in Starkville,
Miss., to open to 2003 season.
Turn to Schedule, page 8
Californians
learn nature
of Civil War
■ If they haven’t already, the Ducks’ 42 California
natives will soon discover the intensity of the
Oregon-Oregon State rivalry at Saturday’s Civil War
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
After playing in their first Civil War, an Oregon football player’s
eyes can be opened to the intensity that surrounds the rivalry.
“It’s a learning experience,” head coach Mike Bellotti
said. “A lot of players who come from out-of-state don’t re
alize how severe the decision-making process is as to
whether you’re a Beaver or a Duck.”
Growing up in California, as many Oregon athletes did,
the words “Ducks” and “Beavers” evoked more confusion
and laughter, as opposed to fire and passion.
“It sounds like a forest or something,” said linebacker
David Moretti, who hails from Pleasonton, Calif. “If I was
back home, I probably wouldn’t have thought much of it.
But since I’ve been up here and experienced it, it’s defi
nitely changed my mind.
“We want to win this game more than any game all year. ”
Jason Willis, now a junior starting receiver, remembers
being a redshirt freshman in 1998 and listening to then
quarterback Akili Smith fire up his teammates with a speech
about how important it was that Oregon beat Oregon State.
“Akili was all talking about how big a game this was, and I’m
like, ‘It’s just Oregon State, they’re right up the road,’” said
Willis, who hails from Los Angeles. “It wasn’t that big a deal to
me at first. People had to explain it more to me.
“But I’ve learned to hate Oregon State.”
Certainly, Oregon’s dislike for its neighbor “right up the
road” only grew more last year after the Beavers spoiled
the Ducks’ season.
Oregon entered the Civil War on Nov. 17, 2000 in Cor
vallis needing to beat the Beavers to claim the outright Pa
cific-10 Conference championship and thus earn a trip to
the Rose Bowl. Instead, Joey Harrington threw five inter
ceptions and Oregon State capitalized, beating the Ducks
23-13 and forcing a three-way tie atop the Pac-10.
For Moretti, a junior college transfer who played on spe
cial teams last season, his first Beaver experience was a
first-hand lesson as to what the game means.
“You feel the emotion just walking out to the field from
the locker room and people are throwing stuff at you and
calling you all kinds of names,” Moretti said. “I had no idea
Turn to Football, page 8
Men lose first nail-biter of season
■ Chris Christoffersen continues to
play well, but the Oregon men lose the battle
of the perimeter to UMass on Tuesday
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
In the birthplace of basketball, the Oregon men
played quite a basketball game.
The Ducks went down to the
wire with the Massachusetts
Minutemen and lost their first
game of the season, 62-58, in
Springfield, Mass., on Tuesday
night. Oregon (4-1 overall) shot
a dismal 35.8 percent from the
floor and trailed for much of the
second half, but still had
chances to win in the final seconds.
With 30 seconds left and Oregon down by one
point, forward Robert Johnson forced a turnover
on the Massachusetts end and Ducks guard Luke
Ridnour Started a fast break. But Ridnour passed
the ball off the foot of UMass guard Shannon
Crook, who Ridnour then fouled.
Crooks made both shots of a one-and-one with
■ INM'S ■
BASKETBALL
16 seconds left, putting the Minutemen up by
three points. On Oregon’s next possession, for
ward Luke Jackson tried to find Anthony Lever in
the corner for a trey, but threw the ball directly to
UMass center Kitwana Rhymer with 3.8 seconds
remaining. Lever fouled Rhymer, who made one
shot of his one-and-one to end Oregon’s hopes for
a win.
“We put ourselves in position to make some big
shots and we just didn’t get it done,” Oregon head
coach Ernie Kent told KUGN radio after the game.
“We just need to learn from this and move on.”
The Ducks started the game strong, and jumped
out to a 19-8 lead halfway through the first half.
The game had all the earmarks of another Oregon
blowout, as the team was in a noticeable offensive
rhythm. But UMass stormed back when Oregon
started missing shots toward the end of the first
frame, and the Minutemen went on a 19-5 run
over a period of almost seven minutes to take the
lead at 29-28.
“We shot ourselves in the foot and took some
bad shots,” Kent said. “The whole momentum
changed at the end of the first half, and that gave
Turn to Basketball, page 8
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Oregon forward Luke Jackson (33) tried to pass to Anthony Lever for the tying score Tuesday, but
ended up finding UMass center Kitwana Rhymer instead. UMass won the game 62-58.