Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Best Bet
Big 12 Championship:
Texas at Colorado
9:30a.m., ABC
A iiuay, iMUVCinucr 3U,i:UUl
THE BOX
Key Number:
113
The number of rushing
yards Oregon State senior
running back Ken
Simonton needs to
become just the fifth
player in NCAA history to
have four 1,000-yard
seasons
Pac-10
Rankings:
Total Offense
Oregon.1
Oregon State ...7
Scoring Offense
Oregon.2
Oregon State...6
Passing Offense
Oregon.7
Oregon State...6
Rushing Offense
Oregon State... 1
Oregon.7
Total Defense
Oregon State...9
Oregon.3
Scoring Defense
Oregon.4
Oregon State...5
Passing Defense
Oregon State.. 9
Oregon.2
Rushing Defense
Oregon State...3
Oregon.9
Quotable
“He’s not getting
it. He’s not getting
it We feel that
that’s what they’re
going to come
out and try to do
—establish the
run—and we’re
going to come
out and stop it. He
got 113 last year.
He’s not going to
get it this year. ”
Steve Smith
Oregon defensive back
on Simonton reaching
the 1,000-yard mark
for the fourth straight
year
Key Player:
Joey Harrington
Oregon quarterback
Harrington needs to
control his emotions in
this big game and avenge
his six-turnover
performance in last year's
game in Covallis
Emerald
Senior quarterback Joey Harrington (3) fights tacklers in the 1999 Civil War game, a 25-14 Oregon win at Autzen Stadium.
Numbers mean nothing in War
■The hype has been built, now
the Ducks and Beavers must play
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
A school record 10-win regular
season.
A Heisman Trophy candidate.
A trip to the national champi
onship.
A No. 4 ranking.
Ah, sensory overload.
“Throw it all out the window,” Ore
gon head coach Mike Bellotti said.
Just forget about the scenarios, the
numbers, the history — none of it
means anything now. Blood and
sweat will tell the true story when
the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon
State Beavers hit the Autzen Stadi
um field Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for
the 105th edition of the Civil War, a
nationally-televised game on ABC.
With at least a share, of the Pacif
ic-10 Conference title and a Bowl
Championship Series bowl already
locked, the fourth-ranked Ducks (9
1 overall, 6-1 Pac
10) enter the game
as the favorite on
their home turf.
But, as Oregon
State (5-5, 3-4)
proved in last
year’s 23-13 upset,
anything can — and often does —
happen.
“It’s a great football game, and
that’s what you coach for,” Oregon
State head coach Dennis Erickson
said. “It’s hard because of the emo
tional situation involved. But one
thing as a coach, in these games, you
don’t have to worry about giving
pep talks and getting Knute
Rockne’s book out and finding the
Gipper or something like that.”
On the line for Oregon is a possi
ble, yet long, shot at the Rose Bowl,
the host of this year’s national cham
pionship. A win would make Ore
gon State, coming off consecutive
victories over Washington and
Northern Arizona, bowl-eligible for
the third straight season.
The game will have added moti
vation for Oregon senior quarter
back Joey Harrington, who had six
turnovers — five interceptions and
one fumble — in last year’s loss in
Corvallis.
“Joey will be the first to admit that
his performance wasn’t what he want
ed,” Bellotti said. “He is very focused
and feels like he has
Turn to Football, page22B
Beavers hunting for third straight bowl
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Jonathan Smith (9) gets rocked by an Oregon defender in the 1999 Civil War. Smith has
led the Beavers to a 5-5 record this season.
k , * * «■ a » t « * » #4 4.-'v4'< *" *
*■ » * 4 ♦ ♦ 4~4 4<4--4--4 i > f .i t 4 4-1
■Aftera disappointing start,
Oregon State comes to Eugene
with a two-game winning streak
and a shot at a bowl bid
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
As was the case last year, Oregon
State is once again set up to spoil the
Ducks’ chance for a Rose Bowl bid
and sole possession of the Pacific-10
Conference title.
The road to the 105th Civil War
has been anything but easy for the
Beavers, though. As Sports Illustrat
ed’s No. 1 preseason team, Oregon
State (5-5 overall, 3-4 Pac-10) stum
bled out of the blocks and plummet
ed in the rankings after losing three
of their first four games (their win in
the second week came against New
Mexico State).
Turn toOSU, page20B
The sooner
you lose,
the more
you learn
Only one more regular season
game separated them from a
potential spot in the Rose Bov.
to play for a national title.
But it wasn’t just any game. It was t‘<
game. The game that divides the state.
They entered the game as heavy fa
vorites. After all, they had lost just
once, and their opponent didn’t even
have a winning record.
Plus, the game took place at their
home stadium with their passionate
rowdy fans who live for those Satur
days when they can dress in their
school colors and
Smith
Hakuna Matata
scream their lungs
out. And this Sat
urday was when
they could say
goodbye to their
beloved team in
the final home
game of the season.
The opponent
was OSU, with that
hated orange on
their uniforms and
their orange-clad
fans who would
enter their stadium
hoping to celebrate
an upset.
In the week leading up to the game,
this favored team said all the right things.
Their quarterback said that “we’re ex
pecting a dogfight. ” Their defensive line
man said that “it’s the opportunity for us
to accomplish the goals we set at the be
ginning of the year. ” And their coach
said that “last year’s last year. This year’s
this year. Everything’s different.”
Well, what do you think happened?
Yep, that team lost. But nope, we’re
not talking about Oregon here.
The Oklahoma Sooners entered their
rivalry game with the Oklahoma State
Cowboys on Nov. 24 sporting a 10-1
record and a spot on the inside track to
the national championship game.
The Sooners watched Nebraska lose
to Colorado the day before and knew
that all they had to do was beat Col
orado in the Big 12 Championship game
on Dec. 1 to reach the Rose Bowl. Oh
yeah, they also had to beat those Cow
boys, but seriously, with that 1-6 league
record they hardly posed a threat.
Oops.
First rule of a rivalry game: Throw
out the records.
The Sooners rushed for zero yards,
and the Cowboys capitalized, ending
Oklahoma’s rosy dreams with a shock
ing 16-13 victory.
The upset made headlines every
where. It left the BCS computers with a
list of one-loss teams and plenty of
numbers to crunch.
And 2,057 miles away from the site of
that game, while enjoying their Thanks
giving weekend, members of the Oregon
football team took full notice of the
events that took place in Norman, Okla.
“Anything can happen in a rival game
and I think that was perfectly shown in
the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game,”
linebacker David Moretti said.
Also played on Nov. 24 was the
matchup between Michigan and Ohio
Turn to Smith, page 21B