Howry energizes Ducks with big return ■ Keenan Howry’s fourth quarter punt return enlivened the Ducks’ stagnant offense By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald It was just what the doctor ordered. A packed Autzen Stadium crowd of 46,075 — the largest of the season — withstood the in clement weather to see what was supposed to be another action packed shootout between Oregon and Oregon State on Saturday. But nothing happened, offensively anyway, until junior wide receiver Keenan Howry touched the ball > early in the fourth quarter. On the third play of the last pe riod, Howry received a Carl Tobey punt at the Oregon 30-yard line and raced 70 yards untouched to score the first touchdown of the game. The touchdown return was Howry’s second of the season, with the other coming against Stanford. “You probably could have drove anything through that,” Howry said of the hole. “You can say first hand that you made a difference in the game. It’s special for me be cause being a punt returner, you don't get too many opportunities to get touchdowns, and this year I was able to get two.” After a dismal three quarters, which saw the Ducks garner just 143 total yards, Howry sparked a fire under the Ducks’ feathers, ig niting a 17-14 win that secured Oregon’s second outright Pacific 10 Conference championship in school history. “Keenan Howry’s punt return energized not just the crowd, but our team,’’ Oregon head coach “Keenan Howry’s punt return energized not just the crowd, butourteam. It got people going and gave us a spark.” Mike Bellotti Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It got people going and gave us a spark.” Howry had a 28-yard catch on third-and-long on the Ducks’ next drive, which ended on an eight yard touchdown run by senior tail back Maurice Morris to give Ore gon a 17-6 lead. “Everybody was pretty juiced,” Howry said. “That’s one of the best drives we’ve had all year.” Although he may not look like a prototypical football player, Howry proved Saturday that heart is all that matters. “This kid has no size, decent speed and will kill any corner in the nation,” defensive back Rashad Bauman said. “If you told me I was going to get beat by a 5 foot-8, 165-pound, 4.5-running receiver, I’d laugh. But Keenan will kill you. He’s good at every aspect of the game.” Emerald sports editor Adam Jude can be reached at adamjude@dailyemerald.com. The end of an era for Oregon State ■ Oregon State ends season —and careers of successful seniors—on a sour note By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald In a season wrought by so many disappointments, the Oregon State Beavers had a chance to make them all disappear Saturday. Instead, it turned out to be just another disap pointment in a 17-14 Oregon victory. The 2001 Oregon State senior class has been credited with the turnaround of a perennial bottom feeder, and it helped the Beavers win a school-record 11 games last season, including a win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. “It was really disappointing for those seniors who worked so darn hard and played so dam hard in this game, ” head coach Dennis Erickson said after his second losing season in 12 years as a college coach. “Our guys played their rear ends off. I can’t ask anything more of them. ” Against Oregon, senior Ken Si monton failed in his attempt to be come the fifth running back in NCAA history to rhsh for 1,000 yards in four straight seasons. He finished the game with 84 yards on 26 carries, moving him into 15th on the NCAA career rushing chart with 4,802 yards. “Records are made to be broken, and it was really cool to be so close,” Simonton said. “It’s not a big deal. I’m not walking away from the game, I’m walking into the real game. I’m not going away.” With 248 yards, senior quarter back Jonathan Smith became the Beavers’ all-time leader in total of fense. Already OSU’s all-time pass ing leader, Smith now has 9,209 yards of total offense. Smith’s last pass, however, was hard to swallow — as it was swal lowed into the hands of Oregon de fensive back Rashad Bauman, effec tively ending the Beavers last-minute drive Saturday. “This loss is frustrating,” Smith said. “I thought we ran it well and moved it well and had good rhythm going, but we didn’t put the ball in the end zone.” Leading 6-3 heading into the fourth quarter, Oregon State’s chances for an upset were erased when Keenan Howry returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown, giv ing the Ducks a 10-6 advantage. “I didn’t hang it up and let my cov erage team get down there and cover it,” punter Carl Tobey said of Howry’s punt return. “We thought if we could hang it up and give the coverage team time, we could contain (Howry), but itdidn’thappen that way. ” At 5-6 overall (3-5 Pacific-10 Conference), the Beavers were de nied a third consecutive trip to a bowl game. “We had some goals a lot higher than 5-6,” Erickson said. “We are go ing to have to sit down and evalq^te where we are at and sit back for a second and go from there. ” Emerald sports editor Adam Jude can be reached at adamjude@dailyemerald.com. Zen Alarm Clock Organic cotton & hemp clothing Gifts to Enhance,-Inspire Acoustic bell-like chime. Progressive awakening. Improve dream recall. Imprint affirmations. Solid hardwood case. AC/DC. Gracefully time meditations, massages, meetings more & Attune Tue- Sat nam-6pm 2441 Ililyard 344.0450 HOLIDAY BIKE SALE pm ©MX on Safe W% - 40% off ' 20BTRafcigh •sin stock [I ng^fcfc^/GT In Bifees 15%// BfKE-E ~ / regrlJIfM jn?c |SW IP f Paul's Bicycle Way of Life mm JSSS£SS!L 2480 Alder 342-6155 & 152 W, 5th 344-4105 & Oasis Plaza 344-4150 Get results with Oregon Daily Emerald Classifieds! 346*4343 ODE Classifieds 346-4343 LZ9000 poppiV _^fn&4o lia, ff The Land East" Traditional Greek & Indian Food Lunch Monday through Saturday Dinner 7 Nights a Week 992 Willamette Lugene, Or 97401 343-9661 GO DUCKS! Emerald Laundromat Come to the newest, cleanest, most energy efficient laundromat in Lane County We’ve installed the best washers ever made with reverse action to provide you the cleanest, brightest, whitest wash ever! When you want the best wash, use our coin laundry, our special washers and our new dryers! • Don’t be fooled by our competitors’ single top loader specials fora $1.00. Our double loaders are only $.25 more a cold wash and $.50 more for warm/hot washes for double the loads. All front loader machines with 18-50 lb. capacity! All dryers 250 for 10 minutes ► All Wascomat washers FREE extra extraction cycle (normally 25c) 165 E. 17th St. (Behind Safeway & Hirons) Open: 7am-llpm daily Catering available for all events (541) 343-4828 The Cooler Game Day food specials, drinks, pool and full lottery services. A football tradition since 1971