Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamj ude@dailyemerald. com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Mondayjanuary 7,2002
Best Bet
NFL: Minnesota at Baltimore
6 p.m., ABC
John Stoops for the Emerald
Oregon junior wide receiver Keenan Howry celebrates a 28-yard first-quarter touchdown reception. The Ducks scored 38
unanswered points in a 38-16 victory over Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day.
CHECKMATE
Ducks make final move
Oregon dominated Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl
to record a school-record 11 wins
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
TEMPE, Ariz. — A massive crowd
of nearly 150,000 crammed the
streets of downtown Tempe to
party on New Year’s Eve.
While they did, a poem was being
read by a coach to his players in the
team hotel in Scottsdale, located 10
miles away from all the craziness.
The coach talked. The players lis
tened.
The final line of the poem packed
the biggest punch:
“Make your move; time is ticking
away.”
With that, the members of the team
retired to their rooms where they
could ring in the new year before hav
ing a curfew check at 12:01 a.m.
Fifteen hours later, the players were
playing in a game that left the coach
saying simply, “Our kids made their
move.”
Under the beautiful blue sky and
setting sun above Sun Devil Stadium,
the No. 2 Oregon Ducks completely
stampeded over the then-No. 3 Col
orado Buffaloes, 38-16, on Jan. 1 in the
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
The win was so convincing that it
even astonished the Ducks.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the
outcome of the game,” head coach
Mike Bellotti said. “I thought it would
be closer.”
As Bellotti spoke, the Associated
Press national championship trophy
glistened in the next room. With the
win, Oregon had hope of acquiring the
trophy and sharing the national title,
but it needed Nebraska to beat Miami
two days later.
It didn’t happen. Miami went on to
prove itself worthy of No. 1 with a
dominating performance that ended
all hopes of a split title for the Ducks.
“To go 12-0 in a season, that’s awe
some,” senior defensive back Rashad
Bauman said of Miami. “You can’t
take anything from them. They beat
everybody, so they deserve the nation
al championship.”
Still, finishing
No. 2 in both the
media and coaches’
polls with an 11-1
record gave Oregon
its highest ranking
and highest number of wins in school
history, plus its resounding New
Year’s Day victory was the type of per
formance that can fast-forward a pro
gram from great to elite.
“It doesn’t change the fact that we
had a wonderful season,” Harrington
said moments after the Rose Bowl.
“The only thing I’d be disappointed in
is we didn’t get a shot. You can specu
late all you want, but you’ll never
know.”
The shot Oregon did have came
against a hot Colorado team that was
coming off consecutive wins against
Nebraska and Texas. Colorado entered
the game with a rushing attack that
Oregon couldn’t stop gushing over in
the week prior.
The Buffaloes struck first in the Fi
esta Bowl behind theirtespected run
Turn to Fiesta Bowl, page 10
Hold off on tomorrowfor now
TEMPE, Ariz. —Today, school begins
once again.
Today, Ryan Schmid is in Seattle
making the transition from his gig on
Oregon’s underrated offensive line to his pas
toral internship that will mark the first step in
his path to the real world.
Today, Joey Harrington wilhiot be in class,
having wrapped up his college degree, and is
now preparing to impress NFL scouts, starting
with Saturday’s East-West Shrine game in San
Francisco.
Today, the thousands of Ducks fans who clut
tered the streets of Tempe and celebrated like
teenagers on a snow day are now back at work,
dressed not in green and yellow but in regular
work attire.
And today, the sports world and the sports
fans’ interests turn to the NFL, NCAA hoops and
maybe even the NBA, leaving college football as
last week’s news.
But while the natural reaction voday is to start
moving forward, let us not forget what hap
pened down here in the desert on the first day of
2002.
And don’t let the domination of Miami in
Pasadena or any beef you have with computer
ratings cloud your memory of New Year’s Day.
Because what transpired in those three-and-a
half hours when Oregon thumped Colorado, 38
16, was so much more than the Ducks having a
chance at a split national title.
The new year began, and with it, a new era be
gan for Oregon.
It takes a game like this, with people across
the country watching with their families while
eating burgers and drinking
suds, for a program to ad
vance upward.
Oregon was in the spot
light more than ever this
year, beginning with the
Harrington billboard and the
Sports Illustrated cover. The
Ducks kept winning, and
even after they slipped, they
climbed back up to give the
BCS the controversy it de
serves.
But it took a special kind
of performance against Col
orado to solidify Oregon’s
status as an elite program.
Lose, and you’re back to being viewed as one
of those solid teams in the Pacific-10 Confer
ence.
Win, and you’re now being viewed as one of
those emerging powerhouse teams in the
NCAA.
Smith
Hakuna Matata
Turn to Smith, page 8
Hoopsters earn Arizona split
■The Oregon men lose to
the Sun Devils after blowing
out the Wildcats in Arizona
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
In a span of three days this weekend,
the Oregon men’s basketball team con
jured up a desert paradox.
Two nights after
blowing out No. 14
Arizona for the sec
ond time this season,
the Ducks lost a close
game to Arizona State
in Tempe.
Oregon’s 95-88 loss
to Arizona State on
Sunday was the Ducks’ fourth loss by
less than 10 points, and moved them to
10-4 on the season, 3-1 in Pacific-10
Conference play. The Sun Devils im
proved to 9-4 and 2-2 in conference
play.
Arizona State jumped on Oregon
early and never jumped off. The
Ducks made runs, and even led late
in the first half, but never found a
rhythm and never overcame the Sun
Devils’ intensity.
“We were able to settle down a little
bit midway through the first half,” Ore
gon coach Ernie Kent told KUGN-radio
after the game. “But the damage was al
ready done.”
Arizona State led 26-15 with 12 min
utes left in the first half after a Justin
Allen 3-pointer. The teams traded bas
kets, and then Oregon mounted its
most impressive comeback of the game
with seven minutes left in the first
frame.
Ducks point guard Luke Ridnour,
who scored a career-high 23 points
against Arizona on Friday, hit four foul
shots and a long 3-pointer to lead Ore
gon on an 11-2 run and a 37-36 lead.
Arizona State answered back, though,
and led 44-41 at halftime. In the second
period, the Ducks made several runs,
but never led. Still, the game was close
heading into the final minute, after Ore
gon guard Luke Jackson hit two free
throws at the 1:05 mark to cut Arizona
State’s lead to 89-88.
Sun Devil guard Curtis Millage con
verted a three-point play with 25 sec
onds left, and the Ducks missed three
Turn to Mens, page 10