After six practices, Ducks ready to scrimmage
■The Oregon football squad,
while a bit rusty this spring,
is looking forward to its first
scrimmage Saturday
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
“Gaaal-eee!” Andy Ludwig
shouts. “How did that happen?
“Back in the huddle!”
Sorry, coach, rookie mistake. One
more try.
“There you go. Much better. Nice
job. Nice job!” says Ludwig, Ore
gon’s new offensive coordinator and
quarterbacks coach.
Just six practices in to its spring
drills, the Oregon football team has
seen better days, better execution,
better throws, better weather. Then
again it is only the sixth practice of
the spring and the real season does
n’t start for, what, 142 days. There’s
bound to be mistakes, right?
“We have a long way to go,” Ducks
head coach Mike Bellotti said at
Thursday’s practice. “But I like our
work ethic and I like our attitude. ”
But come Saturday — when the
Ducks will hold their first full
padded scrimmage — Bellotti ex
pects to see fewer mistakes.
“I do think there will be added in
tensity Saturday,” Bellotti said.
“Right now, it’s like powder puff or
intramural practice. I’m sure we’ll see
where people’s courage and tough
ness is (during the scrimmage).
“I’m looking forward to see peo
ple flying around.”
Nearly halfway through spring
drills, the Ducks still have several
unanswered questions they hope to
answer before the annual Spring
Game on April 27. Namely, Bellotti
said he wants to solidify the quar
terback, cornerback, tight end, full
back and linebacker positions.
Ludwig, himself trying to adjust
to a new life in Oregon after trans
ferring from Fresno State, has been
working closely with the three quar
terbacks — junior Jason Fife, sopho
more Scott Vossmeyer and redshirt
freshman Kellen Clemens.
“Everyone is working hard and
getting reacquainted with the sys
tem,” Ludwig said.
Although it’s not uncommon for
players to be a bit rusty during the
spring, Ludwig said the quarter
backs’ execution must get better.
Perhaps the biggest news from
the first two weeks of practices is
Clemens’ adjustment into the rota
tion. The Burns, Ore., native has
moved ahead of Vossmeyer to No. 2
in the depth chart—and he may not
be done.
“Clemens has been pushing Fife,
and they will split time with the
(starters),” Bellotti said.
Bellotti said he is still waiting for
another defensive back to go with
junior Steven Moore, but he is com
fortable with his depth on the defen
sive line, especially sophomore Igor
Olshansky and Robbie Valenzuela.
“The two guys that we lost (on the
line) are replaceable,” Bellotti said.
“Igor and Robbie are better physical
athletes. They’re bigger, faster and
stronger and their experience will help
take some pressure off the comers. ”
The tight end and fullback spots
are essentially hand-in-hand. Junior
George Wrighster, the backup tight
end last year, has been working out
at fullback — a spot he may become
very familiar with by fall.
With junior linebacker Kevin
Mitchell, a starter last season, sitting
out spring drills with an injury, two
linebacker spots will be open for
competition.
“This is a chance for others to
prove themselves,” Bellotti said.
“Everyone has something to prove.”
Oregon’s first- scrimmage will
start after its 2 p.m. practice Satur
day at the practice fields outside of
the Casanova Center.
E-maii sports editor Adam Jude
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com.
- UO tennis looks for first Pac-10 win
■ Looking tor its tirst rac-i u
win in two years, the Oregon
men’s tennis team hosts
No. 10 USC and No. 3 UCLA
By Peter Martini
for the Emerald
The Oregon men’s tennis team’s
quest to win its first Pacific-10 Con
ference match in two years contin
ues at home this weekend.
The Ducks (0-4 Pac-10) will play
No. 10 USC today and No. 3 UCLA
on Saturday.
No. 33 Andrew Park, a senior,
leads a Trojans team that features
four ranked players. USC has a 16-4
overall record (7-3 Pac-10).
The Trojans have won four
straight matches over No. 17 Cali
fornia, No. 6 Stanford, No. 59 Ari
zona and No. 38 Arizona State.
“USC has beaten many of the top
teams in the country this season,”
Oregon head coach Chris Russell
said. “We’ll need to play at their in
tensity level.”
UCLA has had to battle injuries
this season and is coming off two
upset losses to Stanford and Cali
fornia. No. 10 sophomore Tobias
Siemens, UCLAs No. 1 singles
player, upset No. 4 K.J. Hippensteel
in the loss to Stanford last week.
“California and Stanford were able
to upset UCLA at UCLA last week,
which proves that anything can hap
pen in the Pac-10,” Russell said.
“The teams we’re playing against are
beatable, and our depth gives us a
chance... We want to be in a situa
tion where if we win three singles
matches, then we pull off the upset.”
The doubles game was a problem
for the Ducks in their two losses
last weekend against the Arizona
schools. They lost five of six dou
bles matches and would have beat
en Arizona had they won the dou
bles point.
The action begins today at 1 p.m. in
the Student Tennis Center;if weather
permits, on the outdoor courts.
Women head back south
The women’s team will try to
continue its success this weekend
in Louisiana.
The No. 54 Ducks, fresh off a 3-0
trip to Florida, will play No. 44
Louisiana State on Saturday and
No. 56 Tulane on Sunday.
Newcomer Daria Panova will
lead the Ducks at the No. 1 singles
spot. I he Ireshman went 2-1 in her
first three matches with Oregon. Ju
nior Monika Gieczys is healthy and
playing well and gives the Ducks a
solid No. 2 player.
“Right now with Daria and a
healthy Monika, it’s like adding two
new players to our team and putting
them at the top of the order,” said
Oregon assistant coach Nils Schyl
lander. “We are a totally different
team right now, and I think we
showed that in Florida. We beat the
22nd-ranked team in the country
and they were coming off a win
against Tennessee, which at the time
was the ninth-ranked team.”
Tulane is 10-9 overall this sea
son, but has lost five of its last six
matches. The lone victory coming
against No. 40 Oklahoma State.
Louisiana State is 10-10 overall
this season and is coming off a loss
to No. 35 Mississippi. The Tigers
have played 13 ranked teams in
cluding losses to No. 1 Georgia, No.
2 Florida and No. 6 Vanderbilt.
They have three wins against
ranked teams this season including
a 4-3 win over No. 17 Kentucky.
Peter Martini is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
Oregon men’s golf team
set to tee off at ASU Invite
Four of the top 10 teams in the
country — No. 6 Oklahoma State,
No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Texas Christian
and No. 9 USC — will join Oregon
for the ASU Thunderbird/SA
VANE Invitational. Teams will
play 32 holes Friday and 18 Satur
day on the 7,037-yard, par 72
Karsten Golf Course in Tempe,
Ariz.
“Every year, this tournament
has one of the strongest fields in
the country, and this year is no ex
ception,” Oregon head coach
Steve Nosier said. “It will give us
an indication of how we stack up
against some of the better teams in
the West.”
Other top 25 opponents include
No. 11 Washington, No. 17 Okla
homa, No. 22 New Mexico, No. 24
Pepperdine and No. 25 Arizona.
Host Arizona State, which has won
10 of the last 13 Thunderbird Invi
tationals, Brigham Young, Hous
ton, Oregon, Stanford and UCLA
round out the 15-team field. Ore
gon is No. 33 in this week’s
Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
The Ducks will send the same
five golfers who have produced
three straight top six finishes, in
cluding a first at the Oregon Duck
Invitational March 25-26 and a
second at the Cleveland South
west Invitational March 4-5.
Senior Aaron Byers will be at *
the No. 1 spot with a 72.3 strokes
per round average. He will be
joined by juniors Chris Carnahan
(73.7 spr) and John Ellis (72.8
spr), senior Brandon Harnden
(74.0 spr) and sophomore Mike
Sica (75.3 spr). Senior Chris
Heniff (77.1 spr) will compete as
an individual.
“We took a step back in our last
tournament,” said Nosier about
his team’s final round fall from
second to sixth Tuesday at the
Western Intercollegiate. “But I
think we’ll come back. I’m not
sure what the problem was, but
overall, we’ve been playing pretty
solid golf. Hopefully, we’ll be able
to make a few minor adjustments
and get back on track.”
—from staff and wire reports
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