Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Keenan Howry (15) needs one catch against Southern California to set the Pac-10 consecutive-game
record for catches.
Football
continued from page 5
Bowl. Not the Bowl Championship Series.
“The faster we get off the last game and get
focused on USC, the better,” Bellotti said. “I’ve
challenged them to emphasize the fun aspect
and the competitive aspect in practice to make
us better so the games are easier.”
"There are so many parallels
to last year that I'd just rather
not think about it entirely.
/ want to try to break away
from the eerie things that are
similar to last year."
Jason Fife
Oregon quarterback
Junior quarterback Jason Fife, who suffered
his first loss as a starter, said the team has a good
attitude as it prepares for No. 15 USC, a team the
Ducks have defeated in four-straight years.
“I’m glad (the loss) happened so that we have
a game afterwards where we can take out our
aggression ,” Fife said. “I think we’re going to see
a good week of practice. We have a general good
attitude about this loss and how we’re going to
come back.”
The loss to ASU, however, does bring to mind
Oregon’s 2001 loss to Stanford. Both losses oc
curred during the third week of October when
Oregon was 6-0 and ranked in the top-10.
Of course, after the 2001 loss, the Ducks
went undefeated en route to a Pac-10 champi
onship and Fiesta Bowl win.
“We were saying, ‘Try not to let history re
peat itself,’ and it did,” Mitchell said of the loss
to ASU. “So hopefully we can say, ‘Let history
repeat itself,’ and we’ll keep going.”
Fife was not so cynical about the similarities
to last season.
“There are so many parallels to last year that
I’d just rather not think about it entirely,” Fife
said. “I want to try to break away from the eerie
things that are similar to last year. With that in
mind, I’m just going to worry about the offen
sive game plan and beating SC.”
Run stoppers
The Oregon run defense is the best in the
Pac-10.
The Ducks allow only 75.4 yards per game on
the ground and have given up just four rushing
touchdowns this season.
Arizona State netted 31 yards rushing in a
win Saturday, the first time in Bellotti’s career
that he has lost when an opponent was held to
less than 100 yards rushing. Prior to Saturday,
Bellotti was 27-0 at Oregon when an opponent
was held to less than 100 yards rushing.
All hail Howry
With a catch against USG, Keenan Howry
could have his name engraved in the Pac-10
record books.
The senior wide receiver has caught a pass in
42 straight games — dating back to his second
game as a freshman in 1999 — a mark that ties
the Pac-10 record. Dennis Northcutt of Arizona
set the record for consecutive games with a
catch from 1996 to 1999.
Coincidentally, USC senior receiver Kareem
Kelly has matched Howry. Both could make
history at Autzen Stadium on Saturday.
The NCAA record for consecutive games
with a reception is 46, set by New Mexico’s Carl
Winston in the early ’90s.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com.
Volleyball
continued from page 5
midway point of the Pac-10 season
came in 1998, when Oregon de
feated Oregon State, 3-0.
Still, it is an Oregon team that
has played tough in spite of adver
sity. Of the Ducks’ nine first-half
matches last season, only one
— against Oregon State — lasted
more than three games.
This season, the Ducks have
pushed California and the Sun Dev
ils to a full five games, narrowly los
ing each time.
“We have had just about 14 play
ers on our team play at the upper
90th percentile of their abilities,”
Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira
said. “If someone can find for me
the disappointment when human
beings perform at the upper limits,
then I’m in the wrong profession.
“It’s all about your definition of
what you’re doing. On a consistent
night-in, night-out basis, day-in,
day-out basis, these 14 players have
been truly phenomenal.”
Mid<season report card
The halfway mark of the Pac-10
season has come for the Ducks, and
even though the squad has yet to
win a conference match, it is a group
that has been improving each week.
Offense: Senior Lindsay Gloss
has been stellar as usual, but it is
freshmen Kelly Russell and Dari
am Acevedo that have provided
the spark. Sophomore Lauren
Westendorfhas provided a solid
presence and junior Heather
Gilmore has filled a role off the
bench that is needed for an above
average offense. Grade: B-.
Defense: As the Ducks have said
all season, a good defense leads to a
good offense. Junior Lindsay Mur
phy has been a rock as the libero, as
evidenced by her dig totals. Sopho
more Katie O’Neil has been valuable
off the bench and overall as a team,
Oregon is more consistent than last
season. Grade: G+.
Intensity: If the Ducks didn’t
have it, they wouldn’t have even
come close to defeating California
and Arizona State. Oregon seem
ingly plays each match as if it did
n’t have a record, and each point
scored brings screams and shouts
from the court and the bench.
Grade: A-.
Experience: This is where it gets
touchy for the Ducks. With four
freshman playing significant roles
on the team — Acevedo, Russell,
Jodi Bell and Jaclyn Jones — it
would be hard to have a wealth of
significant experience.
The group has provided a great
spark, especially Russell and Bell,
but a little more experience — as
Ferreira and the team have alluded
to — and Oregon may have come
up with a victory. Yet, the Ducks are
getting better and are showing it
each match. Grade: G.
A look ahead
Oregon visits No. 6 Stanford Fri
day in Paio Alto. The Cardinal
leads the all-time series, 36-2, as
Oregon has not defeated Stanford
since 1989 when the Ducks won in
five games.
Saturday, Oregon travels across
the bay to take on California. The
Ducks have fared better against the
Golden Bears, although Oregon has
not come out on top since 1998. Cal
leads the all-time series, 35-12.
Contact the sports reporter
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Weekly sports poll
just because we don’t write
about it doesn’t mean it goes
away.
The Oregon Daily Emerald’s
weekly sports poll is back,
baby, and judging from
immediate reaction from
around the country, it’s better
than ever.
Not really. A whopping 12
people voted in this week’s poll.
And you call yourselves
sports fans.
So we’re going to try this again.
We’ve asked you to vote on
Onterrio Smiths chances for the
Heisman Trophy; the football
team’s chance to go to the
Fiesta Bowl and the volleyball
squad’s chance to win a Pac-10
game this season.
This week, we ask the question
that seems to be burning in
many people’s minds around
campus. Now is your chance to
weigh in on how many games
you think the football squad
will win in its last six attempts,
assuming the Ducks head to a
bowl game.
Is it six? None? Three? Only you,
the intrepid reader, can decide
in the weekly sports poll.
So mobilize those fingers, type
www.dailyemerald.com into
your keyboard, dick the '’sports”
link and get out the vote.
Cross Country
continued from page 5
Men’s head coach Martin Smith
has assembled a strong team, led
by senior Jason Hartmann. Hart
mann, a two-time All-American,
could become the eighth Duck
ever to earn All-American honors
three times.
Post Pre-Nationals
The women harriers got anoth
er meet under their belts Saturday
as they raced against top teams
from across the country. They fin
ished 18th as a team, with red
shirt senior Carrie Zografos and
junior Magdalena Sandoval still
healing from injuries.
“They did a good job in a pressure
packed situation,” Heinonen said.
Zografos led the Oregon women
with a 53rd-place finish. Sandoval
finished fourth for Oregon, placing
122nd overall.
Oregon finished ahead of three
nationally-ranked teams: Florida
State, Dartmouth and Idaho.
Pac-10 runs hard,
plays hard
Stanford currently has a hold on
the Pac-10 cross country lead, with
the men ranked first in the national
poll and the women ranked second.
Both teams won their respective
race at the Pre-National meet Sat
urday, with each team’s top runner
finishing second overall.
The Pac-10 has four teams in
both the men’s and women’s Divi
sion-I polls. Joining Oregon and
Stanford in the men’s poll are 25th
ranked Arizona State and 35th
ranked Washington.
"They did a good job
in a pressure-packed
situation"
Tom Heinonen
Oregon head coach
With second-ranked Stanford
leading the way in the women’s na
tional poll, Arizona State is ranked
17th, while UCLA is ranked 19th
and Washington is ranked 25th.
Pac-10 Championship
changes
The Pac-10 conference is raising
the number of runners a single
team can enter at the champi
onship meet.
As with most meets, the Pac-10
had limited team size to seven.
Starting at the Nov. 2 meet, that re
striction has been lifted and team
sizes may be increased at the
school’s discretion.
“That’s good for us right now. It
gives us more flexibility in selecting
the team,” said Heinonen.
Mindi Rice is a freelance writer
, fo,r the .Emerald..
Emerald
Senior Jason Hartmann and the Oregon Ducks want to run at the NCAA
Championships this season. This year, the race occurs in Terre Haute, Ind.