Oregon daily emerald., November 01, 2002, Page 2B, Image 13

Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Oregon Dailv Emerald
Game Day
Best bet
Florida at Georgia
4:45 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Friday, November 1,2002
The big box
of football
Tasty morsel No. I
Maybe it’s the leaves falling
from the trees. Oregon has a
record of 17-3 in the month
of November under head
coach Mike Bellotti. That
includes a 10-0 record in the
confines of Autzen Stadium.
Morsel No. 2
Oregon hasn't lost three
straight games in the same
season since 1997. The
Ducks lost two to end the
1998 season and the 1999
season opener.
Trivia Bowl
Keenan Howry tied an Oregon
record in last season’s loss to
Stanford. What was it?
Rank me
Oregon and Stanford in the
2002 Pac-10 rankings
Rushing offense
Stanford.1
Oregon .2
Passing offense
Oregon.8
Stanford.10
Scoring offense
Oregon...1
Stanford......9
Total offense
Oregon.4
Stanford...9
Rushing defense
Oregon.2
Stanford.7
Passing defense
Stanford.6
Oregon... 10
Scoring defense
Oregon....6
Stanford.10
Morsel No. 3
Jared Siegel has made 16 of
17 field goals this year. His
only miss was a block in the
Ducks’ first game of the
season against Mississippi St.
Trivia answer
Howry tied a school record
with 338 all-purpose yards.
Onterrio Smith broke that
record against Washington St
Cardinal deal with new system
Stanford has changed since
they beat Oregon last year, from
the coach to the quarterback
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Stanford returns to the site where
last season’s most improbable victo
ry took place.
But for the Cardinal (2-5 overall,
1-4 Pacific-10 Conference), the
game is in the past, a distant memo
ry of a season that produced six Pa
cific-10 Conference victories and a
spot in the 2001 Seattle Bowl.
Gone is starting quarterback
Randy Fasani, as well as hard-nosed
running back Brian Allen.
Back, though, is 6-foot-7 wide re
ceiver Teyo Johnson, and, well, there’s
not much else going on for Stanford.
Junior quarterback Chris Lewis,
the heir apparent to Fasani, has had
to deal with injuries this season.
Penciled in to start for Lewis is
freshman Kyle Matter, a 6-foot-3 sig
nal-caller from Newhall, Calif.
First-year head coach Buddy
Teevens is still upbeat, despite Stan
ford’s poor play to start the season.
“We’re an improving football team
that has experienced frustration
with not getting the win at the end,”
Teevens said. “The attitude of our
players is very resilient. They see
things on tape that are encouraging
as well. Obviously, they are frustrat
ed, but also aware of the improve
ments we are making.”
In place of Lewis, Matter has com
pleted 55 passes in 95 attempts, in
cluding a 10-for-22 performance
against UCLA last week, a game the
Cardinal lost, 28-18.
Emerald
Sophomore Teyo Johnson gave the Ducks fits last season as Stanford ruined Oregon's chances at a perfect season.
“I thought he played smart foot
ball,” Teevens said of Matter’s play
against the Bruins. “He was ha
rassed most of the afternoon, but
he scrambled and picked up some
key first downs for us. I thought he
played really heady football. I was
pleased overall.”
Johnson has been the pulse of the
Stanford offense this season, a unit
that has been sputtering and is last
in the Pac-10 in passing offense with
194.1 yards per game. Johnson leads
the team in receptions with 29 and
yards with 356. But in the team’s
most recent loss, UCLA, he had just
32 yards on four catches.
Against Arizona — Stanford’s only
Pae-10 victory of the season — he
had just one catch for two yards.
Oregon — which is often said to
have the loudest fans in the Pac-10
— could present a problem for the
struggling Stanford offense. Yet with
Johnson’s height and Oregon’s small
er cornerbacks, the Cardinal could
present a mismatch.
“Defensively, I’ve been very im
pressed with their inside linemen,”
Teevens said. “Haloti Ngata and Igor
Olshansky are big and physical guys
that can run. David Moretti and
Kevin Mitchell are very solid line
backers that move extremely well.
Their defense backs have made a lot
of interceptions.”
Overall, Stanford averages 353.3
total yards offensively per game,
Turn to Stanford, page 8B
1 he Upset burns in UO players minds
W
Adam Amato Emerald
Keenan Howry (15) returned a punt for a touchdown late in last year's loss to Stanford.
Stanfords 49-42 win in Eugene
last season ruined Oregon^
hopes for the 2001 national title
Mindi Rice
Freelance Sports Reporter
49-42.
No, that isn’t the score of either Ore
gon loss this season.
49-42.
That represents the score when
“Captain Comeback” Joey Harrington
appeared to run out of magic come
back dust.
It represents the one tarnish to then
fifth-ranked Oregon’s 11-1 record for
the 2001 season.
The Stanford win on Oct. 20,
2001, ended Oregon’s 23-game
home winning streak. It ended
dreams of a perfect season, and it
only took 15 minutes.
After three strong quarters of Ore
gon football, the Ducks looked like they
were on track for another win. Ahead
42-28, and with Stanford missing their
starting quarterback, students were
chanting the numbers “24.”
Chris Lewis, Stanford’s backup
quarterback, replaced Randy Fasani
after Fasani suffered a sprained right
knee in the second quarter. Lewis had
done something similar before, com
ing off the bench in the 2000 season to
guide the Cardinal past No. 5 Texas.
The Ducks did not score in the
fourth quarter, and, after blocking two
punts by Jose Arroyo, Stanford scored
a touchdown with 9:09 left in the
game. The score was 42-35, and Ore
gon was still safe.
On the ensuing kickoff, Oregon was
caught off-guard by Stanford’s onside
kick. The Cardinal scored a touch
down with 5:32 left, but Seth McEwen
blocked their point-after attempt. Ore
gon just had to hold onto the ball and it
would win, 42-41.
With four minutes left, Oregon was
on its own 30-yard line. On third-and
1, Harrington passed. Defensive end
Marcus Hoover ended up with the ball
after a tip and an interception, and
Stanford had the opportunity it need
ed to take the lead for the first time
since the first quarter.
With 1:10 left in the game, Stan
ford scored a touchdown and added a
two-point conversion to make the
score 49-42.
The Ducks got back down to the
Stanford 37-yard line, but Harrington
threw four incomplete Hail Mary pass
es in a row, the last flying out of the end
zone as time ran out.
“We lost. It doesn’t matter how or
why,” Harrington said after the game.
The Ducks dropped five places in
the national polls, and all hope seemed
lost for a national championship.
“This puts a damper on everything,”
Oregon receiver Keenan Howry said
after the game.
The game began as a nail-biter, with
Stanford scoring first, and the score
was tied at 14 with 3:26 left in the first
quarter. Oregon added a touchdown
and the first quarter ended with the
Ducks up 21-14.
Each team put up a touchdown in
the second quarter, leaving the Ducks
Turn to Oregon, page 9B