Oregon Daily Emerald
No. 5 Washington State vs. No. 15 Oregon
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Northwest rivalries with atrip
\&shington State Cougars
rather not
r
built up or i
it’s a situation most teamswe
rather not think about.
But north e Oregon Ducks.
The Oregon football team is
taking ad those factors — a road
game in a hostile environment
against a top-caliber team — and
using them to its advantage.
‘It’s fQn being the underdog,” Duck
free safety Keith Lewis said. “We’re ready
to sho^lghat this program is all about.”
The Ducks will indeed be the un
derdog to a team that entered the
season with high expectations and
has, so far, matched those hopes.
The Cougars are 8-1 overall, 5-0 in
the Pacific-10 Conference and in
control of the race for the Rose
Bowl. Washington State’s only loss
came at the hands of now-No. 3 Ohio
State in the third week of the season.
The Buckeyes are still undefeated.
“It’s going to take everything we’ve got to
beat these guys,” linebacker David Moretti said.
Moretti and the rest of the Oregon defense
will be under scrutiny Saturday as the Ducks
£• face the conference’s second-best offense. The
Cougars average almost 432 yards per game on
offense, along with 35 points per contest. The
Ducks’ defense is allowing 372 yards per game on
defense, third-worst in the conference behind
only Arizona and California.
“Obviously Washington State presents some
matchup problems for us,” Oregon head coach Mike Bel
lotti said. “Were going to need a combination of pressure and
coverage and disguising coverages to keep them off balance.”
Those disguising coverages will be focused on disrupting Cess
er, the Cougars’ senior quarterback and one of the top signal
callers in the nation. After the Ducks gave up 536 and 448
yards to Arizona State’s Andrew Walter and USC’s Carson
Palmer, respectively, the Ducks will have to face a quarterback
Turn to Preview, page 7B
KICKOFF AT 12:30 P.M. ■ MARTIN STADIUM > SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2002 ■ TV: ABC
Gess who?
Jason Gesser has always
been good, but now he's a
legitimate Heisman hopeful
for the first-place Cougars
P«ige2B
November bowling
With each passing week, the
Ducks and everybody else
get closer to knowing which
bowl they're headed for.
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