Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, December 09, 2002, Image 22

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Monday, December 9,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
G ame D ay
Best bet
Rose Bowl:
Washington State vs. Oklahoma
2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1, ABC
The big box
of football
lllpiy morsel No^lgjj
Oregon’s Seattle Bowl
appearance marks the team’s
eighth straight bowl
appearance. The Ducks are
looking for their fifth victory
during that span and fourth 1
straight bowl victory.
Morsel No. 2
The Ducks and Wake Forest
have played just once, in
1992 at the Independence
Bowl. The Demon Deacons
scoring 15 points in the >
game’s final frame.
■ . ' |
Trivia Bowl
Who holds the Oregon record
for most passing yards in a
single bowl game?
Rank me
Oregon and Wake Forest
in the-2002 NCAA rankings
Rushing offense
Wake Forest_. .8
Oregon.60
Passing offense
Wake Forest.97
Oregon ..,.45
Scoring offense
Wake Forest.66
Oregon ..... 19
Total offense
Wake Forest.33
Oregon. 53
Rushing defense
Wake Forest..... 63
Oregon..15
Passing defense
Wake Forest.86
Oregon.115
Scoring defense
Wake Forest..... 59
Oregon-... 66
Morsel No. 3
The game marks the first
time since 1960 the Ducks
will play a bowl game in a
cold-weather dimate.
Trivia answer
Akili Smith and Danny O'Neil
have both thrown for 456
yards. Smith against Coiorado
in the 1998 Aloha Bowl and
O'Neil against Penn 5tate in
the 1995 Rose Bowl.
Wake thankful for bowl chance
The Deacons have had an
up-and-down season that
almost ended In Maryland
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Normally, a team that finishes
the season 6-6 wouldn’t even be
thinking about landing a spot in a
bowl game.
This isn’t an ordinary year.
Despite finishing seventh in the
nine-team Atlantic Coast Confer
ence, Wake Forest (3-5 ACC) was
chosen to represent the conference
in the Seattle Bowl on Dec. 30.
Heading into their final game of
the season against Maryland, the
Demon Deacons weren’t exactly
looking forward to a bowl contest.
After all, most pundits suggested
before the season that teams would
need seven wins to become
bowl eligible.
So when Wake Forest lost to the
Terrapins, 32-14, its future wasn’t
looking too bright.
But now, given a chance, the
Deacons believe they have some
serious talent that Oregon will have
to deal with.
“We feel when we go and play, we
can beat anybody,” sophomore
safety Warren Braxton said. “It
doesn’t depend too much on how
that team is doing, it depends on if
we are going to come out and play
hard or not.”
Wake Forest is an inconsistent
team, evidenced by the team’s final
six games of the season.
After a convincing 36-10 win over
Duke in early October, the Deacons
lost a squeaker, 31-23, to Clemson.
After that came a victory against
North Carolina, then another
Turn to Wake Forest, page 4B
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons fini
Seniors retlect, look to win last game
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Oregon senior wide receiver Keenan Howry, who holds the school record for career receptions, will play his last game in Seattle.
Several key Duck seniors will
be playing their last game
at the Seattle Bowl this month
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
It’s a time that comes around just
once a year.
While, for many, the reality can be
hard to face, the fact is their time has
finally come.
The Oregon seniors have just
four more quarters of football in a
Duck uniform. *
It is mixed emotions for the
Ducks, and some are not sure how
to feel; for others, well, they may
never play competitive football af
ter college.
“It’s kind of like an unreal experi
ence,” senior linebacker David
Moretti said. “You don’t think it’s
ever going to come to an end, but
you come to the realization that
you only have a couple of weeks
left. I’m sad, but I have enjoyed my
time here; it has been awesome. I
just have to be excited about the
future and what it holds for me.
I’m really excited to have one
last game.”
And for others, they aren’t so sure.
“It’s kind of fun, it’s kind of scary,
it’s weird and I can’t believe it is al
ready here,” senior tailback Allan
Amundson said. “At the same time,
Turn to Seniors, page 9B