Olshansky
continued from page 3B
out there any more. He knows what
gap he’s got. He knows, on the d
line, he sees feet going across; he
sees that motion.
“He’s picked up on things that us
linebackers pick up on when we’re
standing up, and he’s looking at
the ground.”
Olshansky has played athletics
of some kind his entire life, which
may be why he’s such an adept stu
dent of the game of football. He
played basketball in the Ukraine
and gave that up for football when
he was noticed by a coach at his
high school, St. Ignatius Preparato
ry in San Francisco.
But he says he isn’t going to give
up football for basketball any
time soon.
“At first I think (my basketball ex
perience) helped, because I was
pretty athletic for a big guy. I was
pretty light on my feet,” Olshansky
said. “But now, at this level, every
body’s a good athlete. It’s just how
much work you put in the offseason,
that’s what you get out of it.”
Olshansky has been putting in a
lot of work himself in the offsea
sons. That’s one of the main rea
sons he gives the Oregon defense,
a defense that has taken a lot of
hits this season, reason to think
the Ducks could be making more
hits in the future.
“For me, I have one more year
after this year, and that excites me
a lot,” Mitchell said. “And plus,
when I’m gone, and the next guys
step up, they’re going to do just as
good a job — or a better job —
than when I was here.”
Olshansky will be back next year
along with Ngata, and the defensive
line should be rounded out by Rob
by Valenzuela, who played in every
game this year, and Devan Long,
who should fill in for departing sen
ior Seth McEwan.
And the young defense will get a
chance to prove itself in the Seat
tle Bowl, which head coach Mike
Bellotti called a “springboard” for
next season.
Olshansky said he isn’t disap
pointed about going to a less-than
prominent bowl or missing out on
the opportunity to play near his
family in the Bay Area.
“We’re happy we’ve got a chance
to play in the postseason,” Olshan
sky said. “Obviously we’d like to
play in a bigger bowl, but honestly
it’s unrealistic for the season we’ve
had. So we’re just happy to be in the
postseason.”
When Olshansky and the Ducks
get to Seattle, there’s no way to
know if there will be enough Oregon
fans to start a cheer.
“I love the fans. I’m very thankful
for their support,” Olshansky said.
“I like the fans, I like to get the
crowd into it a little bit — I’ll wave
at them a little bit. For sure, I appre
ciate the support.”
And perhaps then the chants will
be about his play instead of his
unique name.
Contact the sports editor
atpeterhockaday@dailyemeraId.com.
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Olshansky, seen here wrapping up Oregon State's Steven Jackson, had 16 tackles in the season's last two regular-season games.
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team as a defensive lineman. 9 * I
Oregon: Redshirted 2000 season,
spent most of 2001 on bench but start
ed against Washington State and
UCLA...notched three tackle* in Fiesta
Bowl and helped limit Colorado to 49 rushing yards,
earning a mentiorion Sports Illustrated** All-Bowl team.
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Adam Amato Emerald
Olshansky (right) spearheads an Oregon rush defense that is ranked 15th in the
nation, and is holding running backs like Rich Alexis to 106yards per game.