newts usomiuiu through THE HULT CENTER BOX OFFICE S41 682 5000 Sports Illustrated on campus Every Thursday only in the Oregon Daily Emerald. Bellotti still strong in ninth season with UO program Head coach Mike Bellotti leads Oregon into Autzen against the team's toughest home opponent of his tenure By Mindi Rice Senior Sports Reporter It's only fitting that a game against No. 3 Michigan at Autzen Stadium — one of the biggest games of Mike Bellotti's tenure — is also the 100th game with the head coach at Ore gon's helm. Only Duck legends Len Casanova and Rich Brooks have coached more games at Oregon than Bellotti. Casanova did it from 1951-66 and amassed 163 games, while Brooks to taled 204 from 1977-94. "It's another game for me and I guess it's my 100th game here as a coach," Bellotti said. "That may mean as much to me as anything." It means a lot to the players and the fans, too. Bellotti, in his ninth season as head coach at Oregon, is in a conference where coaches turn over more often than pancakes on a griddle. On the other side of lauded foot ball legend, Penn State's Joe Paterno and Florida State's Bobby Bowden — nationally revered coaches who have both topped 330 wins with their current programs — are closing in on retirement. But in Eugene, the Bellotti era is go ing strong. The UC Davis graduate took over the program Feb. 13, 1995, one month removed from a Rose Bowl ap pearance and Oregon's first undisput ed Pacific-10 Conference title in school history. It hasn't been all smooth sailing for Bellotti's Ducks since then — a 6-5, no bowl-game season in 1996 and ULLR SPORT 207 coburg ULLR's Annual Tent Sale September26th - 28th Huge Discounts on all 02 '/03 Skis, Snowboards, Boots, Bindings and Outerwear! Warren Miller Movie Tickets Available Now McDonald Theater Thursday. Oct. 23rd 8:00 pm WILLAMETTE PASS SEASON PASSES ON SALE NOW UNTIL SEPT . 30 AT DISCOUNTED PR ICES ! the 2002 spiral to 7-6 — but the high light films take up more space in the proverbial closet. For starters, there's the 23-game Autzen winning streak that stretched from Oct. 18, 1997 to Sept. 22,2001. The 2001 season also marked the first 11-win season in the history of Oregon and the Ducks finished with an all-time top ranking of No. 2 in the Associated Press and ESPN/LISA Today polls. "I think if you look back at what they've done, what Mike Bellotti has done, they've established that pro gram as a consistently ranked team," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. Bellotti has led Oregon to seven bowl games in his eight seasons, in cluding six consecutive appearances. Factor in victories in four of those bowl games — the Fiesta Bowl, Holi day Bowl, Sun Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl — and Bellotti's teams have more postseason wins than under any other Oregon coach. "He's a great coach," outside line backer Anthony Trucks said. 'Tie's a very smart man and he's created a his tory for this program." Bellotti has the best career win ning percentage — 70.7 — at Ore gon since C.W. Spears coached 19 games from 1930-31 and had a 73.6 winning percentage. Spears has the best winning percentage of any coach who led the Ducks for more than one season. Starting in the 1996 season and continuing on through 2001, Bellot ti's teams moved steadily up the win column. The 1996 squad had a 6-5 record, and each consecutive team added one victory until the 2001 squad made it 11-1. His old job of offensive coordina tor, which he held at Oregon from 1989-1994 during Brooks' tenure, Turn to BELLOTTI, page 13 PHOTO SPECIALS B SEPTEMBER 15-21 • REPRINTS AND ENLARGEMENTS ® 3x5-6 for $.96 Q 4x6-5 for $1.00 5x7 -2 for $1.50 ■ 8 x 10/12 -$1.50 (Pi 35mm color negatives. Matte or glossy. AI tow up to HH 3 !5 working days, for 3x5 ;. and 4x6 pririis, 5-10 working ■ d$s for 5x7, Qx l O arid 8x12 prints FUJICOLOR IP R 0 C E S 5 | Cl UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BOOKSTORE www.uobookstore.com -Oregon Daily Emerald P.O. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403 The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private proper ty. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. 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