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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2003)
Stanford visits USC in hopes of shocking ninth-ranked Trojans USC looks forward to its only home game of the month as Stanford brings its vaunted ‘D’into LA By Scott Archer Freelance Reporter Stanford and USC are two of the hotter teams in the Pacific-10 Confer ence, and on Saturday, they're set to butt heads in the game of the week. While both teams only have one blemish to their names, it's Stanford that remains largely untested. The Cardinal ride into L A. Coliseum having played only three games. However, the Cardinal defense ranks No. 1 in rushing defense in the conference, allowing opposing teams only 56.3 yards per game. "Guys have responded well and tackled well," Stanford head coach Buddy Teevens said. USC looks to take advantage of its lone home contest in October, lhe Trojans hold the Pac-10's longest home winning streak at 11 games. USC is also look ing to become just the 10th team in Division 1 to collect 700 victories. "We are really excited to be com ing back to the Coliseum," USC head coach Pete Carroll said. "It's been a while since we have been there, and we know it's going to be a while until we come back, so we have to make the most of this op portunity." While USC is renowned for its stingy defense, the Trojans have scored 30 or more points in 12 of the last 13 games and lead the Pac-10 with 37.4 points per game. Stanford is riding a pair of streaks heading into the contest. The Cardinal have won three of the last four games j against USC and the last two games played in Los Angeles. 1 lowever, last year, USC dominated the game, win- j ning49-17. "(Stanford) has only lost to Wash ington in Seattle," Carroll said. "I'm j sure they are going to have new things prepared for us in an attempt to keep us off balance. We are going to go in expecting the unexpected." Scott Archer is a freelance writer for the Emerald. 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Michigan is No. 3 in the nation in total defense and has scored at least 27 points in every game it has played. Yet somehow the Wolverines are 4-2 and out of the national championship picture. When we say "somehow" we mean "because of special teams." At Oregon, Michigan gave up a blocked punt for a touchdown, a punt return for a touchdown and missed two extra points. Oregon won, 31-27. At Iowa, Michigan's punt and kickoff teams were badly outplayed, giving the Hawkeyes great field position, and Iowa blocked a punt. Michigan out gained the Hawkeyes, 463 yards to 295, but lost, 30-27. Michigan has other flaws — Navarre has made some poor passes in clutch situations, and the defense hasn't forced many turnovers — but if the Wolverines had average special teams they probably would be undefeated. Instead, they probably need to win the rest of their games just to win the Big Ten. "You almost can't look at the big picture," defensive tackle Grant Bow man said on Monday. "You have to take it day-to-day." Michigan doesn't have time to dwell on what has been lost — a Fri day night game at No. 17 Minnesota looms. The short workweek means Michigan held a light practice on Monday when the Wolverines nor mally don't practice. Michigan also will practice on Thursday before fly ing to Minnesota. Michigan usually doesn't practice the day before games. The busy schedule means the Wolverines barely have time to listen to critics. Bowman said he is familiar with "all those armchair quarterbacks. They know how to do it better than you do." As Bowman well knows, there aren't too many armchair defensive tackles, which is why most of the criti cism has been directed at Navarre. The quarterback is taking heat for some er rant passes in the second half on Sat urday against Iowa. * Navarre's numbers at Iowa — 26 for-49, a school-record 389 yards, two touchdowns and one interception — were actually quite good. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr has spe cial feelings for his quarterback's critics. "I don't give a damn," Carr said. "John Navarre played extremely well. Anybody who thinks he didn't... does n't know anything about the game." (c) 2003, Detroit Free Press. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. OFFENSE continued from page 9B need to do to protect the quarterback and to run the football," offensive line coach Neal Zoumboukos said. "Obviously, as a coaching staff we need to get back to those things to be able to achieve that high level again." Zoumboukos said those funda mental things include pad level, proper posture in pass protection, moving the feet and using the eyes. Injuries have made it difficult on the offensive line, forcing the Ducks to change some players' positions. Ore gon lost senior Joey Forster early on. DeLaGrange has been dealing with a shoulder injury and sophomore Ian Reynoso has played with a knee injury. "Injuries are no excuse for poor performance, and we have not per formed well the past two weeks, peri od," Zoumboukos said. DeLaGrange said that the blitzes the offensive line has seen in the past two weeks have been contributing factor to the line's play. "They were bringing blitzes like nothing else," he said. "Obviously that affected us and we're obviously working on it a lot more now so we're going to be able to pick those up." DeLaGrange is expecting the Sun Devils to blitz if Oregon becomes stuck in passing mode again. Arizona State saw it work for Washington State and Utah, so DeLaGrange is ex pecting the Sun Devils to "bring everybody they got." Contact the sports reporter at jessethomas@dailyemeraid.com. Wide receiver Kellen Taylor has caught 16 passes for 158 yards this season. The junior is one of four captains* for Saturday’s game I at Arizona State. Adam Amato Photo Editor OREGON continued from page 2B business for." The Ducks don't want to dwell on that game but need to remember it to make sure it doesn't happen again. The Sun Devils weren't supposed to be able to come into Autzen Stadium that game and do what they did. Now, however, neither team can sneak up on one another. "I think you've got to look at it," Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said of last season. "We, as a team, will look at that game. We will say, 'OK, what did we do right, and what did we do wrong?'" For the Ducks, the game in Tempe represents a chance to get back onto the right foot. Oregon has sunk into the depths of despair after the losses to the Cougars and the lltes. The Ducks have been outscored 72-29 in those games. The 4-0 start that gave way to two straight upsets conjures up memories of last season's demise. The Ducks say it is a different team this year, and there won't be the same kind of slide. Oregon, after all, knows what it takes to pull out of the depths of a losing streak now. But the question is, will the Ducks be able to? According to Matson, it's going to take a total team effort to get Oregon back on track. "It's more like all pistons firing at once," he said. "If you do one single thing, it will never get done. You've got to be close to perfect in a lot of things at the same time. You can't really isolate the problem. Everyone has to carry the weight at the same time Run hand-in hand with your teammates, and the job can get done" The Ducks will have to do that with little depth at many of the skilled positions. Cornerback Justin Phinisee is not expected to play because of an injury. The same goes for safety Stephen Clayton, who suffered a concussion several weeks ago. Since it isn't his first concussion, the Ducks are being careful with his status. Chris Vincent will return to bolster Oregon's running game. The Ducks have been slowed in that category during their losing streak. They've rushed for almost two-thirds less yards per game than in their first four games of the season. Still, the Ducks, as Matson said, need their pistons to be firing at the right time and speed for the losing streak to be squashed. "Everybody's backs are against the wall," Matson said. "We all have a loss already. Everybody is fighting tooth and nail because (the Pac-10) has to be separated some time. "Everybody is kind of feeling the pressure." Contact the sports editor at hankhager@daiiyemerald.com.
