Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
MLB playoffs:
Florida at Chicago Cubs
5 p.m., FOX
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Cody Pickett and the Huskies have dropped two straight after Nevada
upset Washington, 28-17, on Saturday in Seattle.
Nevada leaves
Huskies, Pickett
beaten, battered
A 28-17 loss to Nevada puts the Huskies in a dire
situation entering a game against Oregon State
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
The signs were apparent that the ship was sinking, but they
were only realized on Saturday.
Washington lost to Nevada, 28-17, in the Wolf Pack's first win
over a Pacific-10 Conference team since it began Division 1 play
in 1992. The Huskies, meanwhile, lost for the second straight
week and are looking like the shell of a
team that was expected to compete for the
Pac-10 crown before the season began.
The 1 luskies aren't offering any excuses,
although head coach Keith Gilbertson has
said injuries have plagued the team in re
cent weeks.
"I'm not sure who to throw in there to compete because we've
lost a lot of front-line guys (to injury and attrition), and it shows,"
Gilbertson told the Seattle Times. "We're one-deep on the offen
sive line, we're playing our second and third tight end and fresh
men at receiver."
Washington quarterback Cody Pickett had an especially hard
time coming through with his usual heroics in the loss. He com
pleted 19 passes in 37 attempts for 337 yards, but he was sacked
eight times and threw three interceptions.
In Washington's last two games — a 46-16 loss to UCLA and
the upset by Nevada — Pickett has turned the ball over a com
bined seven times.
Nevada "covered our guys pretty well," Pickett said of the recent
loss. "A couple of those sacks were coverage sacks — I need to figure
out a way to get the ball out of my hand. They played well today."
The Huskies visit Oregon State on Saturday. The Beavers are
perhaps the conference's hottest team and pose problems to the
Washington defense. Oregon State running back Steven Jackson
ranks second in the nation in running at 146 yards per game.
The Huskies allow opponents an average of 118 yards per game
on the ground.
They were 2-0, but not anymore
Much like Washington, Stanford has taken a turn for the worse
in recent games.
The Cardinals started the season 2-0, looking like they could
be a surprise team in the Pac-10. But Stanford was dominated in a
44-21 loss to USC on Saturday, and in the team's previous game
— on Sept. 27 — they lost 28-17 to Washington.
The Cardinals have redshirt freshman Trent Edwards starting for
them under center, and while he has been somewhat effective, the
Trojans showed him what defenses can do to young quarterbacks.
He was 8 of 19 against the Trojans, passing for 67 yards. He was
pulled by head coach Buddy Teevens in the third quarter in favor
of senior Chris Lewis.
"1 put Chris in to give him an opportunity to get on the field
Turn to PAC-10, page 8
Redshirt
sophomore Nicole
Garbin scored
Oregon’s final goal
of regulation
against Oregon
State on Friday to
send the game to
overtime.
Mark McCambridge
Photographer
Momentum key for Oregon
After defeating Oregon State
this weekend, Oregon is one
win away from tying its best
overall record of 2001
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Oregon's soccer victory over Ore
gon State on Friday was more than
just another win.
it was the first overtime victory by
either team in the history of the Civil
War, and Oregon's first overtime vic
tory since the Ducks defeated Arizona
State on Oct. 20, 2001.
"At the time it meant a lot," for
ward Mele French said. "After I
scored, we acted like we just won a
championship game." French, of
course, scored the game-winning goal
against the Beavers.
Oregon hadn't won its Pacific-10
Conference ___
opener since . ^
the 1998 sea
son. Now, with
its seventh win,
Oregon is just
one win away from tying its all-time
record of eight wins in a season,
which was achieved in 2001.
"It is exciting, and I just can't wait
to see how it's going to turn out,"
French said of the team's eight re
SOCCER
maining games. "I don't want to
jump ahead of myself and get too
cocky about it because we have so
many more games. But it's exciting; I
bel ieve we can do it. *
As a new season begins, the Ducks
are trying to remain focused and keep
the momentum in what could be the
team's best season in program history.
"It was definitely a good way to
start the Pac-10 schedule," redshirt
sophomore Nicole Garbin said.
"We're concentrated on getting the re
sults in the games we should win,
and battle it out in the other games
when maybe we're not favored. We
Turn to SOCCER, page 8
PaolO needs defense before title
Where did the defense go over the week
end in the Pacific-10 Conference?
Oregon gave up 59 points to Arizona
State, Stanford let LISC put 44 on the
board and Washington was upset by Neva
da and its 28 points.
Oh, wait. Guess 1 forgot what confer
ence 1 was talking about.
The Pac-10 doesn't have any defense.
And that's exactly why there won't be a
Pac-10 team in the national championship
game this year.
Yeah, you heard it here. There will be no
Pac-10 team playing in New Orleans at the
Sugar Bowl.
The Pac-10 will be shut out of the BCS
title game again.
Really, that's not a far-out prediction, or
anything that most everyone else hasn't
predicted, anyway.
The Pac-10 is a shallow and fickle con
ference. It can't decide whether or not it
wants to compete with anyone outside of
its conference. If Pac-10 teams played only
within the conference, then, well, we
might be talking in a different manner.
But until then, the conference's teams
are going to have to settle for second fid
dle to the Big Ten, the Big 12, and the
Southeastern Conference.
OK, USC is ranked fifth in the nation
Hank Hager
Behind the dish
and Washington State sixth. But if you
honestly think that either team can go the
rest of the season unscathed then you
haven't been watching any games.
Besides, the nature of the conference
suggests that one team will have to knock
off another. The Cougars and Trojans meet
on Nov. 1 in Pullman in the Pac- 10's game
of the season.
Meanwhile, 22nd-ranked Oregon State
has to travel to Washington State a week
before that. The Beavers also get to end the
season by traveling to Los Angeles on Dec.
6 to play the Trojans.
That's a tough schedule, and one that
will most likely dash the hopes of any Pac
10 fan wanting to go to New Orleans.
But maybe — just maybe — if any Pac
10 team learned how to play defense on a
consistent basis, then national title hopes
could be in the picture.
USC looked as though it may have had
a defense that could stop any team, but
California proved otherwise. The Golden
Bears put 34 points on the board in their
defeat of the Trojans On Sept. 27.
Washington State may be the team next
in line with a defense that has any kind of
talent, but it's a more inexperienced team.
Besides, the Cougars allowed lowly Notre
Dame 29 points in the team's only loss
this season.
It is those kinds of one-game lapses
keeping Pac-10 defenses from achieving
any kind of success, mainly because of the
Pac-10's offense-first mentality that keeps >
the defenses at bay.
The Pac-10 is well known for its offen
sive prowess, and in order for teams to
keep on the up and up with other confer
ence programs, recruiting efforts are
spent on the next great quarterback, or
the wide receivers that stand 6-foot-2
inches or taller. j
Then, cornerbacks shrink to under six
feet, and defensive coordinators are left to
scramble to find schemes that they hope
will stop the likes of Cody Pickett, Andrew
Turn to HAGER, page 8