Sports Editor
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, October 22,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
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Tim Day is one of 16 Oregon players who have started their first game this season. Day is the Ducks’ fourth-leading receiver.
Ducks add energy
with new starters
Sixteen Oregon players
have started their first game
as Ducks in the 2003 season
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
Youth brings energy, humor and a play
fulness of sorts to the practice field.
Those qualities have added to the Ducks'
attitudes this season, evidenced by the fact
that 16 players have started their first game
in an Oregon uniform.
guys compete," punter Paul Martinez
said. "It's good because in later years,
we'll have more experienced players so
that when we're older the veterans will
be more experienced."
Martinez has inherited the starting
punter duties in his first year fresh from
high school, beating out two walk-ons.
Out of 40 punts this season, 12 have been
stopped inside the 20-yard line. Out of his
last 17 punts, only two have been stopped
inside the 20-yard line.
One of Oregon's top receivers, sopho
more Tim Day, caught eight passes for 112
yards in the first six games of the season,
starting five of them.
Defensively, six players are new to their
starting roles. Part of the reason is the con
stant shifting of personnel due to defensive
tackle I laloti Ngata's injury in tire first game.
"When you're able to bring in guys that
haven't really started and haven't really
played, the/re excited," senior Kevin Mitchell
said. "It brings a new energy level to the team
and especially the defensive side of the ball.
It brings the energy level and the excitement
and feeling young again to us old guys."
That vigor has helped the younger
Ducks gain starting roles from some more
DUCK
FOOTBALL
Four additional
players had one
previous start prior
to this season.
"I think it defi
nitely makes more
experienced players, but it also gets the up
perclassmen to step up.
"1 would hope (the older players push
harder)," Oregon head coach Mike Bellot
,ti said. "Because if they're not, they're go
ing to be beat out.”
Tackle Junior Siavii and linebackers Reg
gie Kemey and Anthony Thicks are among
the new defensive starters. The three join
comers Rodney Woods and Justin Phinisee,
as well as end Devan lxmg, as the defenders
who bring new attitude to the defense.
'The biggest thing is just coming in and
making sure you don't fall off too much,"
Phinisee said. "Coming off of a winning
season, or if you have a winning season
and the next time you want to reload, re
gardless of how many starters you have
coming in and replacing people, you want
to make sure you maintain that."
Offensively, tight ends Day and Dan
Kause, tailbacks Chris Vincent and Ryan
Shaw and wide receivers Demetrius
Williams and Kellen Taylor have started
only their first or second game in their ca
reers during this season.
Pullback Luke Rowley and guard lan
Reynoso have also started their first games
this season. Quarterback Kellen Clemens
is the final new starter for the Ducks.
Of the 16 first-time starters, four are
freshmen.
"You just want to strive for success, re
gardless," Phinisee said.
Tigers, elephants
and giraffes: Oh my!
Seventy-five miles south of Eugene, the
Wildlife Safari in Winston had an influx
of Ducks on Saturday.
About 20 football players and a half dozen
softball players made the bus nip that
stopped in Sutherlin to pick up fans who had
won a raffle at the Sutherlin McDonald's.
"That was awesome, getting out there
with the kids," Phinisee said about the trip,
"rhe parents and the kids were out there (at
Turn to FOOTBALL, page 6
Jesse Thomas
Go the distance
Emotion
will help
Oregon
Oregon hasn't taken care of business
lately. It sounds basic, but it is the bottom
line and the biggest reason why the foot
ball team has struggled.
The horrific memories of the past three
weeks haven't left. Oregon has been
outscored by a total of 88 points in its last
three games. Most recently, Oregon's sec
ondary has received all the criticism, and
for good reason.
ABC had way too good of a time show
ing off Andrew Walter's statistics. Now no
one will ever forget that Walter has
Turn to THOMAS, page 6
Crosswhite makes
‘changes,’ improves
Head coach Ernie Kent
has praised the forward
for his improved play
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Sophomore forward Ian Cross
white averaged 9.3 points per game
last season and 8 in Pacific-10 Con
ference play.
He scored a career high 22
against UCLA on Jan. 30 at Pauley
Pavilion. He didn't lead the Ducks
in scoring
that night
— Luke
Jackson had
27 — but he
did in Ore
MEN'S
BASKETBALL
gon's 90-81 win over Minnesota on
Dec. 22, 2002 with 18 points.
Crosswhite was a key player
during Oregon's Pac-10 Tourna
ment run last season and remains
significant this season. He knew,
however, that he needed to
work on a few things during
the offseason.
"Working on a right hand
(shot)," Crosswhite said at the
team's media day last week. "To
ward the end of conference play
and post-conference, a lot of
people were just sitting on my
left hand."
Crosswhite added that he also
worked on his ability to shoot
more accurately off of one dribble.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent
said that Crosswhite has im
proved greatly over the summer.
So much, in fact, that he may be
one of the most improved players
on the team.
"I call him new and improved, be
cause, as a coaching staff, in our
opinion, he probably operated at
about 50-60 percent of his capacity
or productivity last year," Kent said.
"I think with some changes he has
made in his game, his work ethic, his
focus, his determination, that right
now at individual workouts we feel
like he's at 75-80 percent of his pro
ductivity. That's really encouraging to
us because we see that he is getting a
lot of things done right now."
Crosswhite is expected to anchor
a cast of forwards and centers that
Ian
Crosswhite
averaged
9.3 points
per game
last
season.
Adam
Amato
Photo Editor
is young, but has size and strength.
Sophomore Matt Short and senior
Jay Anderson are both returning,
while redshirt freshman Adam
Zahn and true freshmen Mitch
Platt and Ray Schafer are battling
for playing time.
Crosswhite, Short and Anderson
as a group averaged 14.4 points per
game last season.
Date change...
get your tickets
The Ducks originally scheduled
a game with Portland State on Dec.
1 at McArthur Court. That, howev
er, was changed to the next day,
Dec. 2. The game will start at 7 p.m.
and will be shown on the Oregon
Sports Network.
Oregon sold 5,709 season tickets
this year, a 12 percent increase from
the 5,119 sold last season.
Individual game tickets go on
sale Friday, though there are limit
ed numbers for all but one game
according to Oregon officials.
Let the rebuilding begin
It's not often that UCLA has to
go through a rebuilding process.
But that is just the task first-year
head coach Ben Howland will have
Turn to BASKETBALL, page 6