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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2003)
Sports Editor Hank Hager hankhager@dailyemerald.com Oregon Daily Emerald SPORTS Best bet NFL: Miami vs. San Diego (inTempe, Ariz.) 6 p.m., ABC Monday, October 27, 2003 Back in action: Oregon takes down Stanford Terrence Whitehead rushed for a career-high 172 yards in the convincing win over the Cardinal for Oregon’s fifth win of 2003 By Mindi Rice Senior Sports Reporter The Ducks flocked together with a group effort for a 35-0 win against Stanford on Saturday. After three consecutive losses and a bye week, Oregon (5-3 overall, 2-2 Pacific-10 Conference) shut out a Pac 10 opponent for the first time in head coach Mike Bel lotti's tenure. "Overall, that was a total team victory, and one we cer tainly needed," Bellotti said. "We worked very hard the past couple weeks and 1 think, despite several injuries, that we played well." DUCK FOOTBALL The Oregon offense made a statement in the first drive with five straight running plays by tail back Terrence Whitehead. _ "You want to be able to control the line of scrimmage and make sure you're getting rushing yards," quarterback Jason Fife said. "It just opens up the offense and the passing game." Whitehead himself made a statement in the game, accounting for a career-high 172 rushing yards, includ ing a nine-yard touchdown run and a 44-yard touch down jaunt. "I always expect to run that much and I'd like to run even more," Whitehead said. "I'm looking to do whatev er it takes to help get a W." Oregon's rushing game — a 193-yard effort — over shadowed the 265 yards that Kellen Clemens and Fife combined to throw. The Ducks had 40 rushing attempts compared to 27 pass attempts. All four of Oregon's of fensive scores occurred on running plays. Three of those came with the Ducks inside Stanford's 10-yard line. "We had in our game plan that we were going to run the football no matter what," fullback Dante Rosario said. "We did just that and it worked well." Running the ball opened passing lanes for the Ducks. Turn to GAME, page 9 Mark McCambridge Photographer Terrence Whitehead led the Ducks with 172 yards rushing against Stanford. Oregon shuts out its first Pac-10 opponent since 1992 in a dominating defensive day at Autzen By Hank Hager Sports Editor It's a goal-line stand the Ducks hope will carry them through their final four games of the season. It was a seven-play goal-line de fensive series that kept the Cardinal from scoring a single point, pro pelling Oregon to its first Pacific-10 Conference shutout in 11 years. It epitomized the Ducks' day defensively. A day where Stanford could do nothing right and Ore gon looked like the team that went to the Fiesta Bowl two sea sons ago. "The stand at the goal-line was maybe one of the greatest things I've ever seen," Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. With 11:27 to play in the fourth quarter — and Oregon comfort ably ahead 28-0 — safety Marley Tucker and linebacker David Mar tin got to Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis for a 14-yard sack that ended the most significant set of defensive plays for the Ducks this season. With Stanford at the Oregon 1 yard line, running back J.R. Lemon attempted a one-yard run. That did n't work. In the next play — from the 2 — he was stopped again. The Ducks got to Lewis for a Turn to SIDE, page 9 Whitehead becomes offensive key after biq day Oregon running back Terrence Whitehead ran for a career-high 172 yards against Stan ford on Saturday, but perhaps his most im Hank Hager Behind the dish pressive feat of the afternoon came with the Ducks in control. Oregon was up 21-0 in the early moments of the third quarter when the sophomore touched the ball for the third time of the sec ond half. He ran to the right side of the field but quickly reversed to the left and found a seam in the Stanford defense. He then went un touched for a 44-yard touchdown that capped an Oregon drive of just one play. He ran 23 times against the Cardinal. That's not a tough workload for the running back, but shows that his 7.5 yards per cany was well spent "Terrence ran well and the offensive line blocked well all day, setting the tempo for the game," Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens said. Whitehead's performance against the Cardi nal signified his emergence as the running back the Ducks so desperately need. When the Ducks are successful offensively, the key is balance. Clemens and senior Jason Fife can find any receiver when they have the defense on its toes. But when the defense can focus on one aspect of the Oregon offense — as Washington State and Arizona State both did earlier this season — Clemens and Fife be come flustered and ineffective. That's where Whitehead becomes a key cog. He established himself on Saturday. When Ontario Smith went down late in the season, Whitehead stood up and became a ca pable mnning back. When Smith left after the season, doubts as to Whitehead's ability became apparent. There were worries he wouldn't be able to be a starter so soon. After all, he sat out part of last season for academic reasons, so he had yet to experi ence Division I athletics on the full scale. Saturday, all of that went out the window. With Whitehead in tow against Stanford, the Oregon offense thrived. "Going into this week, we wanted to estab lish the run," Whitehead said. 'To run this of fense, we have to have a good mnning game" The last four games of the season, however, are where Whitehead will earn his stripes. When the Ducks were on top of the world at 4-0, he was visible, and so were the other Ducks' runners. With Washington coming up and a danger ous California team the week after that, he will need to be the featured back who can divert the offense's attention. He doesn't necessarily need to produce the Oregon points, but he will need to help Clemens and Fife lead the team into the end zone. His qualities as a gamebreaker showed against the Cardinal, a team that had been ranked fourth in the Pac-10 and 17th nation ally in rushing defense entering the game. Against the Huskies and Golden Bears he will need to be that gamebreaker again. If he can, watch out. The Ducks could be headed to a higher bowl game than many think. If he can't, it could be a long four games. Bet on the former. Contact the sports editor at hankhager@dailyemerald.com. His opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. Ducks take split with Stanford, California Oregon suffers a 3-1 loss to Stanford on Friday, but bounces back to shut out California 2-0 on Sunday at Pape Field By Jesse Thomas Sports Reporter Oregon head coach Bill Steffen had a reminder for his women's soccer team on Saturday. He told the team that they would win more games than any other team in program history DUCK SOCCER Sunday's 2-0 victory over Cal put the Ducks one step closer to that goal. It was the _ Ducks' eighth win of the season, which ties the best win total in program history. The Ducks finished 8-8-2 in 2001. Oregon (8-8 overall, 2-3 Pac-10) did what has worked all season by making the first strike against the Golden Bears count. The Ducks are 4-0 this season when they have scored first. With just 10 minutes expired, Oregon was awarded an indirect kick. Forward Nicole Garbin lined the shot to the left side of the goal where forward Mele French was waiting. French out-jumped her defender and connected on the head er from five yards out to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. "Every single game, I go into the game thinking I want to score early so we can kind of relax and control the game," French said. French felt that it wasn't offense that Turn to SOCCER, page 9 Mark McCambridge Photographer Forward Cristan Higa (2) collides with Cal’s Alivia Mazura.
