spots
Oklahoma and Miami remain
as the top two teams in the
BCS poll; both control their
own bowl game destinies
By Mike Huguenin
The Orlando Sentinel (KRT)
Virginia Tech's loss is Florida
State's gain.
In the Bowl Championship Series
standings that were released Monday,
Florida State was the biggest benefici
ary of the Hokies' loss to West Vir
ginia last week.
Oklahoma and Miami are the only
major-conference unbeatens, and
they remained first and second, re
spectively, in the standings. Florida
State moved up two spots, to third,
after its victory against Wake Forest.
Virginia Tech was third last week
but fell out of the BCS top 1 5 after
its loss.
Georgia, fourth last week, is Fifth
this week. USC, which was seventh
last week, jumped to fourth, and
Ohio State remained sixth.
FSU, USC, Georgia and Ohio State
have one loss, and that quartet is far
ahead of the other one-loss teams.
The seven BGS computers like FSU
and Ohio State the best of the one-loss
teams, followed by Georgia and USC.
But the Trojans are third in both media
polls, and they could receive a bump in
the computers next week if they can
beat Washington State on Saturday in
lx>s Angeles. The Cougars are eighth in
this week's BCS standings.
Florida State will play Notre Dame
on Saturday, and a victory against the
Irish may not be enough to keep it
ahead of lISC in the computer polls
if the Trojans were to beat Washing
ton State.
The key thing to remember,
though, is that Oklahoma and Miami
are the only teams that control their
destinies. If both were to win out,
they would meet in the Sugar Bowl
on Jan. 4 to play for the national title.
Both have tough tests this week. Okla
homa will host Oklahoma State, which
has beaten the Sooners in each of the
past two years, and Miami will be at Vir
ginia Tech, which still has a shot at a BCS
bowl if it can beat the Hurricanes.
(c) 2003, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Distributed by Knight Ridder/
Tribune Information Services.
Mark Wallheiser Tallahassee Democrat
Florida State’s vaunted defense has helped bump it up to third in the BCS poll.
HAGER
continued from page 5A
Ideally, his situation puts sports
into perspective.
I le also puts life into perspective.
Liberman had to have his surgery, lit
erally, on the fly. He had some time be
forehand where he knew he was going
to go under the knife, but preparing for
heart .surgery is realistically impossible.
Your mind tells you that you're going to
be OK, but your hands shake and knees
buckle as your arrive at the hospital on
that fateful day.
'I he after-effects of the surgery are just
as tough. Sitting in the hospital for a
week can be hard on anyone, but with
all of the things that come with the sur
gery, doubts start sitting in your mind.
You become worried that any move
ment will re-injure your healing chest,
and painkillers help alleviate the pain
but put you into a mental haze.
Immediately upon returning home,
you feel revived and energetic. But hav
ing the ability to get up and get moti
vated when every natural movement
hurts for a little while is one of the
toughest things to do in life.
Iiberman's accomplishment is accen
tuated when these factors are considered.
What amazed me most about Liber
man was the fact that he had come to
grips with death. He told me that his
doctor once asked him how he felt.
1’his was his response: 'I'm proba
bly going to survive, but I've got to tell
you, I'm ready to die.'"
Liberman put life into perspective
with that response. Everything that
seems so important takes a back seat
in his situation.
That's where the athletic world
comes in. I'm not going to lie and say
that athletics shouldn't play an im
portant role in society. I'm more guilty
than anyone in becoming encased in
the plays on the field. Sporting events
are a big part of my life.
But it is those that can knock sports
down a peg — make the games a mi
nuscule part of life, sometimes — who
really have everything figured out. When
it comes right down to it, whether or not
Oregon defeats Washington on Satur
day will make no difference eight
months from now when seniors gradu
ate and move into the real world.
That's why it's hard sometimes to
see letters to the editor in various
newspapers and magazines that criti
cize players and coaching staffs. It's
one thing to say that someone needs
to try harder on the field, but in all
honesty, if that player is leaving his or
her heart on the field, there shouldn't
be anything to say.
Calling for a coach's head when the
team is playing with spirit is uncalled
for. But again, to put everything into
perspective, when that coach or player
isn't trying their best, what's the
point? Games and practices are too
short to take a lazy attitude.
It's too bad that a bum heart can
make some people see the true value
in life.
Sometimes, it's a blessing in disguise.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com. His
opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
PAC-10
continued from page 5A
"The more you progress through
the season, the tougher these games
are becoming," Dorrell said.
Arizona .State (4-4, 1-3 ) is slump
ing after the Sun Devils were picked to
finish second in the conference in the
preseason media poll. They sit toward
the bottom of the Pac-10 standings.
"That's tough when you lose a
game like that," Sun Devil head coach
Dirk Koetter said Monday. "We played
hard for four quarters, but we didn't
execute well enough on offense or de
fense to get the win."
Trojans overpower Dawgs
l ISC stormed into I lusky Stadium
and left few survivors.
The Trojans (7-1, 3-1) scored 20
points in the first half and allowed
Washington 14, but a 23-point sec
ond half squelched any chance of a
Husky (4-4, 2-2) comeback. USC
picked up the 43-23 win.
"This is a win we will always cher
ish because it has been a while since
SC played well here," Trojans head
coach Pete Carroll said Saturday. "It
was something that we wanted to ac
complish."
The Trojans' 43 points are the most
scored by a Washington opponent at
1 lusky Stadium since 1989.
Cougars bungle Beavs
Wild times led to a Cougar victory
Saturday in Pullman, Wash.
Washington State (7-1, 4-0) took a
14-0 lead 10 minutes into the first
quarter, but the Beavers put together
six consecutive scores — two touch
downs, four field goals and one safety
— to take a 25-14 lead.
Their scoring string was broken by
a Cougar safety, but Oregon State (5
3, 2-2) added a field goal and went
ahead 28-16 in the third quarter.
On the other side of the field,
Washington State scored three touch
downs in the first six minutes of the
fourth quarter, capturing the lead for
the final time, 36-28.
"It shows great character for this
team to hang in there, stay in there
and keep battling," Cougar head
coach Bill Doha said Saturday.
I'he Beavers added a safety as time
ran out for a 36-30 final score.
"We needed a couple more plays to
get another shot," Oregon State head
coach Mike Riley said Saturday. "It
was a game of big plays and momen
tum changes."
Injuries hinder Huskies
The hit parade rolled along in Seat
tle on Saturday. Washington was al
ready without the services of leading
rusher Rich Alexis, who suffered a
deep-thigh bruise on Oct. 18 against
Oregon State. Adding to their pain
was a first-quarter injury to No. 2 re
ceiver Charles Frederick.
"(Frederick's) injury changed a lot
of factors in the game," Washington
head coach Keith Gibertson said Sat
urday. "(Without him) you have to go
out there and play three freshmen and
Reggie Williams, where out of one re
ceiving group, Reggie is the only vet
eran.guy."
Frederick's injury has yet to be com
pletely determined as of Monday.
Original reports said he sustained a
shoulder injury, but Gilbertson said
Monday that Frederick's injury also
includes the clavicle.
Golden Bears run amok
UCLA's Drew wasn't the only Pac
10 player to have a big rushing day.
California's Adimchinobe Eche
mandu rushed for a career-high 201
yards, leading his team's 327-yard
rushing attack. - - —
The Golden Bears (4-5, 2-2) sought
revenge of last season's 52-41 loss to
Arizona and found it on the ground.
The 327 yards is Cal's highest rushing
total since 1992.
"To run the ball as much as we did
today does not happen very often,"
California head coach Jeff Tedford
said Saturday. "We were just having
success today."
Echemandu is the Pac-10's second
leading rusher following Saturday with
an average of 97.9 yards per game
"He's shown flashes of breaking
tackles," Arizona head coach Mike
Hankwitz said. "He sure did that to
us today."
Contact the senior sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.
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TENNIS
continued from page 5A
tournament."
Panova prevailed despite having to
overcome cramps and soreness until
her final match on Sunday.
"She's battled through a lot of ad
versity with leg cramps going through
numerous three-setters," Schyllander
said. "She just stepped up when she
needed to and did her thing."
The Russian native entered the
tournament as the No. 3 seed and be
came the favorite in the quarterfinals
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when the top two seeds were ousted
early. No. 1 seed Erin Burdette of Stan
ford withdrew from the tournament
in her first match because of injury.
Second-seeded Chloe Carlotti of Fres
no State was defeated in the third
round of the tournament.
Panova overcame six opponents
in the three-day tournament to be
come the ITA Northwest Regional
Champion.
She defeated her first opponent,
Santa Clara's Erica Barnes, in three
sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Panova then
breezed through her next two match
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es in straight sets to move into the
quarterfinals. She went on to beat two
seeded opponents — No. 7 Claire
Carter of Washington and 12th seed
ed Margarita Karnakhova of Sacra
mento State — to advance to the sin
gles finals.
The win adds to her growing list of
accomplishments as a Duck, last year,
she was voted the Pacific-10 Women's
Tennis Player of the Year and swept
the Pac-10 singles titles at the indoor
and outdoor championships.