Sports Editor
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NCAA basketball:
North Carolina vs. Davidson
4 p.m., ESPN2
Monday, November 24,2003
Mindi Rice
The giri and the game
Ducks
impress
at end
of season
If the Ducks were to grace a Sports Il
lustrated cover now, the photo would
have to be Kellen Clemens diving over
two Beavers for a touchdown, with a
look saying, "You didn't believe in us?
Believe this!" on his face.
Or Kenny Washington straight-arm
ing the Oregon State kicker on a 48
yard kickoff return.
Or Igor Olshansky celebrating one
of his three-and-a-half sacks.
Or Dante Rosario sliding into the
corner of the endzone for Oregon's fi
nal touchdown.
Or Jason Fife and Jared Siegel with
their high-five routine after four suc
cessful point-after kicks and two made
field goals.
Whoever it would be or however it
was chosen, one thing is for sure: The
Ducks had a successful finish to the
end of their season.
The season that started strong sud
denly took on traits of2002. Until Ore
gon found the key to its game — finish
strong — against California with the
fourth-quarter comeback.
And the Ducks made that key work
for their season.
Three weeks ago, following the
blowout loss in Seattle, few thought
Oregon could, or, in their wildest
dreams, would win out the season.
Oregon, which went from 2-3 in the
Pacific-10 Conference to 5-3 after the
Turn to RICE, page 12
Ducks win the War
^ A*
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Oregon State’s Chaz Scott can't look as Dan Kause (82) celebrates during Oregon’s 14-point win.
Oregon holds Derek Anderson
and Steven Jackson in check
for its eighth win of the season
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
The evolution of the Oregon program came
full circle on Saturday.
It came the moment the Ducks held Steven
__ Jackson to 68 yards
I 1 tf"* §Lr mshing. It came after
UP 1% giving Derek Anderson
FOOTBALL little breathing room,
- forcing him to the turf
for six-and-a-half sacks.
It came as the Ducks celebrated on the
Autzen Stadium turf after defeating arch ri
val Oregon State, 34-20, in front of a packed
house in Eugene.
And now, the Ducks probably know where
they'll be headed come December.
After an all-out, dominating win over the
Beavers, Oregon watched Washington upset
Washington State, 27-19, late Saturday. That
means the Ducks will probably be going to El
Paso, Texas, for the Sun Bowl.
"It doesn't matter," Oregon linebacker
Kevin Mitchell said of where the Ducks could
have gone. "Our season could've gone the
other way."
The other way, as in down the drain, or to
the cellar of the Pacific-10 Conference. After
starting off the season 4-0, the Ducks sunk to
4-3 after consecutive losses to Washington
State, Utah and Arizona State.
At one point, the Ducks stood 5-4 overall.
Turn to FOOTBALL, page 10
Special teams play special role in victory
Kenny Washington defied OSU's
game plan to become a key cog
for the Ducks in the Civil War
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
On the first kickoff of Oregon 's game Satur
day, Oregon State kicker Kirk Yliniemi aimed
hard for the ground, hoping to drive the ball
onto the Autzen Stadium turf.
The ball bounced, bounced again and bounced
some more It bounced so much that it eluded the
hands of Oregon returner Kenny Washington and
into the end zone for a touchback.
Such was the day of Washington and the rest
of Oregon's return corps. The group returned
four kicks for 104 yards, highlighted by Washing
ton's 67 yards. His long was a 48-yarder that put
the Ducks on Oregon State's 35-yard line with
seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Oregon ended that drive with a 15-yard touch
down by fullback Dante Rosario.
"Kenny Washington is so confident right
now and so aggressive," Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti said. "It's really fun to watch him
return kicks."
It looked to be a long day with Oregon's kick
returners. The Beavers hoped to take the Ducks'
special teams out of the game by driving the ball
short or away from Washington and Ryan Shaw.
They succeeded, to an extent. Shaw and Wash
ington combined for 33 yards of returns in the
first half, but in the second, the Ducks exploded.
It started with Washington's run and was ac
centuated by an unlikely returner. Linebacker
David Martin, who normally blocks for the re
turning duo, caught the ball at the Oregon 20
and returned it 23 yards.
"We did a great job of creating field posi
tion," Bellotti said.
For Washington, his performance was a con
Turn to SPECIAL, page 12
Oregon streaks to season-opening victory
The Ducks use their up-tempo offense
to full advantage in a 13-point
season-opening win over Fresno State
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Whoever said the basketball season was a
marathon and not a sprint obviously never
watched Oregon play.
The Ducks came out with all pistons firing
against Fresno State on
Friday in the season
opener for both teams.
Those pistons cooled
down at times, but the
Ducks pulled out an 80
67 win over the Bulldogs to start the season on
the right foot.
"That was a very good game for an opener,"
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said.
The Ducks said that after the game they
would go to the tapes and look for things to
"clean up." They would find the mistakes,
work on them and get ready for a Dec. 2 game
against Portland State at McArthur Court.
MEN'S
BASKETBALL
They won't have much to work on if the sta
tistics have anything to say. Try 20 assists in 26
Oregon baskets. How about 14 of 27 three
pointers, marked by Luke Jackson's five?
Try out-rebounding Fresno State, a team
built on banging hard at the boards.
The Ducks did, taking 31 to the Bulldogs' 29.
"Every win is a good win," Oregon forward
Ian Crosswhite said. "It was a good win against
a tall, athletic team like Fresno State."
The win was Oregon's 12th season-opening
victory and sixth in a row for a home opener.
It came in front of a sellout crowd of 9,087, the
10th in a row at McArthur Court and first in a
season-opener since 1978.
Of course, there were the obligatory warnings
toward the fans from the referees. One for throw
ing things on the court, another for.stomping so
hard before a Renaldo Major free throw attempt
that the vibrations shook the rim.
"It really feels good to play in that kind of at
mosphere," Jackson said, comparing it to a Pa
cific- 10 Conference game.
Fresno State, the 2003 Western Athletic Con
ference Champions, played well at times but
couldn't sustain against an Oregon team that
Kent said has "great chemistry."
The statistics don't lie. The Bulldogs shot 44
percent from the field, committed 15
turnovers and of the team's 26 baskets, assist
ed on just four.
"That tells us we did a good job of locking
up their system," Kent said. "We took the op
tions away from their sets."
Shantay Legans led Fresno State with 20
points in his return to McArthur, his first
game there since transferring from California
two seasons ago. The crowd let him hear it,
but he kept steady, shooting 8 of 19 in 39
minutes of play.
"I knew Shantay was going to play well," Fres
no State head coach Ray Lopes said. "They made
it hard for him, like everybody else will. He's one
of those guys that's very dependable."
Jackson led the Ducks with 20 points, while
guard Andre Joseph scored 15. Jackson played
a key role on the boards, grabbing eight, and
he also dished out a team-high six assists.
Turn to BASKETBALL, page 9
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Mitch Platt scored 12 points in his first game as a
Duck. Oregon defeated Fresno State on Friday.