Ian Reynoso consoles Oregon center Dan Weaver (63) after the Golden
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Gophers squeaked past the Ducks, 31-30.
PARKER
continued from page 7
in the second quarter. With the
Ducks at Minnesota's 18-yard line,
Clemens found the Long Beach,
Calif., native with a pass to the
corner of the end zone.
Parker's second touchdown
came with 3:09 left in the third.
Reminiscent of a touchdown pass
against Colorado in the 2001 Fies
ta Bowl, Parker broke over the
middle for a 40-yard touchdown
strike.
"We knew one of their guys
(cornerback Trumaine Banks) got
sent home and they were moving
a safety (Jason Isom) over there to
play corner," Parker said.
Isom was the unlucky recipient
of attention from Oregon quarter
back Kellen Clemens. The sopho
more completed 32 of 42 pass at
tempts. Half of those, and more
than half of his passing yardage
(363), went to Parker.
"Sarnie just shook his defender
a lot of times," Clemens said. "He
made some great catches today."
Parker got off to an early start
against Minnesota. He had six re
ceptions in the first quarter and
nine in the first half. Meanwhile,
Clemens had completed 18 passes
in the first half, five of which were
destined for the hands of running
back Terrence Whitehead.
It is the end of his Oregon ca
reer, but the potential beginning
of a new career for Parker. The
Honorable Mention Pac-10 receiv
er is an alternate for the Jan. 10
East-West Shrine Game in San
Francisco.
From then on, he will attend the
NFL's scouting combine in hopes
of landing attention for the June
NFL draft. He should very well be
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Oregon's Justin Phinisee (31) and Minnesota’s
Aaron Hosack (34) battled throughout the Ducks’
loss on New Year’s Eve in El Paso, Texas.
a new member of former Oregon
standouts that currently play in
the NFL.
That number is at 15 and climbing.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhagert@dailyemerald.com.
SUN BOWL
continued from page 1
in this case, a Wednesday.
"I give my hat off to Minnesota.
They did a great job."
On this Wednesday, it was a field
goal that decided a game that saw
more than 850 yards of total offense,
which included three Minnesota (10
3 overall) running backs rushing for
a combined 241 yards and Oregon
quarterback Kellen Clemens passing
for 363.
Lloyd's field goal simply ended a
back-and-forth contest between two
impressive offensive teams. Oregon
(8-5) had a 30-28 lead until the field
goal, but only because Jared Siegel
put a 47-yarder through the uprights
with 4:16 left to play in the game.
The Golden Gophers picked up
where Siegel left off and immediately
went on a 16-play, 55-yard drive that
spanned 3:53 and ended with
Lloyd's field goal.
On a 2nd-and-3 play from the
Oregon 26, the Ducks looked like
they had put a nail in Minnesota's
coffin. Devan Long stopped Lau
rence Maroney for a 4-yard loss to
the 30. An Oregon timeout at that
point stopped the clock with 38.5
seconds left and the Golden Gophers
picked up from there with a 5-yard
run to Oregon's 25.
Another Oregon timeout with
28.3 seconds left preceded Lloyd's
game-ending field goal.
"We took a timeout because they
were in field goal range," Oregon
head coach Mike Bellotti said. "I did
n't want to let them have the last say.
I wanted to have a chance, if they did
make it, for us to get a chance to get
back in."
That chance was short and ended
prematurely for Bellotti and the
Ducks. After Kenny Washington re
turned the kickoff to the Oregon 21,
Kellen Clemens' pass fell into the
hands of Jason Isom for the game's
only interception.
The play ended what was a record
setting day for Clemens and the
Ducks. Wide receiver Sarnie Parker
had an Oregon-record 16 catches,
which resulted in 200 yards. He set
Oregon records with 77 receptions
this season and 178 for his career.
For Parker's efforts, he received the
C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player
award.
Clemens, meanwhile, was 32 of
42 passing for 363 yards and three
touchdowns. He ended the season
with 2,400 passing yards, 18 touch
down passes and just nine intercep
tions.
However, it was a play that wasn't
made that Clemens took the hardest.
Two plays before Siegel's field goal
put the Ducks ahead, Minnesota's Eli
Ward almost intercepted an intend
ed pass to converted wide receiver Ja
son Fife in the end zone. Had the
pass been completed, Fife would
have scored, sending the Ducks to a
six-point lead.
"If I had made the play two plays
(before Siegel's field goal) when I
threw it to Jason, we would have
won that game, probably," Clemens
said. "At least it would have forced
them to score a touchdown instead
of a field goal to win it."
Perhaps, but it can also be said
that Minnesota's rushing attack ulti
mately had a say in the outcome. The
Golden Gophers ran for just five
yards in the first quarter, but turned
up the tempo with 83 in the second.
Maroney rushed for 131 yards on
15 carries and Thomas Tapeh ran for
three scores — two of which were 1
yard runs.
Overall, the Golden Gophers ran
for 241 yards on 55 attempts. It was
the third-lowest rushing output of
the season for Minnesota, but came
against the nation's 12th-best-rush
ing defense.
"They had way too many third
down conversions," Dorsey said. "I
don't know where to place the blame
or if we can place it on one spot. Our
whole defense, we didn't do what we
needed to do to take care of busi
ness."
For Dorsey, Parker, Fife and a
number of seniors, the loss was a bit
tersweet way to end their careers in
Eugene.
"I feel OK because we fought to
the end," Dorsey said. "At the same
time, it was my last game as a Duck,
and I wanted to have a good memo
ry of my last game as a Duck."
Contact the sports editor
at hankhageh@dailyemerald.com.
FIFE
continued from page 7
Because he was an academic par
tial qualifier when he came to Ore
gon in 2000, Moore has the chance
to return next season. That will de
pend on whether or not he can grad
uate by the end of summer, a stipu
lation set forth by the NCAA.
He said he has no doubts that he
will be back.
"That's my goal for the offseason:
try to get the school thing done,"
Moore said.
Lineup changes
Fife was forced into the third-string
receiving role when Kyle Weatherspoon
injured his hamstring a few days before
the game. Oregon was already thin at
the position when Marcus Maxwell re
injured a separated shoulder during the
latter part of the season.
That added to a long list of Oregon
receivers that went down this season,
including Iordan Carey and Keith
Allen, who was injured before Ore
gon's first game of the season against
Mississippi State.
Alex Mercier saw action against Min
nesota. The freshman from Edmonds,
Wash., had seen action in just one oth
er game this season against UCLA and
did not catch a pass in either game he
played in this season.
Defensively, Jerry Matson was a
bit bruised up before the game and
saw Justin Andrews start in his place
at middle linebacker. Matson fin
ished the game with nine tackles,
including two for a total of seven
yards lost.
Hold on to the ball
The teams combined for just two
turnovers, both coming in the sec
ond half.
Kevin Mitchell forced a fumble by
Asad Abdul-Khaliq with 7:37 left in
the fourth quarter. It was recovered
by Igor Olshansky and led to Siegel's
47-yard field goal that put the Ducks
up by two with a little more than
four minutes left.
Oregon's only turnover of the
game came with 10 seconds left.
Clemens was pressured by the Min
nesota defensive line and threw an
ill-advised pass that landed in the
hands of Jason Isom.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Laurence Maroney (with ball) ran for 131 yards against Ducks. The 241 overall yards Oregon allowed was the most this season.
FOCUS
continued from page 9
Despite having experienced cold
spells before, the loss to UCLA was
different. The Ducks didn't fall into a
hole early that they couldn't get out
of — that would be much easier to
deal with.
Instead, Oregon had control of the
Bruins and let them off the hook.
Junior point guard Corrie Mizu
sawa said the Ducks' youthful squad
needs to do a better job of playing
the game one possession at a time.
"We're a young team, we're not the
most experienced team, * Mizusawa
said. "Obviously we're going to go
through some bumps and some
times it's hard for the younger play
ers to get their heads back into the
game and realize that it's just one
play, and that's one thing that we
have to work on."
The Ducks put up a good fight
down the stretch, but it should never
have come down to Oregon scram
bling to find a way to score during
the game's final minute.
With Oregon facing its worst con
ference start since the 1995-96 sea
son, the Ducks need to find a way to
overcome the disappointment of los
ing a game they should have won.
"It's hard not to let it (bother us),"
Bills said. "We just can't have that
happen when we're up five, 10
points and trying to build a bigger
lead. We have to get those stops and
can't have mental breakdowns and
turnovers."
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.