Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Monday, February 2,2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NCAA basketball:
St. Joseph's vs. Villanova
5 p.m., ESPN2
Jesse Thomas
Go the distance
Oregon's
loss was
actually
pleasing
If it makes you feel better, go ahead and
ask. I've done it and am still tempted to
continue doing it.
What if Luke Jackson hadn't missed the
free throw for the three-point play in the
final 15 seconds to bring Oregon within
one point?
What if Stanford's Matt Lottich had
n't found a way to bank in a three
pointer with one second remaining on
the shot clock with Jackson's hand in
his face?
What if Oregon hadn't missed 10 free
throws, or what if each one of the three
players off the bench could have managed
just one point?
Any one of those could have made
the difference in Oregon's 83-80 loss to
No. 2 Stanford at McArthur Court on
Saturday.
Asking such questions only leaves anger
and grief for what could have been. It
blinds you from the satisfaction that
comes from such an excellent showing of
college basketball.
The satisfaction that The Pit showed its
finpst rnlnrc
Whether or not it was the 500 pizzas
delivered before the game or because
Stanford is undefeated, 111 decibels of
noise is loud. That's louder than a jack
hammer and some average rock con
certs. Metallica concerts range from 120
to 140 decibels.
The satisfaction that when Oregon
trailed 79-75 with 21 seconds left and
everyone in the crowd silently whis
pered "It's over," Oregon didn't
give in.
James Davis sprinted off the in
bounds pass, hit Jackson baseline,
where he then drove hard to the hoop
and managed a reverse layup on two
defenders.
Then Davis decided to hit a three
pointer with two-tenths of a second left
in the game. What was he thinking?
Someone in the crowd forgot to tell him
it was over.
The satisfaction of it being a fight to
the bitter end in which Davis nearly hit
the best shot in Oregon history with two
seconds left. The 9,087 at McArthur
Court hung all their hopes and prayers
on that one shot as it sailed toward the
hoop, although the referee waived it off
long before it got there.
There is bittersweet satisfaction that
Stanford can find a way to score in its fi
nal 15 possessions. That was simply per
fect execution and poise by an offense
that was under the most pressure it has
seen all season.
There is bittersweet satisfaction that
any team can manage to score 35 more
points in the second half than it did in
the first half. Only an 18-0 team can
find a way to shoot nearly 40 percent
Turn to THOMAS, page 10
Patriots win with last-second field goal
Adam Vinatieri made up for two misses
to send New England to its second
Super Bowl victory in three years
By Bob Brookover
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
HOUSTON — Super Bowl XXXVIII deserved
an R rating, but not for the partial displays of nu
dity that took place during halftime.
No, this R was for riveting.
In a Super Bowl that will long be remembered
as one of the best, the New England Patriots got a
41-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri with just
four seconds remaining Sunday night to pull out
a 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
It marked the second time in three years that
Vinatieri had delivered a field goal that gave the
Patriots a Super Bowl victory. He kicked a 48
yarder to beat the St. Louis Rams two years ago.
The Patriots (17-2) finished their season with
15 consecutive victories.
Though the Patriots walked away with another
title, the Panthers walked out of Reliant Stadium
knowing they belonged in this Super Bowl.
Both quarterbacks — New England's Tom
Brady and Carolina's Jake Delhomme — passed
for more than 300 yards, a feat accomplished only
one other time in Super Bowl history and that was
by two guys named Montana and Marino.
Brady's final pass of the evening a 17-yard strike
to Deion Brandi, established a Super Bowl record
of 32 completions. More important it gave the Pa
triots the ball on the Carolina 23-yard line.
New England used its final time-out, and
Vinatieri, after missing two field-goal attempts in
the first half, came through with the game-winner.
Brady, who completed 32 of 48 passes for 354
yards and three touchdowns, was named the Su
per Bowl MVP for the second time in his career.
In a losing effort, Delhomme completed an in
credible first season as a starter, completing 16 of
33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns.
The Panthers took their first lead of the game
with 6:53 remaining when Delhomme connect
ed with Muhsin Muhammad for an 85-yard
touchdown, the longest play from scrimmage in
Super Bowl history.
After the Panthers failed on their two-point
conversion attempt, Brady took the Patriots 68
yards on 11 plays and connected with linebacker
— yes, linebacker — Mike Vrabel for a 1-yard ID
that allowed New England to regain the lead. A
two-point conversion run by Kevin Faulk made
it 29-22.
But the Patriots left the Panthers plenty of time
and Delhomme connected with Ricky Proehl for
a 12-yard touchdown with 1:13 remaining. John
Kasay's extra point tied it, but then he kicked the
ball out of bounds, giving Brady great field posi
tion for the final drive.
As usual, he made the most of it.
The teams set a Super Bowl record by going
scoreless through the first 26 minutes, 55 sec
onds, then combined for an amazing 24 points
in the last 3:05.
Lionel Hahn Abaca Press
After a close game, the Patriots scored a field goal with just four seconds remaining in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
New England moved the ball, but couldn't get
it into the end zone or over the upright. After
driving to the 13-yard line on their first posses
sion of the game, the Patriots sent Vinatieri out
for a 31-yard field-goal attempt.
He pushed the kick wide right, marking the
first time in six games the Patriots had failed to
score on their opening drive.
The Patriots drove into Carolina territory again
on two of their next three possessions and had
nothing to show for it. A tackle for a 10-yard loss
by blitzing linebacker Will Witherspoon mined
one drive, and Shane Burton blocked a 36-yard
field-goal attempt by Vinatieri to snuff another
New England scoring opportunity.
The Panthers, meanwhile, were an offensive
disgrace until the two-minute warning in the
first half.
Up until that point, Delhomme had complet
ed just one of his eight passes for 1 yard and had
been sacked three times for minus-25 yards. As a
team, the Panthers had minus-2 yards of offense.
The third time the Patriots leveled Del
homme, linebacker Vrabel jarred the ball loose
from the quarterback, and defensive tackle
Richard Seymour covered the ball at the Caroli
na 20-yard line.
After taking the ball to the 5-yard line with a
12-yard run, Brady connected with Deion Branch
for the game's first touchdown.
What transpired the remainder of the half
was stunning.
Backed up to their 5-yard line by an inexplica
ble unnecessary-roughness penalty on Brian
Allen, the Panthers appeared to be in danger of
going down by more before the half.
Instead, Delhomme engineered an eight-play,
95-yard drive to tie the score. He completed four
of seven passes for 90 yards.
On third and 5 from Carolina's 10, Del
homme hit veteran Ricky Proehl over the middle
for a 13-yard gain. That was the Panthers' second
first down of the game and their first that wasn't
helped by a penalty.
Delhomme then found Muhammad for a 23
yard gain and Proehl again for 15 yards. After two
incomplete passes, the Patriots called a time-out
with 1:14 to go before halftime. When play re
sumed, Steve Smith beat comerback Tyrone
Poole off the line of scrimmage and Delhomme
threw a strike to the streaking receiver for a 39
yard touchdown that tied the game.
(c) 2004, The Philadelphia inquirer. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Troians take care of tired Ducks in L.A.
Oregon's exhaustion from Thursday’s
victory over UCLA showed Saturday
in a 71-56 loss to the Trojans
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
The Southern California women's basketball
team kept the Ducks running the court in the first
half and took a one-point lead, 35-34, into the
locker room.
All that running tired
Oregon in the second half
as the Ducks scored 22
points during that time.
_ For the 11th consecutive
year, Oregon (11-10 over
all, 3-8 Pacific-10 Conference) split its trip to Los
WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL
Angeles with a 61-55 victory over UCLA on
Thursday and a 71-56 loss to the Trojans (11-8,
8-3) on Saturday.
The Ducks hoped Thursday's win would pro
pel them against USC, who lost to Oregon State
on Thursday, to the first sweep in Los Angeles in
school history.
"Mentally, we were ready to take on the pres
sure," Oregon head coach Bev Smith told KSCR
(1320 AM) Radio. "We just physically didn't fin
ish those plays. I think we just ran out of a little
gas. Playing as few people as we played in the last
couple of days, it takes a little bit out of your legs."
Oregon brought three players off the bench
Thursday, and it showed Saturday as the five
starters averaged 31 minutes against USC.
The Ducks tried to take advantage of Pac-10
Player of the Week Ebony Hoffman's absence
after she was suspended for the first half of Sat
urday s game for disciplinary reasons. It was the
fifth time in the senior's career that she
didn't start a game.
When Hoffman returned to the court to open
the second half, her fresh legs tore past Oregon.
She scored 12 points in her 19 minutes of play.
There were 14 lead changes and seven ties in
the game. The Ducks had their biggest lead, 42
38, with 13:40 remaining when the Trojans start
ed to put Oregon away.
"We played 40 minutes against UCLA and we
played 30 minutes today," Smith said. "So out of
80 minutes, we played a good 70 minutes and for
us that is very good progress. Certainly that is
what we have to build on."
Guard Brandi Davis led the Ducks for the sixth
Turn to TIRED, page 9