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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2004)
IN BRIEF Poll predicts third-place Pac-10 finish for Oregon Oregon is predicted to finish third in the Pacific-10 Conference by the league’s annual football preseason media poll. The poll predicted that USC will win next year’s Pac-10 Conference championship with a total of 240 points — claiming all 24 first place votes. California was second with 210 points and Oregon took third with 192. Last season, USC captured its 10th national championship after going 12-1 and winning their last nine games. It is the second year in a row that the Ttojans were picked in the media poll to win the conference title. Oregon finished third last season with an overall record of 8-5. The Pac-10 media have correctly selected the past four Pac-10 champi ons, including Oregon in 2001. They have also correctly picked five of the past six champions. In 1999, the media members wrongly predicted Arizona to win the confer ence title, but the Wildcats ended up finishing sixth. Stanford won the Pac-10 crown that year af ter being predicted eighth. In the rest of the media poll, Ore gon State was picked fourth (138), followed by Washington State (133), Arizona State (131), Wash ington (100), UCLA (98), Stanford Les' Barber Shop Haircuts $1000 Alex Les Walk-ins, Appointments Available | it 11, ii,In it i#» 485-6757 130 E. 13th Ave EXCL TOYS* VIDEOS MAGAZINES DVDs-LINGERIE 1166 South A • Springfield Open 24-7 (Almost) 726-6969 Oregon Daily Emerald. A campus tradition-over 100 years of publication iddlefielD E-golf course ■ 942-8730 484-1927 STUDENT SPECIAL , GOLF 9 HOLES $12 gj Students Only. Must show ID. (Monday - Friday) I thuk N'5a 115 Commons Dr. 485.1655 GET SOMETHING TO EAT GET SOMETHING TO DRINK GET SOMETHING TO WATCH I Homemade Tacos • Burritos • Quesadillas Fruits • Snacks • Frozen Food Beer • Wine • Juice • Water Soda • Espresso Drinks _. _ $1.50 new releases Largest Selection and Coldest Beer in town Around the Corner from Autzen! (40) and Arizona (38). In the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll released Satur day, Oregon slipped in at No. 25. — Alex Tam LiaBraaten ready to play both ways Junior tight end Nate LiaBraaten will be seeing action on both sides of the ball Saturday against Indiana. The Bend native is a backup for both the tight end and defensive end positions, according to the latest depth chart. LiaBraaten has caught three pass es in his career with one touchdown, but still hasn’t seen any time on de fense. “Nate’s a warrior and he will probably see double duty,” head coach Mike Bellotti said. “He’s smart enough and in good enough physical condition to handle that.” Bellotti still doesn’t know whether he will see more action offensively or defensively. “Because of our tight end situa tion, he probably needs to play tight end more, but I’m not sure if we can take him away from the defense be cause he’s a valuable asset on that side too,” Bellotti said. Starting season strong Season openers for the Ducks have treated them kindly over the past 20 years. Oregon has lost only twice, with its last loss coming at the hands of Michigan State in 1999. Oregon also has won 11 straight home debuts and 19 of its last 20 since 1983. Its only loss came in a 21 15 defeat at the hands of Pacific to open the 1983 season. Series history Oregon has beaten the Hoosiers in the team’s only two meetings, with the last one taking place 1964 in Bloomington, Ind. The Ducks beat Indiana 29-21 with quarterback Bob Berry completing 14 of 25 passes for 211 yards. Saturday’s game will be the first between the two in Eugene because the other game took place in Portland’s Multnomah Sta dium in 1963, where Oregon won 28-22. — Clayton Jones DUCK CAPTAINS Four Ducks, two on offense and two on defense, were chosen as this season’s team captains. Each will be looked upon to lead Oregon to its 11th straight winning season Kellen Clemens #11 Quarterback/ Jr. 6-2,215 lbs. Hometown: Burns Clemens became Oregon’s youngest starting quarterback since Danny O'Neil in 1992. In 2003, Clemens passed for more yards (2,400) and touchdown passes (16) than any other sophomore in Oregon history. He threw for a career-high 363 yards on 32 of 42 pass ing and three touchdowns against Minnesota in the Sun Bowl last season. He also set the school record for pass completion proficiency by going 15 of 17 against Stanford for an 88.2 completion percentage. Adam Snyder #72 Offensive Tackle/ Sr. 6-6,325 lbs. Hometown: Whittier, Calif. Snyder begins his senior year as a candidate for the Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the top interior lineman in the country. In 2003, Snyder became the first lineman to earn Pacific-10 Conference Offensive Player-of-the-Week since 1995 for his play against Michigan. He also be came Oregon’s first first-team AII-Pac-10 offen sive lineman in 20 years. He also helped lead the way to a season-high 218 yards rushing against Oregon State last season. He made a career 24 starts for the Ducks with his first start against USC his freshman year. Jerry Matson # 52 Linebacker/ Sr. 6-1,225 lbs. Hometown: Edmonds, Wash. The former walk-on was third on the team in tackles in 2003 with 81, including 14.5 tackles for a loss. Matson’s 59 solo tackles was second on the team. He returned his first career inter ception for a touchdown against UCLA last sea son. He tallied at least one tackle for a loss in 11 of the Ducks' 13 games last year. He also recorded a career-high 12 tackles against Wash ington. Matson is the team’s only linebacker to have played all three positions, so his flexibility and knowledge aids all of the linebackers. Robby Valenzuela # 99 Defensive Tackle/ Sr. 6-2,310 lbs. Hometown: Modesto, Calif. Dating back to his freshman year, Valenzuela has played in 30 straight games and returns as the defensive line’s most experienced play er. He recorded a career-high eight tackles against Utah in 2003. Valenzuela also ranked third on the team with 4.5 sacks last season, including two sacks against Michigan. He also had sacks against Washington and Utah and combined for another versus Arizona. He re covered his first career fumble against Missis sippi State in 2003.
