Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 2004)
■ In my opinion Matson's tireless work ethic sets marvelous example for Ducks As Oregon wraps up practice on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, Jerry Matson can be seen racing around the field. The senior middle linebacker is one of the Ducks’ best defensive players, but at the moment, he’s not chasing down a quarterback or smashing a running back in the “A” gap. Instead, No. 52 is sprinting down field during a special teams drill with the same passion that he dis played as a member of the scout team in 2000. Matson’s rise from hard-nosed walk-on to starting middle line backer was a climb driven by the kind of passion that Oregon needs to turn its season around. Despite being an All-State line backer at Washington’s Kamiak High School, Matson didn’t receive any scholarship offers to his liking. While weighing his options of where to walk on, Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti helped make Matson’s decision a little easier. “It was five years ago that I watched (Matson) on film, and our JON ROETMAN ROUGHING THE PASSER coaches were undecided about Jer ry,” Bellotti said. “He had not been offered scholarships by the schools he wanted. 1 watched him on film, and I watched a guy who ran very well and played with passion and I said, ‘let’s bring him in.’” Matson’s desire to play was evi dent during his first year at Ore gon. The Kodiak, Alaska, native was named scout team defensive player of the week on four occa sions, taking the old-school ap proach of a player paying his dues on the practice field before crack ing the starting lineup. Early in his career, Matson was so eager to make plays that coaches had to tell him to tune it down. “He was actually too overanx ious on defense,” Bellotti said. “He would overrun things because he wanted to make plays. We actually had to slow him down and train his eyes.” As Matson improved, his playing time increased. He stepped into a “ starting role during his junior year and finished with 81 tackles and an interception, which he returned for a touchdown against UCLA. Being named a starter on defense only made Matson push harder. His work on special teams and countless hours in the weight room are evidence that the 6-foot-l, 225-pounder is an athlete deter mined to maximize his abilities. “He’s one of those guys that comes to work with a full lunch pail everyday,” Bellotti said. “(He) puts in work, does extra work, never questions anything and is a great ex ample to others. ” Matson’s tremendous lower-body strength — he can squat 515 pounds — provides the power needed to be one of the Pacific-10’s hardest hitters. If there were any questions about ROETMAN, page 8 Fighting Irish to square off against wounded Huskies In other Pac-10 action Oregon State travels to Arizona State and Washington State visits Arizona BY ALEX TAM FREELANCE REPORTER Six Pacific-10 Conference teams fi nally embark on their Pac-10 sched ule this weekend. After this week, only California and Oregon will have yet to begin their Pac-10 schedule. In non-conference action, Wash ington travels east to South Bend, Ind. to play Notre Dame. UCLA and California are both on a bye week. Washington (0-2 overall, 0-1 Pac-10) at Notre Dame (2-1) The Huskies take to the road for the first time this season and make its third-ever trip to South Bend, Ind., this Saturday. In the teams’ series history, the Fighting Irish have won all four contests by an average score of 39 12. Their last meeting was in 1996, when Notre Dame won convincing ly 54-20. “It has been awhile since we have had a big road win,” Washington head coach Keith Gilbertson said. “We have had some tough road trips and been to some land mark places like Miami and Notre Dame. It would be nice to win one of those games.” Washington is coming off two con secutive home losses to Fresno State and UCLA, while Notre Dame has won two in a row over Michigan and Michigan State. Even though the Huskies have start ed the season 0-2, things still look PAC-10, page 12 Musique Gourrriet Classical Music Opera Broadway Filmscores CD's SACD'S DVD'S Open Noon - 5:20 Sundays Noon - 4:00 Closed Tuesdays Behind Bradfords Across from Library 3 942 Olive St. i FREE PARKING 349-0461 IWtWlHMl Community Canter for the Perfuming Arts 8th & Lincoln ■ Tonight - Hie Comedians of Comedy Tour. Patton Oswalt * Brian Posehn Maria Bamford Stand-Up Comedy Doors 9:00 pm Sio advance, $12 door .Sunday ■ Ro^er dyne £ The Peacemakers withTheM’s Rock Doors 8:00 pm $10 advance, $10 door . Monday. Paul Wright, Shawn McDonald, Telecast Christian Doors 6:00 pm $15 advance, $20 door Available at Wow Hall . Tuesday - Neil Hamburger with Canned Ham Standup Comedy & Karaoke 9:00 pm, $7 door Ail Ages Welcome 687-2746 Manager Special Full size sub, 1 free drink w/ bag of chips • carry out only $025 expires 9/28/04 824 Charnelton • Eugene, OR • 97401 Sun-Wed: 11 am-1 am Thur-Sat: 11 am - 2 am 11 Eugene 686-5808 16 Pepperoni 2 free drinks 824 Charnelton • Eugene, OR • 97401 Not valid with any other otter expires 9/28/04 14 2 item pizza 2 free drinks $099 Eugene 686-5808 824 Charnelton. Eugene, OR. 97401 Not valid with any other offer expires 9/28/04 Eugene 686-5808 26" Colossus 50% Off carry out only 824 Charnelton • Eugene, OR • 97401 Not valid with any other offer expires 9/28/04 Who: Darlene M. j What: Merchandising Rep. Wear: Yellow Gear Jacket, Sterling O Earrings, UO Sparkle Sunglasses Superstition: Never watches the first quarter Favorite Tailgater Food: Swedish Meatballs "We're stylish and we’re loud. What’s not to love?" DUCK |q| SHOP’ A branch of the Unlversltv of Oregon Bookstore chases support. U.O. students .
