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Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Oregon senior Ramone Reed, seen here at practice on Tuesday, recorded 10 tackles during an injury-riddled 2003 season.
Reed: Senior to start Big Brother program
Continued from page 4B
He established himself his fresh
man year as an excellent special
teams player and led the special
teams in tackles before a wrist injury
slowed him down.
Unfortunately for Reed, he was
riddled with injuries during his first
two years.
“For two years it was just injuries,”
Reed said. “I broke my thumb, I
sprained my MCL real bad, and I
haven’t really recovered from that still. ”
The loss of a loved one
Coming into 2003, there were great
expectations on Reed as a special
teams player and a backup line
backer. Two days after a loss at Ari
zona State on Oct. 13, Reed got the
worst news of his life. He was told his
mother had died.
This struck Reed hard and he was in
and out of the lineup for the rest of the
season and didn’t go to the Sun Bowl.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do
at that time,” Reed said. “My team
mates helped me through it and
coach, Jerry Matson, Demetrius
(Williams) and all the other guys
were there for me.”
Another tough thing for Reed was
knowing his 17-year-old brother was
without his mother now. He knew if
he left school to go back, that would
not have been what his mother
would have wanted.
“My mother would want me to get
my education and become the first to
graduate from college in my family,”
Reed said.
He knew his brother would hurt
because of his mother’s loss and his
presiding in Eugene.
“It’s kind of hard because you can
only do so much over the phone,”
Reed said. “He’s never had that fa
ther figure, and he really doesn’t un
derstand how to listen to his elders,
especially since our mother passed. I
Ramone Reed
intercepted a
pass against
Idaho earlier in
the season. The
senior leads
Oregon with 19
tackles.
Danielle Hickey
Photo editor
was really the only one who could
put my knee down on his neck. ”
Beyond Oregon
Though this season has been suc
cessful for Reed, he says football is
taking a toll on his body.
Once he finishes at Oregon, the fam
ily and human services major wants to
start his own Big Brother program and
give back to the community.
“I want to work with troubled
youth because I was heading in the
same direction,” Reed said. “There
was a time that I dropped out of
school myself, but football is the rea
son for me to come back.”
Head coach Mike Bellotti said Reed
is one of the bright spots on this Ore
gon football team.
“We talk all the time about Ramone
overcoming all the difficulties in deal
ing with losing your family,” Bellotti
said. “It has lead me to be very proud
of Ramone and pleased with what he
has done. He’s doing the things he
needs to do to graduate, get his degree,
play football and to hopefully ensure a
bright future for himself.”
clayton)ones@dailyemerald. com
Preview: Putting pressure on Swogger key for Ducks
Continued from page 2B
speed to make things happen with
his legs.
In order for the passing game to
thrive, Oregon needs to establish the
run. Washington State ranks second
in the Pac-10 in pass defense but sits
in the bottom half of the conference
against the run. Running back Ter
rence Whitehead has rushed for 330
yards in 63 carries this season and
will need a solid game Saturday. The
last time an Oregon running back
had a big day in Pullman was when
Onterrio Smith exploded for 285
yards in 2001.
The Ducks will be facing a Cougar
defense led by first team All-Pac-10
linebacker Will Derting. The junior
has racked up 30 tackles and a sack
this season. Safety Hamza Abdullah
has 18 tackles and a sack.
Defensively, the Ducks will be fac
ing the nation’s 12th-best passing at
tack and sophomore quarterback
Josh Swogger. The Cougars are aver
aging 283 yards passing per game,
and the Youngstown, Ohio native has
thrown for 795 yards and nine touch
downs. Swogger is susceptible to
pressure, however, and has complet
ed less than 50 percent of his passes.
If Oregon can get a pass rush from
the defensive line, the young quarter
back can be rattled.
Eugene native and Sheldon High
School graduate Alex Brink has passed
for 278 yards and a score as a backup.
Chris Bruhn is Washington State’s
leading rusher with 243 yards on 58
carries. Allen Thompson and Jerome
Harrison have two rushing touch
downs apiece.
The Cougars are also solid on spe
cial teams. Punter Kyle Basler has
been named conference special
teams player of the week twice al
ready this year and boomed an 87
yard punt against Arizona. Kicker
Loren Langley has struggled with
field goals, however, connecting on
just two of five.
jonmetman@dailyemerald. com
IN BRIEF
Minnesota seeks revenge for
Michigan's comeback win
A year later, the memory still
stings Minnesota coach Glen
Mason.
The unbeaten Golden Gophers
were dominating Michigan by
three touchdowns with a quarter
left, yet ended up losing 38-35.
“Do you really think that I have
to remind them we blew a 21
point lead in the fourth quarter
against Michigan last year? I don’t
think so,” Mason said. “That’s not
something we are very proud of,
but that’s not Michigan’s fault,
that’s our fault. Michigan did what
they were supposed to do.”
Mason said the idea that his
team is out for redemption when
it takes on the No. 14 Wolverines
in the Big House on Saturday is
downright laughable.
“This idea of revenge, you
waste time thinking about last
year and all those kind of silly
things, you’re not going to have a
chance,” Mason said. "That
(revenge talk) is all rhetoric. It all
sounds good until the first play
when you get punched in
the mouth, then you forget about
that stuff and it’s back to playing
football. ”
The game will likely revolve
around the elemental subplot
of Minnesota wanting to run the
ball and Michigan wanting to
stop them.
The Golden Gophers are
muscling their way to 323 yards a
game on the ground, third best in
the country. They have the na
tion’s top 1-2 punch in Laurence
Maroney and Marion Barber III,
fifth and eighth, respectively, in
the country.
Michigan permits just 47 rush
ing yards a game — not even a
productive drive for the 13th
ranked Gophers.
“That’s going to be motivating,”
Wolverines safety Ryan Mundy
said. “We want to stay number
one. ”
— The Associated Press
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