■ Stanford notes
Stanford defense continues
to perform under pressure
To complement its deep defensive line, the Cardinal
offense has stepped up production this season
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Stanford’s veteran defense has giv
en the Cardinal a much needed boost
this season.
The Cardinal (4-2 overall, 2-1 Pacif
ic-10 Conference) has alternated its
most recent win, a 23-17 final at
Washington State last Saturday, and
a victory against Washington with
losses against USC and Notre Dame.
"It was nice to win (against Wash
ington State),” Stanford head coach
Buddy Teevens said, “but we need to
play much better."
Stanford watched its lead of 20-3
dissipate in the fourth quarter as the
Cougars tacked on two touchdowns
to narrow the game to three points.
Cardinal kicker Michael Sgroi hit his
third field goal of the night to inflate
Stanford’s cushion and solidify its
first Pac-10 road win since 2001.
Despite Washington State over
shadowing Stanford in passing (257
yards to 244) and rushing (180-139),
the Cardinal snagged the ballgame
defensively with three interceptions,
two quarterback sacks and one
fumble recovery.
Nine starters returned to Stanford’s
defense for the 2004 season, and 10 of
the 11 starting positions are held by up
perclassmen. Junior Kevin Schimmel
mann is one of three returning line
backers and has the team-high mark of
43 tackles. Seniors Jared Newberry
and David Bergeron make up the core
of Stanford’s linebackers, and junior
Jon Alston reinforces the squad, lead
ing the team with four sacks.
Stanford has adopted a 3-4 defen
sive alignment to augment its
strengths on the field; mainly its ag
gressive group of linebackers.
“We made the switch to put more
athleticism on the field, and it's
worked so far," Teevens said. “One of
the premises behind it is to keep peo
ple guessing. ”
Free safety Oshiomogho Atogwe is
one of six seniors who have come
back for a fifth year to the Cardinal
program. He has led the Cardinal in
tackles during the last two seasons.
This year, Atogwe has recorded two
interceptions, two forced fumbles
and is second on the team with 39
tackles. In the last 28 games, he has
snagged seven interceptions, recov
ered seven fumbles and forced 11.
Leigh Torrance accounted for two of
STANFORD, page 8B
Courtesy | Stanford Athletic Department
Cardinal wide receiver Evan Moore creates height mismatches with his 6-foot-7 frame
The sophomore from Brea, Calif., also plays on the Stanford basketball team.
■ In my opinion
Ducks mid-season report card stuck at satisfactory
The Ducks are halfway through
their season, and it is time for their
midterm grades.
While Oregon’s GPA (gridiron per
formance assessment) has been on the
rise, it hasn’t reached a level that satis
fies professor Mike Bellotti. Here are
the Ducks’ mid-season grades given by
Dean Jones.
Offense: C +
Comments: shows signs of im
provement
I know some of you are thinking,
“These guys just put up over 1,100
yards of offense in the last two games;
how can you give them a C + ?”
I’ll tell you how. Remember a time
not too long ago when the Ducks treat
ed the end zone like the Pacific Ocean
(at the Oregon Coast): They’d get close
enough to look at it, but never get in.
But did they ever turn it around.
They had a tough early quiz with
Oklahoma, but the syllabus doesn’t
foresee a tougher opponent.
Kellen Clemens has aced his last
two exams against Washington State
and Arizona. In fact, he earned some
...
extra credit by accounting for all six
touchdowns against the Cougars.
Terrence Whitehead has estab
lished himself as one of the top run
ning backs in the conference. He is
third in the Pacific-10 Conference in
rushing and has looked like a pinball
bouncing off defenders this year.
The downfall for the offense has
been its protection of Clemens. Seen
as an upside coming into the season,
the Ducks’ senior-laden offensive line
has given up the most sacks in the
Pac-10 this year with 20. This must
improve for Oregon to keep its signal
caller safe and prevent a major injury.
Defense: B
Comment: going above and
beyond in class
We all knew coming into the sea
son that Oregon’s defensive line was
going to be tough if the players stayed
healthy. It’s not a deep squad, but the
likes of Haloti Ngata, Devan Long,
Robby Valenzuela and Chris
Solomona have been a force.
Long is making his way to the top
of the class at Oregon with five sacks
*5» «*« »** »*»« *Ua' i—.1
CLAiTON JONES
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
in six games this season. He is now
seventh all-time at Oregon with 17
sacks. Ngata showed against Arizona
why he is such a dominant force and
corralled a team-high eight tackles,
including three for a loss.
The linebackers have performed
well, maybe even above expectation.
Seniors Jerry Matson and Ramone
Reed, along with junior Anthony
'Rucks and freshman A.J. Tliitele have
helped a formidable defense that ranks
third in the Pac-10 in rush defense.
There have been times when it ap
pears that the linebackers have
missed assignments that led to touch
downs (i.e. the Arizona State game).
The surprise of the season may be
the way the secondary has played.
The Ducks rank first in the confer
ence and 23rd in the nation in pass
defense. Aaron Gipson appears to be
reaching his potential, and true fresh
man Jackie Bates has stepped in and
done a great job.
Sophomore J.D. Nelson seems to
be taking over right where Keith
Lewis left off, and though Marley
Tlicker is lost for most of the season
with a dislocated elbow, junior
Justin Phinisee has made the transi
tion from corner to rover quite
smoothly.
Special teams: D
Comment: needs extra attention
outside class
A staple for Oregon football since
Bellotti took over has been its excep
tional special teams play, but this sea
son has been different.
The kicking game is down, kickoff
and punt coverage has been less
than-stellar and the return game —
minus Phinisee last week — hasn’t
performed up to standard.
Has anybody seen Jared Siegel?
Granted he has only had the oppor
tunity to kick sue field goals this sea
son, but he made only three and has
misses from 25 and 35 yards away.
The punting situation hasn’t been
much better. Transfer David Dittman
took over for Paul Martinez and is
ranked last in the Pac-10 in punting, av
eraging 38.3 yards per kick.
Overall GPA: 2.1
Comment: satisfactory
While many wouldn’t call Ore
gon’s season satisfactory, the Ducks
are only halfway through the sea
son. Basically, they crammed for the
Pac-10 season after a non-confer
ence schedule the team seemed to
sleep through.
If they can avoid stupid penalties,
have their defense continue to play
well and if the offense puts consistent
points on the board, their GPA could
improve.
Class dismissed.
claytonjones@dailyemerald.com
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