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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 2005)
RSITY HEALTH CENTER Parents, we keep your ducks healthy* HERE'S HOW: physicians & nurse practitioners pSygcost pharmacy • Dental Clinic ■p & Sports Medicine • Allergy & asthma clinics • Mental health services " Travel Clinic * Diabetes management OPEN DAILY AMD WEEKENDS: Mcnday/WetheiSay/Tfcarsday Friday 8 a.m.- 6 p.m. Tuesday 9 a.m.* 6pm Safyrdty/Sanday 10 a.m.*2 p m APPOINTMENTS & AFTER HOURS: Oregon aims for more touchdowns, fewer field goals BY SHAWN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR Oregon, 9-1 in home openers un der head coach Mike Bellotti, is looking forward to erasing the bad taste from its mouth after the last home game, a 34-26 loss to UCLA. The Ducks have that opportunity on Saturday, hosting the University of Montana Grizzlies, a Division I-AA school out of the Big Sky Conference. Typically, a Pacific-10 Conference school matched up against a Division I-AA opponent should be a laugh, but nobody at Oregon is smiling at the thought of the Grizzlies. “We are not taking them lightly,” Oregon cornerback Aaron Gipson said. “We are just going to come out, play hard, play fast and come out with a win.” That is probably for the best after last season’s home-opener debacle, when the Ducks committed seven turnovers in a losing effort to Indiana. “They (Montana) are a dam good football team,” Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens said. “We’ve got to be ready, and after last year we will be. ” The loss started the season in a downward spiral, eventually leaving Oregon with its first losing season in 10 years and in Bellotti’s tenure. The lessons were learned, and after be ginning the season with a victory last week at Houston, the Ducks feel confident that they are headed in the right direction early. Bellotti spent the week focusing on "special teams coverage, kickoff coverage, consistency in where we kick the ball off, no break downs in the secondary, not giving up the big play and a reduction in penalties.” Last year the Ducks were flagged for 877 yards and were the worst in the Pac-10, recording an average of 79.7 penalty yards per game. Little changed against Houston; Oregon committed 12 penalties for 105 yards. A lack of experience is what Bellotti said could lead to the miscues. “Every year we are a young team,” Bellotti said. “We have 12 or 13 seniors on this team, which is scary. That is the least I’ve had since the Cotton Bowl year.” Offensively, Bellotti wants pro ductivity in the red zone, with fewer field goals and more touchdowns. Despite kicker Paul Martinez’s record-tying effort of five made field goals in six attempts against Hous ton, touchdowns are worth double the points, and that is what Bellotti wants to see on the scoreboard. “We moved the ball well. We did not score as many touchdowns as we would like,” Bellotti said. “We had opportunities in the red zone; we didn’t convert them for a variety of reasons.” Two key statistics that show im provement are that the Ducks held Houston to 31 percent on third down conversions, while posting nearly a 50 percent completion rate, PREVIEW, page 12 Stephen Pinchback I The Daily Cougar Quarterback Kellen Clemens will showcase the new Duck offense in front of the home crowd for the first time this season Saturday against Montana. Clemens was the Pacific-10 Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 348 yards and two touchdowns last week at Houston. I Shane MacIntyre I leads a balanced ! defensive attack I from the inside linebacker I position. I MacIntyre | recorded a I team-high 94 tackles last season. COURTESY Oregon Daily Emerald Newsroom f541 Display Advertising (541 Classified Advertising (541 346-5511 346-3712 346-4343 Now in its 14th year, Game Day is published every Friday throughout football season and is distributed on campus, at distribution sites around Eugene and at Autzen Stadium the day of home games. Game Day is published by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. The Emerald operates independently of the UO with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. 0230201 Oregon Daily Emerald | P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 | www.dailyemerald.com