Sports
Oregon Daily Emerald
Monday, October 17, 2005
“One player was lost because he broke his nose.
How do you go about getting a nose
in condition for football?”
Former Texas football coach Darrell Royal on injuries
resulting from poor physical conditioning
■ Football recap
Ducks defeat Washington, 45-21
Marcus Larson | For the Emerald
Running back Terrence Whitehead (24) rushed for 44 yards; and hauled in 59 receiving yards, and scored a
touchdown in Saturday's game ag^nst Washington. Whitehead became the third Oregon player to reach 1,000
career rushing and receiving yards.
Haloti Ngata and Devan Long
provide power in front of QB
Kellen Clemens in a Ducks win
BY LUKE ANDREWS
SPORTS REPORTER
It took time for the No. 20 Ducks (6-1 overall,
3-1 conference) to get warmed u^ , but when
they did, any hopes of the upset-minded Wash
ington Huskies (1-5,0-3) were quickly dashed as
the Ducks won 45-21 in front of 58,269 — the
fourth largest crowd at Autzen Stadium ever.
Oregon fumbled on the first two plays of its
first two possessions, one of which resulted in a
Washington score when quarterback Isaiah Stan
back hit Anthony Russo for a 26-yard touchdown
pass to put the Huskies ahead 7-0.
Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens quickly
rallied the Ducks, however, assembling an eight
play 86-yard drive, capped by one of two
Clemens’ touchdown passes to wideout
Demetrius Williams.
The touchdown began a streak of 38 points
in the game for the Ducks, who beat the
Huskies for the second straight year at home.
“It’s a great win. The way we started off made
it an even better win,” Oregon head coach Mike
RECAP, page 12
■ Football notes
Offensive line superior
in thrashing of Huskies
Kellen Clemens'Autzen-record
36 completed passes helps lead
Oregon to its sixth win overall
BY SHAWN MILLER
SPORTS EDITOR
It was Oregon’s defensive line that domi
nated for the second consecutive game.
The Ducks allowed less than 3.5 yards per
rush on 35 attempts. In fact, the -Huskies
rushed 11 times for 50 yards in the fourth
quarter — mostly against the reserves.
“Throughout the whole week we’ve been
studying their weaknesses,” Haloti Ngata
said of Washington’s offensive line. “They
play light on their feet. We decided that if we
basically push them back we can get to their
quarterback. ... My game plan was to push
them back and open up holes for our defen
sive ends and linebackers to get the sacks.”
Ngata and fellow defensive lineman Devan
Long keyed the attack. Long recorded seven
tackles, two of which were sacks and four to
tal tackles for a loss of 13 yards.
However, Long said Ngata is the differ
ence-maker for Oregon.
“I love having him on my side,” Long said.
“He’s just a plug. Our two tackles are doing
all the work and they are letting me and Vic
(Filipe) just run around and be the little
quick guys and make plays.”
The two veterans on the defensive front
have led an Oregon defense that has allowed
a minuscule 108.4 rushing yards per game
average this season, ranking third in the
Pacific-10 Conference. The Ducks have also
given up only six rushing touchdowns, tied
for second best in the conference.
“Haloti Ngata compressed that pocket all
day today,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti
said. “I really thought our defense played
very, very well today in containing (Stan
back) and the rest of their offense.”
Washington finished with 238 yards of to
tal offense, 148 yards below its average. The
Ducks held the Huskies to 131 yards of total
offense through three quarters.
“I was very disappointed with our team
today,” Washington head coach Tyrone
Willingham said. “I thought we had
some opportunities today that we didn’t
cash in on.”
NOTES, page 12
THE PITS BACK IN BUSINESS
Zane Rrrr | photographer
Six-foot point guard Aaron Brooks (0) is assisted by 7-foot
Ray Schafer last Friday during a slam dunk contest at
Midnight Madness. Oregon was one of five schools to
have its opening practice broadcast live on ESPNU.
Notre Dame shows its mettle in defeat
BY TOM COYNE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Even in defeat, Notre Dame played like
a champion against top-ranked Southern
California.
More so than the Fighting Irish did during
an 8-0 start under Tyrone Willingham three
years ago. More so than when they lost in
overtime to No. 1 Nebraska in 2000 on their
way to the Fiesta Bowl. More like a champion
than at any time since beating No. 1 Florida
State in 1993.
Charlie Weis couldn’t pull out the victory
against the Trojans on Saturday, losing 34-31,
but he pulled out all the stops in waking the
echoes. He managed the clock, he managed
the crowd and, even in losing, he managed to
restore the glory that’s been missing from
Notre Dame for 12 years.
“They’re going to be a real problem for
everybody,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “I
don’t see any way that they’re not going to be
a really good program.”
The Irish (4-2) shined as brightly on a sun
ny autumn afternoon as the school’s Golden
Dome, freshly gilded with 23.9-karat gold leaf
this summer for the first time since 1988 — the
school’s last national championship season.
The tarnish of recent years suddenly disap
peared. Two straight non-winning seasons
seemed as far away as Willingham in Wash
ington. The days of Lou Holtz, Dan Devine
and Ara Parseghian suddenly seem more fresh
in the memory.
How impressive were the Irish? Despite the
loss, they stayed at No. 9 in the poll. Sure, the
Irish were ranked higher three years ago after
beating No. 11 Florida State, moving up to
No. 4 after improving to 8-0. But that squad
seemed to win with smoke and mirrors. In two
of those wins the offense failed to score a
touchdown, and the Irish finished the season
with the nation’s lOth-worst offense.
This year’s team is 12th in the nation in to
tal offense, and that’s against the toughest part
of its schedule.
More importantly, Weis is making believers
NOTRE DAME, page 12
■ In my opinion
SHAWN MILLER
FULL-COURT PRESS
Crown the
Pac-10 as
king of all
conferences
The Pacific-10 Conference produces the
most exciting and unpredictable games in the
nation. Therefore, it is the best conference.
I know that a lot of people would love to
debate that, and there are good arguments for
other conferences, such as the Big Ten,
Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conferences.
But let’s look at all of the major conferences
and eliminate them one by one.
First, the ACC. Sure, there are four
ranked teams, including two in the top 10.
But the bottom line is that they aren’t pro
ducing shocking games. If you exclude Vir
ginia’s home victory over then-No. 4 Flori
da State Saturday, how many other upsets
have there been?
The only legit team the ACC boasts is
third-ranked Virginia Tech. If you put No. 13
Boston College, No. 11 Florida State or No. 6
Miami against any one of the top four teams
in the Pac-10,1 could almost guarantee you
that the West Coast would be the victor.
Then there is the Big Ten. Penn State
represents the league with a No. 12 rank
ing, followed by Ohio State at 14, No. 19
Wisconsin and No. 22 Michigan State.
Once again, four ranked teams, but not
one stands above the rest. There is great
parity in the Big Ten, which has led to sev
eral exciting games and it shows with
Northwestern sitting in the top half of the
conference standings. So I can’t honestly
dog too much on the Big Ten; just believe
me ... they are second best to the Pac-10.
The SEC is overrated. Flat out, No. 4 Geor
gia and No. 5 Alabama are over/under killers
on the betting line. They couldn’t spread
peanut butter and jelly on bread, much less
the point spread on a football game. Seventh
ranked LSU should have lost to Arizona State
earlier this year. They have three other teams,
Auburn, Tennessee and Florida, ranking 16
through 18, respectively. I think everyone has
seen Tennessee’s and Florida’s collapses this
season. Both are way overrated and basically,
that is all you can say about this conference.
So that leaves the Pac-10 on top. USC
has held the No. 1 ranking for more than
two years. UCLA has escaped near misses
all season and ranks eighth. Oregon has
climbed to No. 15 with California dropping
to No. 25. Four teams are ranked, just like
two other conferences.
My guess is that a majority of pollsters look
at nothing more than game scores when de
termining where West Coast teams sit on the
chart. In the end, the only things you can
judge a conference on are its non-league
schedule and record and its parity from top
to bottom.
The Pac-10 has been the conference that
beats itself up every week. The non-league
record shows this year so give the Pac-10 the
respect it deserves — as the top conference
in the country.
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