In my opinion
The key to a perfect season lies in the coach's thumbs
I am a superior coach/player and I
will win the national championship
this season.
With all of the talk about Oregon
and its No. 13 ranking in the first BCS
poll, I think it is time to point out my
success. Without tooting my own
horn, I remain undefeated. I didn’t
lose to top-ranked USC. In fact, I
came up with a game-winning touch
down in the final minute to seal the
Trojans’ fate. And the other games
were cakewalks.
I do want to make one thing clear,
the only icing I do after a game is on
my thumbs. I am tough, but so is each
and every team I play.
Well... let me back up a bit. I play
NCAA Football on my Playstation2
every week. My ritual is to play
whomever the Ducks are playing that
-’week in a pre-game game. I have
been doing it for years, and I have
been winning for years.
It began as a young boy’s passion
for the sport of football. The night be
fore each game, my best friend and I
would sit down and battle it out. In the
end, Mighty Oregon would * rout
whichever team it would play and the
excitement would carry over to the
next day’s game.
I have played some three-plus hour
games at all times of the night, usually
ending with more than 1,000 yards of
total offense and nearly 75 points. And
the nice thing is when I am running
low on time, I pick how long I want the
game to go.
I can remember this one game
last year. I swear my offense could
n’t move down the field late in the
fourth quarter. 1 went three and out
on three consecutive possessions,
while my friend erased a two-touch
down deficit to take the lead. Down
by five and with less than a minute
to play, I turned the ball over. Son of
a bi... I was so pissed! But I didn’t
give up. He wanted to rub my face
in it. "I\vo plays later he was in my
red zone. A smart-ass comment and
one play later, I had intercepted the
ball and returned it to the 15-yard
SHAWN MILLER
FULL-COURT PRESS
line. I knew I could do it. It didn’t
matter that the win was 85 yards
away and the clock was under 20
seconds. I had no time-outs, so I
had to let it fly.
“Forget the prevent, why don’t you
blitz, wimp,” I hollered.
That was all I needed because guess
who caught the ball, outran the de
fense and won the game in the final
seconds? That’s right, I did.
TWo nights ago I played Arizona and
it didn’t start out so well. I overlooked
them and before I was able to turn
back, I was down 21-7. Three times an
Arizona receiver had gotten behind my
defense for a long touchdown. I knew
what I had to do: Establish the run.
I used my running back on nearly
every down for an entire posses
sion, working down to tie the game.
I even went on to force the run,
which in turn, brought eight or nine
defenders into the box. Thank you.
A play-action pass later, the game
was tied with 32 seconds remain
ing. I did force a three and out, had
a shot at a 51-yard field goal as time
ran out, but 1 pulled a Florida State,
and missed it wide right.
Both teams missed long field goals
in the first overtime, I ran the ball each
time on a three-play touchdown drive
in the second (JT, and I picked off an
errant pass to seal the 28-21 victory.
Great comeback, but I should have be
on my ‘A’ game.
Now, I want the Ducks to continue
to be successful and garner all the
praise and spotlight. But it isn’t fair
when a one-loss team gets more at
tention than an undefeated. It is time
to give me my props and until I lose,
cheer for me to represent the Ducks
in the Rose Bowl. That is the kind of
fun I have.
Playing NCAA Football is all the
craze now. It doesn’t matter how old
or young you are, as long as you know
the difference between a triangle,
square, circle and X. Even Oregon has
a simulated version of its upcoming
game each week on its website.
I have played coundess games and
won every time. It doesn’t matter if it
is a blowout or a barnburner down to
the final possession. I have come up
with game-saving picks in the end
zone in the closing seconds and three
quarters of the field bombs over the
defensive backs outstretched arms on
a hail mary.
In the end I finish with a ‘W’ and
if it looks like I won’t, then I hit that
little button on the back that restarts
the game.
Because it doesn’t count as a loss if
it hasn’t gone final.
smiller@dailyemercdd.com
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■ In my opinion
Ducks'past provides incentive
for seniors to continue legacy
Kellen Clemens to Demetrius
Williams: It’s a combination that
has connected 41 times for 772
yards and eight touchdowns this
season. They are a pair of senior
leaders who are getting the job done
for the 15th-ranked Oregon Ducks.
Terrence Whitehead is another. He
strikes fear in opposing defenses with
his running and pass-catching abili
ties, deceptive mixture of strength
and speed and his pure tenacious,
play-to-the-whistle attitude.
Defensively, Anthony TYucks, De
van Long, Aaron Gipson and Justin
Phinisee are others.
Indeed, the list of senior leader
ship on this year’s Oregon squad is
distinguished and they’ve helped
make last season’s dismal 5-6
record a distant memory.
“There are a lot of seniors and, as
I’ve said before, those seniors are com
ing to the forefront because they are
also our performers and our contribu
tors,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti
said. “Their voice, their word, carries
more weight because they are also do
ing it on the field.”
Their evident on-field talents aside,
this group possesses the one intangible
that cannot be taught — experience.
Truly, they’ve seen the best of
times and the worst of times in their
LUKE ANDREWS
EXCESSIVE CELEBRATION
four years with the Ducks.
Take the 2002 season for example.
After starting the season 6-0, Jason
Fife and the one-time No. 6 Ducks lost
six of their last seven games, including
the Seattle Bowl to Wake Forest.
Oregon is currently 6-1. The dif
ferences between the 2002 squad
and this year’s team are undeniable.
The 2005 Oregon Ducks are say
ing the right things, doing the right
things, and know what it takes to
avoid a monumental slide that par
allels that fateful 2002 season.
“We’ve been here when we’re re
ally good and we’ve been here
when we’ve been bad,” Long, the
team’s sack leader, said. “We know
what it takes to win and we know
what not to do to lose.”
Clemens and company are also
without the pressure of following
the most successful season — and
team — in Oregon history as the
2002 team was forced to do after
Joey Harrington’s drive to the Fiesta
Bowl and 11-1 record in 2001.
Instead, the goal entering this
season was simply to restore Ore
gon’s bowl tradition, and that mis
sion was accomplished last week
end with a 45-21 thrashing of the
Huskies, which gave Oregon the
needed six wins for bowl eligibility.
The remaining schedule also
stacks more favorably for the Ducks
this season. Rather than facing
names such as Andrew Walter of
Arizona State, Carson Palmer of
USC, Reggie Williams of Washing
ton and Steven Jackson of Oregon
State, as the 2002 Ducks did, Ore
gon’s final four opponents this sea
son have a combined 4-9 Pacific-10
Conference record.
They know what is at stake and
know how to get what they want.
“Our past and history has given
us experience so we know how to
respond,” Phinisee said.
Therefore, beginning Saturday in
Tlicson, don’t expect to see a let
down from the Ducks.
These seniors won’t let it happen.
landrews@ dailyemerald, com
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