them and I just really enjoy this
group tremendously. Sometime things
just come together and this group
with the two senior and five juniors
just have blended together very nicely.
They complement each other very
well. They’re fun to be around.
They’re an absolute crack-up to be
in meetings with and other places.
They’re just fun, fun young men.
Potentially they are the best offensive
line I’ve had. The proof is in the
pudding and how they perform
on Saturdays. Are they right now?
Not yet.”
Igor Olshanksy, who has to play
against the offensive line: “I think
they’re a great group who play very
well together. They’re well-coached.
Players like Joey Forster, Nick Steitz,
Dan Weaver, and Adam Snyder, are
definitely top-caliber, as good as
I ever go against.” Coach Zoomer
has high praises for Joey Forster who
played without an anterior cruciate
for a whole season and had the leg
strength to do it.” That’s a special person
and he deserves all the recognition
he can get.
More About the Defensive Line:
Coach Greatwood on his D-line
Junior Siavii, a junior college
transfer in his second year had
this to say about himself and the
D-line: “I’ve been waiting for this
year to come. I’ll be ready, more
ready than last year because I was
dying last year fall camp. I’ve
been dying to play for the next
level. I’ve been waiting for that
opportunity to come. The line
is going to be ready! I’ll be ready.
This whole summer we’ve been
working out with the D-line, our
coach had been giving us new
drills that we can work on bending
our knees and all that stuff. Coach
Radcliffe gave us some new drills.
We have a bond. We’ve been
hanging out together, watching
movies, and getting to know
each other better. Our D-line
is like a family and we trust
each other. So, I think it’s
going to put more impact on
our D-line.”
Igor Olshansky had more to
say about the bond between the
lineman. “We’re so close right now
you’re playing with your friends,
it’s so much different. There’s
different levels of friendship but
we’re really, really close friends.
O F FE N SI V E GU AR D
N I CK ST E I TZ
friends and everything.
Sophomore Haloti Ngata who
was selected to the first team All-
American freshmen team has gained
20 pounds as he and Igor have
competed in the weight room.
Even though he now weighs 337,
the conditioning coach said that his
shuttle time has stayed the same.
That’s not good news for opponents.
“I’m way more comfortable coming
into this season. I’m knowing what
to expect now from fall camp and
other teams and I’m not nervous like
I was last year,” Haloti explained.
Joey Forster on the Oregon
defensive line: “They’re incredible.
In the 5 years Forster has been at
Oregon he rates this years D-line
above any opponent he has ever
faced. He said you don’t see a whole
unit that big and that good.
In talking with players on both sides
of the line they all share a common goal
of getting the bad taste of last year
out of their mouths Senior center
Dan Weaver from Redmond summed
it up: “We want to have the best season
possible like 2001. Go to the best bowl
game we can and show that we match
up with other real good teams.”
Anderson
Watchmaking
going into the first game: “I’m excited
and nervous. A lot has been said but it’s
still a relatively untested group. So, I
think we have a lot of ability I just hope
they show that. I’m confident they will.
Right now we have eight guys who can
go in there and go and when Quinn
Dorsey get back that will be 9. It’s all
going to come down to who can make
plays. He said they’ve been working real
hard on the pass rush and keeping the
quarterback in the pocket.
O F F EN S IV E TA C K LE
A DA M SN Y DE R
purchasing fine mechanical watches
We know each other’s secrets.
We hang out. I’m friends with Jason
Fife for example but he and I don’t
really hang out. It’d be different
if he played next to me. It doesn’t
take away from Jason Fife’s friendship,
it’s just a little different. If you hang
out you have that comradarie and
intensifies the competitive nature,
you’re playing for the coaches and
since 1979
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Ducks I llustrated
AUGUST 28, 2003 7