12A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
JUSTIN
HERBERT
Oregon QB
AP Photo
Detroit QB Matthew Stafford
Staff ord, Lions
agree to richest
contract in NFL
DETROIT — Matthew Staf-
ford has made a home in the
Motor City, leading the Detroit
Lions on the fi eld and becoming
a fi rst-time father with twin girls
earlier this year.
“Aggressive start,” Stafford
recently cracked.
The Lions, likewise, made an
aggressive move to keep their
franchise quarterback around for
many more years with the richest
contract in NFL history.
Stafford agreed to a $135 mil-
lion extension, according to a per-
son familiar with the deal. The
person spoke to The Associated
Press on condition of anonym-
ity because fi nancial terms of the
contract were not disclosed. The
team announced the fi ve-year
deal keeps Stafford under contract
through the 2022 season.
The 29-year-old was entering
the last year of his $53 million,
three-year deal.
Baltimore jumps
past Seattle in
wild-card race
BALTIMORE — Adam Jones
hit a record-breaking home run,
Welington Castillo had three hits
and two RBIs and Baltimore beat
the Seattle Mariners 7-6 Monday
night for its fi fth straight victory.
Chris Davis doubled in the tie-
breaking run in the seventh inning
for the resurgent Orioles, who
climbed over .500 (66-65) for the
fi rst time since June 11.
Following a three-game sweep
in Boston with a 16-hit attack
against the Mariners, Baltimore
jumped past Seattle (66-66) to
within 1 ½ games of idle Min-
nesota for the fi nal AL wild-card
spot.
Jones’ solo home run in the
fi fth inning gave him 25 for an
Orioles-record seventh consecu-
tive season. He shared the mark of
six with Cal Ripken Jr.
Washington
without LB Victor
SEATTLE — No. 8 Washing-
ton will be without AP All-Amer-
ican linebacker Azeem Victor for
Friday’s opener at Rutgers after
he was suspended one game for a
violation of team rules.
Washington coach Chris
Petersen announced Victor’s sus-
pension on Monday but did not
specify the violation. The Huskies
will also be without cornerback
Austin Joyner after he was sus-
pended two games, also for violat-
ing team rules. Joyner was in the
mix to be a starter at cornerback,
where the Huskies are trying to
replace two starters.
—Associated Press
BECOMING
A LEADER
AP Photos
Oregon QB focused on developing leadership skills, getting stronger
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
E
UGENE — Oregon quarterback
Justin Herbert had what was essen-
tially a two-pronged approach to
the offseason: Become stronger
and become a leader.
Herbert put on muscle, prompting Ducks
fi rst-year coach Willie Taggart to joke that
the sophomore signal-caller kept strutting
around shirtless. Herbert worked on the lead-
ership part, too, as a counselor at the Man-
ning camp in Louisiana.
“I’ve seen Justin grow a lot. I mean, he’s
giving off a lot of confi dence, especially to
the other players, to show he’s that guy,” run-
ning back Royce Freeman said. “We’re defi -
nitely following behind him and we trust him
fully.”
Thrust into a role as Oregon’s starting
quarterback as a freshman last season when
graduate transfer Dakota Prukop strug-
gled, Herbert would go on to play in nine
games, throwing for 1,936 yards with 19
touchdowns.
Herbert goes into this season knowing
he’s the starter. The Ducks open at home on
Saturday afternoon against Southern Utah.
It will be the Oregon debut for Taggart,
who is looking to rebuild a team that went
4-8 overall for the Ducks’ fi rst losing season
since 2004.
Taggart comes to Eugene after four years
at South Florida, where he guided the Bulls
from a 2-10 record his fi rst year to a 10-2
mark last year and a spot in the Birmingham
Bowl. Before that he spent three seasons at
his alma mater, Western Kentucky, inheriting
a winless program that he turned around with
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Volleyball — Knappa at Warrenton, 6
p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Volleyball — Catlin Gabel at Astoria,
6 p.m.; Knappa at Clatskanie, 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
Girls soccer — Astoria at Rainier,
4:15 p.m.
Boys soccer — Corbett at Astoria
(at Volunteer Field), 4 p.m.; Seaside at
North Marion, 4 p.m.
FRIDAY
Football — Astoria at North Bend, 6
p.m.; Seaside at Newport, 7 p.m.; War-
renton at Knappa, 7 p.m.; Nestucca at
Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Cross country — Ultimook Invitation-
al, 8:15 a.m.
SEASON OPENER: DUCKS
• Southern Utah Thunderbirds
at Oregon Ducks
• Saturday, 5:15 p.m. TV: PAC12 Network
back-to-back winning seasons.
Known for being soft-spoken and shy,
Herbert said he’s talked with his new head
coach about what it means to be a leader.
“I think just realizing that the quarterback
has to step up. The team needs to be led,”
Herbert said. “Coach Taggart and I have
talked about how I need to step up and be
more vocal for the betterment of the team. So
I’ve put my shyness away and I’ve tried to
come out a little more and talk.”
Herbert understands that his introverted
approach last season may have hindered the
Ducks.
“Last year I think I didn’t do a good job
Former MSU coach Heathcote dies at 90
By LARRY LAGE
Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
Justin
Herbert
of being vocal or talking very much. So I
think it kind of hurt us from a strategy stand-
point. I didn’t have the comfortability to go
to the offensive linemen or the running backs
or the receivers,” Herbert said. “But I think
just being more comfortable around them has
been super helpful.”
Part of his transformation was the result
of the time he spent this summer at the Man-
ning Passing Academy. Among his fellow
counselors were USC’s Sam Darnold and
Washington’s Jake Browning.
Herbert also bulked up over the summer,
putting on some 15 pounds, and his arms are
noticeably bigger. His new 6-foot-6 body
prompted a bit of good-natured chiding from
the team.
“He’s gained about 15 pounds since last
year, and Justin’s walking outside with his
shirt off now. And if you all know Justin, that
wasn’t him before. But he’s laughing. He’s
hanging out with his guys,” Taggart said.
Freeman joked: “We’re trying to beg him,
‘Just please put your shirt on.’”
Herbert, who sheepishly said his phy-
sique has “been exaggerated a little bit,” is
more focused on the process. The Ducks are
expected to have a transition season as Tag-
gart installs his system: Oregon was selected
to fi nish fourth in the Pac-12 North.
Herbert believes the future is bright.
“We just have to listen to the guys who
have been there. We’ve got multiple guys on
our team who have been in a national cham-
pionship and have played there. We’ve got
coaches who’ve coached in big games and
they know what it takes. And the players
do, too,” he said. “I think just listening to
them and following the game plan will get
us there.”
Jud Heathcote, who led Michigan
State and Magic Johnson to the 1979
NCAA championship, has died. He
was 90.
The school announced Heath-
cote died Monday in Spokane,
Washington.
Spartans coach Tom Izzo was
hired by Heathcote as a part-time
assistant in 1983. With Heathcote’s
support, Izzo was promoted to replace
him when he retired in 1995.
“The basketball world is a sadder
place today with the passing of Jud
Heathcote,” Izzo said. “No one cared
more about the welfare of the game
than Jud. He was a coach’s coach and
a mentor to many.
“Our hearts are fi lled with sad-
ness and deepest sympathy for his
wife Beverly and the Heathcote fam-
ily. Michigan State has lost one of
its icons today. And yet, nothing can
erase his impact on the program, the
players he coached and the coaches he
mentored. Spartan basketball is what
it is today because of Jud Heathcote.”
Heathcote won 340 games, three
Big Ten titles and appeared in nine
NCAA tournaments during his
19-year career at Michigan State.
He was inducted into the National
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in
2009 along with Johnson and Larry
Bird, whose Indiana State team lost
to the Heathcote-led Spartans in the
1979 fi nal.
The National Association of Bas-
ketball Coaches gave Heathcote the
Golden Anniversary Award for 50
years of service in 2001, when he was
also inducted into the Michigan State
Athletics Hall of Fame.
AP Photo/Al Goldis
Members of Michigan State’s 1979 NCAA championship basketball
team, including front row from left, Jay Vincent, Terry Donnelly, Earvin
“Magic” Johnson, coach Jud Heathcote and Gerald Gilkie, hold the
championship trophy during a ceremony commemorating the 30th an-
niversary of the event.