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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Everything seems to be on Wilson as Seahawks move on
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is tripped up
by Atlanta Falcons middle linebacker Deion Jones as he
scrambles in the second half Monday. The Falcons won 34-31.
SEATTLE — When he was in the
early stages of his professional career, the
Seattle Seahawks asked Russell Wilson
just to do his part.
At that time, Seattle’s defense was elite.
Their roster was young and ambitious and
the depth they amassed could overcome
seemingly any loss.
That’s not the case anymore, putting
the bulk of the responsibility on Wilson
now as the Seahawks try to make some-
thing out of this season and find their way
into the playoffs.
“He was a huge factor in the game,”
coach Pete Carroll said after Monday’s
34-31 loss to Atlanta. “He was all over the
place.”
Numerous issues arose from Seattle’s
second straight home loss. Most centered
on a couple of questionable special teams
decisions by Carroll, including his call to
go for a fake field goal late in the first half
rather than attempt a 35-yard kick. The
fake was blown up by Atlanta’s Grady Jar-
rett and Luke Willson was thrown for a
4-yard loss.
Carroll defended the decision after the
game and again Tuesday morning on his
radio show.
“I like being aggressive when we have
our chances. That was an opportunity to
score a touchdown and we thought we had
a good one,” Carroll said on KIRO-AM in
Seattle.
Aside from the special teams issues
is how dependent the Seahawks have
become on Wilson offensively. It’s one
thing to ask the quarterback to be a leader,
an efficient passer and occasionally run
when the opportunity presents itself. It’s
another to do what Seattle has asked of
Wilson through the first 10 games.
Seattle’s three currently healthy run-
ning backs — Eddie Lacy, Thomas Rawls
and J.D. McKissic — have combined for
exactly one more yard rushing (377) than
Wilson has run for this season (376). And
it doesn’t help that Seattle’s stellar defense
has been devastated by injuries to starters
Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and
Cliff Avril.
It’s all been on Wilson’s shoulders, and
likely will continue to be going forward.
Between passing and rushing, Wilson
has been responsible for 81.9 percent of
Seattle’s total offensive yards this season.
Impressive? Yes. Too much for Seattle’s
desire to be balanced and have an estab-
lished run game? Yes.
“I don’t think that it’s a lack of talent
at running back. We have some great run-
ning backs, we just have to do a little bit
better, that’s all,” Wilson said after the loss.
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Missouri’s
Porter Jr. out
for season after
back surgery
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Michael
Porter Jr. insisted before the sea-
son that he was not necessar-
ily a one-and-
done player who
would
leave
next year for
the riches of the
NBA.
The standout
Missouri fresh-
Michael
man will have
Porter Jr.
plenty of down-
time to con-
sider his future after the school
announced Tuesday that he would
miss the rest of the season follow-
ing lower back surgery. The pro-
cedure, called a microdiscetomy,
was scheduled in Dallas and the
expected recovery time is three to
four months.
The injury is a staggering blow
for last year’s top high school
recruit, just as it is for a Missouri
program excited for the future fol-
lowing his arrival and the talented
recruiting class that followed him
to Columbia.
“I cannot wait to be completely
healthy and playing the game I
love, once again,” Porter said.
Porter signed with Missouri
after originally being commit-
ted to Washington, doing so after
former Huskies coach Lorenzo
Romar was fired in March. His
father, Michael Porter Sr., was
an assistant coach at Washington
at the time and was later hired by
first-year Missouri coach Cuonzo
Martin.
The 6-foot-10 freshman
averaged 36.2 points and 13.6
rebounds per game as a senior in
high school, and he was a McDon-
ald’s All-American.
No. 18 Oregon
State women win
on road, beat NC
Central 97-44
DURHAM, N.C. — Kat Tudor
had careers-highs of 23 points and
11 rebounds, and No. 18 Oregon
State beat North Carolina Central
97-44 on Wednesday for its first
road win of the season.
The Beavers (3-1) bounced
back from a 72-67 loss against No.
6 Notre Dame on Sunday. Oregon
State stays in Durham, North Car-
olina to face No. 16 Duke on Sat-
urday before opening the Maui
Invitational on Dec. 1 against
Nevada.
Tudor was 9 of 14 from the
floor, matched a career-best with
five 3-pointers and collected her
first career double-double. Joanna
Grymek had 16 points and Marie
Gulich added 15 for Oregon State.
Rodneysha Martin scored 15
points and Kieche White had 11 to
lead North Carolina Central (1-2).
The Beavers had a double-digit
lead with four minutes left in the
first quarter, and led 51-17 at the
break. Tudor had 14 points and
eight rebounds in the first half.
— Associated Press
AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez
Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen celebrates after their 34-24 win over Oregon in last year’s Civil War game in Corvallis.
Season of change for both
Oregon and Oregon State
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
E
UGENE — Last year around this time,
Oregon’s coach was on the verge of
being dismissed and Oregon State was
about to finally win a Civil War after eight
seasons of futility.
Seems like a long time ago, now.
Oregon and Oregon State head into the
121st Civil War game Saturday looking VERY
different from last season.
Mark Helfrich was let go by Oregon just a
few days after the Ducks lost 34-24 to the Bea-
vers and finished in the basement of the Pac-
12 North. He was replaced by Willie Taggart,
whose first season in Eugene has not gone as
planned.
The Ducks started with promise and even
popped into the rankings at No. 24 with a three-
game winning streak in non-conference play.
Oregon would win four of its first five
games, but misfortune struck during the first
half of the Ducks’ 45-24 victory over Califor-
nia on Sept. 30 when starting quarterback Jus-
UP NEXT: CIVIL WAR
• Oregon State Beavers (1-10)
at Oregon Ducks (6-5)
• Saturday, 4 p.m. TV: CSNW
tin Herbert fractured his collarbone.
Herbert missed the next five games and the
Ducks won just one of those. He returned last
weekend to lead Oregon to a 48-28 victory
over Arizona. The win made the Ducks (6-5,
3-5) bowl eligible. It also left a lot of fans won-
dering how the season would have gone if Her-
bert had been healthy.
A victory against the rival Beavers would
not only put Oregon in better bowl position
with seven wins, it would also help erase the
lingering memories of last season’s loss and
perhaps even diminish the sting of the what-
ifs this season.
“I know all of them were ticked off when I
got here,” Taggart said. “You hear everybody
was ticked off. Not just our players, but every-
body. And considering it had been so long
since that happened, that really just stays with
you.”
Taggart has taken the extra step of show-
ing the team film from last season — with an
emphasis on the mistakes.
“Got to come out ready to roll and you can
throw the records out in a ballgame like this.
You’ve got to come ready to play and the team
that plays the best will be the team that wins,”
he said.
In contrast, the Beavers’ 2016 Civil War
win was a much-needed boost for a team that
was building under coach Gary Andersen —
the Beavers capped the season with four wins,
doubling the victories from the previous sea-
son, Andersen’s first.
Following the victory, the coach said:
“Huge victory. Awesome for the kids in the
program. Awesome for Beaver Nation.”
But this season didn’t go as planned for
Oregon State, either. Like the Ducks, the Bea-
vers lost their starting quarterback. Jake Luton,
a community college transfer, sustained a tho-
racic spine fracture in a loss to Washington
State, the fourth game of the season.
Gionta trades NHL for shot at representing US at Olympics
By JOHN WAWROW
Associated Press
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For some-
one once constantly told he was too
small to have an NHL future, Brian
Gionta is enjoying a few last laughs
entering the twilight of his career.
At 38, the 5-foot-7, 180-pound
forward has no regrets with the deci-
sion he made last summer to put fam-
ily and flag first to forego a chance at
playing a 17th NHL season.
Rejecting at least one contract offer
in July because it would’ve meant
relocating his wife and three children,
Gionta chose to pursue an opportu-
nity to represent the United States at
the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang,
South Korea, in February.
“It was not an easy decision by any
means, but in my heart I knew it was
the right one,” Gionta told The Asso-
ciated Press.
More important, he added, it was a
decision he could make, as opposed to
having someone else make it for him.
“You’re at peace with it at the
same time because you’re able to
have made it,” he said. “It’s working
so far.”
Gionta is enjoying the benefits of
being with his family in Buffalo while
training individually at the Sabres’
hockey complex. And then there are
the occasional trips he makes to his
native Rochester, where he has an
open invitation to practice with the
Sabres’ American Hockey League
affiliate.
As for his Olympic aspirations,
Gionta was awarded the captaincy
upon joining the U.S. National team
for a three-game Deutschland Cup
tournament in Germany two weeks
ago. National team general manager
Jim Johansson said Gionta was an
obvious choice as captain given his
accomplishments.
Aside from representing the U.S.
at the 2006 Winter Games in Italy,
Gionta has captained the Montreal
Canadiens and Sabres, and won a
Stanley Cup with the 2003 New Jer-
sey Devils. He’s scored 15 or more
goals nine times, including last year
in Buffalo, and overall has 289 goals
and 588 points in 1,006 career games.
“Early on in his career, it was obvi-
ously, ‘Is he big enough?’ or what-
ever, and people started to find out
both his compete and heart level,”
Johansson said. “There’s so many
things he can bring to us not only
as a hockey player, but there’s that
other component. And that, from a
coach’s and manager’s standpoint, is
irreplaceable.”