SPORTS
Saturday, December 24, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3B
College Football
Washington’s Dante Pettis realizing his potential
In this
Nov. 25
photo,
Wash-
ington
wide
receiver
Dante
Pettis
makes a
catch in
front of
Wash-
ington
State
lineback-
er Isaac
Dot-
son in
Pullman,
Wash.
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Throughout his
first two years at Washington, Dante
Pettis was regularly regarded as a
player with the potential to be great.
At times the Huskies would
be teased by what Pettis might
become. Then the wide receiver
would disappear for long stretches
and remain invisible while standing
on the field.
“I think maybe it was a little
bit of confidence,” Washington
quarterback Jake Browning said. “I
think he’s done a good job. Last year
people would get kind of physical
with him and he was kind of having
to work to get off that. Now I think
the confidence part, going into his
third year of playing — he played a
lot as a freshman and then last year
as a sophomore — you know just
taking that next step.”
That next step has come for Pettis
this season as he has grown into an
invaluable part of Washington’s
offense and one of the reasons the
Huskies find themselves in the Peach
Bowl opposite top-ranked Alabama.
While teammate John Ross has
gotten plenty of headlines for
finding the end zone 19 total times
this season, Pettis isn’t far behind
with 14 touchdown receptions and
perhaps the biggest special teams
play of the year when he returned a
AP Photo/Ted
S. Warren, File
punt 58 yards for a touchdown in the
fourth quarter to give Washington a
31-24 win at Utah .
“I knew that (my) numbers
would increase,” Pettis said. “I
wasn’t sure by how much.”
Pettis has regularly been praised
as one the most improved offensive
players from the end of the 2015
season along with running back
Lavon Coleman. Pettis said that
bump in productivity and success
came from fully buying into coach
Chris Petersen’s program.
“Coming to workouts, coming to
practice every day fully prepared,”
Pettis said. “Not like, ‘Oh, we have
another workout. Oh, we have to do
squats today, or we got a 24-period
practice.’ It’s we’re here to work
and get better.”
Browning framed it differently.
The Huskies quarterback believes
Pettis has gotten better at many of
the little things that ultimately make a
difference. Browning, a sophomore,
hopes he can make a similar jump
between his second and third seasons.
“I think he’s always worked hard
but you kind of get over that curve
where you have these little things
you need to work on,” Browning
said. “I’ll probably have the same
thing. You’ve got this curve you have
to get over and once you get over
that curve then you start playing a lot
better. I’ve thought he always worked
hard, always was a very productive
receiver. Last year he showed up on
third down and in the red zone and
I think he’s done that this year and
obviously playing really well.”
Pettis had 47 combined catches
between his freshman and sophomore
seasons, but just two receiving touch-
downs. He has surpassed that total
this season, finishing with 50 catches
and his 14 touchdowns receptions
were tied for seventh in the country.
The reception numbers were low
compared to Ross, but Pettis isn’t
often used on wide receiver screens
the same way as Ross.
“Jake’s obviously doing a lot
better. Ross coming back helped a
lot. He cleared a lot of stuff up for
everyone else on the offense,” Pettis
said. “We switched up some of the
plays we were calling. There was a
lot of stuff that went into it. I wouldn’t
say there was one thing I’ve done that
made me better this year.”
Like a number of others on the
offensive side of the ball, Pettis has
benefited from the return of Ross.
The speed and big-play ability of
Ross have forced defenses to base
much of their coverage on where he
is on the field.
Pettis has been the biggest benefi-
ciary. And it’s why he could play such
a key role against Alabama. Ross
is likely to get plenty of attention
from the Crimson Tide secondary,
meaning Pettis, Chico McClatcher,
Darrell Daniels and others must win
their matchups to provide Browning
with the options he needs.
Pettis will likely be one of Wash-
ington’s most important players
on the field on Dec. 31. And that’s
something.
“He’s special,” Ross said.
“Everything about him, his work
ethic, just his mental game, every-
thing that he’s been working for
Field goal at buzzer lifts Louisiana Tech Taggart picks
Harbaugh
pupil to coach
wide receivers
Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas —
Jonathan Barnes kicked a game-
ending 32-yard field goal and
Louisiana Tech beat Navy 48-45
in the Armed Forces Bowl on
Friday.
The Bulldogs (9-5) drove for
the winning score after Navy
freshman quarterback Malcolm
Perry ran 30 yards for a touch-
down on his only play.
Ryan Higgins threw for 409
yards and four touchdowns, two
each to Trent Taylor and Carlos
Henderson. Taylor, a 5-foot-8
senior for Louisiana Tech, set an
Armed Forces Bowl with his 12
catches for 233 yards. Henderson
had 10 catches for 129 yards.
Navy (9-5), which was
trying for its first consecutive
10-win seasons, instead ended
with its third straight loss. The
Midshipmen lost the American
Athletic Conference title game
before its first loss to Army since
2001.
Perry, whose TD with 3:46 left
tied the game for the fourth time,
came in after Zach Abey took a
shot to the ribs on a play that led
to a targeting ejection by Tech
defensive tackle Jordan Bradford.
Abey, who made only his
second start, ran for 114 yards
and two scores and threw for 159
yards and another touchdown.
TAKEAWAY
Louisiana Tech: Coach Skip
Holtz and the Bulldogs won
their third straight bowl, also
reaching nine wins for the third
consecutive season. It is the first
time as a Division I team that Tech
has accomplished both of those
feats. After falling 21-17 early in
the second quarter, the Bulldogs
regained the lead on Henderson’s
3-yard TD before Navy tied the
game for the first time — but
never went ahead again.
Navy: After being held to 270
yards rushing in the previous
two losses, this was more like
the Midshipmen triple-option
offense. They had 459 total yards,
300 on the ground. Even so, it was
a bitter end for Navy, which had
AP Photo/Jim Cowsert
Louisiana Tech kicker Jonathan Barnes (10) is swarmed by teammates Russell Farris (31) and
Eric Kendzior (47) following his winning field goal against Navy and during the second half of
the Armed Forces Bowl NCAA college football game, Friday, Dec. 23, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas.
won three straight bowl games
— a streak that started with an
Armed Forces Bowl victory three
years ago.
Bahamas Bowl
OLD
DOMINION
24,
EASTERN
MICHIGAN
20 — At Nassau, Bahamas,
David Washington came to Old
Dominion a year before the
program started its transition to
the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Five years later, he led the
Monarchs to a victory in their first
bowl game.
Washington threw three touch-
downs passes, Ray Lawry ran for
133 yards and Old Dominion beat
Eastern Michigan 24-20 on Friday
in the Bahamas Bowl.
Old Dominion (10-3) didn’t
play football for 69 years before
restarting the program in 2009.
The Monarchs started at the FCS
level and made the transition to
the FBS in 2013, where they play
in Conference USA.
“I know I haven’t been here
since the program started, but I’ve
been here five years,” Washington
said. “So it kind of feels like my
baby. We just took it to a bowl
game and won the bowl game so
it’s just really special.”
Eastern Michigan (7-6) lost
in its first bowl appearance since
1987. The Eagles were led by
Brogan Roback, who completed
26 of 46 passes for 300 yards, two
touchdowns and one interception.
Roback threw for at least 300
yards in six of his final seven
games.
“We were moving the ball,”
Roback said. “We just weren’t
really finishing.”
Old Dominion had a 10-0
halftime lead, but Eastern Mich-
igan rallied to tie it at 17 late in
the third quarter on Paul Fricano’s
24-yard field goal.
The Monarchs took the lead
for good on Washington’s third
touchdown pass, which went for 5
yards to Jonathan Duhart and put
Old Dominion up 24-17.
“We played really good foot-
ball at times, but it just wasn’t
quite good enough to win,”
Eastern Michigan coach Chris
Creighton said. “It’s a heartbroken
locker room right now. We’ve had
a wonderful week here. This isn’t
the way we wanted it to end.”
ODU controlled the game in
the first half and an impressive
47-yard touchdown throw from
Washington to Zach Pascal gave
the Monarchs their 10-0 halftime
advantage.
Washington — who was a
receiver earlier in his collegiate
career — evaded multiple
defenders on the play, before step-
ping up and throwing to Pascal in
the end zone.
Old Dominion has beaten
Eastern Michigan in each of the
past three seasons, including 17-3
in 2014 and 38-34 in 2015.
EUGENE — Willie Taggart added
a second member to his coaching
staff when he announced the hiring of
Jimmie Dougherty as wide receivers
coach on Friday.
Dougherty comes to Oregon after
spending a year under Jim Harbaugh
at Michigan, serving as an offensive
analyst for the nation’s 12th-best
scoring team (41.0 ppg).
Prior to joining Harbaugh in Ann
Arbor, Dougherty worked for three
seasons (2013-15) as assistant head
coach, wide receivers coach and passing
game coordinator
at San Jose State.
While with the
Spartans, Dough-
erty helped run an
offense that set 10
single-season team
records and saw
players establish
more than 35
individual school
Dougherty
marks.
Dougherty has
experience coaching in the Pac-12
before going to San Jose State,
coaching wide receivers at Washington
from 2009-12.
He first teamed up with Harbaugh in
2004 at San Diego, where he spent his
first four seasons with the Torreros in
multiple capacities.
Dougherty coached wide receivers in
his first year before taking over as tight
ends coach in 2005, and moved into the
role of passing game coordinator and
quarterbacks coach in 2006-07 where
he groomed Josh Johnson, the school’s
all-time leading passer.
In 2008, Dougherty was elevated
to offensive coordinator and led an
offense that averaged 35.3 points per
game.
A quarterback at Missouri for four
seasons during his playing days (1997-
2001), Dougherty began his coaching
career as a defensive backs coach at
Illinois Wesleyan during the 2002 and
2003 seasons.
Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon tearfully apologizes for punching woman
NORMAN, Okla. (AP)
— Oklahoma running back
Joe Mixon made a tearful
public apology Friday, more
than two years after punching
a woman and breaking bones
in her face.
As Oklahoma coach Bob
Stoops looked on, Mixon
spoke at a news conference
Friday afternoon, more than
two years after he assaulted
Amelia Molitor and broke
her jaw and cheekbone.
Mixon said he wanted to
address the issue earlier, but
his legal team advised him
not to.
“I’m here to apologize
to Miss Molitor,” he said. “I
apologize to Coach Stoops,
I apologize to President
(David) Boren, the AD
(athletic director Joe Casti-
glione), my teammates. And
most of all, my family. I let a
lot of people down.”
Mixon was suspended
for a year after the incident.
Though Molitor shoved and
slapped him first, Mixon said
hitting a woman is unaccept-
able, even if provoked.
“Honestly, it really don’t
matter what she did,” he said
during the 26-minute session.
“It’s all on me the reason
why we’re in this position
right now. I take full respon-
sibility of what happened that
night. It’s never OK to hit a
woman. Never. I will preach
to anybody. It’s never OK.
Hopefully to people around
the world will learn from
my mistake. I’m willing to
teach.”
The All-Big 12 performer
said if it happened now, he
would respond differently.
“If I could go back, I
would do whatever I could
to change the outcome of
that situation,” he said. “I
definitely would have walked
or ran away and went about
the situation differently. I
wouldn’t have been in that
Steve Sisney/The Oklahoman via AP
Oklahoma football player Joe Mixon speaks out for the
first time since the release of a 2014 video showing
him striking Amelia Molitor, at a press conference in
Norman, Okla., Friday.
situation.”
Mixon said he was
disappointed he let down his
team, the university and his
family. He struggled to speak
when he began talking about
the impact on his mother, a
single parent who watched
the video with him along
with Norman Police a few
days after the incident.
“My mother, she worked
hard, and I disappointed her,”
he said. “She’s my queen, and
I apologize to you, mom.”
Mixon’s legal advisers
released video of the punch
last week, and Mixon said
he wishes it had come out
sooner. Since the video came
out, there has been a backlash
against Mixon, Stoops and
the university. Mixon said
he hasn’t paid attention to
his fellow students much on
campus, but his teammates
have been supportive.
“I can’t do nothing but
thank my teammates for
lifting up my spirits,” he said.
“Just wanting me to come out
and go hard for them every
day, and I feel like honestly
that’s how I give back to
them. I can only lead by
example on and off the field
by words, by my actions.
Honestly, I’m willing to do
anything for my teammates.”
Mixon said he has
matured and learned since
July 2014.
“Well, at the time, as
you guys know, I was 17,
18 years old,” he said. “I
was young. Right now I’m
20 years old. I’ve grown up
a lot over the 2 1/2-3 years
I’ve been at OU. Like I said,
I can’t do nothing but thank
coach Stoops for giving me
a second chance and having
me prove to everyone that I
deserve it.”
Mixon said he’s willing
to speak against violence
against women.
“I think when I have
the opportunity to do that
I’ll seize the moment and
do whatever I can to be the
person — the bigger person
— and the man I should be,”
he said. “I want to be that
influence for young kids
that are lost out there or in
certain situations I was in.
Hopefully, I can teach them
for the next time and how to
react a certain way.”