SPORTS
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3B
College Football
Ducks loss a good learning experience for Burmeister
By STEVE MIMS
The Register-Guard
EUGENE — The first thing
Braxton Burmeister learned about
being a starting quarterback was to
speak up.
Oregon was called for a false
start on each of its first two plays
when the linemen struggled to
hear the freshman quarterback.
“Sometimes you take those
lumps with young guys being
in there,” Oregon coach Willie
Taggart said after then-No.
11 Washington State spoiled
Burmeister’s starting debut with a
33-10 Pac-12 win over Oregon on
Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.
Burmeister was looking at a
first-and-20 before he had run a
play.
“Once it started being an issue,
after the second play, we told him
he needed to be louder and after
that he was loud enough for us
to hear him,” Oregon center Jake
Hanson said.
What was built up during the
week as a quarterback compe-
tition between Burmeister and
Taylor Alie to replace injured
Justin Herbert never materialized
because Alie was ruled out Friday
because of an undisclosed injury
suffered last week in a 45-24 win
over California.
AP Photo/Thomas Boyd
Oregon quarterback Braxton Burmeister runs the ball in the first
quarter to set up a field goal against Washington State in Satur-
day’s game in Eugene.
Burmeister, who was on
schedule to redshirt until both
Herbert and Alie were injured
against the Bears, went 15 for 27
for 145 yards and a touchdown
against the Cougars. He threw two
interceptions in the fourth quarter.
“Braxton did some good things
and some bad things,” Taggart
said. “He did some things most
freshmen do. I think this is a game
he can learn a lot from. He got
his first game out of the way and
I think he’ll be better as we move
forward. He needs a lot more help
around him to continue to prog-
ress.”
Burmeister completed 6 of 7
passes in the first quarter, including
a 30-yard touchdown pass to Jacob
Breeland that put Oregon ahead
10-7. Oregon had 113 yards in that
quarter before totaling 164 while
going scoreless during the final
three quarters. Burmeister threw
for 99 yards during that span.
“I thought he handled it pretty
well,” Breeland said. “He was
confident, not nervous. There were
a couple issues we had when he
wasn’t loud enough, but other than
that, he did a great job.”
With inexperienced receivers
around Burmeister, guard Shane
Lemieux said the veterans on the
offensive line needed to do more
to back up their quarterback.
“I thought he did a great job
coming in as a true freshman,”
Lemieux said. “We’ve got to put
a lot of pressure on the offensive
line to step up. With the cadence
and everything, we need to help
out a little bit.”
With injured senior Charles
Nelson missing his third consec-
utive game and sophomore Dillon
Mitchell out with a concussion, the
Ducks were without their top two
receivers.
Sophomore Brenden Schooler
led the Ducks with five catches
for 61 yards, including a 39-yarder
in the fourth quarter. That was the
only completion longer than 14
yards to a wide receiver.
“We’ve got to do a good job as
coaches making sure those guys
are sharp on their assignments
and what they are supposed to do
especially with a young quarter-
back,” Taggart said. “We have to
make sure guys know exactly what
they’re doing in order to help them.
We had some mistakes like that
tonight, especially with our young
receivers. They’ll get better.”
All three wide receivers who
had a catch for the Ducks are in
their first season at the position.
Schooler is a converted safety, and
Taj Griffin — who had five catches
for 29 yards — played running
back last year. True freshman
Johnny Johnson III had three
catches for 17 yards.
“Braxton handled it well for
a young guy coming in to play
against a ranked team,” Griffin
said. “Things will get better, but
as a whole he stepped up to the
plate.”
Taggart said he told the team in
the locker room to keep believing
in Burmeister with Herbert likely
to miss at least another month with
a fractured collarbone.
“He’ll go watch film and learn
from it,” Taggart said.
Taggart said it was too soon to
determine if Burmeister earned the
starting job next week at Stanford
or if Alie could challenge him for
the job when healthy.
“We’ll evaluate the film and see
where we go from there,” Taggart
said. “Braxton is going to be better
and we are going to go with the
guy we have.”
MLB PLAYOFFS: Dodgers advance to NLCS
a no-hitter into the seventh.
But just like in Game 1, when
Chicago was held hitless
into the sixth by Stephen
Strasburg, the World Series
champion Cubs showed off
their resilience on the way to
a stirring victory.
Albert Almora Jr. had a
pinch-hit RBI single in the
seventh for Chicago, and
Jose Quintana tossed 5 2/3
innings of one-run ball in his
postseason debut.
Game 4 is Tuesday.
Continued from 1B
would like to do as a starter,
and I was able to do that,”
Verlander said. “Top to
bottom, man, these guys
grinded against two of the
toughest competitors in this
game in Sale and (closer
Craig) Kimbrel.”
The Astros will open the
ALCS on Friday, either at
Cleveland or at home against
the New York Yankees. The
Indians held a 2-1 edge over
the Yankees going into Game
4 of the AL Division Series
on Monday night.
The Red Sox forced a
Game 4 after losing the first
two games in Houston, and
then took a 3-2 lead in the
fifth on Benintendi’s homer.
Bregman tied it before
Reddick’s single off closer
Craig Kimbrel made it 4-3.
Carlos Beltran added to
his postseason legacy with
an RBI double in the ninth
— an insurance run that
became the game-winner
when Rafael Devers hit
an inside-the-park homer
off closer Ken Giles over
leaping center fielder George
Springer and off the Green
Monster toward center.
The 20-year-old Red Sox
rookie easily circled the
bases before the throw to
make it 5-4.
Giles retired the next three
batters for the six-out save.
The Astros last reached
the league championship
series in 2005 as a National
League team, and were
swept in the World Series by
the White Sox. This year’s
team, wearing “Houston
Strong” patches to support
the city that was flooded in
Hurricane Harvey, is hoping
to finish the job.
“The city of Houston is
still rebuilding,” Hinch said.
AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger connects for a
solo home run during the fifth inning of game 3 of
baseball’s National League Division Series against
the Arizona Diamondbacks, Monday in Phoenix.
“It’s easy for us to look in the
rearview mirror and think
that the hurricane is over
(but) the rebuild is not going
to stop for a long time. ... We
want to win for them, we
want to win for us, we want
to win because we showed
up in spring training to try to
win a World Series.”
YANKEES 7, INDIANS
3 — Luis Severino bounced
back from his playoff
debacle, slumping Aaron
Judge delivered a big hit and
the New York Yankees took
advantage of shoddy defense
by Cleveland to beat the
Indians 7-3 Monday night
and push their AL Division
Series to a decisive Game 5.
Gary Sanchez homered
and Judge laced an early
two-run double for his only
hit of the series to go with 12
strikeouts in 15 at-bats.
Cleveland starter Trevor
Bauer struggled on three
days’ rest and was chased in
the second inning. But it was
on the wet Yankee Stadium
field where the Indians
really flopped, committing a
season-high four errors that
marked a franchise record
for a postseason game and
led to six unearned runs. The
defending AL champions
made only 76 errors all
season, the lowest total in the
league.
After preventing a three-
game sweep with a 1-0 win
Sunday night, the wild-card
Yankees will start CC
Sabathia in Game 5 at Cleve-
land on Wednesday. Indians
ace Corey Kluber gets the
ball in a rematch from Game
2, when he was hit hard by
New York.
CUBS
3,
WASH-
INGTON 1 — Anthony
Rizzo hit a tiebreaking single
with two outs in the eighth
inning and the Chicago Cubs
overcame Max Scherzer’s
brilliant performance to beat
the Washington Nationals
2-1 on Monday for a 2-1 lead
in their NL Division Series.
Scherzer was dominant
in his return from a right
hamstring injury, carrying
DODGERS
3,
DIAMONDBACKS 1 —
Cody Bellinger homered,
drove in two runs and flipped
over a dugout railing to steal
an out for a dominant Yu
Darvish, helping the Los
Angeles Dodgers beat the
Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1
Monday night to finish a
three-game sweep in their
NL Division Series.
Darvish, acquired from
Texas in a trade deadline
deal, struck out seven over
five innings to outpitch
Arizona’s Zack Greinke and
earn the big Japanese right-
hander his first postseason
victory in three tries.
Four Los Angeles relievers
combined to preserve a
three-hitter. Kenley Jansen
worked around a single by
David Peralta for a three-out
save, striking out Paul
Goldschmidt to end it. Only
four batters reached base all
night for the Diamondbacks,
including Daniel Descalso’s
homer.
Bellinger hit his homer
in the fifth, then made a
daring catch to end the
bottom of the inning. The
rookie first baseman fell into
the Dodgers dugout as he
snagged Jeff Mathis’ popup,
nearly dropping into the lap
of manager Dave Roberts.
PROTESTS: Giants owner John Mara wants his
players to stand, but still respects players’ rights
Continued from 1B
DeMaurice Smith said Jones
contradicted assurances last
week from Commissioner
Roger Goodell and New
York Giants President John
Mara that players could
express themselves without
reprisals.
“I look forward to the day
when everyone in manage-
ment can unite and truly
embrace and articulate what
the flag stands for, liberty and
justice for all, instead of some
of them just talking about
standing,” Smith said. “We
look forward to continuing
our talks with them on this
very issue.”
Many of the NFL’s 32
teams have held meetings in
various forms to discuss the
issue since Trump said more
than two weeks ago during a
rally in Alabama that owners
should fire players who kneel
for the anthem.
In some cases, teams
have struggled with their
responses.
After Trump’s criticism,
the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed
to stay off the field before the
anthem. But Army veteran
Alejandro Villanueva, an
offensive lineman, stood at
the edge of a tunnel with
his teammates in darkness
behind him during the
anthem two weeks ago.
Villanueva said he was not
making a political statement
or defying his teammates,
calling it a misunderstanding
that was “very embarrassing
on my end.”
Miami coach Adam Gase
recently created a team policy
requiring players either to
stand or wait in the tunnel.
Three chose to stay off the
field Sunday at home against
Tennessee
—
Michael
Thomas, Kenny Stills and
Julius Thomas. All three have
kneeled in the past.
Asked why he was
responding to questions on
the topic after previously
declining to comment, Gase
said, “Because I thought it
was time for us to address it.”
After several meetings
over two days before a
Monday night game in
Arizona two weeks ago, the
Cowboys and Jones kneeled
arm-in-arm
before
the
anthem. All of them stood
during the anthem, with arms
still locked. Otherwise, the
Cowboys have stood on the
sideline.
The Denver Broncos
decided two weeks ago that
they would stop kneeling
after coach Vance Joseph
met with his leadership
group. The Broncos stood
before their most recent
game against Oakland, with
receiver Brandon Marshall
raising a fist. Denver was off
Sunday.
“We just feel like as a
team, it’s bringing more
negative attention ... than
it is positive,” safety Justin
Simmons said. “So, we made
our point the one time we did
it. The awareness of the social
injustices are out there.”
During their bye last
week, Atlanta players and
coaches had a discussion
mediated by a representative
from the Ross Initiative in
Sports for Equality. Falcons
owner Arthur Blank invited
the outside perspective, and
the team has decided to stand
during the anthem.
“There’s no policy that
was written or spoken about,”
coach Dan Quinn said. “It’s
more one that was really in
the heart of brotherhood,
that what we do, we’ll do it
together.”
Jones isn’t the only
owner who feels strongly
about players standing for
the anthem, but there have
been no indications of teams
requiring their players to
stand. Mara has told Giants
players he wants them to
stand but supports their right
to do otherwise.
“As a team we’ve had our
talks about it and we’re good
to go,” said Redskins running
back Chris Thompson,
among several Washington
players to deny reports that
they are required to stand.
“Our ownership, we’ve all
talked about it. I think on our
end, we’re good.”
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Stephen Carr (7), of USC, tackles Oregon State running
back Thomas Tyner Saturday at Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum during OSU’s 38-10 loss.
ANDERSEN: Program was
sliding backwards in 2017
after progressing in 2016
Continued from 1B
the program to move forward
and concentrate on the rest of
this season,” Andersen said
in a statement. “Coaching is
not about the mighty dollar. It
is about teaching and putting
young men in a position to
succeed on and off the field.
Success comes when all
parties involved are moving
in the same direction.”
Barnes said the fact
that Andersen waived his
contract was testament to his
character.
“That’s just who Gary is.
That’s a statement of who
the man is and his integrity
and the honor with which
he conducts his business,”
Barnes said. “At the end of
the day, he felt that was an
important piece to this, and
obviously it creates a clear
path.”
Barnes said that there
were no issues with health or
anything that would warrant
firing Andersen for cause.
Andersen was in his third
season with the Beavers
and the team appeared to
be sliding backward this
season after showing some
progress in winning four
games last year, including a
victory against rival Oregon
that snapped an eight-game
losing streak in the Civil
War series for the Beavers.
Players
reacted
on
social media, among them
freshman receiver Isaiah
Hodgins, who tweeted:
“This one hurts.”
During
his
tenure
Andersen struggled to find
a starting quarterback in the
face of numerous injuries.
Darell Garretson started at
the beginning of last season
but he was knocked out by a
broken ankle. Backup Conor
Blount injured his knee,
essentially thrusting Marcus
McMaryion into the starting
role for the Beavers’ final six
games.
The Beavers brought in
community college transfer
Jake Luton this season and he
started before he sustained a
thoracic spine fracture in a
loss to Washington State.
Andersen finished 7-23 at
Oregon State.
“No better leader of
young men... gave me the
opportunity nobody else in
the country would! Forever
grateful for him!” Blount
posted to Twitter.
Andersen came to Oregon
State under unusual circum-
stances after he abruptly
resigned as Wisconsin coach
in December 2014 after two
seasons in Madison. He
went 19-7 with the Badgers,
but parted ways with the
program after becoming
frustrated with some of
Wisconsin’s
academic
admissions policies and
standards.
The Utah native previ-
ously spent four seasons at
Utah State, working with
Barnes as AD, and led the
Aggies to an 11-2 season
in 2012. He was also a
longtime assistant at the
University of Utah.
The players were told late
Monday morning.
“Like any change, and
I won’t diminish this, it’s
an emotional time for our
student-athletes, it just is.
Particularly the surprise that
it was. They all gave him a
big bear hug,” Barnes said.
“What’s so important for us
now, not only as a football
staff but as an athletic
program, is to put our arms
around those student-athletes
and get them redirected. We
have a pretty short window
before we’ve got to get them
back on the field. We want
to make sure their minds are
right, and will do whatever
we need to do to make sure
they’re in good position.”
Barnes said the school
would immediately begin
the search for a new head
coach.