SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2017
1B
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College Football
Ducks searching for coach again after Taggart bolts
Taggart takes Florida
State coaching job, his
third in 3 seasons
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
In this Oct. 21 fi le photo, Oregon head coach Willie Taggart
looks on from the sideline during a game against UCLA
in Pasadena, Calif. Taggart accepted the head coach job at
Florida State on Tuesday after one season in Eugene.
Less than a year after Willie Taggart
inspired the Ducks with his tagline “Do
Something,” Oregon is searching for a
new head coach.
Oregon’s players were summoned
to a meeting at the team’s football
complex early Tuesday afternoon for
the announcement that Taggart had
accepted the head coaching job at
Florida State.
Senior cornerback Ty Griffi n posted
to Twitter the words “He gone” with a
smoke puff emoji.
It will be Taggart’s third program
in three seasons. He replaces Jimbo
Fisher, who took the job at Texas
A&M. Taggart was offi cially coach of
the Ducks for 363 days.
Co-offensive coordinator and offen-
sive line coach Mario Cristobal was
named interim head coach. The Ducks
play Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl
on Dec. 16.
“We thank Willie for his efforts
at Oregon, and we wish him and
his family all the best in the future,”
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens
said in a statement. “I am grateful to
Mario Cristobal for his willingness to
step up and lead our program through
our upcoming bowl game. The
University of Oregon is a high-caliber
academic institution with one of the
premier college football programs
HERMISTON
Pro Basketball
Bulldogs sweep Falcons
Hermiston boys,
girls both earn
wins over Hanford
Herm-
iston’s
Jazly
Romero
shoots
the ball
over
Hanford’s
Sarah El-
lis in the
Bulldogs’
55-38 win
against
the Fal-
cons on
Tuesday
in Herm-
iston. The
soph-
omore
led all
scorers
with 15
points in
the game
for the
Bulldogs.
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — There was
a warm welcome for the Herm-
iston boys basketball team as
the Bulldogs made their season
debut at the Dawg House after
spending the
fi rst week of Girls Basketball
the season
weekend on
the road. Its
69-60
win Hanford (WA)
over Hanford
(WA) capped
off
an
exciting night
at the school.
Hermiston
To open
the night, the
Bulldogs’
girls
team
faced the Falcons as well
and earned their fi rst win of
the season. Hanford, a 4A
school in Richland out of the
Mid-Columbia
Conference,
will be a familiar face come
next year when Hermiston joins
the WIAA and the Bulldogs
(1-3) gave them something to
remember on Tuesday.
The 55-38 victory was
Hermiston’s for the taking as it
got out to an early lead thanks
to an 11-2 run to start the fi rst
quarter.
The Bulldogs were coming
off of a tough weekend of
competition were they showed
their potential but just couldn’t
execute. This time around, head
coach Juan Rodriguez was
happy the outcome supported
the girls’ effort.
“After this weekend and the
way we played — we played
really well this weekend and
we just couldn’t pull it off,” he
said after the game. “I thought
the girls came out with lots of
energy tonight and we just got a
kick start right away.”
Helping with that start was
senior Hannah Thompson,
who returned to the court after
nursing a knee injury. She
notched nine points, the second
See BULLDOGS/3B
38
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
55
in the country, and we are confi dent
that we will fi nd another outstanding
coach to lead our tremendous group of
student-athletes into the future.”
Taggart was hired by Oregon last
December to take over after the team
went 4-8 under Mark Helfrich, who
was fi red three days after a season-
ending 34-24 loss to rival Oregon State
in the 2016 Civil War.
The 41-year-old Florida native had
a reputation as a rebuilder. He arrived
in 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 as
head coach at his alma mater, Western
Kentucky, inheriting a winless program
that he turned around with back-to-
See TAGGART/3B
Wizards
sink Trail
Blazers
Washington’s Beal
scores career-high 51
points in victory
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Bradley
Beal scored a career-high 51
points, and the Washington
Wizards bounced back from
a demoralizing loss the night
before to beat the Portland Trail
Blazers 106-92 on Tuesday
night.
Beal made
NBA
21 fi eld goals,
also a career
high, and the
led
Washington Wizards
by as many
as 23 points.
He hit fi ve
3-pointers.
Damian
L i l l a r d
Portland
fi nished with
30
points,
eight rebounds
and
nine
assists for the Blazers, who
have lost three straight at home
after returning from a 4-1 trip.
Portland was hurt midway
through the fi nal quarter when
center Jusuf Nurkic limped
off the court and to the locker
room after appearing to injure
his right ankle. He had 15
points and nine rebounds
before leaving.
The Wizards were coming
off a 116-69 loss Monday night
at Utah, the second-largest
losing margin in franchise
history.
Playing without All-Star
John Wall for the sixth straight
game, the Wizards came out
like they did not want a repeat
of the night before. They went
on an 11-0 run to go up 31-22 in
the fi rst half, capped by Kelly
Oubre Jr.’s pull-up jumper, and
went on to lead 51-37 at the
break.
Beal scored 19 fi rst-half
points, and the Wizards collec-
tively had 12 steals by the
break.
See BLAZERS/3B
106
92
Sports shorts
Stephen Curry to miss at least
two weeks with sprained ankle
(AP) — Stephen Curry will miss a
minimum of two weeks after an MRI exam
on his injured right ankle Tuesday revealed a
sprain. The Golden State Warriors say their
leading scorer and two-time league
MVP will be re-evaluated in two
weeks. That means Curry is out
for Wednesday night’s game in his
hometown of Charlotte, where the
MRI took place.
Curry stepped on E’Twaun
Moore’s foot and landed
Curry
awkwardly on the ankle while
going for a late steal in a 125-115
comeback win Monday night at New Orleans
and left the arena using crutches and wearing
a walking boot. He scored 31 points before the
injury.
The defending NBA champions said the
MRI indicated Curry’s ankle “is stable and
structurally intact.”
“We’re gonna fi nish the
season out and, you know,
obviously we know the
expectations of the Denver
Broncos. And this has been
a tough year. It’s not what
the Broncos are about. I’m
embarrassed about it, the
fact that this has happened,
and will do my part to
hopefully get this thing
turned around next year.“
— John Elway
Denver Broncos president of foot-
ball operations and general man-
ager in a radio interview talking
about his team’s 3-9 record and its
current eight-game losing streak.
Stanford’s Love, Washington’s
Vea get top Pac-12 honors
(AP) — Stanford running back Bryce Love
has been named the Pac-12 offensive player
of the year and Washington
lineman Vita Vea the defensive
player of the year.
Stanford’s David Shaw
was the coach of the year and
Arizona linebacker Colin
Schooler was the defensive
freshman of the year in awards
announced Tuesday. Arizona running back
J.J. Taylor and Stanford lineman Walker Little
shared offensive freshmen of the year.
Love, a junior, ran for 1,973 yards and 17
touchdowns, fi nishing second nationally with
164.4 yards rushing per game.
Vea, a junior, anchored a defense that was
third nationally against the run at 92.3 yards
allowed and was fi fth in total defense at 277.4
yards allowed per game.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1992 — Jerry Rice becomes
the NFL’s career leader in
touchdown receptions with
his 101st scoring pass during
the fourth quarter of the San
Francisco 49ers’ 27-3 victory
over Miami. Rice surpassed
Steve Largent’s mark of 100.
2003 — Army becomes
the fi rst team to fi nish 0-13
in major college history after
a 34-6 loss to Navy.
2009 Minnesota Vikings
quarterback Brett Favre sets
an NFL record by playing in
his 283rd consecutive game,
a 30-17 loss to Arizona. The
40-year-old Favre breaks
the record of 282 held by
Vikings’ Jim Marshall.
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