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Football supplement to the Oregon Daily Emerald.
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Game Day
leslie montgomery | designer
game previeweven though they run
drastically different offenses,
both the ducks and the
Cardinal rank within the
top 20 nationally in rushing
page 2B
oregon notesThe ducks, leading the Pac-
10 in total offense, match up
favorably against the below-
average stanford defense
page 3B
stanford notesMaxwell Award semifinalist
Toby gerhart will face his
toughest challenge this season
against the ducks
page 2B
» CheCk ouT dAilyeMerAld.CoM/sPorTs for live, inTerACTive gAMe CoverAge
vs.University of oregon
friday, novemBer 6, 2009 OregOn Daily emeralD dailyemerald.com
stanford University
Making up for lost tiMePAge 6B
lUcas clarK sPorTs rePorTer
stanford senior running back toby gerhart was named one of the 16 semifinalists for the Max-well award earlier this week, which is given to the nation’s most outstanding player in college football, but as the Car-dinal (5-3, 4-2 pacific-10 Con-ference) gear up to take on the hard-hitting oregon defense, gerhart will face his toughest challenge yet.
through eight games gerhart has carried the ball 195 times for 994 yards and 13 scores. His mark of 124.3 yards per game leads the pac-10, while ranking third in touchdowns to only or-egon state’s James and Jacquizz rodgers, who have each tallied 15 on the year.
“i think gerhart is one of the top running backs in the coun-try,” oregon head coach Chip kelly said.
last season, oregon was able to hold gerhart to 21 yards on eight carries en route to a 35-28 win, though this year’s Cardi-nal team looks to be a much bigger challenge.
“they play fast, they play physical,” kelly said. “We expect a battle.”
redshirt freshman an-drew luck has been a welcome
surprise to the stanford offense at the quarterback position, as he’s completed 114 of 196 passes for 1,825 yards, nine touch-downs and only three intercep-tions. in his eight starts, luck has put together the highest passer efficiency rating in the pac-10 with 148.5, while completing 58.2 percent of his passes.
“the QB brings a lot to the table,” oregon freshman free safety John Boyett said. “stan-ford’s coaches do a good job of using his skills in their offense.”
the 6-foot-4-inch, 235-pound signal caller was the no. 5 overall high school recruit coming out of the state of texas — the same class as oregon running back
laMichael James — and has been able mesh with a talented stanford receiving corps so far this year.
“the difference between them this year and last year is the play of andrew luck,” kelly said. “i think he’s one of the top quar-terbacks around and he’s only a freshman.”
kelly continued to say that with a quarterback like luck un-der center, the stanford offense becomes much more balanced, making it harder for defenses to gang up on the run game alone.
luck’s favorite targets on the perimeter have been junior ryan Whalen, who leads the team with 39 receptions for 647
yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore Chris owusu who has pulled down 26 catches for 459 yards and four scores.
“they like the play-action pass,” sophomore cornerback Javes lewis said. “teams that run the ball well like to complement it with the play action, so we have to get our eyes right and read our keys.”
owusu is also one of the more versatile return men in the pac-10, returning 19 kickoffs for 668 yards and three touchdowns. His average of 35.2 yards per return ranks second in the conference behind the Ducks redshirt fresh-man kenjon Barner, who ranks fifth nationally, at 35.4. senior cornerback richard sherman has also provided additional scoring as a punt returner for stanford, fielding 14 punts for 143 yards and a touchdown.
“they can beat you both ways,” kelly concluded. “With gerhart, obviously they can run the ball as good as anybody in the country. they’ve got an out-standing offensive line. they run a lot of varied schemes.”
stanford will undoubtedly need all the scoring help it can get in order to compete with the red-hot oregon offense, but one thing in the Cardinal favor is the home field advantage. stanford is unbeaten at home this season and has won eight of its last nine dating back to the final game of the 2007 [email protected]
Ben scHorZman sPorTs ediTor
after practice on Wednesday, junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli stood talking to reporters for more than 20 minutes, pa-tiently answering questions and saying the right things.
Masoli is a laid-back guy by nature, with a soft voice, but there was one topic that got him thinking about things other than football: home.
the 220-pound, dual-threat athlete calls san francisco, Calif., home, and with the no. 7 Ducks in palo alto playing stanford, he’s happy his family will be able to see him play. Masoli said there will be “too many (relatives) to count” watching him play at stanford stadium, and he’s just excited to be close to home.
“it’s definitely nice to go back home and be around that atmo-sphere,” Masoli said of the Bay area. “it’s always different when you’re back home.”
But Masoli, who is averaging 62.3 yards rushing and 161 yards a game passing, isn’t the only one who is going home. nearly half the team calls somewhere in the state of California home, and there should be plenty of green in the stands. the atmosphere has never been known to be par-ticularly loud at stanford sta-dium, with a couple of players comparing games there to “large high school games.”
Junior defensive tackle Bran-don Bair said that it’s tough to play in there sometimes because the team feeds off the noise, but he’s sure that with the newly-painted target on their backs after taking down usC 47-20 last week, motivation will be high enough.
“it may not always be a tough environment, but it’s a tough team to go against,” Bair said.
Both teams come in as the top two rushing teams in the con-ference. oregon is no. 8 in the
nation in rushing while averag-ing 233.25 yards on the ground, and stanford is no. 16 at 205.63 yards per game.
leading the attack for stan-ford will be running back toby gerhart, a 235-pound bruiser who runs very well between the tackles.
“(He) is an amazing running back,” Bair said. “i just think they have a lot of heart.”
“they are a really scrappy team,” Masoli added. “they get after it, but so do we. We’re go-ing to look to match that inten-sity. We see some things we like in their defense.”
the Cardinal will feature a smash-mouth style of football, with lots of running the foot-ball and play-action passes from redshirt freshman quarterback andrew luck. But the Ducks look to again run the ball a lot with their zone-read system, and if the 391 yards the team rushed for last week against a
highly-touted trojans defense is any indication, it could be another big day for laMichael James and company.
“i think sometimes you find something that works and we stuck with it,” offensive lineman Carson York said. “Hopefully this weekend we find something that works.”
oregon wants to do that by setting the tempo early and keep-ing the Cardinal back on their heels while the Ducks attack. the defense will also will come at luck in waves to pressure him. the Ducks weren’t able to pressure usC quarterback Matt Barkley much until the second half, but when they did, it threw off the entire offense.
“(the trojans’) offensive line was good, and we just wore them down,” Bair said. “We just were working and working until they broke. the second half, they started hanging their heads and we started to get pressure on him
and rattled him.” that intensity comes from
how hard the team works in practice. Head coach Chip kelly has practices set up to be harder than the games, so he has fresh players the entire game.
He also has them believing that the key to success is looking only at the next day. the Ducks are so focused that they don’t even care that a potential rose Bowl berth is at stake if they lose even one game the rest of the way.
“(We looked ahead) in years past and it didn’t work for us,” tight end ed Dickson said. “Basi-cally, everyone has bought in to the system and we’re following it and do what we got to do: Win the day.”BscHorZman @dailyemerald.com
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The independent student newspaper at the University of Oregon
Game day forecast
at a glancewho: no. 7 oregon (7-1, 5-0) at stanford (5-3, 4-2)
what: Pacific-10 Conference football game
when: 12:30 p.m.
where: stanford stadium. fox sports northwest.
The high-flying oregon ducks, coming off an upset win over usC last saturday, look to keep their seven-game win streak alive against the stanford Cardinal. stanford, on the other hand, looks to upset the ducks and get back into the Pac-10 race while also becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 2001.
high of 67. Partly cloudy. no chance of rain.
running the ball a common themegAMe Preview
ducks, Cardinal atop the Pac-10 in rushing, despite different styles
gerhart’s power key for CardinalsTAnford noTes
stanford’s running back has accrued 994 rushing yards this year
jonatHan yorK | The sTAnford dAily
stanford head coach Jim harbaugh looks to do something that no other team in the Pac-10 has done this year: beat oregon.
j enny pegg | The sTAnford dAily
Pac-10 leader in rushing Toby gerhart has led by example. To date, he has carried the ball 195 times for 994 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The emerald recently caught up with junior wide receiver Jeff Maehl. we found out that the 6-foot-1-inch pass catcher really likes to f ish, and even though he’s in Por tland Trail Blazer country, he’s a die-hard los Angeles lakers fan.
Oregon Daily Emerald: What’s your major?Jeff Maehl: sociology.ODE: What do you want to do with that?JM: i have no clue yet, man. i wanted to be a busi-
ness major, but the grades didn’t hold up in the first couple of years so it didn’t work out too well.
ODE: if you weren’t playing football, what sport would you be playing?
JM: Basketball. ODE: Were you a good player in high school?JM: Yeah, i was pretty good. probably if or-
egon didn’t offer for me to come play football, i would have gone to a smaller school and played basketball.
ODE: What kind of player were you? Were you more of an athletic type, a dunker or a shooter?
JM: i did a little bit of everything in high school. the competition wasn’t the greatest in California. i averaged like 25 points a game in high school.
ODE: ok, well what’s your favorite thing to do outside of sports?
JM: i like to golf, i like to fish. i haven’t done a whole lot up here. i like to bass fish more than river fish. But, uh, i like to play video games and just hang out.
ODE: What’s your favorite video game?JM: any sports game. nBa live, nCaa foot-
ball, any of those. Call of Duty, too. ODE: What’s your team in nBa live?JM: Man, i have a bunch of them. probably the
lakers though because they’re my team. ODE: You’re a lakers fan?
JM: Yeah, i get a lot of grief up here because of portland, but yeah, i’m a big lakers fan.
ODE: You talked about liking golf. What’s the lowest you’ve shot?
JM: i don’t even know. probably four or five over par on 18 holes.
ODE: What was your greatest shot on the golf course?
JM: i came like two inches from a hole-in-one and that was the closest i’ve ever gotten.
ODE: Why did you decide to come to eugene?JM: it was the atmosphere, the people up here
and it reminded me a lot of where i’m from. i’m from northern California in Chico, and Chico is very similar to eugene. and how friendly people are up here and stuff, it’s just a welcoming place to come to.
ODE: so are you looking forward to going to palo alto?
JM: Definitely. i heard there’s about 50 people going to the game, so i’m excited to play in front of them.— Ben scHorZman
lUcas clarK sPorTs rePorTer
after handing national pow-erhouse usC its worst loss in more than a decade, the ore-gon Ducks (7-1, 5-0 pacific-10 Conference) will respond with a quiet trip down to palo alto, Calif., to take on the stanford Cardinal at stanford stadium.
and following a long week of hype surrounding the victo-rious Halloween night match-up, the Ducks were able to get back to business this week and return to the mindset of taking it one game at a time.
the Ducks, who climbed to no. 8 in the Bowl Champion-ship series standings this week behind the nation’s seven re-maining unbeaten teams, are 2-1 on the road this season and will take their current seven-game winning streak into hostile territory on saturday.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” said oregon junior defensive back tal-madge Jackson iii. “taking it day by day, and letting things pan out from there.”
that philosophy has helped the Ducks climb to the top of the pac-10 standings in scor-ing offense, rushing offense, red zone offense, scoring de-fense, pass defense and red zone defense.
the powerful rushing at-tack, which averages 233.3 yards each outing, has helped the Ducks to score more than 35.6 points per game.
redshirt freshman laMi-chael James — named the pac-10 offensive player of the week after rushing for 183 yards and a touchdown against usC — has put together a remarkable season thus far as oregon’s top rusher.
“You can’t say enough about his play,” junior quar-terback Jeremiah Masoli said. “His long runs definitely give us a jolt. Besides that, he just grinds it out for five yards after breaking four tackles is some-thing that we really need on this team.”
James ranks third in the pac-10 in rushing with 918 yards on 131 carries for seven touch-downs, and wrote his name in the oregon record books yet again as he reached the cen-tury mark for the fifth time on the season. With one more 100-yard game, he will take sole possession for the most 100-yard games by an oregon freshman after breaking his own single-game record again
last week.“obviously, the more weap-
ons you have, the better off you are,” oregon head coach Chip kelly said. “He certainly makes it very difficult for the defense because of how talented he is.”
the Ducks actually feature two players on the pac-10’s top-10 rushing list for the season, with Masoli coming in ninth with 436 yards on 72 carries and eight touchdowns. But as of late, the oregon passing attack has provided a much-needed equalizer for the Ducks.
against pete Carroll’s tro-jan defense last week, Masoli completed 19 passes for 222 yards, which included a 17-yard touchdown strike to junior wide receiver Jamere Holland in the back of the end zone.
“they get after it,” Masoli said of the stanford defense. “But so do we. We’re going to look to match that intensity. We see some things we like in their defense.”
stanford’s defense has al-lowed 126.4 yards rushing and 239.9 yards passing per game this season, which could prove detrimental against the conference’s top-ranked offense.
When the Cardinal visited autzen stadium last season,
the Ducks jumped out to a 17-3 lead less than 11 minutes into the game but gave up 14 in the second quarter to take a 20-17 lead heading into halftime. the game was eventually capped by an 11-play, 74-yard drive that resulted in a three-yard touch-down run by oregon running back legarrette Blount with six seconds remaining on the clock. the score was Blount’s second of the half as the Ducks squeaked by with a 35-28 win.
kelly said in early october that if Blount meets the set-up requirements and returns to the playing field, that the nov. 7 game at stanford would be the earliest possible opportunity for him to do so. But with no official announcement made this week, it is still unknown if Blount will be suited up come saturday.
off-the-field distractions haven’t been a factor for the oregon squad so far this sea-son, and will doubtfully be one this weekend.
“the reason i feel we have so much success isn’t in the tal-ent, it’s not in our speed, it’s our unity,” said junior defen-sive lineman Brandon Bair. “We just love playing together. We look forward to every day coming out here on the field and practicing.”[email protected]
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oregon noTes
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Junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and redshirt freshman laMichael James lead oregon’s rushing attack, which is no. 8 in the nation in rushing offense.
oregon has become the highest-rated one-loss team in the BCs
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septemBer3 at Boise state (l, 19-8)
12 vs. Purdue (w, 38-36)
19 vs. utah (w, 31-24)
26 vs. California (w, 42-3)
octoBer3 vs. washington state (w, 52-6)
10 at uClA (w, 24-10)
24 at washington (w, 43-19)
31 vs. usC (w, 47-20)
novemBer7 at stanford, 12:30 p.m.
14 vs. Arizona state, TBA
21 at Arizona, TBA
decemBer3 vs. oregon state, 6 p.m.
2009 uo schedule
septemBer5 at washington state (w, 39-13)
12 at wake forest (l, 17-24)
19 vs. san Jose state (w, 42-17)
octoBer3 vs. uClA (w, 24-16)
10 at oregon state (l, 28-38)
17 at Arizona (l, 38-43)
24 vs. Arizona state (w, 33-14)
novemBer7 vs. oregon, 12:30 p.m.
14 at usC, 12:30 p.m.
21 vs. California, TBA
28 vs. notre dame, 5 p.m.
2009 stanford schedule
2009 stanford statistical leaders
rUsHing att gain loss avg tdT. gerhart 195 1025 31 5.1 13
A. luck 39 261 46 5.5 1
s. Taylor 30 194 4 6.3 2
passing att pct yds td ypgA. luck 196 58.2 1825 9 228.1
receiving no. yds. avg. td longr. whalen 39 647 16.6 3 46
C. owusu 26 459 17.7 4 63
C. fleener 11 145 13.2 - 42
defensive solo ast total tfl/yds sacKsC. snyder 34 27 61 1.0-11 1.0-11
B. Mcnally 35 17 52 2.5-8 -
C. Amajoyi 16 24 40 1.5-3 -
w. Powers 23 10 33 5.0-30 3.0-27
T. kelser 17 11 28 11.0-67 7.0-58
2009 oreGon statistical leaders
rUsHing att gain loss avg tdl. James 131 941 23 7.0 7
J. Masoli 72 535 99 6.1 8
k. Barner 43 242 8 5.4 2
passing att pct yds td ypgJ. Masoli 160 60.6 1127 6 161.0
receiving no. yds. avg. td longe. dickson 30 397 13.2 4 36
J. Maehl 25 306 12.2 1 58
d. davis 13 145 11.2 1 23
defensive solo ast total tfl/yds sacKsC. Matthews 26 25 51 4.0-22 2.5-22
J. Boyett 33 17 50 1.0-3 -
J. lewis 36 12 48 3.0-11 1.0-5
s. Paysinger 23 18 41 4.0-7 1.0-2
T. Jackson 26 7 33 1.5-5 -
672-21
94.88
31.8832.16
65 35.63
national ranking of oregon running back kenjon Barner in kick return yardage per return. The redshirt freshman from riverside, Calif., has averaged 35.36 yards per return.
By The nuMBers
2
37national ranking of stanford wide receiver Chris owusu in kick return yardage per return. The sophomore from westlake village, Calif., has averaged 35.16 yards per return.
Career rushing touchdowns for former stanford running back Tommy vardell, stanford’s career best. Current stanford running back Toby gerhart is second with 29.
stanford’s record against ranked teams since 2002. The Cardinal are 2-2 in their past four games against ranked opponents.
stanford’s average time of possession, the 13th-best mark in the nation. The Cardinal figure to use clock control to their advantage against oregon.
Points per game scored by the Cardinal this season, the 24th-best mark in the nation
Points per game scored by the ducks this season, the ninth-best mark in the nation
number of times oregon has been 5-0 in Pac-10 play since the conference was reconfigured in 1978 to include 10 teams. The last time the ducks were 5-0 in the Pac-10 was 2000.
Percentage of oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli’s touchdown pass-es thrown to tight end ed dickson this season
opposing teams’ passing efficiency rating against the ducks, the fourth-best mark in the nation
Lucas Clark: there is no question that the or-egon offense has finally found its stride; we saw that last week during the Ducks 47-20 win over then-no. 4 usC. led by redshirt freshman laMi-chael James, who carried the ball 24 times for 183 yards and a touchdown, and junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli with 13 carries for 164 yards and a score, the Ducks looked the best i’ve seen them all year. redshirt freshman kenjon Barner and senior andre Crenshaw each reached the end zone on the ground as well, which leads me to believe that the stanford defense that gives up more than 300 yards of total offense per game could be in a world of trouble early on.
Wyndam Makowsky: Certainly. stanford has struggled against fast teams that can get to the edge. this was evident against both Wake for-est’s speedy running back rotation and Jacquizz rodgers of oregon state. even if stanford is able to shut down James, for example, Masoli and the reserves can continue to hurt them. it could get
ugly. that said, the Cardinal has made some seri-ous modifications to its defense (with some young guys filling in). now, the difference between the sun Devils and Ducks is massive, so we have yet to see how many of these young guys will perform, but the early returns are good.
LC: the Cardinal defense definitely has some talented athletes, and offensively, oregon head coach Chip kelly had nothing but good things to say about senior running back toby gerhart and freshman quarterback andrew luck. luck is an interesting case to me. He has a great body for a quarterback at the collegiate level and has proven that he can spread the ball around to a lot of dif-ferent receivers. But, oregon has faced two fresh-man starting quarterbacks so far this season with Jeff tuel of Washington state and Matt Barkley last week against usC, and neither had a great deal of success against the pac-10’s top-ranked oregon pass defense. the secondary is getting healthier by the week and will look to slow down
the stanford aerial attack.WM: the one glaring advantage that the Cardi-
nal has is that while oregon’s defense is fast, it’s not particularly big. that plays directly into gerhart’s strengths — he likes nothing more than to pound the ball straight up the middle. luck has evolved nicely over the past few games, but a heavy dose of gerhart early on will be integral to a Cardinal vic-tory. furthermore, speaking of physical offensive players, stanford does have one of the strongest wide receivers in the pac-10 in ryan Whalen, and a gigantic and effective tight end rotation. since he started at stanford, Jim Harbaugh has emphasized smash-mouth football, and if the Cardinal can stay true to that, then they could prosper. as for luck, i agree, he will be tested — t.J. Ward is one of the most underrated players in this country. But luck did face a very good defensive backfield on the road in arizona, and still went for over 400 yards. His combination of intelligence, arm strength, ac-curacy, pocket presence, mobility and leadership make him one of the nation’s most talented young passers. i am far less concerned about the Cardinal offense than i am about their defense — if Masoli and company are performing like they did against the trojans, then luck and gerhart are going to have to engineer scoring drives practically every time they’re on the field.
LC: Your last thought basically summed up the game in its entirety. over the course of the first half last week, it looked like whoever controlled the ball last was going to win, as the teams kept scoring at will, but it brings me to my final point, which are special teams. the Ducks forced six usC punts last week, while only having to punt one time. kicker Morgan flint is 32-32 on extra point attempts this
season and is 10-12 on field goals, while Barner has filled in nicely as a return man for Walter thur-mond iii. stanford’s Chris owusu has tallied 1,176 all-purpose yards this season, which shows just how dangerous he can be, though the Ducks have yet to allow a punt or kickoff return for a touch-down this season. the special teams battle could prove to be the X-factor.
WM: stanford’s return game and coverage units are both exemplary. owusu practically wrapped up pac-10 honors after the first four weeks of the year, and new punt returner Drew terrell has shown a natural knack for the role. Meanwhile, the kick and punt coverage units are made up almost entirely of fast defensive backs and linebackers who get downfield quickly and do a nice job of containing. it’s no secret that special teams coach D.J. Durkin is one of the rising stars on the West Coast. But, when it actually comes to kicking the ball, stanford has some issues. kicker nate Whitaker has notice-ably tired as the year has progressed — his kickoffs continue to lose velocity and his field goal attempts have become more inaccurate. Meanwhile, the punting job has been up for grabs all season, and neither David green nor Daniel Zychlinksi has been able to lock it down.
one final note: the Cardinal plays exception-ally well at home. they’ve lost only once in the past two year (to usC, who they were tied with at half time). this season, they’ve destroyed all four opponents they’ve faced at stanford stadium — literally beaten them into submission. it is a stark contrast to their road performance, where they can look lost. it adds another twist to an already intriguing [email protected]
friDaY, noveMBer 6, 2009 oregon DailY eMeralD 5b
casey mattHews (55)Middle lineBACker
Players to Watch
startinG lineuPs
oregonstanford
owen marecic (48)fullBACk
MAT The ws PhoTo By jacK HUnter | PhoTogr APherMAr eC iC PhoTo coUrtesy of stanford atHletic media serv ices
At 6 feet, 1 inch and 244 pounds, Marecic is the rare pro-style full-back paving much of the way for running back Toby gerhart. To date, gerhart has plowed ahead for 124.3 yards per game (best in the Pacific-10 Conference),
and Marecic has chipped in with five catches for 100 yards and two rushes for seven yards and a touchdown. The ducks initially had trouble shedding blocks against usC’s talented offensive line, and Marecic acts almost as a
sixth member of the line. Matthews is oregon’s leading tackler (51, including four for loss) and will be directing the defense against one of the best running backs the ducks have seen this season.
Points of
debate
offense
wr: ryan whalen
lt: Jonathan Martin
lg: Andrew Phillips
c: Chase Beeler
rg: david deCastro
rt: Chris Marinelli
te: Jim dray
wr: Chris owusu
QB: Andrew luck
fB: owen Marecic
rB: Toby gerhart
the following is an excerpt from an e-mail debate
between emerald sports reporter lucas clark and
Wyndam makowsky of the stanford daily
defense
de: Thomas keiser
dt: sione fua
nt: ekom udofia
de: Chase Thomas
slB: will Powers
mlB: Clinton snyder
wlB: shayne skov
lcB: Quinn evans
fs: Bo Mcnally
ss: delano howell
rcB: Johnson Bademosi
sPecial teams
pK: nate whitaker
Ko: nate whitaker
p: david green
Kr: Chris owusu
pr: drew Terrell
ls: Zach nolan
Hld: Bo Mcnally
offense
wr: d.J. davis
lt: Bo Thran
lg: Carson york
c: Jordan holmes
rg: Mark Asper
rt: C.e. kaiser
te: ed dickson
wr: Jeff Maehl
wr: lavasier Tuinei
QB: Jeremiah Masoli
rB: laMichael James
defense
de: will Tukuafu
dt: Brandon Bair
dt: Blake ferras
de: kenny rowe
slB: eddie Pleasant
mlB: Casey Matthews
wlB: spencer Paysinger
lcB: Anthony gildon
fs: John Boyett
rov: Javes lewis
rcB: Talmadge Jackson iii
sPecial teams
pK: Morgan flint
Ko: rob Beard
p: Jackson rice
Kr: laMichael James
pr: kenjon Barner
ls: Michael Clay
Hld: nate Costa
Ben scHorZman | sPorTs ediTor
on Boise state’s first drive of the second half on sept. 3, senior free safety t.J. Ward stepped up and hit Bronco running back Jeremy avery. it was his 11th tackle of the game, and it would also be his last.
Ward was helped off the blue turf, and he limped to the sideline with a high ankle sprain. Many assumed he would be back in two or three weeks, but instead it was a month and a half. Week in and week out, Ward watched from the sidelines as his team marched through the schedule. He was doing light running drills before the uCla game on oct. 10, but he was scratched at game time. it wasn’t until oregon played Washington on oct. 24 that he finally played again. He finished with five tackles while splitting time, and for him it was just a relief to be past his injury and back where he belongs: on the football field.
“Yeah, it was tough,” Ward said of the five games he was out for. “anytime i’m not on the field doing what i love to do it’s hard. even with the winning — i was ec-static that we were winning — but me not being on the field was tough. i wanted it so bad.”
and a week removed from leading the no. 7 Ducks to a momentous 47-20 bom-bardment of usC with 10 tackles and an interception, the Bay area native is ready to go home.
“i missed half my season, so it feels good to be able to come back and play in front of all my friends and family and just put on a show for them,” Ward said. “it’s nice to have the support. You see people you haven’t seen in a long time.”
Ward played football for the football powerhouse De la salle High school in Concord, Calif., just a short drive from downtown san francisco. there, he was a part of a record 151-game winning streak,
and then he came to oregon as a walk-on in 2005. since then, he’s worked his way from scout team star to full-time starter. this year he was tagged as a pre-season all-pac-10 member, and it was supposed to be his and Walter thurmond iii’s defense to lead.
“it’s been good,” Ward said. “there has been a lot of ups and downs and i’ve had to go through a few things, but it’s been
a good experience. i love it up here. it’s a beautiful state, a beautiful city and i love our football experience and the things we do.”
Ward’s passion for football is evident in everything he does. When he was re-habbing, he would sometimes work too hard and have to tone down his workouts for fear of re-aggravating his ankle. His teammates and coaches also know he’s a
force on the field, where he’s known for laying bone-crunching hits on opposing wide receivers.
“it’s good to get t.J. back,” head coach Chip kelly said. “We finally have our only senior in the secondary back and it’s good for t.J. it was a long, nagging injury and it’s good to have him back because he’s such a physical presence and a leader.”
“obviously he’s a great hitter,” defensive
lineman Brandon Bair said. “t.J. comes up and fills holes and he lays some hits on people that they’re going to remember for years, and that definitely brings some energy to the team as well.”
“that presence is amazing,” cor-nerback talmadge Jackson iii said. “everyone knows t.J. is a great player and everybody expects that big hit at one point, but he’s a good tackler first. He’s been here for years; he’s a great, great player.”
that energy was definitely there against the trojans. Ward was all over the field, breaking up passes and ganging up on usC players.
“after the first hit all the nerves and jitters are out, but you still aren’t in the mid-season shape like if i had been playing before,” Ward said.
But that will come, his teammates say. they’re just happy to have him back, especially with all of the other injuries in the secondary.
“it’s been real nice,” cornerback Javes lewis said. “Having t.J. (back) has al-lowed me to move to a corner. it’s been a blessing in disguise for our defense having another strong guy out there.”
it’s been a blessing in disguise for the whole team coming into the last four games of the season. the rose Bowl is in sight, and although no one on the team will dare mention those two words, they realize the importance of winning the rest of their games. and Ward will lead by the same philosophy he’s practiced since being a walk-on in 2005: just keep working hard.
“it’s just not letting anything stop you,” Ward said, “whatever the naysay-ers may say or tell you what you can’t do. You know your potential and you just can’t let anyone stop you and just do it.”[email protected]
6b oregon DailY eMeralD friDaY, noveMBer 6, 2009
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Back where he belongst.J. Ward has finally recovered from his high ankle sprain and is making a major impact in the secondary
jacK HUnter | PhoTogr APher
senior free safety T.J. ward moves to tackle wide receiver devin Aguilar of washington in one of three games he’s played this season. ward sat out five games because of a high-ankle sprain suffered against Boise state, but now he’s ready for the home stretch.
patricK malee sPorTs rePorTer
Washington state at no. 21 arizona
(12:30 p.m. saturday) the Cougars are desperate to
end a five-game losing streak after falling 40-14 to then-no. 25 notre Dame last weekend. senior run-ning back Dwight tardy gathered 72 yards on only eight carries, but freshman quarterback Jeff tuel threw two interceptions and the Cougar defense gave up an alarm-ing 592 total yards. two weeks ago, the Wildcats earned their third pacific-10 Conference vic-tory over a struggling uCla team. though sophomore quarterback nick foles threw three intercep-tions and the offense combined for five total turnovers, arizona still emerged with a 27-13 vic-tory behind stellar defensive play. the Bruins were held to just 211 total offensive yards, and none of the three quarterbacks they used guided the team into the end zone.
Key stat: last year, the Wildcats had 531 yards of offense in a 59-28
victory over the Cougars. Washington at ucla
(12:30 p.m.) uCla is officially in a tailspin,
having lost its first five pac-10 matchups. the Bruins came tan-talizingly close to their first confer-ence victory last weekend against oregon state before ultimately falling 26-19. Quarterback kevin prince finished the day with 323 yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore wide receiver nelson rosario totaled a career-high 152 yards. Washington comes off a much-needed bye week after a 43-19 drubbing at the hands of oregon. all eyes will be on junior quarterback Jake locker, who has thrown four interceptions in his last two games and could have a tough time against the confer-ence’s second best pass-defense. uCla allows only 197.6 yards per game and has intercepted 12 passes this season.
Key stat: locker has thrown for over 200 yards in all but two games this year.
oregon state at no. 23 california
(4 p.m.) the Beavers’ confidence contin-
ues to grow as they have now won
three of their last four games. not surprisingly, their resurgence has been keyed by the rodgers broth-ers. against uCla last week, ju-nior wide receiver James rodgers ran for the winning touchdown with 44 seconds remaining, finish-ing with 106 yards receiving to go along with 28 rushing. running back Jacquizz rodgers, mean-while, did just about everything for the Beavers. the dynamic sopho-more ran for 112 yards, caught seven passes for 92 yards, and even threw for a touchdown. senior quarterback sean Canfield also seems to be hitting his stride and has gone without an interception in each of his last three games.
California, meanwhile, seems to have put embarrassing losses to oregon and usC behind it and has won three straight. Most recently, the golden Bears eked out a 23-21 victory over arizona state. Junior quarterback kevin riley threw for 351 yards and two touchdowns, while junior running back Jah-vid Best had 124 total yards and a touchdown. kicker giorgio tav-ecchio kicked three field goals, including a 24-yard game-winner with 21 seconds left.
Key stat: over his last three games, riley has thrown for 8 touchdowns. He had thrown only
five through his first five games. no. 12 usc at arizona state
(5 p.m.) embarrassed by a Halloween
blowout against oregon, the tro-jans will look to come out firing on all cylinders against arizona state. the trojans defense should be particularly motivated after giving up 47 points and 613 total yards to the Ducks offense. fresh-man quarterback Matt Barkley will also look to improve upon his performance last week, as he threw for two touchdowns but only 187 yards. the sun Devils are coming off a heartbreaking 23-21 loss to California at home. senior quar-terback Danny sullivan threw for 244 yards but had two intercep-tions, and arizona state’s defense gave up 408 total yards.
Key stat: usC has not lost back-to-back games since the 2001 season. [email protected]
friDaY, noveMBer 6, 2009 oregon DailY eMeralD 7b
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Pick the Pacemerald sports writers predict the
winners of this week’s games
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Week 10 past records
Ben: 18-5
roBert: 14-9
lUcas: 17-6
patricK: 17-6
usC trying to bounce back at asuThe Trojans have not lost consecutive games since 2001
PAC-10 rounduP
ranked eighth in the Bowl Championship series standings and seventh in the associated press poll, oregon has established itself as the nation’s top one-loss team in the eyes of the nation. should the Ducks (7-1, 5-0 pacific-10 Confer-ence) hold serve in their remaining four conference games, they will be mortal locks to make their first rose Bowl appearance since 1994.
Most oregon fans, under-standably, think the Ducks are capable of much more. say, an appearance in the BCs national Championship game.
However, the Ducks do not control their own destiny. seven undefeated teams remain in their
path, waiting for their shot at the national title. Here are my predictions for what will hap-pen to college football’s unde-feated teams (all
rankings from the ap poll):No. 1 Florida
(Southeastern Conference)the gators have the easiest
schedule of any undefeated team in college football. the only hope for gator detractors is for south Carolina and former florida coach steve spurrier to upstage college football’s best team to date. there is, however, the seC championship game ...
No. 2 Texas (Big 12 Conference)
the longhorns’ 41-14 victory over oklahoma state represented the last major challenge on the schedule, as the Big 12 title game should not be in issue. kansas and texas a&M should, at the very
least, put up a fight.No. 3 Alabama (SEC)
the Crimson tide’s offense is no sure thing against lsu’s de-fense, but oregon will likely be jumped by lsu in the event of an upset. look out for auburn, which may have found confidence in its upset of no. 24 ole Miss last week.
No. 4 Cincinnati (Big East Conference)
the most difficult remaining schedule of any of the undefeated teams. Connecticut and West virginia are talented, even though neither team has put it together.
pitt could enter the game against the Bearcats as a top-10 team with enough attrition.
No. 5 Boise State (Western Athletic Conference)
oregon fans will be rooting like hell for idaho on nov. 14, the resurrected in-state rival that be-came bowl eligible this season for the first time in a decade. Beware, Broncos, of nevada on nov. 27: the Wolfpack boasts the nation’s strongest rushing attack.
No. 6 TCU (Mountain West Conference)the nov. 14 game against utah
will decide the conference title, and only a tCu victory will secure a BCs bid for the Mountain West. Wyoming, which lost to utah 22-10 last week, will also give the Horned frogs a fight.
No. 8 Iowa (Big Ten Conference)
the only game in which an un-defeated team will likely not be fa-vored takes place next weekend, as the Hawkeyes travel to ohio state. should iowa pass that test, it will still likely be on the outside looking in for the BCs title [email protected]
still on His feet
HoW oregon Can go to tHe title gaMein My oPinion | roBert HUsseman
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oregon state AT
california
oregon AT stanford
wasHington AT Ucla
Usc AT ariZona
state
wasHington state AT ariZona
8b oregon DailY eMeralD friDaY, noveMBer 6, 2009 24
897
the small printNothing you say will be used against you. Only good will come from sharing your favorite places, people and things. Everyone will join you at the hot places, with the hot people and hot food and it will be like summer in February.That’s when your answers will see the light of day or the dark of night.The results will appear in the February 1st Emerald Magazine.
this may seem like a test, but it’s notJust write your favorite person, place or thing on the line above the category as neatly as possible. Once you fill out this ballot, you can hike up the stairs in the EMU to the Oregon Daily Emerald, Suite 300. If you’ve got a stamp, you can mail it to the Oregon Daily Emerald, PO Box 3159,Eugene OR 97403. If you don’t like writing, fill out the ballot at www.dailyemerald.com/hot
last chance to share your superb tasteDEADLINE: 5pm, Friday, December 4thWe know this will be super fun, but only one ballot per person, please.
first & last name* email*
*required for ballot to be valid
shopping area
movie theater
grocery store
concert venue
live music
dance club
gym
running shop
bike shop
skate shop
outdoor/ski gear
place to bike, hike, jog
hair salon
barbershop
body modification
eyewear/sunglasses
nail salon
massage
bookstore
secondhand clothing
women’s clothing
men’s clothing
game shop
guilty pleasure
coffee
bakery
breakfast
ice cream
burger & fries
sandwich
pizza
burrito
food cart
bbq
bistro food
chinese food
indian food
italian food
japanese food
mediterranean food
mexican food
middle eastern food
thai food
vegetarian food
comfort food
late-night food
on-campus food (emu/housing)
grocery store deli food
best meal deal
place to take mom and dad
place for a date
dessert
fries
outdoor seating
beers on tap
cocktails
happy hour
campus area bar
off-campus bar
bar to end the night
local brewery
sports bar
underage entertainment
taxi service
mode of transportation
lecture hall
professor
major
place to catch a nap
place to study
place to make out
place to people watch
campus icon
campus group
campus landmark
campus building
residence hall
apartment complex
greek house
coop
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