When the Oregon Ducks take the field at Martin Stadium on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. against the Washington State Cougars, it will be the fifth time in seven years they have traveled to Pullman to play.
Several Pacific-10 Conference match-ups experienced some lopsided years in terms of home-and-away ratio, while the conference shifted to a schedule where everyone plays everyone, every year, rather than the rotating bye the conference had previously scheduled.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti is glad the transition period is almost over.
“It was actually ridiculous,” he said. “That was partly what we had to do based on when we went to the full league schedule, and thank god that’s run its course so now it’s just every other year we get to go to Pullman.”

And while Oregon fans might not point to Washington State as first on their list of Northwest rivals, Bellotti said this game will have the same feel for the players and coaches as a game against the Huskies or Beavers.
“They take the Pac-10 Northwest rivalry very seriously and compete their tails off,” he said of the Cougars. “I think overall I believe this will be a very tough, physical, emotional football game for everybody.”
Like Oregon, Washington State has experienced injuries at the quarterback position recently, as senior quarterback Gary Rogers left in the third quarter of last weekend’s game against Portland State with a spinal injury. He was replaced by redshirt freshman Marshall Lobbestael, who completed 9-of-12 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns in the game, leading the Cougars to a 48-9 victory. He earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors for the performance and is the clear-cut starter for the foreseeable future.
Oregon’s situation at quarterback isn’t so clear, as a final decision on playing time at the position won’t be made until game time, according to Bellotti.
True freshman Darron Thomas came into Oregon’s 37-32 loss to Boise State last Saturday late in the third quarter and led the Ducks on a comeback scoring spree, completing 13-of-25 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, nearly overcoming a 37-13 deficit.
“Everybody’s going to be ready to play, just like last week,” Thomas said of the quarterback preparations. “Even though I really didn’t know I was going to play I was still ready.”
Thomas was involved in a car crash after midnight on Thursday morning, bruising his right elbow of his throwing arm. Thomas was a passenger in a car being driven by teammate Eddie Pleasant, who suffered a forehead laceration that required 75 stitches. Pleasant and wide receiver Jamere Holland won’t travel to WSU because of injuries from the crash, in which Holland was a passenger as well.
Last week’s starter, sophomore transfer Jeremiah Masoli, was sidelined early with a concussion after a late hit from a Boise State defender. Masoli said he was impressed with Thomas’ play in his absence.
“Darron Thomas came through for us in the clutch in the fourth quarter,” Masoli said. “He did some wonderful things. Everybody saw that fourth quarter – it was amazing.”
Masoli’s take on Thomas’ play likely comes from watching film, as the hit he took in the first quarter has impacted his memory of the game.
“That’s actually the only thing I remember from the entire game was getting hit, and getting right back up,” he said. “All these guys are making fun of me about how I don’t remember anything.”
Masoli said that while some outside the program might question Oregon’s quarterback position moving forward in the conference schedule, he and the other young quarterbacks aren’t looking at the situation as a setback for the team, but an opportunity.
“We look at this as a good thing. Darron, he can do great things, as we’ve all seen,” he said. “It’s not really a negative thing; it’s just about us getting better as a team.”
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