Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon senior fullback Josh Line said he felt like a rock star after seeing the long lines of students waiting outside Autzen Stadium to pick up tickets for the Dec. 1 Civil War game.
Mike Bellotti was “amazed” when he spotted the throng of students lined up around Autzen Stadium on Monday morning to get tickets for Civil War.
The Oregon head coach admitted it got him a little more fired up for the Dec. 1 game.
“Well yeah, and it’s still two weeks away, so I have to temper my excitement,” Bellotti said. “But seeing that this morning when I drove in, I was shocked.”
Knowing that their fellow classmates were braving wind and rain for hours on end just to see them play gave the Oregon football players a little more bounce in their step for Monday’s practice.
“It’s hyped up, you gotta love it,” cornerback Steve Smith said.
“That’s awesome,” tight end Justin Peelle said. “That’s what I love about this university, they just rally around us.”
The first tent was spotted outside of the Autzen Stadium ticket window Friday night, followed by a few more Saturday night and a lot more Sunday. The late-night campers were joined by plenty of early risers, all eager to pick the student tickets that were released at 9 a.m. Monday.
“I feel like a rock star,” fullback Josh Line said. “I’m excited about that. That just shows the support that we have from the student body. I thought we had a game today, and I thought we were late for it. The whole place was packed with cars.
“It was incredible.”
The Ducks practiced Monday, will practice today and then have five days off for Thanksgiving before reconvening for Civil War week. Bellotti wouldn’t usually give that many days off to his team but thinks it’s a reasonable break for a holiday and expects a rejuvenated group when they return.
“I’ll say some things to them before they go away, but I expect our kids to come back with fresh legs, great purpose and great focus,” Bellotti said.
Oregon drops in the BCS
The Ducks fell to the fifth spot in the Bowl Championship Series rankings released Monday. Florida jumped Oregon into No. 4 after beating Florida State, and is behind No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami and No. 1 Nebraska.
A team must be ranked first or second in the final BCS standings on Dec. 9 to play for the national title in the Rose Bowl.
Ducks hold team banquet
Because of the lateness of the Civil War, Oregon held its team banquet Sunday afternoon at the Eugene Hilton. Quarterback Joey Harrington was honored as the team’s MVP for the second straight year and offensive lineman Ryan Schmid was named the Most Inspirational Player.
Jeff Smith is the assistant sports editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached
at [email protected].