The No. 6 Oregon football team returned to practice in the Moshofsky Center Monday morning following a somewhat lackluster performance against Washington State on Saturday.@@http://bleacherreport.com/articles/918026-oregon-football-ducks-drop-to-no-8-in-the-bcs-rankings@@
The Ducks (7-1, 5-0 Pac-12) begin a difficult month of November with a trip to Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies (6-2, 4-1) this weekend. Washington currently ranks third in the Pac-12 North standings — behind undefeated Stanford and one-loss Oregon — with its only two losses coming at the hands of No. 10 Nebraska in Lincoln on Sept. 17 and against the fourth-ranked Cardinal in Palo Alto two weeks ago.@@http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fbs@@ @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/264/washington-huskies@@ @@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/Football/Standings.aspx@@ @@http://dailyemerald.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2224113&action=edit@@
Defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said that despite a noticeable jump in the level of competition over the next few weeks, the Oregon defense won’t be overlooking a dynamic Husky squad this week.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=22687@@
“Obviously we’re playing a very good Washington team,” Aliotti said. “They have a lot of weapons, so yeah, the margin of error obviously, you’ve got to make less mistakes, but I want that all the time.”
After holding a one-dimensional Cougars squad to just two passing touchdowns last weekend, the Ducks face a much more balanced attack offensively with sophomore quarterback Keith Price and junior running back Chris Polk.@@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/price_keith00.html@@ @@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/polk_chris00.html@@
Price had a competitive first career start against then-No. 1 Oregon in Autzen Stadium last season in place of the injured Jake Locker and has developed into a consistent passing threat in 2011. For the year, Price is tied with Stanford’s Andrew Luck for the Pac-12 lead with 23 touchdown passes through eight games — the fifth-highest total in the country.@@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/locker_jake01.html@@ @@http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/tag/_/name/keith-price@@ @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/Football/2011-Stats/HTML/wash.htm#team.ind@@
Meanwhile, Polk has rushed for 100 yards in seven of eight games this season and his 18 career 100-yard games set the Washington school record. For his efforts in the Huskies’ 42-31 win over Arizona last weekend, Polk was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week.@@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/wash-m-footbl-sched.html@@ @@http://blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports/2011/10/31/chris-polk-named-pac-12-offensive-player-of-the-week/@@
Polk broke a number of school records Saturday, becoming the first Washington player to tally 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game. He carried the ball 34 times for 144 yards and also caught four passes for 100 yards. Polk tied the school record with five touchdowns in that game, four rushing and one receiving, and also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the third consecutive season.@@http://uwfootball.sportspressnw.com/2011/10/31/polk-predictably-wins-pac-12-weekly-honor/@@ @@http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/10/30/1885641/chris-polk-scores-5-touchdowns.html@@
“Every game in this league is a tough game, so we’ll prepare for the best,” Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said on Saturday. “(Washington coach Steve Sarkisian) is doing a great job with those guys. We’re going to have a good week of practice, get ready to go up to Seattle.”@@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/sarkisian_steve00.html@@
Husky Stadium finale
The Ducks and Huskies will close out historic Husky Stadium on Saturday in what will be the final game played in the 92-year-old venue. Washington’s last home game of the year will feature several ceremonies before major renovations begin this offseason.@@http://www.pac-12.org/Volleyball/Tabid/1463/Article/138302/Football/Tabid/1452/Article/138303/This-Week-In-Pac-12-Football.aspx@@
“It’s really exciting to get to play there before they renovate it,” said Oregon tight end David Paulson, an Auburn, Wash., native. “There’s a lot of history in that stadium, they’ve had Rose Bowl teams and really great teams that have played there, so it’ll be fun to be the last team that gets to play there.”@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=1149812@@
Washington plays on the road against USC and Oregon State to close out the regular season and will play the Apple Cup against Washington State at the end of the month and all of the 2012 season at the Seattle Seahawks’ CenturyLink Field.@@http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0F0046EBA68B5904@@
James named Maxwell Award semifinalist
Junior running back LaMichael James was chosen as one of 16 candidates for the 75th Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year on Monday. The 2010 Doak Walker Award winner and Heisman Trophy finalist was one of five Pac-12 players to make the list.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3383&SPID=233&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205325672&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
USC quarterback Matt Barkley and wide receiver Robert Woods each made the cut, as did Polk and Luck.@@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/barkley_matt00.html@@ @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/woods_robert00.html@@
Last year, the Maxwell Award went to Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.