The Oregon football team was supposed to learn from its first Pacific-10 Conference matchup with Arizona.
If anything, the Ducks learned that they should move halftime to early
in the first quarter.
Oregon beat Arizona 31-14 in Tucson on Saturday night in a game that
looked like it might have been close before Oregon took control in the second half.
The Ducks went down 7-0 and 14-7 in the first quarter, but the Oregon
defense held while the offense exploded to seal the win.
“Any time you can get a road win in the Pac-10 is great,” Oregon head
coach Mike Bellotti told KUGN-radio after the game. “I think we started off slow and we were our own worst enemy, but I thought the defense improved dramatically as the game went on.”
Oregon tailback Onterrio Smith rushed for 145 yards in the win. Smith
is now tied for the all-time Duck record of consecutive games with more than 100 rushing yards.
Smith opened Oregon’s scoring with a three-yard run in the first quarter that pulled the Ducks into a 7-7 tie with the Wildcats.
Arizona’s first score came early in the first quarter on a 19-yard pass from Jason Johnson to running back Mike Bell.
The Wildcats added another score on a 16-yard strike from Johnson to
wide receiver Bobby Wade with 1:53 left in the first half.
But Oregon’s defense held Arizona out of the endzone for the rest of
the game as the Ducks’ offense reeled off 24-straight points to notch their first conference win.
Junior quarterback Jason Fife led the Ducks’ charge throughout most of
the game. The signal-caller threw for 244 yards, two touchdowns and no
interceptions on the evening, and Coach Bellotti said he looked more
comfortable with the offense as the game went on.
“Jason matured in this game,” Bellotti said. “His decision-making
improved, he was a little hesitant early on but he threw the ball very accurately and very well.”
Fife’s most impressive touchdown of the game was also the Ducks’ most important score, and got another key component of Oregon’s offense
involved.
With six minutes left in the third quarter and the Ducks leading 17-14,
Fife found Keenan Howry – Oregon’s star receiver who had yet to catch a
touchdown this season – over the middle for a 33-yard score. The touchdown broke open the game, as Fife added another touchdown to running back Terrence Whitehead in the fourth quarter to wrap up the win.
“We’re 5-0, and we took our first positive step in the Pac-10, and that’s good,” Bellotti said. “And we did it on the road, which is good because we have to do it again at UCLA next week.”
The Ducks will dive into the thick of the Pac-10 race next week when they take on the Bruins at the Rose Bowl. Oregon is the only remaining
undefeated Pac-10 school, but UCLA is one of four conference squads undefeated in conference play, as the Bruins took care of Oregon State 43-35 in Corvallis on Saturday.
Contact the sports editor at [email protected].
Ducks survive ‘Wild’ first half, hang on to beat Wildcats
Daily Emerald
October 5, 2002
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