Washington State scared the Ducks on Saturday, putting the fear of the interception into Oregon’s quarterbacks.
“I don’t know if we intimidated (the quarterbacks), but we got some pressure on them,” Cougar head coach Bill Doba said after Saturday’s game.
The Cougars also had pressure on the receivers. Even Oregon’s receiving leaders, Samie Parker and Demetrius Williams, bobbled the ball during Saturday’s game. One Jason Fife pass in the first quarter was stripped from Williams only to be recovered by Washington State.
“(The defensive line) stepped it up,” Cougar cornerback Jason David said. “They help us out a great deal. Once they get pressure on the quarterback it makes our job a lot easier, and it goes both ways. They played great and they came after the quarterback.”
Despite heavy coverage, Williams did manage to grab a career-high nine receptions for another career-high of 175 yards. It was his third 100-plus yard receiving game of the season.
Williams’ long reception on the day was a 58-yard pass from Kellen Clemens. The second-leading receiver for Oregon on Saturday had 58 total receiving yards.
“We dropped a couple passes,” Bellotti said Saturday. “There were also a lot of tipped passes that I didn’t have an answer for.”

Bellotti weighs in on Wildcats
Sunday’s firing of Arizona head coach John Mackovic is the topic of the week in the Pacific-10 Conference. Mackovic coached the Wildcats to a 10-18 record in two full seasons and five games this season.
“I was surprised, only because everything I’d heard had said that it would be evaluated at the end of the season,” Bellotti said before practice on Monday. “Once you start something, I think most people would assume you have a chance to finish it.
“Obviously, there are some trust issues around the nation right now, both ways,” Bellotti added. “I just think it’s unfortunate. I respect John Mackovic as a person and as a coach just in my limited dealings with him, but I just think anytime anybody’s let go midseason it’s the wrong message to send to everybody.”

Wild for Ludwig
In an Orlando Sentinel article that ran Monday, staff writer Mike Huguenin named six coaches Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood should call after he calls Mike Price.
Among the six named was Oregon offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig.
“It’s part of being at this job,” Ludwig said. “But there’s not much to say about it.”
Also among the six coaches named was former Oregon quarterback Bill Musgrave, the current offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Parker got ticked
When Parker was called for a personal foul in the first quarter, the only sure thing was that he hadn’t played nice with David as Parker went after a pass.
“I said, ‘if you can’t catch that on me, you’re not going to catch much on me today,’” David said after Saturday’s game. “I told him I gave him a freebie and he dropped it. He was a little mad. He was mad the whole game.”
Parker hit David in the face mask and was called for a personal foul.