Nate LiaBraaten saw the best part of Oregon’s 2003 season.
He caught two passes in the team’s first four games, all of which ended in victories.
Along the way, he established himself as a valuable tight end during a time when the Ducks were thin at the position. Tim Day, who eventually staked his claim to the starting position and made the most of it later in the season — finishing with 23 receptions — hadn’t made his mark yet.
But in Oregon’s defeat of Michigan on Sept. 20, 2003, LiaBraaten injured his ankle, prematurely ending his season.
LiaBraaten’s back this spring, healthy and ready to challenge for the backup tight-end spot. But he’s been making his mark elsewhere early on.
That is, he’s the newest member of the Oregon defense.
“It’s definitely different, but it’s a lot of fun,” LiaBraaten said. “Ask me again in a month, at the end of spring, and we’ll see what happens.”
In the team’s first scrimmage Saturday, LiaBraaten played on an injury-depleted defensive line and was credited with a sack for 11 yards. He also caught three passes for 11 yards.
LiaBraaten effectively neutralized himself.
“Probably primarily for the second half of spring, he’ll be a defensive player,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It’ll be two-to-one or three-to-one in terms of the reps he’ll take on defense versus offense. I think he is filling an immediate need for us, but Nate has looked good at (the defensive) position. Either way, whether it was at tight end or defensive end, he would probably be at the two-deep.”
LiaBraaten’s presence on defense will be necessary in the spring because of injuries and recovery that have claimed both Devan Long and Haloti Ngata on the defensive line. Senior Robby Valenzuela has also been banged up, which, coupled with the departures of Igor Olshansky and Junior Siavii after the 2003 season, has left a lack of depth on the defensive line, especially among the team’s tackles.
“We’ve got two of our big-time guns — Haloti and Devan — out. We could use some help,” linebacker Jerry Matson said. “Why not try him out a little bit?
“We have so few guys, in regards to talent, that you get so fatigued that you really can’t (play) your talent anymore. First of all, it’s really nice of him to do it because (he has his) own family, (his) own side of the ball. It’s good to see him come over to our side and try hard for us. It’s a team effort when you get guys like Nate coming over here.”
What’s the biggest change for LiaBraaten, aside from physically moving to the other side of the ball?
“Just the mentality,” he said. “On offense, you have a place to be and you have to execute that with precision every time. On defense, it gives you more of a chance to let loose out there.”

Injury update, anyone?
Enoka Lucas suffered a high ankle sprain during Oregon’s scrimmage, Bellotti said. He is day-to-day, as is fellow offensive lineman Shawn Flanagan.
The Ducks received the services of wide receiver Demetrius Williams at Tuesday’s practice. He missed the scrimmage after suffering a concussion during the April 6 practice.
Also, cornerback Marc Walker, who strained a hamstring before spring practice started, got back on the field Tuesday.
“It’ll be interesting to get him out there and see what he can do,” Bellotti said. “We need to force that issue. Hopefully he’s healthy enough to take a lot of reps and we can get him an opportunity.”

To think, Washington would have been eligible
The Pacific-10 Conference is about to add a seventh bowl to its postseason lineup.
The conference is close to an agreement with the Silicon Valley Football Classic, located in San Jose, Calif. The game would be the seventh-seeded team for the league, immediately following the Emerald Bowl. The bowl was formerly known as the Diamond Walnut Bowl, and it is located in San Francisco.
The caveat: The Silicon Valley Classic hasn’t exactly cemented itself a solid foundation.
Played in tiny Spartan Stadium, which seats 30,456 and is home to San Jose State, the bowl game has never established a major sponsor, which is usually necessary for postseason games. It has been on the potential chopping block each season before squeaking through with enough financial backing to play the game.
Also, with 11 games on the docket for each Pac-10 team this season — down from 12 a year ago — teams must have winning records to become bowl eligible. The conference has sent seven teams to the postseason just once in its history — in 2002.

Isn’t that illegal in a rivalry?
All Southern California’s Pete Carroll did last season was win a share of the national championship.
The fourth-year head coach brought the Trojans their first postseason No. 1 ranking since 1972. It was the team’s second straight top-10 finish, which hasn’t happened since 1988-89.
So what does he do now?
Well, living in Los Angeles and all, he heads straight to the dean of the area’s coaches: John Wooden.
According to the Daily Trojan, Carroll met the former UCLA basketball coach at a USC journalism class last week.
Wooden went as far as to compare Carroll’s surge with the Trojans — a record of 29-9 in three seasons with USC — with his 10 national championships.
“It’s a tremendous compliment,” Carroll said. “The year that I was off in New England there was a friend of mine that gave me coach Wooden’s ‘Blue Book’ … I was reading the book and I came to the point where it said in his 17th year he won his first national championship. … But then he won 10 out of the next 11 and seven straight.
“I had to close the book and try to ingest that thought because what hit me was once he got there he knew exactly what he wanted to do and how he wanted his program run.”