A certain issue is becoming a progressively bigger problem for the Oregon football team. The Ducks are being flagged at a dismal rate.
Eleven penalties and 114 yards on Saturday didn’t keep the Ducks from losing to Arizona but did take them out of scoring drives. If it was a closer game, the penalties might have made the difference.
“I think we had an opportunity to score a lot more points than we did, and that is unfortunate,” Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens said of the penalties’ impact. “There is still plenty of work to be done.”
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti’s patience is wearing thin with his players and with what he calls “stupid” penalties; those that happen before the snap, after the whistle, and penalties that don’t have to do with the play.
Out of the 11 penalties against Arizona, eight could be classified in this realm.
Oregon committed three false starts, a personal foul, an illegal block to the back (costing Justin Phinisee a touchdown), a kick catching interference penalty, a roughing the passer penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for Anthony Trucks’ semi-truck honk request.
The Ducks have the most penalties in
Pacific-10 Conference, averaging 98.3 yards per game. The next most penalized team in the Pac-10 is Oregon State, averaging nearly 20 yards less per game at 79.5.
On top of that, Oregon’s opponents are averaging a mere 48.5 yards per game in penalties. The Ducks are penalized almost half a football field more than their adversaries
each game.
Bellotti has already implemented his so-called “tours of Autzen Stadium” punishment, but he said some of the penalties are occurring because of pure selfishness.
“You have to subjugate your ego for the team,” Bellotti said.
Moving on up
Arizona State quarterback Andrew Walter continues to climb the Pac-10 career passing yardage list, moving into ninth place after
throwing for 181 yards against top-ranked
Southern California Saturday.
The senior has now thrown for 8,897 yards in his Sun Devil career, passing former Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser, who amassed 8,830 yards in four seasons as a Cougar.
Next on the list is NFL Hall of Famer and former Stanford quarterback John Elway, who passed for 9,349 yards with the Cardinal.
Oregon State quarterback Derek Anderson ranks seventh on the list, which is the highest among active Pac-10 signal callers. The Scappoose native has thrown for 9,357 yards and is only 324 yards from passing Erik Wilhelm and Jonathan Smith — both former Beavers — for fifth all-time.
The streak continues
USC extended its winning streak to 15 games with a 45-7 victory against then-No. 15 Arizona State Saturday.
The Trojans have now won 26 of their last 27 games, including 10 straight conference contests. USC’s last loss was a 34-31 triple-overtime defeat at the hands of California on Sept. 27 of last season.
During USC’s current streak, the Trojans have outscored their opponents 598-230 and have a 25-point average margin of victory.
The co-defending national champions wrap up a three-game homestand against Washington Saturday. USC leads the conference in attendance, averaging 88,580 fans per game.
Explosive offense
California’s potent offense continued to shine Saturday in a 45-28 win against UCLA.
Head coach Jeff Tedford has the Golden Bears hitting on all cylinders. Cal leads the Pac-10 in rushing offense, scoring offense and total offense.
Running back J.J. Arrington rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns in 29 carries against the Bruins.
“I love when they put the ball in my hands,” Arrington said after the game.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 19 of 29 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns,
while All-American wide receiver
Geoff McArthur caught nine
balls for 163 yards and a pair of
scores.

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