In the Pacific-10 Conference, tall receivers are the rule.
They’ve got size, strength and seemingly superhuman leaping ability, allowing them to jump over cornerbacks inches smaller than them. Pac-10 receivers — such as Washington’s Reggie Williams and USC’s Mike Williams — have tortured these defensive players ever since they entered the conference.
By the same token, it has become the norm for Oregon cornerbacks to lack the same size and physical strength. But these players have gotten by.
Rashad Bauman, for instance, overcame his height disadvantage in his five seasons with the Ducks.
Oregon has another skilled corner who aspires to compete with the Pac-10’s tallest and who has taken the spotlight and run with it.
Senior Steven Moore, former understudy to Bauman and a friend to the current professional, has emerged as a player to watch in Oregon’s secondary.
“He’s always been confident,” Oregon safety Marley Tucker said. “He’s a senior and knows what he has to do and what we have to do as a team.”

Moore was the poster boy last season for the Oregon secondary; a group that ranked 115th in the nation in pass defense. That’s out of 117 Division I teams.
If there’s ever a way to lose your mental edge, playing for that group would have been it. But Moore, like the other members of the group, has yet to lose sight of what they’re playing for.
If the Los Angeles native was as tall as he is mentally strong, he would easily tower ten-feet high.
“It was hard, but with me, I’m my biggest critic,” Moore said of last season. “I don’t think anybody can put me down more than I can put down myself. I think that makes it easier because I’m harder on myself than anybody else could be.”
Moore’s play this season has been noticed by the Oregon coaching brass. Oregon’s secondary coach, John Neal, who was at Alabama-Birmingham last season, has seen all the tapes from last season’s games.
“I don’t think (last season) carried over at all with him,” Neal said. “It’s a new start. Football is pretty much year-to-year.”
Looking for comparisons between Moore and Bauman would be an easy task.
Bauman was listed at 5-foot-8-inches with the Ducks, while Moore stands 5-foot-9-inches tall. Bauman played an integral role with the team the day he arrived on the Oregon campus, and while Moore didn’t see much action until his sophomore season, he has been the de facto leader of the Ducks’ cornerbacks ever since he received prime playing time.
About the only comparison you can’t make between the two is the team’s success with each. Bauman led the Oregon defense to the Fiesta Bowl in 2001. Moore was a member of last season’s team that fell from grace.
“He’s a confident dude,” Moore said of Bauman. “It seemed like when he played, he played like no one can beat him, and no one is better than him.
“That made me better as player; just being around him. As a corner, you have to have the attitude that nobody can beat you, and if you don’t, then you can’t be out there.”
Moore and Bauman still talk on a regular basis — usually once every couple of weeks. They’ve stayed friends despite Bauman’s presence with Washington of the NFL, located approximately 3,000 miles away
from Eugene.
“He’ll tell me what to look for in game, how to play certain things,” Moore said. “He’ll give me little tips here and there on how to play certain receivers. He helps me out a lot.”
The way Moore has played in 2003 would show that he has taken Bauman’s talks to heart. Moore has picked off two passes this season, and has broken up three more.
Where opposing quarterbacks were not afraid to throw to him last season, they’ve begun to shy away from his direction this season.
He’s also added another dimension this season that was taken away from the Ducks when Keenan Howry graduated after last season. Moore is returning punts for Oregon, averaging 12.1 yards per return, including a 61-yarder against Michigan that resulted in a touchdown.
He is doing it all for Oregon this season, having learned from the best. All that’s left for Moore is to prove the Ducks’ secondary is on the rise.
“We’re a lot more physical; a lot more intense,” Moore said. “I think having John Neal here has really boosted our confidence, and he believes in us. He’s not scared to put it on the line for us. That alone has set a tone for our defensive secondary this season.
“We’re going to get better every week,” Moore said. “We’re not done yet.”