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| Wednesday, November 1 Huskies know Rose Bowl race still wide open By Dan Rosen Special to ESPN.com | ||||||||
The race for the Rose Bowl may go through Eugene, Ore., but Duck fans shouldn't neccessarily be making non-refundable reservations right about now.
Oregon, Oregon State and Washington are in a battle for the right to represent the Pac-10 in Pasadena. While the Ducks are undefeated in the conference and OSU and Washington each have one conference loss, this race promises to get wilder before the end of the season.
Arizona
Senior LB Adam Archuleta was named one of the 15 semifinalists for the Football News' (National) Defensive Player of the Year. Archuleta leads the Pac-10 in tackles with 87, while 67 of them have been solo stops. He is also one of 11 finalists for the Butkus Award handed out to the nation's best linebacker. "It's just an amazing thing to watch," coach Bruce Snyder said. "Nobody is playing their position better in the Pac-10 as he is playing at linebacker. If you had 11 Archuletas, and you could play them at any spot on the field, you would win." ... Snyder also said that senior CB Kenny Williams was injured against Oregon and has been lost for the year along with sophomore CB Dalen Ware. Sophomore WR Justin Taplin may return for the Arizona game and sophomore PK Mike Barth is questionable for this week. "This was a very expensive game for us," the coach added. Cal The Golden Bears need to win-out the remainder of the season in order to qualify with a 6-5 record. Those games are against nationally ranked foes Oregon State and Oregon and then "The Big Game" against Stanford. However, the Bears have lost their previous nine November games and 12 of their past 13. Their last win in the month was on Nov. 1, 1997 against Oregon State, this week's opponent. ... Under coach Tom Holmoe, this young team has been maturing at a steady pace over the past three weeks.They are 2-1 and have averaged 32.7 points per game compared to their 13.8 ppg in the first five games. They are, however, only averaging 305.7 yards per game, but have relied on the quick strike. The Bears' average time is 1:57 in their eight offensive touchdown drives over the three games and have also scored via an interception, punt and fumble recovery return. ... Senior DE Andre Carter, who is one of 12 Lombardi Award candidates, has only missed three of 597 defensive plays this year. He has 27 sacks in his career, one short of Regan Upshaw's (1993-95) 28. Carter had 2.5 sacks for minus 32 yards and four tackles for loss in the Bears win at USC last Saturday, earning him Pac-10 defensive player of the week honors. Jemeel Powell"s 138 yards on four punt returns won him the special teams award. Oregon Junior QB Joey Harrington, who was also named the Pac-10's offensive player of the week for his 26-of-43, 434-yard and no interception performance in the thrilling win over ASU, was tabbed as one of 15 semifinalists for the national offensive player of the year honors by the Football News. Senior DE Saul Patu, who is second on the team with 42 tackles and is third in the league in tackles for loss (14) and quarterback sacks (8), joins ASU's Archuleta on the Football News' defensive list. Coach Mike Bellotti was the third Duck honored as he was named one of 10 nominees for national coach of the year honors. ... The Ducks never led in regulation in their 56-55 win at Sun Devil Stadium last Saturday. They had been behind only twice this year before the ASU. ... Harrington made his starting debut last year against this week's opponent, Washington State, throwing for three touchdowns and running for another in the Ducks 52-10 victory, their 100th all-time at Autzen Stadium. Oregon State The school's athletic director, Mitch Barnhart, announced Monday that a new contract is in the process of being developed for coach Dennis Erickson. Erickson is currently in the first year of a five-year deal he signed in January, but an extension and renegotiation should put Erickson in Corvallis, Ore. for a long time to come. It is expected to be completed by the end of the season. ... With his 169-yard day last Saturday against Washington State, junior RB Ken Simonton became the first back in Pac-10 history to reach the 1,000 yard mark in each of his first three seasons. Simonton is averaging 145.4 yards per game, which leads the league and ranks fifth nationally. He is a finalist for the Doak Walker Award given to the nation's top running back and needs just 55 yards to move past former UCLA star Gaston Green (3,677) into seventh in the Pac-10 in all-time rushing yards. Stanford For the Cardinal to become bowl eligible they must win their remaining three games and have history on their side, going 12-5 in the month of November under coach Tyrone Willingham. ... The Cardinal, who garnered only one touchdown on the ground in their first six games, has six in the last two. They have also averaged 190 yards per game after averaging 129.5 in the first six contests. ... This week's opponent, UCLA, had its 15 game Pac-10 winning streak stopped last season in Palo Alto. Stanford had 672 yards of total offense in the game behind former QB Joe Borchard's 324 yards passing and five touchdowns in two-plus quarters. UCLA The Bruins snapped an eight game road losing streak with their 27-24 win at Arizona last Saturday. ... Coach Bob Toledo said that it is unlikely that senior DE Kenyon Coleman will return this season from his left knee injury. "I think it's going to be very difficult," he said. "He hasn't been out there yet. He's not going to be able to play this week and there's only two weeks after that. I think it's very difficult for him to return at this point, but we're not ruling anything out by any means." ... Junior flanker Freddie Mitchell is second in the NCAA with 115.5 receiving yards per game and third with 924 receiving yards. As a result, he was named one of the 10 finalists for the Biletnikoff Award given to the nation's best wide receiver. Junior LB Robert Thomas (58 tackles, eight tackles for loss, five forced fumbles) was one of 11 finalists for the Butkus Award and punter Nate Fikse (Pac-10 leading 43.8 yards per punt) is on the watchlist for the Ray Guy Award. USC It's well-documented that the Trojans season has gone completely sour, as they are off to their worst start in conference play ever at 0-5. But the question is, why? Judging by the raw statistics, the answer is evident -- the turnover ratio has been a major problem. The Trojans have turned the ball over 20 times in the last six games, including four against San Jose State, and Oregon State and five against Arizona. Overall, USC has 22 turnovers with four games to play, including a match against rival Notre Dame. But, in 1999 they had 25 all season. They had 39 takeaways a year ago, which was good for No. 1 in the nation. However, this year they have just 13. Adding to this, the Trojans also find themselves trailing early, as they have been outscored 69-34 in the first quarter this season. ... With a loss at Arizona State this Saturday, USC would tie its longest losing streak ever, six in 1991. Washington Team physician John O'Kane said an MRI showed that Curtis Williams did indeed suffer a spinal cord injury but also stated "their is certainly reason to be optimistic" about his complete recovery. "He is not completely out of the woods," O'Kane added. "He is in the intensive care unit with a very serious injury." Coach Neuheisel said that despite the injury, the Huskies have a job to do this week to keep their Rose Bowl hopes alive, and that is what Williams would want them to focus on. "We have an assignment and No. 25 (Williams) wants us to carry out the assignment," Neuheisel said. "That is our job and that is what we swore on to do. That is what we came together at the beginning of the season to do and by gosh we are going to give it everything we've got." ... The Huskies have won four of the last five games over Arizona and hold an 11-4-1 series lead. Washington State Sophomore QB Jason Gesser leads the league in passing with 241.5 yards per game and passing efficiency at 136.9. ... Overall, the offense is averaging 383.6 yards per game, and in the previous seven games they are garnering 402.4 ypg. ... Sophomore RB Deon Burnett finally scored his first touchdown of the season against Arizona State two weeks ago. Burnett failed to reach the end zone last week against Oregon State, leaving him with one TD, which is 11 shy of his freshman year mark of 12. ... Each starter in the secondary has made at least two interceptions: senior DB Mory Banks, junior safety Billy Newman and sophomore CB Marcus Trufant each have three, while senior CB Chris Martin has two. | ALSO SEE Big Ten notebook Big 12 notebook Big West notebook MAC notebook Mountain West notebook WAC notebook AUDIO/VIDEO   Todd Heap stretches out to pull in the one-handed catch.avi: 1125 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Adam Archuleta sacks Joey Harrington in the end zone, creating a fumble and TD.avi: 1261 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 UCLA's Brian Poli-Dixon jukes his way into the endzone for an 18-yard touchdown. (Courtesy ABC Sports)avi: 1170 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||||
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