Ducks News and Statistics
The Ducks stay at home for the second of three straight weeks Saturday, taking on No. 18 UCLA at Autzen Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
A lot's happened already this week, so read up on the latest Duck news.
With center Seaton Daly questionable for this week with an ankle injury from last weekend, Deke Moen looks to be the starter, at least as of Wednesday. Stefan deVries is back and starting at left guard -- also moving Michael Klews back to the starting right guard spot. No starter has been named at quarterback yet. At flanker, Tony Hartley will start ahead of Donald Haynes. On defense, Brandon McLemore starts at strong safety, while Dietrich Moore will back-up Peter Sirmon at outside linebacker. Good news! Ryan Klaasen saw limited practice for the first time this week after a minor concussion two weeks ago but will not play this week. Others likely out for this weekend include center Chad Normoyle (ankle) and Dietrich Moore (knee).
Find out the latest news and stats on Oregon's top gridiron stars.
OREGON STATISTICAL LEADERSRushing Att. Yds. Avg. TD Game
Saladin McCullough, tb 102 493 4.8 2 98.6
Derien Latimer, tb 16 67 4.2 1 16.8
Akili Smith, qb 29 73 2.5 0 14.6
Passing Att. Comp. Yds. Pct. TD Int.
Jason Maas, qb 109 63 816 57.8 9 7
Akili Smith, qb 71 37 435 52.1 5 1
Receiving No. Yds. Avg. TD Long
Pat Johnson, se 28 488 17.4 2 66
Blake Spence, te 17 210 12.4 4 24
Tony Hartley, fl 17 183 10.8 3 31
Tackles UT AT FR INT TFL
Peter Sirmon, olb 31 13 1 1 10-55
Jaiya Figueras, fs 34 9 1 0 0-0
Garth White, ilb 19 8 0 0 1-1
Rashad Bauman, cb 20 7 0 1 0-0
Dietrich Moore, ss 19 8 0 0 3-7
SOMETHING SPECIAL . . . Senior tailback Saladin McCullough possesses the rare ability to transform a routine three-yard gain into an electrifying highlight clip every time he touches the football. Such is the case when he returned the season's opening kickoff for a 93-yard touchdown return against Arizona as well as his 68-yard run at Stanford. Two weeks ago, he accumulated 302 all-purpose yards (155 kickoff returns, 123 rushing and 24 receiving) to rank fifth on Oregon's all-time single-game list. The former Pasadena, Calif., standout, who accumulated 15 touchdowns in seven games a year ago, now has accumulated four TDs this season -- two rushing, one receiving and one kickoff return. His 68-yard gallop two weeks ago at Stanford signified his longest run of his Oregon career. In addition, this season's eight catches for 85 yards already has eclipsed last year's total of five receptions for 61 yards.
MORE McCULLOUGH . . . Although he has played in only 12 games during his Oregon tenure, there is little doubt the impact McCullough has already made on the all-time annals of Oregon football. Eclipsing the single-season record for touchdowns rushing with 15 last year in only seven games, only eight players in the program's 101-year history have scored more TDs than the Pasadena, Calif., senior. However, he did see his consecutive games scored string snapped at nine after being held scoreless at Stanford. He now stands only 32 points shy of cracking the school's all-time top-10.
All-Time Oregon Touchdowns
1. Derek Loville (1986-89): 45
6. Mel Renfro (1961-63): 23
7. Dwight Robertson (1978-80): 21
8. Lew Barnes (1983-85): 20
9t. Saladin McCullough (1996- ): 19
9t. Dick James (1953-55): 19
ON THE RUN . . . Possessing a career rushing average of 98.2 yards per game (1,178 total), McCullough could become the first player in school history to average better than 100 yards a game for his Oregon career. Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashad) came the closest to being a career 100-yard rusher, however he was hampered by being utilized more as a receiver his sophomore year, rushing for only 171 yards. Over his final two years out of the backfield, Moore averaged 106.8 yards rushing. Saladin has topped the 100-yard plateau in five of 12 games. Below is how McCullough compares with Oregon's top-five rushers of all time:
Player (Years) G Yards Avg.
1. Derek Loville (1986-89) 45 3296 73.2
2. Sean Burwell (1990-93) 41 2758 67.3
3. Ricky Whittle (1992-95) 44 2545 57.8
4. Bobby Moore (1969-72) 31 2306 74.4
5. Don Reynolds (1972-74) 33 2210 66.9
5. Saladin McCullough (1996-) 12 1178 98.2
DOUBLE TROUBLE . . . Seniors McCullough and Pat Johnson have formed the most dangerous all-purpose duo in the Pacific-10 Conference. Combining for an average of 317.00 yards per game in rushing, receiving and kick return statistics, McCullough ranks third in the conference (10th in the country) in accumulating all-around acreage, averaging 178.4 yards per game. On the other hand, Johnson stands 11th in the Pac-10 (45th in the nation), sporting a 130.20-yard average. McCullough racked up 302 yards of real estate a week ago at Stanford, ranking fifth on Oregon's all-time ledger, while Johnson managed 258 yards of his own -- seventh on the Ducks' career chart. While Johnson ranked third in the country in kickoff returns in '96 (30.7 avg.), McCullough is eighth (28.55) this year.
1997 REVIEW . . . Oregon outgained Washington State in rushing, passing, total offense and time of possession, yet fell on the wrong end of the scoreboard in it's 24-13 loss. Junior transfer Akili Smith accounted for his best day in an Oregon uniform but in the end, it was the offense's inability to convert more than three of six trips inside the 20-yard line into points which proved hazardous. Stanford converted a pair of Oregon first-half turnovers into touchdowns and put together 576 yards of total offense en route to surviving a 58-49 shootout over Oregon. The effort dampened two of the Ducks' best all-purpose displays in school history as well as a six touchdown passing performance by Jason Maas and Akili Smith. In a rerun of last year's outcome, Fresno State forced the Ducks into overtime before Oregon scored a touchdown in its half of the extra period to post a 43-40 win. Two Oregon quarterbacks each threw a pair of touchdown passes while tight end Blake Spence tied a school record with three scoring catches among his nine grabs for 127 yards. Junior Jason Maas came off the bench to engineer a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives to fuel the 24-20 win at Nevada. Maas capped a 15-play, 88-yard drive in the final four minutes with a 14-yard pass to Tony Hartley with 1:02 remaining for the winning score. Saladin McCullough made amends for a pair of lost fumbles by scoring twice and rushing for 88 yards. McCullough returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to provide the momentum for a 16-9 win over Arizona in the season opener. Oregon scored all of its points in the first half, with McCullough setting up his team's second TD with a 23-yard run and completing a 32-yard pass to fuel a 19-yard field goal. The defense kept the Wildcats out of the end zone twice inside the 20-yard line.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS . . . Among the quality most closely associated with Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti has been his poise in pressure-filled situations. While the margin of victory for three of the five outings this year has been decided by a touchdown or less, Bellotti's teams have prevailed on 11 of 13 occasions in games decided by fewer than eight points.
NATIONALLY RANKED FOES . . . Under Bellotti, Oregon has been victorious in two of seven appearances against top-25 ranked opposition since assuming control of the helm at the start of the 1995 season. Following wins at UCLA and at Washington during that initial campaign, the Ducks have dropped their last five opportunities for national acclaim. Oregon fell on the short end of a 38-6 verdict to seventh-ranked Colorado in the 1996 Cotton Bowl prior to losing a 48-27 decision at No. 6 Arizona State as well as a 33-14 verdict to 23rd-rated Washington a year ago. Stanford was ranked 20th (AP poll) prior to this year's 58-49 win while Washington State settled in at No. 15.
AT HOME IN THE END ZONE . . . Despite missing four games due to injuries, Saladin McCullough found his way into the end zone 15 times last year. Averaging 12.86 points per game, his scoring average bettered that of Washington's national scoring leader Corey Dillon (12.55) had McCullough played in enough games to meet the NCAA minimum (playing in 75% of team's games) to be included among national leaders. With the addition of this season's four TDs, he has landed in the end zone an average of once every 13.4 times he has touched the football (254) during his Oregon tenure. That's more impressive when considering the Ducks' career scoring leader, Derek Loville, scored a TD every 21.4 times he carried the ball, and Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashad) did so at every 16.8 intervals. However after scoring in nine straight games, he has been denied the last two weeks (46 all-purpose carries).
TWO-HEADED MONSTER . . . When a team is blessed with more than one standout tailback, it is applauded for its depth. When those same two players play quarterback, it creates a controversy. The years Oregon has enjoyed its best success is when it has more than one capable quarterback. That was the case a year ago when Tony Graziani and Ryan Perry-Smith combined for school-record totals in yards passing (3,321) and total offense (4,939). While junior college transfer Akili Smith and junior holdover Jason Maas may not be ready for those kind of numbers (1997- 256.6 yards per game passing; 1996- 301.9 yards per game passing), they are ahead of last year's pace in two other important areas. Maas and Smith have combined to average 2.8 touchdown passes per game compared to 1.9 per game for Graziani and Perry-Smith. In addition, the 1997 tandem has completed better than 55 percent of their attempts (100-180) compared with a success ratio of 52 percent (218-414) a year ago.
MORE TAG TEAM TALES . . . Although quarterback transfer Akili Smith had opened the first two games and Jason Maas had done so the past three weeks, Maas had been thrust into the closer role prior to last Saturday. Smith encountered his best game in an Oregon uniform vs. Washington State, coming off the bench for the final three quarters to throw for 205 yards and one touchdown. He also displayed his fearless demeanor as a scrambler, rushing 11 times for 33 yards. It marked the most times an Oregon quarterback had carried the ball since Tony Graziani was placed in that position 11 times in the 1996 Cotton Bowl. In addition, Smith has attempted 68 passes without suffering an interception, dating back to the season opener vs. Arizona.
MOVING UP THE LADDER . . . There is little doubt Oregon's newcomers at quarterback have benefitted from some experienced hands on the other ends of those passes. Seniors Pat Johnson (Redlands, Calif.) and Blake Spence (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) are both rapidly moving up the school's all-time receptions chart in their first full seasons as permanent starters. The following is the status of the Southern California duo:
