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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A Quack In WSU’s Armor Costly Turnovers Lift Ducks, Leave Cougars In Big Trouble

The margin for error is gone, swept away by a vengeful and opportunistic Oregon team that seems obsessed with proving that last year’s unexpected march to its first Pacific-10 Conference football title in 37 years was no fluke.

The Ducks, in front of a sellout Autzen Stadium homecoming crowd, stunned Washington State with a pair of long interception returns for touchdowns Saturday night and walked off with a 26-7 victory.

And now, if the Cougars hope to cash in on back-to-back bowl trips for the first time in the history of the school, they must run the table, starting with next Saturday’s home matchup against Arizona.

Saturday’s loss dropped WSU to 2-2 in the Pac-10 and 3-4 overall. But one of the Cougars’ non-conference wins was over Division I-AA Montana, so they must win their four remaining Pac-10 games to meet the NCAA minimum of six Division-I victories needed to qualify for postseason play.

“Our backs are to the wall,” coach Mike Price admitted after the disappointing defeat. “But I certainly expect us to bounce back. We sure did today, even after those two big interceptions.

“We were a little undisciplined out there a couple of times, but our defense played hard the whole game and I thought our offense was OK except for those two breakdowns.”

Oregon, meanwhile, raised its Pac-10 record to 3-1 and its overall mark to 6-1 and emphatically avenged last year’s 21-7 loss to WSU its only Pac-10 defeat.

The 12th-ranked Ducks didn’t get much done against the Cougars’ defense. But they moved the ball well against WSU’s offense, returning interceptions 82 and 45 yards for touchdowns.

Isaac Walker came up with the 82-yard crusher early in the fourth quarter. The senior free safety picked off a deflected Chad Davis pass intended for Kearney Adams and outran everyone to the end zone to put the Ducks ahead 23-7.

Linebacker Paul Jensen had the other return, stepping in front of a Davis pass midway through the first quarter and returning it 45 yards for Oregon’s first touchdown.

“Those were huge plays,” Price said.

Without the two big interception returns, the two teams played nearly even.

Senior tailback Frank Madu gave WSU another big game, rushing for 106 yards on 21 carries. Madu was especially busy due to the absence of senior Derek Sparks, who missed the game with an ankle sprain.

Davis threw for another 181 yards and WSU’s only touchdown, despite being picked off three times.

Oregon’s only real offensive threat was quarterback Tony Graziani, who completed 21 of 36 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown.

Otherwise, WSU’s defense was solid, limiting Oregon’s Ricky Whittle to 13 yards on 17 carries.

If there was anything to criticize about the Cougs, it was their inability to put any kind of pressure on Graziani, who stood in the pocket and surveyed downfield activities like he was watching a parade.

Cougars defensive tackle Gary Holmes and defensive end Shane Doyle didn’t start Saturday’s game because they were late for a team meeting Friday night. But both regulars were in the game early and their short absences were no factor.

WSU actually outgained the Ducks 282-247, but had trouble sustaining drives because of 99 yards in penalties.

First-year Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said the win was especially pleasing because it assured the Ducks of another winning season.

“That’s always one of our goals,” Bellotti said. “And I’m happy that things are falling into place. We have to do our part the rest of the way, but that was one step back to the championship.”

The first half produced a lot more craziness than points. Oregon ran up a 16-7 lead behind Jensen’s interception return, a 15-yard scoring pass from Graziani to backup tight end Blake Spence and a 19-yard Joshua Smith field goal that hardly seemed like a fitting end to a penalty-aided 76-yard, 18-play drive right before halftime.

The drive started innocently enough with Whittle gaining 9 yards over right guard. But from there, things went haywire for both teams.

Of Oregon’s 18 plays, 10 resulted in no gain or negative yardage and three others produced less than 4 yards. Graziani threw seven incompletions, and twice overthrew wide-open receivers on what looked like certain touchdown passes.

WSU’s defense stabbed itself in the heart with two pass interference penalties that helped keep the drive alive. Along the way, Cristin McLemore caught his 131st pass for UO and tied Bobby Moore, now known as Ahmad Rashad, as the Ducks’ career leader in that category.

McLemore would later overtake Rashad with a 25-yard catch that rescued Oregon from a third-and-21 hole. And his 20-yarder just before halftime gave the Ducks a big first down at the WSU 5.

The Cougars wouldn’t budge from that point, however. They stuffed Whittle twice on runs from inside their own 3 and forced Oregon to settle for Smith’s chip-shot field goal right before intermission.

WSU opened up impressively with a 71-yard scoring drive on its first possession. Madu did most of the work, carrying five times for 59 yards, but flanker Bryant Thomas scored the touchdown on a 4-yard pass from Davis.

Whatever spark of momentum that might have been ignited by the Cougars’ early score was snuffed out minutes later when Jensen stepped in front of Davis’ pass at WSU’s 35-yard line and returned it, untouched, into the WSU end zone.

Davis checked out of the original play at the line of scrimmage and tried to beat Oregon’s pending blitz by hitting tight end Eric Moore on a quick out pattern.

But he lofted the pass right into the hands of Jensen, who had lined up as a defensive end, faked the blitz and then dropped off into coverage.

“I got into the right play,” Davis said. “I thought (Jensen) was rushing, but he didn’t. “

As for Walker’s pick and long return, Davis said, “I’ll take the blame for it, too. Whenever a ball is tipped like that, an interception usually happens.”

Graziani’s TD pass to Spence, which came with 2:30 still left in the first quarter, capped a 56-yard drive and featured a bizarre extra-point conversion.

The Ducks, who had their first PAT kick blocked, went for two and appeared to be stymied when a Graziani pass fell incomplete. But WSU was flagged for pass interference and Oregon got a second chance. Graziani connected on the ensuing pass play, but the Ducks were called for holding, prompting Bellotti to settle for a kick.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo