They Like To Kick This Cat

A rizona kicker Mark McDonald walked off Bear Down Field with boos and expletives being thrown at him.

Those verbal jabs were being thrown by fans and McDonald’s teammates. McDonald had just missed a game-tying field goal with 2 seconds left against Oregon. It was his ninth miss in 10 attempts this season.

And that was more than Wildcats defensive end Idris Haroon could take as he had to be physically restrained by teammates. Although the 6-foot-1, 266-pound junior did manage to bounce a few verbal blows off McDonald’s ears.

“I hurt for him,” Arizona coach Dick Tomey said after the game. “He has been taking a lot of abuse. I think people are really unkind to him. I don’t understand that mentality.”

But, then again, Tomey did not immediately come to the rescue of the kicker he had benched early in the game, not once but twice for missing an extra point and failing to produce touchbacks. McDonald was left alone on the field until offensive tackle Ega Usa rescued him. Usa walked onto the turf of Bear Down Field and helped McDonald to the locker room.

Tomey also did not talk to McDonald on Sunday. He said that was assistant coach Rich Ellerson’s responsibility.

Some of McDonald’s teammates did ex- press something more than ire for McDonald in the wake of his missed filed goal.

“We had 110 chances to make plays,” Arizona tackle Joe Tafoya told the Arizona Daily Star. “We can’t let it all fall on McDonald’s foot.”

And Washington State coach Mike Price, whose son Aaron was a kicker in college, also had some sympathy for McDonald and anger for some of his teammates.

“Anybody that yells at that kicker, I’d like to see those guys line up and kick that field goal with 50,000 people there,” he said. “You tell them `You think you can do better and you are going to lose your scholarship if you don’t do it.’ See how many guys would line up then.

“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Price continued. “I really feel for the guy.”

Tomey is giving walk-on freshman Sean Keel a chance to earn McDonald’s starting spot this week in practice and he indicated that Wildcats kickers may share the duties.

Everything coming up roses

Stanford could clinch a tie for the Pac-10 title Saturday if two things happen: First the Cardinal must beat Washington - something it hasn’t done in Seattle in 24 years - and Oregon must beat Arizona State at UO’s Autzen Stadium.

And so it goes in the Pac-10, a team that lost to Texas by 52 points and to San Jose State 44-39, could represent the conference in the Rose Bowl. The Pac-10 has lost the Rose Bowl six out of the last seven years. But even despite two obvious stains on the Cardinal record, Washington coach Rick Neuheisel is a believer in the Cardinal’s capabilities.

“No question, they’re legitimate,” he told the Seattle Times. “I think they’ve enjoyed having everybody think it’s bound to happen, that they’re going to return to the team that got beat by Texas.”

If Stanford does win and eventually gets to the Rose Bowl, the Cardinal would be the Pac-10’s sixth different Rose Bowl representative in the past six years. Since 1992, every Pac-10 school except Cal and Oregon State has at least shared a conference title.

Headed south in Westwood

UCLA, currently last in the Pacific-10, could be the second straight conference team to finish last the year after playing in the Rose Bowl. Washington State did so in 1998. The Cougars won the conference in 1997 and went to the Rose Bowl. They were 0-8 last fall.

The Bruins have won one Pac-10 game this season, but at the rate things are going, they may not win another. The Bruins are 3-7 in their last 10 games over two seasons.

Wait, it gets worse

In their last nine quarters of play, the UCLA Bruins have been outscored 91-7. The seven points UCLA scored in the last two games is the lowest two-game total in 35 years. In those two games, UCLA has only had four plays of 20 yards or more. And two of those were quarterback scrambles. It has gotten so bad that coach Bob Toledo has refused to pick players of the games for the last two weeks.

“Right now, we’re a struggling football team,” Toledo said. “It’s easy to get all disgruntled and all upset, but it doesn’t do anybody any good. I guess what I’m saying is you’ve got to take the lows with the highs. We’ve had some highs, and everybody enjoyed that. And now people have got to take the lows. But believe me, we’ll be back. Hopefully soon. But we will be back.”

Flip-flopping Fasani

Stanford backup quarterback Randy Fasani played both sides of the line against USC, but never took a snap from center. Fasani played linebacker in most nickle situations throughout the first quarter. It was the first time he has played that spot in a game since he was a sophomore in high school. He also played tight end. Fasani did not have a catch or a tackle.

Down and out at USC

For the second week in a row, Paul Hackett’s USC team blew a 21-point lead and wound up losing. First it was Notre Dame. The Trojans were up 24-3 and lost 25-24. Then there was Stanford. The Trojans were up 21-0 and lost 35-31.

“I’m getting tired of these,” Hackett said following the Stanford loss.

It seems as if Los Angeles columnists are getting tired of Hackett. Following the Stanford loss, L.A. Times columnist Diane Pucin questioned the job Hackett was doing at USC.

“Hackett does not seem capable of bringing USC back on par with its marvelous marching band, with its proud and famous home fields and its gallant white steed that can still bring goose bumps when it gallops around the Coliseum after a USC touchdown,” Pucin wrote. “All Hackett seems to bring is excuses.”

Players of the week

Oregon’s Reuben Droughns was named offensive player of the week for his 202-yard rushing performance against Arizona. Arizona State’s Adam Archuleta took home defensive player of the week honors after notching 13 tackles against Washington State. Oregon kick returner Michael Fletcher accumulated 147 yards on kick returns and was named specialist of the week.

Odds and ends

Washington State is the only team in the conference not to have a player named as Pac-10 player of the week… . Arizona State has shut out its last two opponents in the second half. … The longest winning streak in the Pac-10 is two games by Arizona State and Stanford… . Cal has rushed for 445 yards in its last two games… . Two freshman running backs, Joe Igber of Cal and Deon Burnett of WSU, have rushed for 100 or more yards in three consecutive games… . There were 34 freshmen or sophomores on UCLA’s 60-man travel squad last week… . Fifteen receivers have caught at least one pass for WSU… . Stanford, which had the worst rushing offense in the Pac-10 last year, has outrushed five of its seven opponents… . Oregon has 10 interceptions by nine different players.