By Pigskin Pete

 A perusal of the college gridiron pre-season publications perching on magazine racks across the land reveals an almost universal respect for the 2001 prospects of the Oregon Ducks and OSU Beavers.

Tallying prognostications by the five ‘zines we deem most worthy in terms of  longevity and accuracy, we find Oregon’s Ducks picked number one in the Pac 10 by four pubs, while the Beavers’ league placement ranges from 2nd to 7th.  On a national scale, Oregon has been forecast 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th or 15th…while the Beavs’ top 25 placements made three crystal ball lineups at 8th and twice at 11th.

A sampling of editorial comments on our favorite football sons:
 “Northwest Passage complete as Oregon and Oregon State move to penthouse…it’s clear now that the power in the Pac 10 has shifted from south to north…the second conference ever to have three teams ranked in the top 10 in the final AP poll…nothing to indicate the three Northwest schools won’t contend for the league championship…and national honors.”  --STREET & SMITH’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL

“The laughing has stopped.  The Oregon State Beavers have gone from patsy to powerhouse.”—ATHLON SPORTS FOOTBALL

 “Talent says the Ducks should be the leading contender for the league title and should wind up either in the national title game in the Rose Bowl or in the Fiesta as the league champ.”—SPORTING NEWS COLLEGE FOOTBALL

“Coach Mike Bellotti spurned USC and stayed in Oregon for a reason—this team is loaded!”
 

—JIM FEIST’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANNUAL    

COLLEGE FOOTBALL GUIDE has some reservations about the Beavers: “it will be interesting to see if Oregon State’s junior college-stocked return to prominence will be worth the growing level of coarse behavior beginning to show in Corvallis.”  This publication also notes that OSU has the fewest returning starters in the Pac 10 and the least number of returning lettermen (Oregon has the most).

Pete’s own soothsaying agrees with the Ducks’ bullish position.  They don’t play Washington, traditionally their nemesis, while none of their in-league road foes had a winning season in 2000.  The Quackers’ 20-game home field winning streak ranks 2nd all time nationally to Florida State.  Coach Bellotti isn’t shy about touting his key player…”Joey Harrington is perhaps the best quarterback in the Pac 10…the total package in terms of physical ability and leadership and excitement and enthusiasm and there are no negatives!”

Speaking of individuals, the Ducks have four players mentioned as all-American material: Harrington (also on all the pre-season Heisman candidate lists), running back Maurice Morris, wide receiver Keenan Howry and defensive back standout Rashad Bauman.  Beavers” all-everything contenders are running back Ken Simonton (also a Heisman contender on most lists) and cornerback Dennis Weathersby.

We deem Washington as next best in the Pac 10 to the Oregon standard bearers.  However, the Huskies have no proven performer at the crucial QB position (Beaverton’s Tracy Barton is one of two candidates).  The pre-season pubs almost universally like UCLA’s chances to have a strong season, based upon returning talent.  We don’t view the Bruins too favorably, due to a lack of respect for coaching talent.  Head man Bob Toledo (former Oregon assistant) has yet to extract the potential from his lineups after a 35-23 record at the Bruin helm.  The Uclans’ offensive coaching genius (former Portland State aide Al Borges) has moved on to California to help resurrect a stumbling program. 

UCLA could prove Oregon’s toughest test prior to the Civil War with Oregon State.  The Bruins host the Ducks on November 10.  Oregon State’s primary problem before Oregon will be Washington, which comes to Corvallis November 10.  The Beavers should start out strong (though the opener at Fresno State could be a pitfall), taking on the fearsome North Texas Eagles and Montana State Bobcats in Corvallis following the Fresno trip.

Regarding the Beavers’ sudden rise, one must remember how sad this program has been until the last two seasons.  Twenty eight straight years of losing came close to a national record.  Now OSU follows in the footsteps of two other perennial doormats now universally ranked among collegiate gridom’s best:  Kansas State and Virginia Tech.  Last season marked the first time in OSU history that the Beavers swept the four California schools.

Pete has been gratified to watch the downfall of the once vaunted USC Trojans.  Decades of national prominence and domination of the Pacific gridslope hit bottom last year with a 4-8 record.  New coach Pete Carroll’s head coaching experience has been all-NFL and that’s a different game.  He has appointed former Brigham Young University quarterback guru Norm Chow as a top aide, who gets Carson Palmer as a student following the latter’s three failing years to live up to Heisman hype begun when he was an incoming freshman.

We don’t expect the Pac 10 power drift northward to abate any time soon.  Southern California has been a prep football factory since the ‘20’s, supplying the majority of the talent for all Pac10 teams.  Living conditions in that region encourage the exodus of its prepsters to the more environmentally-friendly land of the firs.  And now three of the four Pacifc Northwest members of the conference have acquired prestigious coaches, improving facilities, winning records, yearly bowl appearances and consistent national television exposure.

Roses & Raspberries—Roses to Stanford, our choice for Pac 10 dark horse and a probable #3 placement behind the Oregon schools…Raspberries to any fan forgetting that injuries could easily alter any team’s expectations…Roses to the staunch supporters of major league baseball for Portland and Raspberries to the southern Oregon legislators who lived up to my early spring prediction that non-metro politicos would doom big league prospects for our urban center…Roses to Dennis Erickson for his quick turnaround of Beaver fortunes, but please, Dennis, get less desperate now in your recruiting and  build toward the character level Mike Bellotti has installed in Duckville…Raspberries to any hapless Blazer fan’s belief that trading Smith for Anderson is a valid answer to the team’s needs…Roses to Portland State’s Vikings, seeking football attention amidst the winning euphoria exuded by Ducks and Beavers.