Spartans sputter again
Oregon drops Michigan St. to 0-2 with 48-14 drubbing
Posted: Saturday September 05, 1998 08:50 PM
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Bobby Nero (center) caught an 11-yard strike, one of four first half touchdowns thrown by Akili Smith AP |
EUGENE, Oregon (AP) -- The Oregon offense picked up where it left
off last season. Now it looks like the Ducks might actually have a
defense to make all those points stand up.
Akili Smith threw four first-half touchdown passes and Reuben Droughns rushed for 202 yards and scored three TDs as Oregon flattened No. 23 Michigan State 48-14 Saturday.
Droughns, a junior transfer from Merced (California) College, scored on runs of 2 and 75 yards in the third quarter for the Ducks, who had 590 yards in handing the Spartans their second straight loss. Droughns also caught an 8-yard TD pass from Smith.
Smith, who had battled for the starting job with fellow senior Jason Maas, completed 15 of 25 passes for 266 yards. He was 12-of-18 for 229 yards in the first half as the Ducks (1-0) outgained Michigan State 359-154.
"The defense was flying around, getting the job done, and the
offense went out there and executed," Smith said. "It was just
clicking."
With Smith and Maas alternating starts last season, the Ducks
averaged nearly 32 points per game and beat Air Force 41-13 to win
the Las Vegas Bowl. But Oregon also had one of the worst defenses
in the country, giving up more than 421 yards a game.
Oregon had no problem on either side Saturday, however, as the
defense shut down the Spartans' passing game and limited junior
tailback Sedrick Irvin to just 66 yards on 12 carries.
"We committed to the run. We slowed it down and stopped it,"
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "We kept the pressure on
defensively and kept scoring points offensively. That type of thing
is infectious."
The Ducks racked up 590 yards, the most since gaining 614
against Cal in 1993.
After losing its season opener 23-16 to No. 15 Colorado State last week, Michigan State was downright awful against the Ducks. The defensive line, touted as one of the nation's best, put little pressure on Smith, allowing him to use play-action fakes, roll out and find his receivers.
"We had a lot of time. We made them pay for it," Smith said.
The Spartans, meanwhile, had more problems at quarterback. Bill Burke, booed by Michigan State fans last week, completed just 16-of-36 passes for 171 yards. The junior was replaced early in the second quarter by freshman Ryan Van Dyke, who threw an interception on his first pass and later left the game with a sprained left shoulder.
"This was a disappointing game for us," Spartans coach Nick
Saban said. "Not to take anything away from Oregon. I thought
their team was well-prepared."
Oregon drove 69 yards on the game's opening series, converting fourth-and-3 to the Spartans 19, before settling for a 28-yard field goal by Nathan Villegas. On the first play of its next possession, Smith faked a handoff and hit wide receiver Damon Griffin with a 49-yard pass.
The drive ended with Smith passing to Droughns for an 8-yard score that made it 10-0.
Michigan State, trying to get something going on offense, went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Oregon 45, but tailback Sedrick Irvin was tackled for a 5-yard loss by Aaron Cheuvront and the Ducks took over at midfield. The Spartans failed on three fourth downs in the half.
Six plays later, Smith rolled right and hit Chris Young for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 17-0 with 1:10 left in the first quarter.
Van Dyke's first pass in relief of Burke was intercepted by Rashad Bauman who returned it 35 yards to the Michigan State 34. That led to a 44-yard field goal by Villegas to make it 20-0.
On the next possession, Van Dyke was hit hard on a keeper by Ducks cornerback Tamoni Joiner and did not return.
Smith showed his versatility on the Ducks' next score, an 11-yard strike to Bobby Nero. Smith scrambled, avoided the grasp of defensive end Jace Sayler, and flung the ball deep into the end zone as he was hit.
Oregon made it 34-0 when Smith spotted Tony Hartley, who had beaten Michigan State safety Richard Newsome by a few steps, for his fourth TD pass of the game, a 53-yard bomb.
Hartley caught four passes for 106 yards.
Lloyd Clemons ran for 95 yards and a 25-yard touchdown for Michigan State. Irvin had just 66 yards on 12 carries after gaining 120 yards last week.
The Ducks rode Droughns to a 48-0 lead in the second half. He scored from three yards out with 3:30 left in the third, and on the next possession took a handoff, popped through the line and dashed 75 yards down the left sideline.
"The line was doing their job," Droughns said. "The line was
opening up the holes, and it was my job to run through them."
Michigan State finally scored with 9:24 left in the game on a 5-yard pass from Burke to Plaxico Burress.
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