|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE | |
BERKELEY, California (Ticker) -- Joey Harrington helped sixth-ranked Oregon to its best start in 37 years while sending California to the worst start in school history. Harrington ran for a touchdown and passed for two scores as the unbeaten Ducks completed a perfect three-game road trip with a 48-7 Pac-10 Conference rout of winless California. Led by Harrington, Oregon (6-0, 3-0 Pac-10) has won its first six games for the first time since 1964. The Ducks' last 7-0 start was 68 years ago. "It's a very positive time," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "This group of kids proved that they can do it. But we want to go home. We like Autzen Stadium, too. I'd say it went better than expected because not only did we go 3-0, but we continued to get better." Harrington did nothing to hurt his Heisman Trophy chances, completing 13-of-20 passes for 181 yards and carrying six times for 56 yards. He sparked a 21-point first quarter with a one-yard touchdown run and a 37-yard scoring strike to Samie Parker. The 6-4 senior also hit tight end Justin Peelle for a 16-yard TD that extended Oregon's lead to 28-0 at halftime. "I wouldn't trade Joey for any player in the nation," Bellotti said. "He's a great leader. He's a great quarterback. He's a great player. He's one of the reasons we're where we are today." "I'm more than willing to do whatever I need to do to win football games," Harrington added. "We're throwing the ball well. I have so much time back there. Those guys up front are doing a great job." Maurice Morris rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks, who forced five turnovers and posted their sixth consecutive win in the series. "We were able to take some chances on defense," Bellotti said. "The turnover-takeaway ratio, being on the plus side of that is amazing." California (0-5, 0-3) was kept out of the end zone until Kyle Boller threw a six-yard toss to running back Joe Igber 95 seconds into the fourth quarter. But Boller was just 18-of-40 for 171 yards and an interception for the Golden Bears, who are off to the worst start in school history. They have lost eight straight dating back to last season, matching the longest slide in school annals. California also is 0-2 during a stretch of three games against top-10 opponents. "That's a very good Oregon team," embattled Bears coach Tom Holmoe said. "I thought their defense was very good. Our offense had done some very good things through the course of the year -- moved the ball and had first downs and (converted) third downs. And it seemed like every time we had a play called, they were right on it." After forcing California to punt, Oregon moved 57 yards on seven plays in its opening possession. Two plays after hitting Morris for a 25-yard gain, Harrington plunged up the middle to send the Ducks on their way. After a 19-yard punt by Tyler Fredrickson, Harrington needed just three plays to double the lead with his 37-yard pass to Parker. Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, safety Keith Lewis intercepted Boller and returned it 16 yards to the Cal 27. A one-yard run by Onterrio Smith made it 21-0 with 4:39 left in the opening period. "When it was 21-0, I thought we were doing the things we needed to do. But that was the first quarter," Bellotti said. "I knew we had three quarters to play. I was pleased we played with intensity the entire second half." Morris scored on a 13-yard run midway through the third quarter and receiver Keenan Howry dashed 25 yards for a touchdown 4 1/2 minutes later to extend Oregon's lead to 42-0. Just about the only thing that went wrong for the Ducks was a blocked conversion following Morris' 11-yard TD with 6:08 to play. "We didn't play very well on offense," Holmoe said. "We didn't execute. We had a couple of key plays where we had open receivers and we went to the wrong guy. We had a couple plays that we felt were important for us to get off, to get us started and to set the tempo, and (Oregon) stopped them every time. I think that was the key. "They jumped on us early. We kind of held them off for a while, but we just couldn't score points."
|
