PACIFIC 10 FOOTBALL / MAL FLORENCE : It’s Been a Long Season for Brooks

If Oregon’s football team didn’t have bad luck, it wouldn’t have any at all.

Injuries continue to plague Coach Rich Brooks’ players, and he is running out of quarterbacks.

Sophomore Doug Musgrave, who made the first start of his career in last Saturday’s 29-7 loss to third-ranked Washington, broke a finger in the game and is out for the season.

He is the third Oregon quarterback to be lost because of injuries.

Redshirt freshman Danny O’Neil was the starter when the season began, but is out for the year with a dislocated right thumb.

Brett Salisbury, O’Neil’s backup, suffered a strained shoulder in practice and remains doubtful for Saturday’s game against Stanford at Eugene, Ore.

So who is left to take any snaps?

Only redshirt freshman Kyle Crowston, who began the season No. 4 on the depth chart, and senior Bob Brothers, who had switched to wide receiver this season because the Ducks had so many younger players at quarterback.

Crowston, who was moved to defensive back at his own request for a few weeks because he didn’t figure he would play much at quarterback, was disappointed with his play in relief of Musgrave against the Huskies.

He completed two of eight passes for seven yards and had two interceptions.

“I couldn’t settle down,” Crowston said. “My nerves were still going on the third or fourth series. I just have to work things out this week and relax.”

Said Brooks: “Sometimes he forgets the snap count and doesn’t pay attention to details. He hasn’t had enough experience to do it automatically.”

The Ducks have already lost three starting defensive linemen, and the defense was further weakened when safety Paul Rodriguez injured his foot against Washington. He is on crutches.

“It has been a disaster,” Brooks said of the season. “We had a couple of victories and it looked like we had a pretty good football team. Then the thing just fell apart.”

Oregon is 3-4 overall, 1-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Coach Dick Tomey of Arizona can commiserate with Brooks. Twenty of his starting players have missed at least one game because of injuries.

Last year, California was grateful to get any bowl bid after not having appeared in a bowl game for 11 years.

The Bears were invited to the Copper Bowl in Tucson, where they beat Wyoming, 17-15.

Now, 10th-ranked Cal is attracting attention from more prestigious bowls.

Two Sugar Bowl representatives will attend the Cal-USC game Saturday in Berkeley. A West Coast team has not played in the Sugar Bowl since Jan. 1, 1946, when St. Mary’s lost to Oklahoma A&M;, 33-13.

The toughness of Cal quarterback Mike Pawlawski has been well documented. He is often likened to Joe Kapp, the former Golden Bear quarterback and later coach at the school, who would challenge anyone, on or off the field.

Coach Bruce Snyder told the San Francisco Chronicle of Pawlawski’s pugnaciousness in last Saturday’s game against San Jose State.

“When Russell (White) reversed his field on a play near the end of the game, Mike just leveled a linebacker with a block and then, when the guy got up, hit him again,” Snyder said. “You kind of hold your breath when he does that, because you don’t want to lose your quarterback. But you can’t tell him not to do it, because that’s the way he plays. Anyway, he wouldn’t pay any attention to me if I told him not to do it.”

Cal has beaten USC only once since 1977, with one tie. However, Pawlawski says past results have no bearing on Saturday’s game.

“Tradition isn’t going to beat anybody on the field,” he said. “We’re playing this team. That’s the team we have to focus on, not their tradition.”

Even if Washington finished the season unbeaten and untied, it might not win the national championship. Florida State and Miami, both ranked ahead of the Huskies, would have to stumble.

“Personally, I hate this (polls) system,” Washington quarterback Billy Joe Hobert said recently. “If it was me, I’d dog the Rose Bowl. I’d find some way to kill that obligation, and I’d go find Florida State, or Miami, and play for the national championship. I wouldn’t even care if we went on probation for it.”

Washington Coach Don James chastised Hobert for his brash remarks, saying: “I don’t mind him talking. He just has to be more careful about what he says.”