PACIFIC 10 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL / DAN HAFNER : Oregon Takes Rose Bowl Race by Swarm

Differences in philosophy might have played an important part in Oregon’s 10-9 victory over Arizona last Saturday that kept the Ducks in the thick of the Rose Bowl race.

The Ducks appear to have the easiest road to Pasadena. Their remaining three opponents have losing records: Arizona State (3-5), Stanford (2-5-1) and Oregon State (2-6).

In the first half, the Wildcats controlled the game. They went on three long drives that resulted in field goals and a 9-0 lead.

A defeat was going to knock Oregon out of the Pacific 10 race, and its first chance at the Rose Bowl in 37 years. So Coach Rich Brooks decided to gamble.

And across the field, Coach Dick Tomey of Arizona decided to turn the game over to his defense. The purpose of the offense was to make certain it didn’t put put the defense in a hole. That had worked two weeks earlier when the defense shut down Washington State.

It almost worked again. But this time, with Arizona leading, 9-3, early in the last quarter, the Ducks, on fourth and five at the Arizona 27, went for it. Quarterback Danny O’Neil, who had completed two key third-down passes to keep the drive alive, missed on this one. But an official tagged Arizona’s Mike Scurlock for interference against intended receiver Pat Johnson. A few plays later, on third and nine, O’Neil threw a perfect pass to Josh Wilcox for the game’s only touchdown.

Now behind, the Arizona offense was unable to produce. In fact, one drive was killed because the Arizona center snapped the ball on the wrong count, and quarterback Dan White was lucky to recover the ball.

“I think we got talked out of our game plan in the second half,” running back Ontiwaun Carter told the Tucson News. “We were conservative. With a 9-0 lead, we should have opened it up. Just three more points would have blown Oregon away.”

The Wildcats had the ball four times after O’Neil put Oregon ahead. They lost 14 yards.

Oregon fans used to boo O’Neil, who couldn’t seem to bring the Ducks from behind late in the game. But with comeback victories over Washington and Arizona, he’s now a hero.

“Danny is back to his best form,” Brooks said. “It’s time the fans appreciated what he has done for Oregon.

“But we still have a long way to go. After five consecutive weeks of pressure games, you’d think we’d get a rest, but we don’t. Arizona State was impressive against BYU. It would make their season to knock us off (Saturday at Eugene).

“Our pass defense has been the strongest part of our game this season. It will have to be at its best to stop Jake Plummer.

“He is the best scrambler among the quarterbacks we have faced. His ability to move around in the pocket will put extra pressure on our defensive backs. This will be a tough test.”

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The California Bears continue to lead the Pac-10 in hard luck. They built a 20-2 lead over Washington State last Saturday with a third-string quarterback, Kerry McGonigal

Even after he went out in the second quarter, the Bears deserved a better fate than the 26-23 loss that kept the Cougars’ Rose Bowl hopes alive.

With a fourth-string wide receiver, Ziv Gottlieb, at quarterback, the Bears, with a little luck still should have gotten a tie.

A fumble recovery enabled the Bears to reach the Cougar 30 with more than a minute remaining. But after a holding call and two false starts, Ryan Longwell was left to try a 60-yard field goal instead of a 40-yarder.

The Bears barely lost, although they were penalized 93 yards, lost five fumbles, had an interception and gave up two points when a blocked extra point was returned 75 yards by Washington State’s Torey Hunter.

After the 61-0 blowout the week before against USC, Cal Coach Keith Gilbertson felt his team deserved a better fate.

“I was really proud of the way they battled back after last week,” he said. “Washington State’s a fine football team. But if there is a game that, just by the amount of effort expended, we deserved to win, this was it. We cannot catch a break, a call, can’t catch a bounce.”

Either Washington State or USC will probably be eliminated from the Rose Bowl run Saturday at Pullman, Wash.

Unless the Cougars generate more offense, they might well be gone. They netted only 286 yards against the unspectacular California defense.

USC is second in the league in total offense, but the Cougars are No. 1 in defense, so something has to give.

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Last year, after getting knocked out of first place by UCLA, Arizona let down the next week and was knocked out of a chance to go to the Rose Bowl by Cal.

The Wildcats built a 20-0 halftime lead, then went into a shell and were beaten.

“From that experience, I would expect our players to come out ready to play against California,” Tomey said.

“I feel we can still make our first trip to the Rose Bowl by winning our last three games.”

Pac-10 Notes

Stanford’s Steve Stenstrom continues his aerial assault. His 315.4-yard average is third in the nation in total offense. He has passed for more than 300 yards in 15 of his last 18 games. . . . The wear and tear of a tough season might be catching up with Napoleon Kaufman. His 69 yards against Oregon State last week were his fewest this season and he has been below 100 for two games in a row. With an average of 146.8 a game, he’s still No. 3 in the nation in rushing and is No. 2 in all-purpose yardage with 191.9.