Oregon Ducks Rose Bowl Talk

Players and coaches are ignoring two words that have popped into the football vocabulary in Eugene, Ore.:

Rose Bowl.

To Oregon, who is in a three-way tie for first place in the Pacific 10 Conference but is the only school that can control its destiny, Rose and Bowl are a couple of four-letter words.

“We don’t talk about the Rose Bowl around here,” said backup strong safety Jaiya Figueras, a redshirt freshman from Glendale High. “We don’t even say the words.”

Oregon hasn’t played in the Rose Bowl since a 10-7 loss to Ohio State in 1957. The Ducks have finished with a winning record only 11 times in the ensuing 36 seasons, none since 1990.

It’s hard to blame the players and staff for their subdued attitude, despite Oregon (7-3, 5-1 in Pac-10 play) having defeated both USC (5-1) and Arizona (5-1), its main competition.

Moreover, the Ducks face losing teams in Stanford (3-5-1, 2-4) and Oregon State (3-6, 1-5) in their final two games. A Rose Bowl berth seems attainable.

“Everybody here’s hyped up,” said sophomore Christian Anderson, a reserve tight end from Paraclete.

“I’ve never seen so many fans. It’s funny. When we went to SC, the little corner of the end zone wasn’t filled with our fans. Now I hear they’ve bought all their seats for our game at Stanford and they’re calling up for more.”

The hoopla amuses Figueras, who has been a strong special teams performer while backing up Chad Cota, who is considered the Pac-10’s best strong safety. At the beginning of the season, Figueras noted, the student store sold a shirt that stated 10 things that will never happen at Oregon.

On the list was the Ducks making the Rose Bowl.

“In our own school, man,” Figueras said. “The same fans who’ll want to tear down the goal posts wanted to flush us down the toilet after Utah and Hawaii.”

After opening the season with a 58-16 blowout of Portland State, the Ducks suffered consecutive defeats to Western Athletic Conference teams, losing to Hawaii, 36-16, and Utah, 36-14, before winning six of seven. Figueras, who has made six tackles on special teams, would like to have a bigger role in Oregon’s success. But he won’t unseat Cota, who has two interceptions and 80 tackles, second on the team.

Anderson sees action when Oregon uses double tight-end formations. He has three receptions for 36 yards, all coming in a Pac-10-opening 22-7 upset of USC at the Coliseum on Oct. 1.

“I don’t care about catching the ball,” Anderson said. “I like to concentrate on my blocking. That’s what I’m best at. When you spring someone loose and knock a guy on his butt, it’s a good feeling. A good block is equivalent to scoring a touchdown.”

Anderson’s first three college receptions, against USC, were not as memorable as a block that helped Dino Philyaw score on a 49-yard run that gave the Ducks a 10-0 lead. Anderson made his block on the linebacker then headed diagonally up field as Philyaw broke through the line. “Dino ran behind me for about 30 yards before I got the safety inside the 10,” Anderson said. “I’d rather do that than score a touchdown.”

Anderson will talk about making blocks, but he doesn’t want to talk about the Rose Bowl.

“The only thing we’re thinking about is we control our own destiny,” he said. “We’ve got two extremely tough games the next two weeks. Nobody thinks we’re gliding through this.”

Oregon, which plays its final two games on the road, has lost its past three games against Stanford in Palo Alto. Against rival Oregon State, the Ducks are 3-3 the past six meetings with their three victories decided by three, three and seven points. “By the way (Oregon State) acts, you wouldn’t know they’re at the bottom of the Pac-10,” Anderson said. “They go all-out. My freshman year in Corvallis, you could just feel the intensity on the field.”

Figueras can only imagine the atmosphere in Eugene if the Ducks keep winning. “I don’t know, man,” he said. “It’ll be crazy.”

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Bernardi blues: UCLA needs to win its final two games at Arizona State and at home against USC to finish 5-6. The disappointing season has put a damper on Gary Bernardi’s return to the college ranks. But Bernardi, who coaches tight ends and the offensive line, has been there before.

In 1991, Bernardi coached a USC team that finished 3-8, partly because of injuries. This year, three starting Bruin offensive linemen suffered season-ending injuries.

“In the offensive line, you want to be able to develop a situation where the players are a little older and more mature,” said Bernardi, who coached last year at Burroughs High. “We haven’t had that luxury. The kids have played real hard and done the best job they could. “There’s more than one reason for the losses. There’s a hundred reasons, I think.”

In his only season at Burroughs, Bernardi inherited a team that was 0-10 and finished 5-6.

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Around the country: In a game with Rose Bowl implications, senior Arizona running back Ontiwaun Carter (Kennedy) likely will become Arizona’s all-time leading rusher when the Wildcats visit USC on Saturday. Carter needs seven yards to pass Art Luppino, who rushed for 3,371 from 1953-56. . . . Teammate and wide receiver Richard Dice (Alemany) averages 17.6 yards a reception and 83.8 yards a game. . . .

Junior center Tim DeGroote (Hart) was projected to start for Oregon this season, but a chronic shoulder injury forced him to quit football. . . .

Junior quarterback Bryan Martin (Granada Hills) threw touchdown passes of 31, 28 and 18 yards and scored on an eight-yard run in Weber State’s 40-6 victory over Idaho State on Saturday. Martin completed 22 of 32 passes for 401 yards. Martin has completed 185 of 304 passes for 2,646 yards this season. He has thrown 18 touchdown passes and only four interceptions for the Wildcats (4-5). . . .

Weber State reserve quarterback Rob Westervelt (Hart) completed three of four passes for 43 yards against Idaho State. . . .

Junior fullback Renard Carn (Channel Islands) rushed seven times for 20 yards and scored on a two-yard run to cap Colorado State’s 35-24 come-from-behind victory over Wyoming on Saturday. Carn has 193 yards in 26 carries. . . .

Sean Leach (Nordhoff) is the first freshman to handle all kicking chores at Delaware. He has made four of seven field-goal attempts (long of 42 yards) and 30 of 31 extra-point attempts.