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Grid mags tout the Ducks and Beavs It may seem a bit early to begin thinking about the 2001 college football season, but if you're an Oregon or Oregon State fan, autumn won't arrive soon enough. A check of the premier college football magazines lining the racks of your neighborhood stores has both the Ducks and Beavers headed for big seasons. The Ducks, in fact, are predicted to win the Pacific 10 Conference by three of the most respected publications: Sporting News, Street & Smith's and Athlon Sports. A fourth - Lindy's - has Oregon finishing second to UCLA. The once beleaguered Beavers are also receiving their share of acclaim, having been picked second in the conference by the Sporting News and Street & Smith's, third by Athlon's and fourth by Lindy's. Oregon is also ranked as high as fifth nationally, the Beavers seventh. What a turnaround from the past. The Ducks' fate rests heavily on a veteran offense that returns all but one skill position player. Back are quarterback Joey Harrington, tailback Maurice Morris, fullback Josh Line, wide receiver Keenan Howry and tight end Justin Peele. Harrington, who has won 14 of 16 games as a starter at Oregon, graces the cover of all four magazines and has been penciled in as the Pac-10's MVP by Lindy's. He threw for 20 touchdowns against 13 interceptions last season in leading the Ducks to a 9-2 record, and he showed his versatility in their 35-30 Holiday Bowl victory over Texas when he ran, passed and caught TD passes. Morris, meanwhile, ran for 1,106 yards and eight scores last season but may have to share time with Tennessee transfer Onterrio Smith, who wowed the coaching staff with his work on the scout team a year ago. The Ducks also return three starters in their offensive line - center Ryan Schmid, guard Joey Forster and tackle Jim Adams. Coach Mike Bellotti's biggest chore will be replacing seven starters on defense. Three members of the secondary return - cornerbacks Rashad Bauman and Steve Smith and free safety Rasuli Webster, but former North Medford High standout Seth McEwen, a linebacker, is the only returner among the front seven. Oregon will also have a new punter and kicker, not a pleasant thought when a big game is on the line. But the Ducks have a couple of other aces up their sleeves, namely Bellotti and Autzen Stadium. Bellotti has guided Oregon to the best record in the Pac-10 over the past six years (49-22), with the lion's share of those wins coming at Autzen, where the Ducks have a 20-game win streak. Only Florida State, which has won 35 in a row, has a longer home win streak. Another plus for the Ducks is their schedule. They play their first three games at home (Wisconsin, Utah and USC), they don't play Washington for the first time in 57 years and their only tough Pac-10 road game is Nov. 10 in Los Angeles when they meet UCLA. Oregon could realistically be 9-0 before meeting the Bruins and Oregon State to close out the regular season. But if the Ducks are the favorite to win the Pac-10, OSU isn't far behind. In fact, the Beavers should be the better team on defense, with six starters back, including preseason Pac-10 all-stars Dennis Weathersby (cornerback), James Allen (linebacker) and Eric Manning (line). OSU is just as talented on offense. Running back Ken Simonton returns seeking to become only the fifth player in NCAA history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in each of four seasons. He'd be a threat to run for 2,000 if it weren't for talented backup Patrick McCall, who had 623 yards of his own a year ago. Quarterback Jonathan Smith, who has 41 touchdown passes and just 19 interceptions in 21/2 seasons as the starter, is also back. Center Chris Gibson, a senior from Roseburg, is a preseason Pac-10 all-star along with Simonton and kicker Ryan Cesca, who nailed 14 of 17 field goals last season and could prove the difference in close games. The Beavers' only question mark on offense is at wide receiver, where the dandy trio of Chad Johnson, Robert Prescott and T.J. Houshmandzadeh must be replaced. OSU has a challenging opening game when it travels to Western Athletic Conference favorite Fresno State on Sept. 1, but from there the schedule is favorable, with home games against North Texas and Montana State the following two weeks and home dates against UCLA and Washington after that. Mark the Nov. 10 game against the Huskies at Reser Stadium on your calendar. It was Washington, you might recall, that handed the Beavers their only loss last season, a 33-30 squeaker that might have turned out differently had Cesca made a last-second field goal. OSU hasn't beaten Washington since 1985. The Pac-10 title game might come on Dec. 1 in Eugene when the Ducks and Beavers square off in the 105th edition of the Civil War. The game was moved back two weeks so that ABC could televise it, and each team gladly obliged knowing they would pocket an extra $600,000. Predicting who wins the Pac-10 is hardly an exact science, though. Seven different teams have bagged the conference title over the past seven years since the Huskies won three straight crowns in the early 1990s. Some other observations worth noting: UCLA is also getting high marks in the preseason. The Bruins return 17 starters and have a new defensive coordinator in Phil Snow, who brings an ornery attitude to Los Angeles. The sleeper team is Stanford, which returns 16 starters, including all five of its offensive linemen and quarterback Randy Fasani, who led the Cardinal to five victories in his eight starts last season. Washington and UCLA own the Pac-10's most difficult schedules. The Huskies open against Michigan and then travel to Miami. UCLA journeys to Alabama in its opener and meets Ohio State three weeks later. Look for one of the Pac-10's biggest disappointments - USC quarterback Carson Palmer - to have a breakout year thanks to new offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Chow was a passing guru at Brigham Young for several years before heading to North Carolina State, where he developed freshman Phillip Rivers into a top-flight quarterback last season. A sign of OSU's turnaround can be found in season-ticket interest. The Beavers sold just 6,000 of them in 1998, the year before coach Dennis Erickson arrived. They expect to sell 23,000 this fall. Oregon's Autzen Stadium will expand from 43,000 seats to 54,000 by 2002 and add 32 new skyboxes. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.