Saturday, October 07, 2006

San Jose Mercury News: Ducks dip into Bay Area for several recruits, staff

By Jon Wilner

EUGENE, Ore. - The Bay Area will be well represented when Oregon and Cal collide today in Memorial Stadium.  The starting quarterback is from San Leandro. The starting safety is from Mountain View. The kicker is from Danville. A reserve receiver is from Cupertino. A backup cornerback and backup receiver are from Pittsburg.  The head coach is from Concord. The assistant head coach is from San Francisco. The defensive coordinator is from Pittsburg, and the secondary coach is from Los Altos. There are a plethora of Bay Area natives on Cal's roster, too. ``We've always had a group of players from the Bay Area and Sacramento,'' said Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti, who attended Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord. ``It's very viable geographically; it's easy to get here.'' The most important home game Cal has played in more than a decade -- the winner becomes USC's chief challenger for the conference title -- is filled with subplots. Will the defenses contain the high-powered offenses? (Oregon is averaging 40 points per game, Cal 38.) How will Cal Coach Jeff Tedford fare against his former boss, Bellotti, whose program serves as the model for what Tedford has done at Cal?  Which of the uber-talented tailbacks (Cal's Marshawn Lynch or Oregon's Jonathan Stewart) will control the game on the ground?

Read the entire article here.

 

 

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