ABC ignores Ducks, for now.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

Oregon was shut out in ABC's initial selection of Pac-10 football games to be telecast this fall, and the network has named nine of the 14 games it will televise from Pac-10 sites in the 2004 season.

Missing out on an ABC telecast is a potentially significant hit on the UO budget since each school was paid about $300,000 for an appearance last season, when the Ducks were on ABC three times. Oregon also had four additional appearances last season on ESPN, TBS or the Fox Sports Network, all of them paying slightly less for an appearance than ABC.

Those remaining five ABC telecasts of Pac-10 games won't be chosen until after the season is underway. There is also a possibility the network could select Oregon's game at Oklahoma on Sept. 18, with ABC games from Big 12 sites due to be selected at a later date.

Among Pac-10 schools, the big winner in ABC's early choices for next season was Washington State, which will be seen at least four times, including a 4 p.m. kickoff against USC on Oct. 30 and a 5 p.m. kickoff against Washington on Nov. 20, with both of those games in Pullman.

The Cougars will also be shown by ABC on Sept. 11 when they play Colorado in Seattle, with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff, and Sept. 25 in a game at Arizona that was originally scheduled for Oct. 2 but moved up a week, when both teams previously had a bye, at the request of ABC. That date change for the WSU at Arizona game will also mean the Cougars will have a bye the Saturday before they play host to Oregon on Oct. 9.

The Apple Cup game between the Huskies and Cougars on Nov. 20 will be the only Pac-10 game shown that day by ABC, which will air the Ohio State-Michigan game at 9 a.m. PST and then air golf in the middle of the day. The only other Pac-10 games scheduled for Nov. 20 are Stanford at California and Oregon at Oregon State, and both are possibilities for broadcast on the Fox Sports Network, a Pac-10 official said, with one kickoff at 12:30 p.m. and the other at 3:30.

The other Pac-10 games announced Tuesday as choices for ABC telecasts this season are Oklahoma State at UCLA on Sept. 4, Colorado State at USC on Sept. 11, with a 5 p.m. kickoff to follow the Colorado-WSU game, and UCLA at Washington on Sept. 18. Previously announced Pac-10 games chosen by ABC were the Notre Dame at USC game on Nov. 27, with a 5 p.m. kickoff, and USC at UCLA on Dec. 4 at 1:30 p.m.

The final five Pac-10 games to be televised by ABC will be announced either 12 or six days prior to the date they are played. The Fox Sports Network, which has a contract to show 13 Pac-10 games this season, had previously announced it will televise the Fresno State at Washington game on Sept. 5, a special Sunday telecast, and the Arizona State at Arizona game on Nov. 26, a Friday. Fox and TBS, which will carry five league contests, will announce any of their other selections for September games on June 1.

From now on

Oregon players will each meet individually with UO coach Mike Bellotti beginning Monday, and one of the reminders from the coach is likely to be what he calls `the most important' preparation for next season through spring and summer workouts.

`A lot of that is done on their own, a lot of it is pushing each other,' Bellotti said of conditioning and weightlifting sessions. `I believe that's been a cornerstone of our winning seasons, the commitment we see from our kids in the summer.'

This one will be slightly different in that the Ducks have more of a break due to not reporting back until Aug. 17. The start of practice is tied to the season opener against Indiana being Sept. 11, in comparison to the previous five Oregon openers being Sept. 2 or earlier.

There's also this year's heralded recruiting class.

`I assume more talent is going to join us in the fall than we've (added) in the past,' Bellotti said. `That's going to put everybody on alert that they need to have a great summer to hold their spot.

`I think that recruiting class will be heard from. There are some athletes in that (group of recruits) who are going to be in the two-deep and vie for playing time.'

The running quarterbacks

While some of the rushing yardage for the Oregon quarterbacks this spring came as the result of unplanned scrambles in passing situations, the Ducks also showed a definite interest in continuing to use their passers as runners with designed plays, either options or draws.

`I see the option being a regular part of our offense,' Bellotti said.

`There's not going to be any more emphasis (than past years) but it's something to keep defenses honest.'

Kellen Clemens, the starting quarterback, and true freshman Dennis Dixon have shown ability as runners, though it was redshirt freshman Johnny DuRocher who scored the only touchdown of Saturday's concluding scrimmage when he kept on an option.

`Joey Harrington proved we can run the option with any quarterback, regardless of speed ... or the lack thereof,' Bellotti said.