MATADORS TRIUMPH AFTER SLOW START; BRADEY'S TDS PILOT CSUN : CSUN 38 W. OREGON 19.Byline: Chris Branam Staff Writer It was an uneven performance, sometimes mediocre me·di·o·cre adj. Moderate to inferior in quality; ordinary. See Synonyms at average. [French médiocre, from Latin mediocris : medius, middle; see medhyo- and sometimes crisp. Cal State Northridge football surely can't go on this way. Cut this team some slack, though. The Matadors, outplayed in the first 30 minutes of their season opener against an unknown opponent, slowly showed their superiority and beat Western Oregon This article is about the region of Western Oregon. For the University, see Western Oregon University. Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to apply to the portion of the state of Oregon that is west of the Cascade Range. 38-19 on Saturday afternoon at North Campus Stadium. The victory might not have been impressive enough for most of the 3,142 fans who entered the gate, who knew the Matadors were one minute away from winning the Big Sky Conference championship last year. After enduring a crazy summer that saw Ron Ponciano fired as head coach, offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator typically refers to the coach on a football team in the National Football League or College football who is in charge of the offense. This position aids the head coach by designing and scripting plays, delegating work to offensive position coaches during Rob Phenice forced to resign and an internal report released detailing the program's numerous NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association violations, just playing the game was enough. That showed in a first half in which the Matadors sputtered and made mistake after mistake. ``All the things in the summer, people can say they didn't think about (them) and they had no effect,'' senior running back Jaumal Bradley said, ``but it was in the back of my mind. We have a whole new look. I know a lot of people who watched us play (Saturday) noticed that we seemed a little different in the things we do. Our attitude . . . we came out a little lax and tentative. ``We were just not mentally focused.'' CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge (1-0) didn't seem bothered when Western Oregon scored the first touchdown of the game - a 26-yard pass from quarterback Erik Davis Erik Davis (b. 1967 in Redwood City, California) is a North American social historian, cultural critic, essayist and lecturer. He is noted for his study of the history of technology and society and his essays about the fate of the individual in the dawning posthuman era. to Derrick derrick: see crane. Derrick famous hangman; eponym of modern hoisting apparatus. [Br. Hist.: Espy, 170] See : Execution Miles with three minutes "Three Minutes" is the 46th episode of Lost. It is the twenty-second episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams, and written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. It first aired on May 17, 2006 on ABC. left in the first quarter. The players didn't look worried when the Division II Wolves (0-1) took a 13-3 lead on a 51-yard scoring pass from Davis to Miles six minutes before halftime. The Division I-AA Matadors hadn't lost to a Division II team in four years. The idea, however, crept into CSUN interim head coach Jeff Kearin's mind. ``Thought? How about complete panic and fear?'' Kearin quipped after the game. ``But I believe in these kids. (At halftime) I saw no fear in their eyes. There was no doubt in their eyes.'' Aaron Arnold, who became the school's all-time leading receiver in the first half, set the tone in opening the second with a 58-yard kickoff return. CSUN wore down the Wolves, not only with quick passes but a newfound new·found adj. Recently discovered: a newfound pastime. Adj. 1. newfound - newly discovered; "his newfound aggressiveness"; "Hudson pointed his ship down the coast of the newfound sea" running game. The Matadors, who were last in the Big Sky in rushing yards last year, averaging 84 per game, had 249 on Saturday. Bradley had 90 yards and two touchdowns, and redshirt freshman Alan Taylor
``A big improvement,'' Bradley said. ``(Now) we give an imposing threat to a lot of people.'' The Matadors might look a little tougher, choosing to run the ball in short-yardage situations where they once would have thrown. But CSUN isn't Michigan or Ohio State. Sophomore quarterback Marcus Brady Marcus Brady (Born September 24, 1979) is a quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. College career He attended Cal State Northridge as a business major, where he started 43 straight games. had 45 attempts, completing 28 for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Aaron Arnold had 12 catches for 138 yards and set the school record for receptions in a career late in the second quarter. After a slow start, Brady completed passes to eight different receivers. ``I was trying to make things happen,'' Brady said. ``I just had to get into the flow of the game.'' So did the CSUN secondary, which was thrown in the first quarter when starting safety Hassan Abdul-Malik re-injured his right hamstring and left the game. Davis's three touchdown passes were from 26, 51 and 41 yards, and they all came when a receiver was open in the middle. ``They weren't really fooling us,'' said safety Rahman Sparks, ``but there were a couple mistakes I made in coverage. (They) were just blown assignments.'' Sparks intercepted Davis with 11 minutes left in the game. CSUN cornerback Karalus Doyle picked off Davis on Western Oregon's next possession, as well. ``They got us a couple times up the middle,'' Kearin said. ``We were a little bit hurt when Hassan went out.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) CSUN's Jaumal Bradley (11) gets the ball knocked from his hands by Western Oregon's Corey Sutton. (2) CSUN wide receiver Aaron Arnold breaks through the Western Oregon line in the first quarter. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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