WSU Football
Ducks' Day gets under his foes' skin

By Austin Burton
Special to The Seattle Times

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PULLMAN — Tattooed on each of his massive biceps are the letters "TD." Yesterday at Martin Stadium, Oregon tight end Tim Day left his own permanent mark on the Cougars defense in a game that may have saved the Ducks' season.

Day, a 6-foot-4, 268-pound junior, led all receivers with 152 yards on eight catches. He also caught two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter of Oregon's wild 41-38 comeback victory.

"That was the greatest game I've ever been in," Day said afterward. "It was back and forth, but we didn't give up."

After being shut out in the first half, Day became the main target as well as a security blanket for Ducks quarterback Kellen Clemens, who passed for a career-high 437 yards.

Their efforts were enough to help Oregon even its conference record at 1-1. The Ducks (2-3 overall) got their first victory over a BCS-conference school after losses to Indiana, Oklahoma and Arizona State. Oregon also beat winless Idaho of the Sun Belt Conference.

"This was a momentum booster," Day said. "Wins like this help you pull all the way through the season."

Clemens agreed.

"This could turn the season around," the junior quarterback said. "Over the last few weeks it was difficult not to get down about (the losses). But we just came out today and played football. Everything just fell into place."

Clemens had a hand in all six Ducks touchdowns; throwing for three (two to Day, one to receiver Marcus Maxwell) and running for three. Clemens connected with receiver Demetrius Williams for 12 completions and 126 yards.
 
Going into the game, Day had just eight catches this season. After a quiet first half, Clemens made a point to get his big man involved.

"A lot of times I knew I was going to throw it to him before the snap. I think there's a good chance of him winning against any (defender)," Clemens said.

"It was nice to get Tim on track," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said.

When asked if there was a particular matchup they wanted to exploit with Day, Bellotti said the Ducks "just forced the issue. We said, 'Let's find ways to get Tim the ball.' "

Going into next week's home game against Arizona, Bellotti said he's just glad to be in the win column for the conference, but that the team still needs work.

"I'm very proud of the spirit and the fight in this group. I still don't think we're as efficient as we need to be, but I'm proud that we won the game. I'm proud that we came back and overcame our own mistakes," he said.

Day was humble about his individual performance, but wasn't shy about pumping up his team.

"We have big-play guys on this team, and I think I'm one of them. Kellen was the MVP of the game today, though. I just had to catch it when he threw it to me."

For his team, which many expected to compete with Cal for second place in the Pac-10, Day thinks yesterday's victory was a turning point.

"As long as we cut down on penalties and mistakes, we should be a Top 25 team," he said.