Second Chance: Oregon QB off to solid start
Week 1, 2006
 | Ice (1-0) | 34 |
 | Stampede (0-1) | 28 |
Portland, OR (AP) - When Oregon Ice QB
Maurice Brown was allowed to leave New Orleans last season as a free agent, he stayed awake at night praying for one more chance to start in the CFL. "I knew I had it in me," says Brown. "I just needed the opportunity to get back on the field."
That chance came when Oregon GM
Grid Iron called offering him a job. "We didn't promise him the starting spot. We wanted a competition," remembers Iron, who was trying to fill the spot created when he traded former CFL Bowl MVP quarterback
Landon Hurst to Charleston just weeks before in a salary-cap related move.
After a brief negotiation, Brown signed a five-year $20 million contract that included a $1.5 million signing bonus and a cap-friendly $1.15 million salary in 2006. "He's gonna have to really earn the rest of that money," said Grid Iron, who can release Brown next season at a cap cost of just $1.3 million. "Hopefully, he'll be here for a long time."
Brown, whose expertise is in throwing short passes, is considered a team leader on, and off, the field. In 2003, he threw for 3,522 yards, 23 TD and 12 INT for Anchorage. Unfortunately, the Renegades ownership soured on Brown after he threw only 13 TD against 13 INT in 2004, and he eventually found his way to New Orleans where he was a backup.
"I had a lot of time to think," said Brown of his time carrying the clipboard. "I decided that my talent wasn't going to get me a starting job. I needed to work my tail off."
All of Brown's work since the end of the 2005 season paid off in Oregon's 34-28 victory at Boise on Opening Day. In the game, Brown was 23 of 38 for 303 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT and earned player of the game honors.
"He tore it up out there," said Oregon wide receiver
Matt Brunner who had 9 catches for 177 yards. "Every time I got open, the ball was right there."
Like any good GM, however, Grid Iron is taking a more skeptical approach. "It's just one game. Next week will be against a very tough Shreveport team," Iron said. "Talk to me next week and ask me how I feel then," Iron said with a chuckle.
Around the League
Albany RB
Joel Foran broke the CFL single game rushing record when he ran for 236 yards in a 31-10 victory over the Chicago Hitmen. Ironically, Chicago's
Arthur Brady, who set the previous record with 227 yards in 2004, was there to witness the event.
Box Score
Attendance: 61,000 (71,100).
Weather: 68 degrees, fair.
1Q: 13:12 BOI - Archie Chun 39 run.
1Q: 13:12 BOI - Conrad Fisher extra point.
1Q: 02:54 ORE - Craig Schanding 30 field goal.
2Q: 13:12 ORE - Tracey Woolery 1 run.
2Q: 13:12 ORE - Craig Schanding extra point.
2Q: 01:55 BOI - Abe Muncy 6 pass from Branden Lin.
2Q: 01:55 BOI - Conrad Fisher extra point.
2Q: 00:31 ORE - Tracey Woolery 5 run.
2Q: 00:31 ORE - Craig Schanding extra point.
3Q: 09:29 ORE - Newton Begin 4 pass from Maurice Brown.
3Q: 09:29 ORE - Craig Schanding extra point.
3Q: 06:05 ORE - Teddy Woodard 5 run.
3Q: 06:05 ORE - Craig Schanding extra point.
4Q: 12:52 BOI - Terrance Ryan 4 pass from Branden Lin.
4Q: 12:52 BOI - Conrad Fisher extra point.
4Q: 04:54 BOI - Sherman New 1 run.
4Q: 04:54 BOI - Conrad Fisher extra point.
4Q: 00:19 ORE - Craig Schanding 50 field goal.
Game MVP: ORE 4 Maurice Brown
Oregon 3 14 14 3 - 34
Boise 7 7 0 14 - 28
Team Statistics ORE BOI
First Downs 25 23
Total Rushes 33 33
Rushing Yards 93 161
Yards Per Carry 2.8 4.8
Pass Attempts 38 31
Completions 23 19
Passing Yards 303 253
Yards Per Attempt 7.9 8.1
Sacked 0 0
Yards Lost 0 0
Interceptions 0 1
Fumbles/Lost 2/0 0/0
Total Plays 71 64
Total Yards 396 414
Yards Per Play 5.5 6.4
3rd Down Plays 9/16 7/11
Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.6 5.2
4th Down Plays 0/0 0/2
Penalties 6 7
Penalty Yards 36 55
Avg. Drive Start OWN 30 OWN 24
Time Of Possession 31:32 28:28
Oregon Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
29 Woolery 19 68 3.5 15 2
39 Woodard 12 20 1.6 6 1
4 Brown 1 4 4.0 4 0
87 Brunner 1 1 1.0 1 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
4 Brown 38 23 303 7.9 40 1 0 0
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
87 Brunner 9 177 19.6 32 40 0
89 Begin 6 62 10.3 13 21 1
29 Woolery 3 16 5.3 17 6 0
86 Roy 2 31 15.5 0 19 0
83 Dillon 1 5 5.0 0 5 0
42 Savoy 1 5 5.0 4 5 0
85 Guevara 1 7 7.0 0 7 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
31 Eaddy 2 12 6.0 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
83 Dillon 3 65 21.6 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
7 Shehee 5 223 44.6 53 3
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
1 Schanding 2 2 50 4 4
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
50 Pinard 8 4 0.0 0 0 0
33 Pilcher 7 1 0.0 0 0 0
35 Twombly 5 2 0.0 0 0 0
53 Macaluso 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
51 Beane 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
31 Eaddy 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
76 Vanegas 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
23 Huth 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
40 Mauro 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
30 Reagan 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
96 Garcia 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
46 Clarkson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
93 Jimerson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
26 Lerma 1 2 0.0 1 2 0
82 Williams 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
71 Dykstra 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
38 Fields 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
37 Funderburk 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
71 Dykstra 0 0 0 0 3 0
89 Begin 1 0 1 0 0 0
54 Ludwig 0 0 0 0 2 0
82 Williams 0 0 0 0 1 0
68 Klein 0 0 0 0 1 0
42 Savoy 0 0 0 0 1 0
87 Brunner 1 0 0 0 0 0
85 Guevara 0 0 1 0 0 0
Boise Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
29 New 19 64 3.3 18 1
19 Lin 8 51 6.3 14 0
21 Chun 4 37 9.2 39 1
24 Givens 2 9 4.5 6 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
19 Lin 31 19 253 8.1 35 2 1 0
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
89 Muncy 6 76 12.6 23 28 1
87 Ryan 5 82 16.4 14 35 1
84 Craig 2 34 17.0 5 18 0
80 Buzzell 2 19 9.5 9 14 0
29 New 2 9 4.5 9 7 0
81 Pelfrey 1 23 23.0 7 23 0
21 Chun 1 10 10.0 2 10 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
22 Kammerer 1 2 2.0 0
87 Ryan 1 17 17.0 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
35 Crumpler 4 78 19.5 0
81 Pelfrey 1 21 21.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
13 Poole 4 206 51.5 70 2
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
4 Fisher 0 0 0 4 4
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
72 Block 7 1 0.0 0 0 0
34 Storms 6 2 0.0 0 0 0
31 Jiles 6 2 0.0 0 0 0
37 Raymond 6 1 0.0 0 0 0
58 Ginn 5 3 0.0 0 0 0
92 Evan 4 2 0.0 0 0 0
46 Ibanez 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
49 Gunn 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
94 Phelan 3 3 0.0 0 0 0
90 Butt 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
91 Lamm 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
53 Walton 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
80 Buzzell 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
99 Asher 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
20 Rowland 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
25 Yeager 0 2 0.0 0 0 0
22 Kammerer 0 1 0.0 0 0 0
77 O'Connell 0 1 0.0 0 0 0
98 Lindsay 0 1 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
79 Trice 0 0 0 0 3 0
54 Bergmann 0 0 0 0 2 0
61 Wilke 0 0 0 0 1 0
34 Storms 0 1 0 0 0 0
25 Yeager 0 1 0 0 0 0