Photo of the new football sculpture

I took a few pics of the new football sculpture in front of Reser. It's pretty cool.

New football sculpture

Fallout from the game

Brooks Hatch has a good commentary on the Arizona game:

Corvallis Gazette-Times - Simply put, OSU should have defeated the Wildcats


Apparently Matt Moore didn't get an OSU interceptions record for a single game:

The Oregonian -
Moore at a loss to explain performance in Beavers' loss

OSU can't get by its mistakes

Whatever the reason, Moore's six interceptions not only were one shy of Erik Wilhelm's school-record seven against Stanford in 1987, they also gave the junior transfer for UCLA 16 interceptions in his past five games.

Arizona game: disbelief

Ugh. My brain still can't believe we lost this game. After three come from behind victories this season and being able to move the ball at will against Arizona all game (2 punts!!!) I just figured we would be able to get one shot at a field goal at the very least. Our defense played just well enough to let us win down the stretch. But for some reason, we didn't want to win. I would have felt OK with a loss if we drove down for an Alexis Serna FG and he misses that I do not giving him a chance to win.

A few gripes

1) Playcalling on the second to last drive. We're inside the 30 and we've been running the ball well all day. So why even call a pass play? Just set up the FG and get the dang lead! I don't want a TD I want the lead!

2) Decision making. Matt Moore needed to simply not turn the ball over in the 4th quarter and we win. He needs to stop trying to make the huge play and just get the ball where it needs to be to win the game. If we need a TD then fine, throw it long into double coverage. But if we are in FG range then get both hands around the ball if you run. If you're in trouble, throw it out of bounds. What happened to that guy who said "I just didn't want to turn the ball over" after the BSU game when he gave Alexis the chance to win the game in the end by just holding on to the ball.

3) The defense. Honestly, I don't understand how we can continually be so horrible on long pass plays. Is it the scheme? Is it the blitzing? Is it the safeties? Is it the linebackers? We have stopped getting burned on the outside, but how does it move to the middle of the field like that? Ugh.


I don't think losing this game really changes much over the next 3 games. I have learned nothing about our team that I didn't already know. If we EVER play mistake free football on either side of the ball we may actually dominate a game.

Do we now have a QB controversy? Not really, but I'm willing to let Gundy have a series or two to see what he can do. All I know is if Matt has 4-5 ints in a game, maybe you give your backup a series or two just to give the starter a chance to see things fro a different angle and get his head back in the game.

A look at the Arizona Wildcats

Today the Beavers will take on a feisty opponent in the Arizona Wildcats. They have been a league doormat for several years now, but they are not going to roll over and die. In fact, they may take out your QB. They knocked two U of O quarterbacks last week including Kellen Clemens who is out for the season. Their defense is physical and good. I think most weeks they are more afraid of coach Stoops yelling at them then they are of their next opponent because the have stopped virtually everybody.


The Offense

The Wildcat offense isn't great. Their best running back, Mike Bell, is having a very average year. In fact, UA has some serious trouble running the ball. 3.2 yards per carry. Not exactly automatic. And only 1/3 of their first downs from the running game. Mike Bell is still a good RB and the Beavs will need to be on top of him and not give him a big run.

RUSHING YARDAGE............. 727
Yards gained rushing........ 971
Yards lost rushing.......... 244
Rushing Attempts............ 229
Average Per Rush............ 3.2
Average Per Game.......... 103.9
TDs Rushing................... 6

FIRST DOWNS................. 131
Rushing...................... 44
Passing...................... 70
Penalty...................... 17

The passing game has been better (probably out of necessity) but it's not world class either. The new true Freshman QB, Willie Tuitama, did do pretty well in his first action of the season, but a look at the stats show that he may not be THAT much better than Richard Kovalcheck. He had a lower completion percentage, had an interception, and only had 182 yards passing. And look at his longest pass play. 20 yards. So all of his stats are without really opening up the playbook.

PASSING........ GP. .Effic Att-Cmp-Int.. Pct. Yds. TD Lng Avg/G
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kovalcheck, R... 7. 113.94 215-123-11.. 57.2 1321. 10. 42 188.7
Tuitama, Willie. 1. 111.44.. 34-18-1... 52.9. 182.. 2. 20 182.0

The big problem is that their offensive line is sub-par. They give up a lot of sacks and don't run block very well. In fact, I can barely remember when Arizona had a good line. It's been a long time.

I think the Beavers have to stop the run and pressure the QB. Blitz early and often. A freshman QB will have trouble keeping his composure if he's worried about the hit he's about to take. Force them to pass and don't give them too much time to pass and we should be able to stop the Arizona offense quite effectively.


The Defense

This is what Coach Stoops does. Defense. His brother is the defensive coordinator and as a team they really excel here. They have a decent defensive line with super DE Copeland Bryan really pounding the other teams. He has only played in 5 games this season but already has 5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, 22 tackles, and 4 pass breakups. He leads the team in sacks, TFL, and pass breakups. He must be blocked properly.

The secondary is strong with a super-Soph. at corner and two senior safeties to hold it down. They have only 5 interceptions, but hold their opponents to only 199 yards passing. They look good. Matt will have to be on his game/.

The only area they are a little suspect is at linebacker. It says something about your linebackers when a safety is leading the team in tackles by 18. Granted they have had a ton of injuries, but this isn't Penn St. so their depth is mainly young guys. They have a junior, a sophomore, and a RS freshman starting this weekend for them.

Arizona Opponents

RUSHING YARDAGE
Average Per Rush.............. 4.5
Average Per Game............ 180.3
TDs Rushing.................... 12
PASSING YARDAGE
Average Per Game............ 199.1
TDs Passing..................... 9
TOTAL OFFENSE
Average Per Game............ 379.4

The Beavers should be able to run on this team. The Wildcats have stopped people recently on the run, but every time we have met a team with a weaker rushing defense this season we have had good running days. They will key on the pass and try to get Matt Moore to make mistakes. That alone should allow Yvenson Bernard to get 100 yds rushing. The key will be not giving up bad turnovers to this defense. They may not be susceptible to the big play, but chip away at them and you can gain plenty of yards. And don't help their offense by giving up a bunch of turnovers behind the 50 yd line.


The Game

I expect a tough game. However, I expect a Beaver win. I'd like to see Matt Moore return to form and Yvenson Bernard continue to run well. I'd also like the Beaver defense to out duel the Arizona defense and show them that we can play. My prediction: Beavers win 31 - 14.

Beavers Pumpkin stencil for halloween

My buddy, Loyan Roylance, just sent me a halloween stencil of a Beavers logo that he created. I think it's pretty good and am going to try it out tonight.

Download the picture here:

Beavers Pumpkin Stencil - Orignial (low res)

New High-res version!






And here's the finished result:





Worked out pretty well I think!

Great article on "Cougin' It" - How WSU got the dubious label and what it's all about.

I hate to pile on, and of all the teams in the Pac-10 I'd probably say I root a little for Washington State when they aren't playing the Beavs. But this is a great article from the Tacoma News-Tribune about the concept of "Cougin' It". In case you're wondering what that is, then it's basically what WSU has done the last 3-4 games. Finding a way to lose. Just read the article and you will be enlightened.

COUGIN’ IT

Walden, the old Cougars coach whose 1985 team helped popularize “Cougin’ it,” offers this spin on this season’s string of close losses: “I would rather ‘Coug it’ than get mauled. I would much rather lose a game with one minute to play and a chance to win than get beat 51-7 or 49-0, because in those games you never had a chance.

At least there's some positive spin someone can put on it.

The Blog gets some pub in the Oregon State Daily Barometer

Thanks to the OSU Barometer for a mention of my blog in a recent story on OSU related blogs!

Oregon State Daily Barometer Online - Blogging hits home for OSU

One hot blog subject on campus is OSU athletics. OSU fans have created blogs to keep up on college sports news and rally support for the teams.

A frequently updated example is The Beaver Believer Blog by Jake Bertalotto, found at http://www.oregonstatebeavers.blogspot.com.

On the bloc, Bertalotto describes himself as a "Beaver Believer who enjoys sports, school, going to Beaver Games, watching Beaver Games, listening to Beaver Games, and pretty much everything Beaver."

Fellow Beaver bloggers like Jason Prothero (http://www.jasonprotheroblog.blogspot.com) and many others also provide extensive commentary on Beaver sports.

Aaron Pearce, a senior in biology, is a frequent reader of the sports blogs.

"The first thing you notice about blogs is that they're biased," he said. "The fact that because they're opinions, they're usually people who have a specific team that they like. I don't think blogs are a reputable source of information, but it's fun for opinions of what people think. They're pretty much a step up from just a chat page or message boards as far as information gathering."

So Jake gets top billing, eh? Alright, it's on! (kidding). Anyways, I disagree with this assessment of blogs by Aaron Pearce (here come some opinions...):

"I don't think blogs are a reputable source of information"

I think that at least 50% of any blog is just information collected on a subject from other sources. Opinions can be part of the blog, but collecting and sharing obscure information can be just as big a part of it. Many times my posts will contain only links to other places that might be interesting to Beaver fans. I may tell you why I think it's interesting, but it's still a link to somewhere else. Plus, I like to post pictures of games that I attend which is purely informational.

Blogs can also augment and support a conversation in the community. By posting comments and linking to other blogs, message boards, and articles the conversation continues. I'd like to see a few more comments. Tell me when I'm wrong or when you find something interesting.

Anyways, I appreciate the mention!

Photos of the OSU vs UCLA from LuckyBucky

Once again LuckyBucky over on the Pure-Orange boards has a great set of photos from the UCLA game.

Check them out!


OSU vs UCLA - Photo #1

OSU vs UCLA - Photos #2

OSU vs UCLA - Photos #3

Interesting Game Week Articles

A few interesting articles during game week spotlighting a few players and the defense.

StatesmanJournal.com - Beavers defense needs to move forward

This article has some interesting quotes from the defense.

Trying to cover Drew with a linebacker is like asking the paparazzi not to take celebrity snapshots. Several OSU players said they were surprised to see Drew slip into the secondary on pass routes because "it wasn't in the scouting report."

...

"Mentally we're not there yet with some of our assignments and just playing sound football," Piscitelli said. "You can play 30 plays great, but if you play five plays bad, that's not going to cut it."

Gazette Times - Brothers on the line

This is a spotlight on OL Andy Levitre and his brother, Erick Levitre, who is playing for Arizona. Although it mostly talks about their mom who will be attending the game.

The brothers call each other weekly after games. They go over how things went, and share information on common opponents.

However, there’s no talking this week. No inside information is being passed along.

Gazette Times - Transfer of talent

A story on new WR Ruben Jackson.

“I think he’s very fast,” coach Mike Riley said, alluding to Jackson’s blazing 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash. “He’s making plays in practice, catching the ball. And he can fly. He can really run.

BlogPoll Roundtable Week 9

Each week the BlogPoll crew posts some thought provoking questions for it's members to answer. Here are my thoughts. Feel free to post your own thoughts in my comments!


1. Name the five teams, other than yours, whose accomplishments you respect / envy the most.

1. USC. They proved that you can get respect out west. Plus they have many NC's.
2. Northwestern. They stopped their long time losing streak a few years before us and showed the Beavers it could be done.
3. Purdue. I've always kind of respected what they have done the last few years.
4. Virginia Tech. What I want the Oregon State Beavers to become.
5. Oregon. Simply because their marketing is so much better than ours. Billboards everywhere!


2. With regard to Question #1, what is the most damaging criticism of your program that you will admit is a legitimate criticism? That is, what negative trait does the most damage to the overall respect level of your program.

I think our location hurts us a bit. Everything else will come and go (off-field incidents now, used to be a team of thugs) and isn't true of the whole team anyways. But the biggest thing OSU has to overcome is not being in a larger city. That can work to our advantage in many cases as well, but I think the summers can get pretty boring for some kids.


3. Who do you think is the best player in the history of your program?

Very tough question. I think if you look to the pros you would have to say Chad Johnson or Steven Jackson. However, I think Ken Simonton was really the first star player at Oregon State in the new era and really helped lead the team to amazing heights. Every Beaver will have a special place in their heart for Kenny.

Mike Hass rap song is sweeping Beaver Nation

Alright Beaver Nation, if you haven't heard this song by now then now is the time to hear the Mike Hass song.

The sports radio station KFXX, or 1080 the Fan, has written and produced this sweet rap about Oregon State wide receiver Mike Hass. ( See: Sports Saturday w/ Ropp and the Mopp )

Get this ready for your tailgators these last two games!

I'm Mike Hass!


I can't figure out how to save the song from the KFXX site. But you might be able to get it here:

MP3 version

Local article on new kicker recruit: Kyle Loomis

Great article on the Beavs latest recruit, kicker and punter Kyle Loomis. He's from Roseburg HS and has a big leg. He's averaging 46.7 yards per punt and has hit a field goal of 49 yards this season. Looks like he might be the next Sam Paulescu.

A Kicker in the Right Direction

If his 46.7-yard punting average holds up over the last three games, he would rank first all-time at Roseburg High, shattering Mitch Hanan's 29-year-old record of 38.7 yards. What’s more, Loomis has booted the three longest field goals in school history, including two 45-yarders last season and a 49-yarder this year against Willamette.

“Kyle is a game changer,” said assistant coach Bruce Walker, who helped Loomis transition from a sideways soccer kick to a straight-forward football kick.

And then there's this which is pretty cool:

But another deciding factor for Loomis — the “kicker,” if you will — was that he will have his own coach, former NFL kicker Bruce Read.

“That was huge,” he said. “Oregon and Cal don’t have kicking coaches, and that’s something I really wanted to have in college. To learn from someone who used to kick in the NFL is going to help me more than I can imagine.”

Article full text

BlogPoll Week 9

Week 9 of the BlogPoll. The BCS is getting interesting with Texas overtaking USC by .07 points. The closest BCS top 2 in history. I'm not ready to unseat USC yet, but Texas did look pretty good. How can WSU keep losing like they do? I just don't get it. Alabama still needs to get an offense. But the defense looks good enough that they might keep it going all season long.


1 Southern Cal
2 Texas
3 Virginia Tech
4 Georgia
5 Alabama
6 Louisiana State
7 Miami (Florida)
8 UCLA
9 Florida State
10 Penn State
11 Notre Dame
12 Boston College
13 Ohio State
14 Oregon
15 Wisconsin
16 West Virginia
17 Texas Tech
18 Auburn
19 Florida
20 TCU
21 Minnesota
22 Northwestern
23 Fresno State
24 Cal
25 Michigan


Others I'm paying attention to:

Tennessee
Oregon State
Louisville
Colorado
Iowa
Georgia Tech


Out

Michigan State
Tennessee

UCLA loss

Well, I knew that if the Beavers couldn't at least tie or win the turnover battle then they would lose the game. The Beavers defense had every opportunity to help the Beavers win in this game, but just couldn't get it done. There was no pressure on Drew Olson, they couldn't recover the one fumble UCLA did have, and they couldn't read the receivers routes well enough to stop the big play. Unfortunately, most of the big plays from UCLA came with a LB guarding a RB or receiver. That’s just a good match-up for any offense. Most of those plays could have been negated with a strong pass rush but UCLA didn't let that happen. I thought the D did pretty well against the run, but just didn't wrap up well enough to really shut them down.

Offensively, I thought we did OK. The game was 41-28 at one point and I thought that if the defense could step up, the offense could score on UCLA a couple more times. Only 2 turnovers. Not bad. I felt like Matt Moore was trying really hard to beat UCLA. He had a few forced passes and seemed a little less laid back than he normally seems to be on TV.

As a side note, to all those people who want to see Riley more fired up I think you are getting less and less to complain about each week. Did anyone else see Mike chase down Roy Scheuning after that personal foul? Last week he was berating the refs pretty bad after the fumble into the end zone nearly cost the Beavers the game.

All in all, I think this may be a good thing for the defense. Now they will go into the Arizona game with a desire to get back on track and punish some one. The can remember their flaws and try to learn and correct them some more. Now is the part of the season where the rubber meets the road. The Beavers have to come up big against Arizona and Washington who look just dangerous enough to cause problems. Also, Stanford is looking better week by week.

Let's give the Beavers a big homecoming welcome this weekend!

Good stuff for Beaver fans: new blog and hidden stuff on OSUBeavers.com

Poking around the OSUBeavers.com web site I found this cool little area that has replays of some of Mike Parker's radio calls this season. There is one call per game which seems a little low. But at least they are key calls in the game on exciting Beaver plays.

Mike Parker's Boyds Coffee Broadcast Moments

My favorite is the Washington State: Sabby Piscitelli INT TD one.

---

I've got to give props to the Beaver beat writers, Jim Beseda and Paul Buker, over at the Oregonian. Their new blog is probably one of the better things that have happened at OregonLive.com in a long time. They post regularly and seem to get some additional insight into the team that only beat writers could. They have started off strong. Hopefully they can keep it up.

Behind the Beavers Beat

Check it out. Now if they could just get their IT guys to setup their RSS feed properly, I'd be happy. Come on guys!

---

Finally, take a look at the latest thoughts from Soph. LB Andy Darkins. He recently posted his latest column to his blog. It takes a look at the alcohol, football, and society in this one. It's easy to see why he was highlighted during the last coaches show for being a great student athlete. Another must read.

A Toxic Brew



Go Beavs!

Article on Beaver recruit Dorian Smith

I found an interesting story about Dorian Smith, the stud JC Defense End who committed to Oregon State a few weeks ago. After he committed he had a couple bad games, but it looks like he's back on track after a strong game last weekend.

The Desert Sun - Roadrunners move up the ladder

The lightning-quick Smith emerged into an outstanding player over the final six games last season. Out of position at defensive tackle, the undersized Smith, who then weighed about 230, simply played through the motions early in his freshman season. Frustrated with his uninspired effort, Hyde kicked the soft-spoken Smith out of a practice midway through the season.

"He came back five minutes later and said, 'I'm not quitting,' and was dominant the rest of the season," Hyde said.

Awoken from his slumber, Smith totaled 12 sacks in the final six games - an impressive total considering his football experience consisted of two seasons in high school and he took a year off after he graduated in 2003.

Look like he gets his sacks in bunches. Hopefully he's ready to compete right away next season because Van Orsow, Rudolph, and Lemma have been getting better week by week.

What to watch this weekend

Here's what to watch this Saturday before and after the Beaver game. If you watch one other game besides the Beaver game, I'd go for Texas Tech at Texas. That game is probably the toughest test Texas will face the rest of the way this season. If Texas Tech can pull off the upset that would be big.

Don't forget the Beavers play at 4pm on TBS!


(Pacific Time)

Saturday, Oct. 22
Georgia Tech at Miami, ABC, 9 a.m.
Miami is top 5 team. Could be a good game.

Tennessee at Alabama, CBS, 12:30 p.m.
Big game. Can 'Bama keep their unblemished record? Can Tennessee get a big win to get their season going?

Texas Tech at Texas, ABC, 12:30 p.m.
Bigger game. Two undefeated teams. Rivalry game. This is this week's USC at ND.

Oregon State at UCLA, TBS, 4 p.m.
A can't miss game for Beaver fans. OOOOOO! SSSSSS! UUUUUU! Oregon State, fight, fight, fight!

Auburn at LSU, ESPN2, 4:45 p.m.
Something to flip to during the commercials of the Beaver game.

Washington State at Cal, FSN, 7:15 p.m.
I'll be rooting for the Cougs on this day.

Article on OL Jeremy Perry from local Hawaii paper

Here's a decent article about rising star offensive lineman Jeremy Perry.

Worth the Wait: Redshirting Jeremy Perry has worked in the Beavers' favor

The story does a good job recounting his start at Oregon State and how he almost didn't redshirt last year. But there are a few good tidbits in this article that are new:

"We're working on improving his fundamentals. Sometimes he gets overextended on his run blocks. Jeremy is just a young guy who can be a little raw, but repetitions are the greatest teacher for someone to become very proficient. I think eventually he will be an Outland Trophy finalist."

I would love to see Oregon State become offensive lineman "U".

One thing that helped Perry adjust is the availability of local food.

"Right off campus, about a 5-minute walk, is a Local Boyz," Perry said. "They have a lot of local food and they have sticky rice and mac salad."

Good to know that we have a distinct recuiting advantage with Local Boyz in town!

Frank was switched from defense to offense this year. Cavanaugh says he and Thompson have the potential to start.

For some reason I hadn't heard this. I thought Naymon was going to be the next stud defensive tackle for the Beavs. Hope he does well on the O-line.

Beavers next opponent: UCLA Bruins

Ah UCLA. The traditional underachievers have finally gotten off to a strong start. Maybe the theory about needing a Senior QB in the Pac-10 to win big is true. Drew Olson is certainly leading the team, but he is getting a ton of help from Maurice Drew and a little luck as well. If I remeamber right this is about the time of year that UCLA begins it's yearly slide. Hopefully the Beavers can start that off this week.

The Stats

A cursory look at the stats reveals that they aren't dominating their competition. They are leading their opposition by only 15 yards per game at 431.2 to 416.7. In addition they are giving up a ton of rushing yardage (229.7 per game!). They have given up 330 yards in each of their last two games. This is a great game for the Beavers running game to continue to make strides.

So how the heck are the Briuns winning so many games?

One major reason is that they are scoring a ton more points than their opponents per yard gained on offense. They have 30 rushing and passing TDs where their opposition has only 20 TDs. They are pretty balanced too with 15 rushing and 15 passing TDs. When you throw in Maurice Drew's 3 TDs on punt returns and their 2 fumble returns for touchdowns, they are getting some easy bonus points and scoring a lot period. They have only been held under 40 points only once this season.

Another reason is that they are winning the turnover battle in a major way. They are at +7 on the year. They didn't even have a turnover in the first 3 games of the season. However, they are even on turnovers the last 3 games in the Pac-10 and in each of those games they have had to comeback from deficits in the 4th quarter. Plus, they have had 8 fumbles but only 1 lost fumble. They are prime for some turnovers this week.

Offense

The QB Drew Olson has been stellar this year with his 67% completion rate, 5/1 TD to INT ratio, and 1612 yards passing. Maurice Drew and Chris Markey are holding down the fort at RB with a combine 122.5 ypg average between them. Finally, the recieving core is led by TE Mercedes Lewis with 4 TDs and 368 yards receiving. Every time the Bruins need a big catch it seems like WR Marcus Everett is there making some drive saving grab.

After last week against Cal, one thing that gives Beaver fans hope is that Washington (!) stopped the Bruins running game cold. One week after Oklahoma held them to 83 yards on the ground, the Huskies allowed only 65 yards. Plus, the Bruins offense has only outgained what their defense has allowed in 2 out of 6 games.

If the Beavers can stop Drew and Markey like they stopped Lynch and Forsett last week, they have a better chance to win. UCLA does have Olson and he could kill the Beavs secondary if they are not ready to play. But I'm not sure if those recievers are quite at the level of Hagan (ASU) or Hill (WSU) who absolutely killed our secondary earlier in the year.

Defense

Last year the Bruins were bad at every facet of the defense. This year it seems that only their run defense is bad. It's hard to believe their pass defense got that much better over the course of one season. They do have three new starters so maybe they are that much better. Or maybe it's the fact that they have played Rice, Oklahoma, and Washington already (Rice only passed for 65 yards on 8-17 passing). At least they have only 3 interceptions so far so hopefully that's a good sign for Matt Moore.

The linebackers are strong along with their secondary. Their D-line appears to be the weak spot. They are giving up a rediculous amount of yards on the ground (229.7/g). That must mean the D-line isn't doing it's job. Another area lacking for the Bruins is pressure on the QB. They have only 13 sacks in 6 games. Plus, no one on the team has more than 2 sacks. Hopefully that's another good sign for Matt Moore.

If the Beavs can run again this week, then they can keep it close by keeping the Bruin offense off the field. Hopefully Mike Hass can get back on track this week and that can propel the passing game to be strong this week. Defending the pass is their strength so it could be another tough week for Mike.

Overall

I think the Beavers match up pretty well against the Bruins. With the best punter in the league we should be able to keep the ball away from Drew on punts. Also, if our D plays aggresive like it has for the last 3 halves, then we should be able to slow down their run game. The big wild card will be turnovers. If we can win or at least be even on turnovers, we can win. If we lose the TO battle, we probably lose the game. I think we can win this one, but the Bruins have been so clutch that I think they could find a way to beat us at home. Then again, we have been very clutch this season too. Tough to call. Aw, screw it: 34-31 Beavers. It's time for reality to smack UCLA in the mouth this weekend. I think UCLA is prme for some turnovers and that the Beavs will win the turnover battle. Thus, they win the game.

Go Beavs!

1999 UCLA win to help break the 28 year streak to be replayed on FSN Thursday night

Another classic game to set the TiVo for. I blogged about this a while ago but I thought I'd better give you a reminder.

FSN
10/20/2005, 7:30 pm
The 1999 OSU Rout of UCLA Ends an NCAA-record 28 Straight Losing Seasons for the Beavers

Here's the original post:

Some great OSU games over the last seven years to be replayed on FSN

BlogPoll Week 8

Here's my opinion on the top 25 for the college football BlogPoll. There are a few top teams I expect to lose as the season goes on. Right now I'm not drinking the Alabama, UCLA, LSU, or Florida State kool-aid quite yet. I don't believe they are as good as they seem to be right now. And there are quite a few schools in the middle of the poll that seem a little high perhaps (Ohio State, Michigan State, Oregon), but I don't know who I would put above them so they get to stay where they are. A few teams that I left out like Michigan and Arizona State feel like top 25 teams so they could easily get back into my poll with a strong showing next week. But honestly, all that matters are those top 5.

1. Southern Cal
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Miami (Florida)
6. Louisiana State
7. Alabama
8. Texas Tech
9. Florida State
10. UCLA
11. Notre Dame
12. Boston College
13. Ohio State
14. Penn State
15. Wisconsin
16. Oregon
17. Michigan State
18. Auburn
19. Tennessee
20. West Virginia
21. Florida
22. Minnesota
23. Fresno State
24. TCU
25. Cal

Others I'm paying attention to:

Nebraska
Oregon State
Arizona State
Colorado
Iowa
Michigan
Georgia Tech
Northwestern

Postgame media fallout from Cal

Jake over at the Beaver Believer Blog has a nice roundup of the fallout from the OSU victory over the weekend. Apparently, Cal is getting reemed by the media.

What They're Saying: OSU 23, Cal 20

One columnist gave every facet of the Cal team an F. Coaching, offense, defense, and special teams. Yikes.

Cal needs to beat someone that matters pretty soon or their season could spiral out of control. I'm guessing a 6-5 or 7-4 season for Cal will be a disappointment this season.

BlogPoll Roundtable

Blogpoll Roundtable

1. What would it take for you to vote someone other than USC #1 in the poll? If you already are, what would it take for USC to regain the top spot on your ballot?

Honestly, I don't know. The only game they have been challenged was the Ohio St. game. Meanwhile USC has played with a target on their back for 3 seasons and weathered the storm multiple times. They find a way to win despite taking every team's best shot every week. Texas has yet to really get anyone's best shot. I'm not sure people get up quite as much to play Texas quite yet. So I'd like to see Vince Young lead Texas on a game winning drive with two minutes to go and win the game on sheer guts and talent.

That being said, if they blow out Texas Tech and totally dominate. Then maybe I think about it. At this point, I'd rather just watch them play in January and get ready for possibly the game of the year.


2. Which of the undefeateds is most likely to remain so? Who is least likely?

Most likely to stay undefeated:

Texas. If they get past Texas Tech (and the should), they have a cake walk the rest of the season.

USC. They have a tough road ahead playing Cal and UCLA. But they should win out after weathering their toughest test last weekend against ND. The only way to beat this team is to blow them out because they have proven if the game is close, they will find a way to win.

Most likely to lose:

Alabama. I don't see how that offense can survive some of the tough games they have coming up.

Texas Tech. They have to play Texas. Nuff said.

UCLA. They have to play USC. Nuff said.


3. If you were running the BCS system, would you let the computer rankings factor in margin of victory? Why or why not?

This is a tough one. I guess the question is, do the human polls give blowout wins more credence? What about close wins? It doesn't seem like humans care much. Texas didn't gain much from their blow out win last weekend when USC barely beat Notre Dame. Honestly, blow out wins only matter for one or two weeks. No one remembers the blowout win back in week one or two. It's just a W or L by week 8. So I think that humans don't really take into account blowout wins or losses over the balance of the season, so why should computers? The computers will never forget the blowout win in week 3.

The biggest issue is: how does it affect the spirit of the game? Do we really want USC or Texas scoring 90 points to keep their computer ranking high? What does that accomplish except totally make the other team feel horrible? I think it would take college football down a road of bad sportsmanship and people running up the score and that's just wrong. If you score 70 with your 4th stringers in then fine. But if Reggie Bush runs for his 8th TD against UW when the Huskies have 3 points all game. That's just bad for the college game IMO.

BlogPoll Roundtable (All Things Longhorn)

Photos of the Washington State victory posted

I waited a while to post these because they kinda sucked. I got caught up in the game in the second half and forgot to take pictures. Things will be better for the Arizona game, I promise.

Washington State at Oregon State

Sam Paulescu and Keith Ellison named Pac-10 players of the week.

Oregon State almost swept the player of the week honors for the Pac-10 this week. Keith Ellison was the defensive player of the week for his stellar performance last weekend at Cal. In addition, Sam Paulescu was named special teams player of the week. He single handedly won the field position battle for the Beavs by continually pinning Cal on the 1 yard line all 2nd half. Reggie Bush nabbed the offensive player of the week, but Yvenson Bernard could have easily won it with is 194 yard performance. At least he was nominated.

OSUBeavers.com - Sam Paulescu and Keith Ellison Earn Pac-10 Honors

"Ellison, a senior from Inglewood, Calif., keyed Oregon State's defensive effort with a team-high nine tackles, all solo, including three tackles for loss (-14) and two quarterback sacks (-13). In addition, Ellison forced a fumble and recovered a fumble, returning it 27 yards, and broke up one pass. The Oregon State defense limited California to 75 yards rushing, almost 200 yards below the Bears' average, and 315 yards total offense and forced five Cal turnovers.

Paulescu, a senior from Fullerton, Calif., did a good job of keeping the California offense bottled up in its own end of the field. Paulescu averaged 49.9 yards on seven punts, with a long of 64 yards. Six of his seven punts were downed inside the 20-yard line, including two downed at the California one-yard line."

Well done Keith and Sam! Go Beavs!

StubHub Fan Stats -- 2005 Top 25 College Football Rivalries

Check this out. StubHub ranks the top 25 college football rivalries based on how in demand the tickets for the rivalry game are.

OSU - UO comes in at a strong #15. The only games in the Pac-10 that rank higher are the USC-UCLA game and Cal-Stanford. I'm guessing the quality of the teams involved has a lot to do with how in demand the tickets are.

StubHub Top 25 Rivalry Rankings (week of 10/17/05)

1. USC Trojans at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2. UCLA Bruins at USC Trojans
3. Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns
4. Michigan Wolverines at Michigan State Spartans
5. Tennessee Volunteers at Alabama Crimson Tide
6. Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Wolverines
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purdue Boilermakers
8. Georgia Bulldogs at Florida Gators
9. Texas Longhorns at Texas A&M Aggies
10. Miami Hurricanes at Florida State Seminoles
11. California Golden Bears at Stanford Cardinal
12. Army v. Navy Game
13. Tennessee Volunteers at Florida Gators
14. Alabama Crimson Tide at Auburn Tigers
15. Oregon State Beavers at Oregon Ducks
16. Iowa Hawkeyes at Iowa State Cyclones
17. Virginia Tech Hokies at Virginia Cavaliers
18. Arkansas Razorbacks at LSU Tigers
19. Florida State Seminoles at Florida Gators
20. Oklahoma Sooners at Nebraska Cornhuskers
21. Arizona Wildcats at Arizona State Sun Devils
22. Georgia Bulldogs at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
23. Oklahoma State Cowboys at Oklahoma Sooners
24. Purdue Boilermakers at Indiana Hoosiers
25. Utah Utes at BYU Cougars

Another Great Weekend of College Football

Thanks to the rain I had an excuse to watch quite a bit of college football yesterday. Great weekend again. I just wish I could have seen a couple more games that weren’t televised in my area. Especially the Michigan game. The only problem with the USC at ND game was that it was televised during the Beaver game. At least the Beaver game did get over just in time to see the whole final game winning drive by USC.

Southern Cal at Notre Dame
Seriously, how good is Matt Lienart. To call that audible on 4th and 9, then to decide to go for it to win the game. Can you say clutch? This was probably one of the best college games in the last few years and maybe one of the best finishes ever. Of course it would have to compete with two other amazing finishes last weekend in Wisconsin at Minnesota and Penn St. at Michigan. Due to the OSU game, I didn’t get to watch much more than the end of this game, but every time I flipped over to the game it seemed like Notre Dame had the ball. I still wonder what ND was doing to stop the USC offense. Anyone?

Wisconsin at Minnesota
I felt sorry for Minnesota in this game. I felt that Minnesota should’ve won that game. That punter should’ve run into the end zone and taken a safety. Then they are still up by one point and can let their D try to stop the Badgers. That one play nullified the amazing rushing game of Mulroney and the other guy (can’t remember his name) who were both running all over the Badger defense. BTW, what happened to the Wisconsin defense? Weren’t they really awesome last year on D? Great game none the less.

Alabama at Ole Miss
Does Prothro mean that much to the Bama offense? I didn’t get to see all of this game, but what saw didn’t show much in Alabama’s favor. They seemed pretty anemic on offense. Maybe I’m spoiled with the Pac-10, but does it seem like the QBs around the rest of the country look really bad? Bama’s QB looked average at best to me.

UCLA at WSU
Ouch. Wazzu played so well in the first three quarters of the game. I feel bad for Coug fans. Two home losses and two losses where the other team came back from major deficits. This year’s team is just struggling. It’s like they don’t know how to win. UCLA next weekend for the Beavs. Hopefully, this game makes them a bit overconfident.


Now I get to sort all of this out and try to come up with some semblance of order for the BlogPoll.

Beavers win against a ranked opponent on the road for the first time since UCLA in 2000

OOOOOOO! SSSSSSSSSS! UUUUUUUU! Oregon State, Fight, Fight, Fight!

Man, how bad did I want to be in Berkley around 3:00pm on Saturday. What a great game. Lots of mistakes, but lots of great football by the Beavers. Amazing game plan exectution by the players. The coaches can say they are going to stop the run and get pressure on Ayoob all they want, but the players believed and executed. And the running game. Did we even pass in the second half? I'm pretty sure we didn't need to the way Bernard was running and the offensive line was blocking. These Beavers have some serious heart. And they obviously are working very hard to become great football players. Just a great performance. And I love to see so much improvement from the team and coaching staff during the season.

Great job Beavs!!!

New Beaver Football verbal: John Reese

The Beavers landed another recruit this week as John Reese from Upland High School (Los Angeles) verbaled to Oregon State. Reese is a TE who appears to have a lot of skill catching the ball. He’s 6-4, 220 and according to Rivals run routes well and has a good first step. With a little bulk he should be a decent blocker at the college level. According to the games stories I've found this year he must be faster than the 4.93 40 time that they list on the recruiting sites because he's had some long TD catches. I see 65, 43, and 40 yard TD passes and I don't think slow. Of course he could be dragging people 15 yards.

Scout.com profile

Rivals.com profile


Stories about his games:

Rams' turnovers aid Upland

“For Upland (3-1), which won its third straight, Bryan Harding completed 8 of 12 for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Sellers rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown, and Allan Denton contributed 73 yards and two touchdowns.

John Reese and Adolph Overstreet caught TD passes of 43 and 42 yards, respectively.”

Upland rolls over Poly

“After a terrific defensive stand inside its own 10-yard line, Upland increased its lead to 14-0 on Harding's 40-yard TD pass to receiver John Reese.”

Fohi furious at Upland win

“Upland made it difficult not to notice Friday night. The Highlander starting offense put a quick 21 points on the board in the first quarter and then turned things over to the backups. Quarterback Bryan Harding was an efficient 6-for-8 for 119 yards, including touchdown strikes of 6 and 65 yards to John Reese, in a little over a quarter of work. He also scored on a 1-yard run as Upland built a 21-0 first quarter lead.”

Cal Bears media perspective on this weekend's game

I'm always interested in how other parts of the country preceive the Beavers. Here are some articles from the Bay area on the Beavers:

Cal report: Loss isn't lingering, according to Tedford

Oregon State (3-2, 1-1) features one of the nation's top receivers in senior Mike Hass, a former walk-on who's averaging a nation-leading 166.2 receiving yards a game. After Hass, however, there's a large drop-off for a team that ranks ninth in the Pacific-10 Conference in rushing and last in total defense.

...

"There really hasn't been much talk about the loss," said senior right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan, who broke his right wrist against UCLA but is expected to play against Oregon State while wearing a soft cast. "We scored what, 40 points? Offensively, everyone pretty much has their heads up."

This article takes the Beavers pretty lightly. Even the quote from O'Callaghan basically says that they are not worried about the Beavers at all. That could be good. A little overconfidence never hurts when trying to pull off an upset.

Special teams just one area that worries Cal's Tedford

"Oregon State ranks fifth nationally in passing offense. But Tedford also is concerned about the Beavers' rush defense, which is yielding 120.4 yards a game. With Cal averaging 271.2 yards on the ground, fifth in the country, Saturday will be strength against strength in the pit."

Forecast: Cal vs OSU

"Still, this game appears to be a good match for a Cal team eager and determined to return to the Win Column. I think they'll get there. Final gun: Cal 35, OSU 21."

Mike Hass gets some national attention

Oregon State in good hands with Hass

Some national attention for Hass from USA Today. Nice.

Former walk-on is no pushover

"No matter what you do, they always find him," Tedford said of Hass. "He runs good routes and he's got great body control. He is deceptively fast."

Oregon State's super catch: Hass

"When you're told after a game 'You're a helluva player,' that's what you want to hear," Hass said. "I'm an inspiration to walk-ons that it can be done. But it's more than inspiration. You need ability, too."

Al Afalava is getting some serious love from Beaver Nation

Al Afalava is the new hero for the Beaver fans and the local media after that huge performance against Washington State in the second half. Two big plays really defined his afternoon. The first seemed inconsequential at the time. Al ran down the WSU tight end and pushed him out of bounds at the 1 yard line when he looked like he was going in for a TD for sure. Well, the Beavers held and Wazzu only got a FG out of that drive. Of course the second play was punching the ball out of Bumpus' hand when he was breaking away for a touchdown. Sabby recovered the ball and we scored on that drive to win the game. Al was a playmaker in a game where we seriously needed one.

Mike Parker has been singing Al's praises almost every day on the Joe Beaver Show here in the Corvallis area. And now he's had articles in the Gazzette-Times (Someone to talk about
) as well as the Oregonian (Chasing a dream).

One of the more interesting quotes considering the recent stories about OSU is this:

Defensive coordinator Mark Banker discovered Afalava and lured him to Corvallis thanks to his connections in that area. It also helped that Afalava’s former Kahuku teammate Jeremy Perry spent last year with the Beavers, and could give him the inside scoop on the program.

Perry sold him on the small-town atmosphere, a caring coaching staff and the lack of distractions such as nightclubs. Perry also liked the academic support.

Hmm, some players think the Acedemic support is pretty good? Interesting, eh?

Anyways, hopefully all of this press will push Lamar Herron to get better and elevate the level of the secondary to be great again. Great job Al!

Go Beavs!

Oregon State Beavers opponent: Cal Bears

The Beavers have the Cal Bears this weekend in Berkley. And it looks like a tall order to beat this team. They are 5-1 and really should be 6-0 but kind of blew it at the end of last week's game against UCLA. The Beavers are coming off of a bye week which could help. The Beavs have traditionally played well after long breaks winning the last two bowl games and nearly all their games after the bye week last season. Let's take a look.


The Stats

On paper Cal has been dominating teams this season. UCLA was the first team to score over 20 points against Cal. No team has had more than 400 yards of total offense (Arizona had 206). UCLA was helped by some big returns by Maurice Drew to get those 47 points. They have a +2 turnover margin and have yet to have more than 66 penalty yards.

On the offensive side of the ball the Bears have rushed for over 200 yards in all their games except the Arizona game when they got 194. In 4 of their 6 games they averaged over 7 yards per carry. Justin Forsett, who is technically the 2nd string RB, has 738 yards on the season already. They could have two 1000 yard runners fairly easily this season. Fortunately, their passing game has been a little erratic. They have had only 3 games with 200 or more yards and none over 300. Still Joe Ayoob is a 54% passer with a 10/3 TD/INT ratio. Not amazing, but not bad.

Cal 2005 Stats

Player Stats


The Schedule

OK, so they are piling up some big numbers and seem to hold teams pretty well on defense. The only question is, who have they played? Sacramento St., Illinois, and New Mexico State. Not exactly top notch competition. They have also played and beat UW and Arizona. Two of the teams picked to finish at the bottom of the Pac-10. So the only great team they have played is UCLA. And they lost. But they certainly played well enough to win. Hmm, this looks familiar. Let's see...weak schedule followed by a tough road loss where the team came from behind to win. Oh yea, that sounds like WSU. They lost to a team they should have beat at home in Stanford. So let's see if I learned anything from my SATs. Wazzu is to Cal as Stanford is to Oregon State.

Cal 2005 Schedule


The Offense

When I think of Jeff Tedford, I think of QBs and passing. But this season Cal is defined by how great it is running the ball. Marshawn Lynch is flat out scary. He can run people over and his motor never stops running. Justin Forsett is small, quick and a good change of pace. But the reason that Cal is so dominant on the run is their offensive line. When 3 of your top 5 players in the preseason are on the O-line, you're probably in good shape. And that's why they are killing people on the run.

As far as the passing game, I think that it is a bit of a weakness. Joe Ayoob is not the all-world QB that people thought he would be coming out of junior college. He has flat-out missed his receivers at times and has had trouble throwing the long ball at times. He was better in the UCLA game, but he's not perfect yet. In addition, the receivers are very young. None of the starters in the receiving core are older than a sophomore. Desean Jackson is the kid to watch as he is a freshman starter, but he's not a Jason Hill or Derek Hagen type threat yet.

Ayoob doesn't make a lot of mistakes so the key is to not let him gain any confidence by completing a few long passes. Make him and the receivers work had for everything they get. In the mean time, the Beavers have to slow down the run a little. That means some run blitzing and a lot of work from the D-line, LBs, and safety to keep the runners contained. A 7 yard per carry average is a recipe for disaster unless there are a few turnovers to help level the playing field.


The Defense

The 'D' had a lot of turnover in the offseason. However, they recruited a ton of talented JC guys and seem to have plugged the gaps for now. They are at the top or close to the top of the Pac-10 in multiple categories of defense this season. I thought it might be because they are running the ball so well that they have a ton of possession time. But it doesn't seem to be the case. Apparently, they have a good defense.

Their pass defense looks to be up to the task with CB Daymeion Hughes and his 4 interceptions this season to go with Strong Safety Donnie McCleskey who leads the team in tackles (by one over a LB). He had a knee injury last season but is back this season.

The only thing they appear to be lacking in is sacks. They have no one with more than 2 sacks and only 7 total on the season so far. That bodes well for the Beavs passing game and Matt Moore's sanity.


Special Teams

The Special Teams seem to be Cal's biggest weakness. They let UCLA get some major return yardage last week and that basically changed the game. However, they have had two TDs on punt returns already this season. Their punter is not great, but serviceable. Their kicker kind of struggled last year, but seems to be pretty solid going 17/18 this season.


Overall

Every team has weaknesses. Oregon State is good enough on offense to move the ball and score some points on this defense. The question is can the Beavers handle the Cal offense at all? If Joe Ayoob causes the offense to stall enough or the Beavers can keep the big plays down, then they have a chance. The problem is that the big plays for Cal are likely to come in the running game. I expect Cal to win this game. I see enough to have hope for a Beaver victory. But with Cal being at home and the Beavs questionable defense I'll have to go with Cal 37-28. I hope it's closer and I hope the Beavs can pull off the huge win. But this is one where I have to see it to believe it.

Go Beavs! Beat the Bears!

My BlogPoll: Week 7

A few upsets, a few formerly bad teams winning early, and some strange losses lead to a tough poll. Places 7-25 are a bit of a jumble. I still don't totally believe in Penn State so I can't put them in the top-10. I don't know about Texas Tech either, but they are undefeated so it's hard not to ranked them high. I think Louisville will run the table in the Big East and are as good as everyone thought they were at the beginning of the season so I put them pretty high. Not sure where Ohio State, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Tennessee should be but they feel like they need to be in here somewhere. Had to rank the Ducks. That was a big road win.

Ballot of Jason's OSU Beavers Blog, Week 7

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Florida State
6. Miami
7. Alabama
8. LSU
9. Notre Dame
10. Florida
11. Penn State
12. Texas Tech
13. Louisville
14. Boston College
15. UCLA
16. Tennessee
17. Ohio State
18. Wisconsin
19. California
20. Michigan State
21. Oregon
22. Auburn
23. Minnesota
24. Arizona State
25. Fresno State

Others I'm paying attention to:

West Virginia, Colorado, TCU, Nebraska, Iowa

Wild Weekend of College Football

The Beavers bye week came on a perfect weekend to enjoy college football around the country. While helping to build a deck I got to see/listen to bits and pieces of about 7 games. Of those 4 came down to the last drive for one team to either get a TD or a stop to win. Man, great weekend of college football. Except of course when the Ducks won.

Texas vs. Oklahoma
OK, it's official. OU has fallen. Didn't get to see much of this game but Texas seemed to dominate pretty much all game.

Wisconsin at Northwestern
Only saw the end of this one but man was this a fun game. I always root for Northwestern because they are a lot like OSU. They had a long streak of losing season and got out. Now they seem to still be pretty good. Middle of the Big Ten every year.

Minnesota at Michigan
Michigan fan has had a tough season. They had better start winning soon or else they might take a serious step backwards. Not sure what happened because they looked pretty good in the pre-season. Minnesota is no slouch either. But at the end of this game it seemed like neither team wanted to win the dang game. Until the Gophers busted out that long run I felt like it was a lock to go to OT.

Arizona at USC
I was surprised at Arizona's offense. Or maybe it was USC's pass defense. The Trojans were never really in a threat to lose the game, but letting Arizona stay in the game for so long doesn't help their rep much. I'll still vote them #1 though because their offense is just too good. Hopefully Reggie Bush isn't hurt too bad because it would be sad to not be able to see him play the rest of the season.

Texas Tech at Nebraska
Poor, poor Nebraska. That D-lineman that got the INT, then fumbled? Ouch. I thought Tech was good in this game, but I don't know if they're better than say #15 yet. I'll see when I take a look at the poll.

Cal at UCLA
This was the big game to watch for us Beaver fans. The next two opponents playing each other. Let me just say that our run defense better come ready to play. Marshawn Lynch is the MAN. He is just running over people and getting yards on sheer will and strength at times. He scares me. Maurice Drew is a little less scary but he is so quick it's unbelievable. He makes some defenders look like they are standing still. Yikes. I'm not convinced on Joe Ayoob. He still seems like his accuracy is a bit bad. I know Ken Goe loves this guy, but I don't see it yet. He looks average at best. Matt Moore looks better from what I've seen. I'm not sure we can beat either of these teams. But it will all come down to defense. If our D comes to play we could beat either team. But since our D hasn't shown up for a whole game yet this season, I just hope we keep it close and competitive and give ourselves a chance. Maybe pull off a Northwestern style upset.

Oregon at ASU
Man. I wanted ASU to pound the Ducks like they did us. It looked like it was going to happen in the first quarter. But then ASU tanked it and the Ducks took advantage. Now the Ducks will crack my top-25 I guess.

Mens Soccer continues to roll

The Oregon State mens soccer team continued to roll yesterday as they beat the #12 ranked UCLA at home. The Beavers now have the longest unbeaten streak in school history at 10 games. And they are at the top of the Pac-10 at 3-0. They better be ranked this week!

Unbeaten in 10 Straight: OSU 1, UCLA 0

Great job guys!

OSU Soccer doing well

Have to give a little props to the Men's and Women's soccer teams. They have been playing exceptional soccer lately.

The men have a nine game unbeaten streak going after beating their second consecutive 15th ranked team on Friday. They beat UW last week and on Friday afternoon made a comeback to beat San Diego State. Of course that includes ties, but they now have only 2 losses to go with their 6 wins and 4 ties. I've seen a few games and this is the best team I've seen from the Beavs in a few years. They should get into the rankings soon and have a great shot to make the NCAA playoffs as well.

The men are playing at 1 p.m. today against #12 UCLA. If you get a chance (and it doesn't rain) then go check out this game. Should be a great game.

The women's team is looking like they are on track for a playoff berth as well. They have already been ranked this season and appear to be carrying their pre-season success into conference after beating ASU 1-0 on Friday. They are now 8-3 on the season and IMO look better on the field than last year when they just missed the playoffs.

Well done soccer teams!


GO BEAVS!

Beavers need to step it up in the Alumni Challenge.

So I just found this Civil War alumni challenge thing. Check it out here:

Civil War Challenge

Basically, it a contest between the alumni of OSU and UO to see who can have the most people donate money to their university. Either us Beavers have never heard about this or we are giving all of our charity money to hurricane Katrina because we are waaaay behind. As of today the Ducks have had almost 10,000 donors and we're sitting at a measly 3,178. Ouch. Time to make a Wazzu style comeback here Beavs and close the gap. Give $20 to OSU and help us look at least respectable. Doesn't matter how much you give really because they count the number of donors not the total cash received. Get that charity in before the end of the year!

Go Beavs!

BlogPoll Week 6

BlogPoll Week 6 is out. I like this poll because it lets you read into the rankings quite a bit more than the polls that simply show number of votes. There's standard deviation for one which tells you how certain people are of a team at it's current ranking. In addition, Brian at MGoBlog does some analysis each week of how the voters did. You know, who's a homer and who's a crazy voter. Plus, I'm a voter so how could I not love the BlogPoll!

Check out this week's poll results here:

BlogPoll Week 6

Check out Brian's analysis here:

Week 6 breakdown

What to Watch This Weekend

The Beavers don't have a game this weekend so maybe this is the weekend you can finally finish all of those lingering summer projects. Nah. More time to watch college football, right?!

Well, here's the schedule for this weekend of what's on TV. I've got all of the Pac-10 games and a few other interesting ones that are coming up.

SI.com TV schedule

(Pacific Time)

Saturday, Oct. 8
Marshall at Virginia Tech, ESPN, 9 a.m.
Watch the #3 team in the nation.

Oklahoma vs. Texas, ABC, 10 a.m.
OU may be down, but #2 Texas needs to get the monkey off their back anyways

Arizona at USC, FSN, 12:30 p.m.
Will the Trojans finally start off strong and finish strong?

Georgia at Tennessee, CBS, 12:30 p.m.
Big game. Switch to this one after the USC game gets out of hand.

Cal at UCLA, TBS, 4:30 p.m.
A must watch for Beaver fans. These are the next two Beaver opponents.

Ohio State at Penn State, ESPN, 4:45 p.m.
Is PSU for real? We'll see at this game.

Oregon at Arizona State, FSN, 7:15 p.m.
This is a big game for the Ducks. Should give us an idea of how good they really are.

OregonLive.com Beavers Weblog: Nice article on the latest controversy about OSU football and grades

Chris Mathews over on the OregonLive.com Beavers Blog has a take on the latest academic revelations by the Oregonian. I commented on the expose briefly a few days ago, but his story is a must read.

Issue # 1 - The GPA Issue

Apparently, he received some information that shows that the Beavers have already addressed the problem and are making progress.

Chris has some very interesting points. Check it out.

Feel good story of the season: Austan Pierce. Way to go Pure-Orange!

Most of you probably heard about the story Austan Pierce and Alexis Serna. Austin gave a encouraging letter to Alexis after the huge disappointment at LSU where Alexis missed three extra points. Well, Austan's letter pulled Serna out of the dumps and got him back on track. Austin is also battling cancer and now it's Alexis Serna and Beaver Nation's turn to help Austan beat it.

So some generous Beaver fans arranged for the entire Pierce family to come to Corvallis for the Wazzu game. All expenses paid. Great job to the Pure-Orange board members who made this happen. You guys are awesome!


LuckyBucky Photos: Austan meets Alexis, Riley

Woodchips Diary: A weekend with the Pierce's


Articles about the relationship:
Gazette-Times - The kicker and the kid finally to meet

The Oregonian - Friendship of a lifetime

Football Season Brings Inspiration to One Kicker

Riley acts swiftly in response to alcohol-related death

Mike Riley can get tough. Even those who question his "nice guy" demeanor have to agree that his latest actions prove he can lay down the law.

Riley toughens alcohol policy

Riley feels so strongly about the death of an 18 year old man who had been partying with OSU football players that he has instituted a one strike and you're out policy relating to drugs and alcohol.

"What I tell them is in a blink of an eye your life will change if you make the wrong decision," Riley said. "We talked about this for a while. I issued a new ruling from what we are going to expect in this program that is tougher than any I've every heard of. Anything involved with the charge of alcohol or drugs and you are off the football team. So that is sobering. Our team was as quiet as I've seen at that time."

The athletic department also created mandatory education programs in the spring for players to learn about alcohol when they join the program. It goes over the legal issues and school policy.

Bravo Mike. That's the kind of decisive action that many in Beaver Nation were clamoring for after the incidents of last year. One thing I feel that Mike and Bob do is address a problem when it arises.

Now if we could get a statement for Bob DeCarolis about the academic situation that was reported last weekend, that would be great. And while you're at it, please take a look at the entire athletic department in general and make sure that everything is under control and nothing else is going to end up on the front page of the Oregonian. Please.

Two new recruits for Oregon State commit this weekend

Mike Riley got some more good news this weekend after the big win over the Cougs. According to the recruiting services, two NW high school players verbaled to OSU: Mau Nomani and Joe Halahuni.

Mau Nomani is a big 6-4, 278 lb. lineman from Tigard H.S. near Portland. He projects out to an offensive lineman. He is one of the most sought after lineman in the state. Great verbal.

Joe Halahuni is from Orting, WA and is a good sized 6-3, 230 lb wide reciever. He has 4.6 speed and could be a really nice big reciever. However, he could end up on the defensive side of the ball as he looks like a perfect outside linebacker prototype player for the Beavs. I like this kid.


Mau Nomani

Scout.com

2005 PAC-9 CONFERENCE PREVIEW

It's showdown time


Joe Halahuni

Get the ball in his hands
Great article on Joe

Scout.com

Game articles:
* Big-play Orting survives a close call against Elma
* Nonleague: Emergency QB helps Orting roll
* Nisqually League Roundup: Cowboys End Losing Streak
* PT takes it on chin in 48-0 loss


Go Beavs!

BlogPoll

My first attempt at a top-25. I'm participating in the BlogPoll. Things are a little crazy right now in college football. Every week the new contender gets knocked off by last week's goat. Plus, it's a bit tough since I haven't seen many of these teams play. Here goes nothing.


1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. Tennessee
6. Florida State
7. Miami
8. Ohio State
9. Alabama
10. LSU
11. Notre Dame
12. Texas Tech
13. Arizona State
14. Wisconsin
15. California
16. Florida
17. Louisville
18. Boston College
19. Michigan State
20. Auburn
21. Georgia Tech
22. UCLA
23. Michigan
24. Penn State
25. Fresno State

Others I'm paying attention to:

Oregon, Minnesota, West Virginia, Purdue, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Maryland, Boise St.


My first attempt. Maybe I'm showing my "West Coast Bias" :)

Wow. That was an amazing football game.

OK. So our defense has heart and can come to play. And we do have playmakers on the team. I honestly can't remember two exciting comebacks in the same season, ever. That one is an all-timer. The sad thing is that it wasn't televised so I don't get to save it for future tailgating enjoyment.

That said, could we have a blowout win against someone please? I love a good comeback as much as the next person but I'm not sure I can take the stress if the rest of our wins are going to be like the last two. But hey, a win is a win, right?

This season is a big transition year for the Beavs. Young players everywhere. Lots of turnover on the sidelines and the roster. If we could just stick it out this season and get that bowl game we could be very good the next couple of seasons.

You know what I'm tiring of? All the negativity everywhere about OSU football. This has been a very trying year for the Beavers athletic dept. and us fans. Some of it is warranted and some of it is not.

Last year's off-field problems started it all. And the negativity around those incidents are warranted. One thing that I do give Bob and staff credit for is that when a problem is put in the spotlight, it seems to be addressed and steps are taken to fix things. That's why even though I was left with more questions than answers about Rachel Bachman's article about the apparent lack of support OSU football players are getting academically, I'm glad a light was shined on the situation. This needs to be fixed immediately and I know it will be.

The place where I don't feel it's warranted is when it's directed at the coaching staff. I actually heard a group of Beaver fans saying that they were "almost" rooting for the Beavs to lose so that we could maybe get rid of Riley. I'm sorry, but that's going WAAAY too far my friends. I will always root for whoever is coaching OSU to be successful. Why? Because success breeds success. If we have a 2-9 season then it doesn't matter what coach we get it's going to be a hard road back to winning. Just look at UW. They were 1-10 last year. And even with their shiny brand new coach Willingham, they will probably win no more than 3 games this season. And they are currently staring a 1-10 season in the face. That's not what I want for OSU. I want Riley to be successful because I think its good for the long term future of the program. If Riley gets his 10 win season in the next couple seasons then he could be the next Slats Gill or Ralph Miller around these parts. Stability in a program is important.

I will always support the coach as long as the players will play for him and believe in him. Read Brooks Hatch's column on this last game if you want to know how the players feel: Beavers' victory keeps rest of the season interesting. I don't think players that don't like or don't believe in their coach would have two of the greatest comebacks in school history. These kids don't quit on anyone. Least of which their coaches. So I don't think we as fans have ANY right to quit on the coaches with the track record they have had.

As always, feel free to post your comments. Pics of the game coming soon...

P.S. Gotta give a shout out to my bros Hirota, Jake "Apes", Welle, and T-Dawg. Was great seeing you at the game.