Never chant overrated again.

While reading to post-USC win mania I came across a great entry by Ryan White of the Oregonian in his blog. He makes a great point on a subject that's bothered me for years. The "Over-rated" chant. Why? It belittles the accomplishment that your team just did.

OregonLive.com: In Conclusion

The celebration was on and the stadium began the chants of, "Overrated," which is something that's never made any sense.

Why, folks, would you want to belittle your team's accomplishment? Because that's what that does. If Southern California was indeed ranked higher than it deserved to be, than Oregon State's win wasn't as impressive as it appeared on Saturday.

But if the Trojans were correctly placed in the national order behind Ohio State and Michigan, than what the Beavers did here was huge.

The overrated chant is like running to the mountaintop and shouting, "We beat a team that wasn't nearly as good as other people thought they were! They were so not as good as other people thought they were that even our inferior team was able to win!"

There's no fun in that.

USC was absolutely the third-best team in the country. Oregon State definitely beat the Trojans on Saturday. Barely beat them after holding a huge lead, but barely counts just the same.

I totally agree. The ONLY time a chant of overrated is warranted is when you're the better team and you beat a ranked team close to you by a ton of points. If the #5 team in the country destroys the #10 team in the country (Fiesta Bowl 2001 anyone?) then you can chant overrated.

However, how about a new chant? "Under-rated!, Under-rated!" I think that would be more appropriate. It say hey, my team is better than you thought they were. We deserve some props for this huge win.

Let's start that when we beat Oregon in November. :)

OK, OK, no more looking ahead. Let's focus on ASU. They always give us trouble and seem to eek out wins even when we are controlling the game. This year we need to finally take them down.

Go Beavs!

Quotes from the Beavers huge upset over USC

Clinton Polk:

"I was so nervous I threw up. That's how nervous I was," said Polk, a junior college transfer from Scottsdale Community College. "But after throwing up I think I was ready."

"My teammates were behind me," said Polk, a 6-foot-2, 214-pound junior. "All my coaches, they were in my ear letting me know that I was ready. They just made be believe."

Mike Riley

“How ’bout those Beavers!” shouted OSU coach Mike Riley as he weaved and bobbed through the ecstatic mob en route to the Valley Football Center.

“I’m really proud of Clinton. This was a big game for him, and what he did for this team,” OSU coach Mike Riley said. “Every time you go in and produce you earn respect, and show (coaches and teammates) ‘We can rely on this guy.’ ”

Mark Banker

“Maybe early on we didn’t play up to our expectations. It was just a matter of this group jelling,” OSU defensive coordinator Mark Banker said. “Today we saw three tailbacks, six receivers and three tight ends who will all be drafted.

“They didn’t let that effect them. They believed in themselves as a group, bowed up and got the job done.”

USC Coach Pete Carroll

“This is a great day for Oregon State’s football team,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “My hat is off to Mike (Riley) and I thought they did a great job. They played great the whole day and they did a bunch of stuff that we wish we could have done. I think it’s a great win for them and a very difficult loss for us because we made it.”

Sabby Piscitelli

“This is what you play for,” safety Sabby Piscitelli said. “That’s what everyone plays the game for. You ask for big players to step up and make plays. We made a lot of great plays. It was just intense.”

Added senior safety Sabby Piscitelli: “I told Clinton all week it was his time to shine. He’s such a great player, and he really showed it. SC, that’s no walk in the park. He really stepped up.”

On QB Matt Moore:

“He’s a stud,” safety Sabby Piscitelli said. “I think he’s faced the most adversity of any individual player at Oregon State. And I’ve been watching this kid in practice for two years, and I tell everybody he’s a great player. He made some rookie mistakes (last year) but he showed his leadership and athletic ability today. He took over that offense and made some great plays.”

Alan Darlin

“We love our fans and we love it when they love us too,” Darlin said. “We definitely felt the positive energy coming from the crowd. That was great and I hope it continues.”

On the last play of the game

“I saw Jeff tip it,” said linebacker Alan Darlin, who had seven tackles and a fumble recovery. “We knew we had the game, that there would be no overtime. It was just a great heads-up play.

“We knew we had to attack and finish, and that’s exactly what we did. We have to play with an attitude. The bottom line is, we’ve been having a ton of fun out there.”

Joe Newton

"Personally," OSU tight end Joe Newton said, "it was probably the most fun I've ever had in a game in my life."

“It’s the best performance I’ve seen Matt put together,” tight end Joe Newton said. “I’m proud of the way he played. I think he answered a lot of his doubters today.”

Whew!

Oh man. The drama, suspense, ecstasy... that was an amazing win. I can't believe we hung on. Just unbelievable.

Best win in 40 years? I'd say so. Are you kidding me?!? #3 USC goes down to the Beavs!

Great game by the defense. Great game by the offense. Matt Moore made only one or two mistakes all game. Polk was solid. Sammy was stellar.

I knew that a Sammy punt return would win us a game at some point. Well, this was that game. Sam-my! Sam-my! Sam-my!

Just awesome! GO BEAVS!

It's USC, of course they will play

Yvenson Bernard and Kyle DeVan will contribute this weekend.  They will most definitely start and play some against USC.  Ev for one will play with almost any injury (except for maybe a broken leg) and Kyle DeVan hasn't missed a game since 5th grade.  So count on them. 

The real question will be how effective will they be?  Can Kyle get power out of his legs and block.  The center pulls a lot so can he do that with his injury?  Can Bernard cut and juke like he has this year or will he be reduced to the hobbled RB of the end of last season? 

We won't know until Saturday what will happen but the first quarter will be fueled by adreneline so I can guarantee neither will feel pain until the second half.

Important Win at Arizona

That was an important win at Arizona to keep the bowl hopes alive and confidence up.  How much does that WSU loss hurt now?  Anyways, it wasn't pretty and a bunch of key guys got hurt, but a win is a win.

I was able to watch the game on TV thanks to Beaver Nation Online streaming the JumboTron feed.  The camera angles were bad sometimes and if I have to see another spinning "A" it will be too soon.  But it was a treat to watch the game nonetheless.  We sure got a good look the fans at every opportunity.  Too bad the cameraperson didn't focus more on the fairer sex.  There's got to be more good looking women at Wildcat games that that!

On to USC and a chance at an upset.  Although with our injuries, and USC coming off a bye week, it will be an uphill battle.  The fans need to bring it early and get some major energy in the game.  The team will need it.

Go Beavs! 

Arizona game will be streamed on internet!

Now this is exactly why I have the Beaver Nation Online subscription. To watch live events that I would otherwise not be able to see. I was just waiting to see if they would out the Arizona game on the internet and they did.

Arizona Football Game Can Be Viewed Online - Official Site of Oregon State Athletics

Well done to all the people who worked to make this happen. Woo Hoo!

Oregon State golfer featured in Golfweek

Mitch Gillis has been tearing it up this season and even made an appearance in Sports Illustrated.

This week he has a nice article written about him in Golfweek magazine. Cool!

Intelligence Helps Gillis Win - Golfweek

Congrats Mitch and way to go!

Beavs Win in Seattle

Sometimes a change of scenery can do you good. I mean I'm totally rejuvinated as a fan :). And it appeared to help Matt Moore and the team as well. That was a great win and an important win on the road back to a bowl game. The fans who made it to the game were great and it was actually...fun!

Here's why we have a shot of the rest of the season. First, the defense has been good these last two weeks for one reason: pressure on the QB. Sacks and TFL are huge in stalling the other team. The new guys (Butler, Smith, and Vea) are coming up BIG. Plus, that pushes the starters to keep improving or risk losing a job.

Second, the running game got rolling against UW. That wore down the Huskies and setup some long passes by Matt. We are at our best when the running game is a weapon.

I say well done by the coaches the last two weeks. First, Mark Banker sucked up his pride and added a Nickel package. That was at Coach Riley's prodding. Second, Riley put Canfield and Polk in the game to help rest the starters and to give the offense a different look. Both came in when the game was in the balance and gained valuable experience. Great job.

Next up Arizona on the road. There's nothing to look forward to except Arizona and getting revenge for last season.

Go Beavs!

Going to the game Saturday

I'm heading up to watch a game in Husky Stadium for the first time ever. It has a chance to be a very good game if the last couple of years are any indicator.

The key will be the defense. Keeping Isiah Stanbeck under control is key. The D needs to give the offense a chance to turn this thing around.

One area where we could get a momentum shift could be in Special Teams. Sammy nearly broke for a TD on punt returns last week and the Huskies apparently haven't been great on special teams this season. Another TD from Sammy would be HUGE.

Go Beavs!

Defense plays better. Now the offense is really under the heat.

Congrats to Mark Banker, Sabby Piscitelli, Joe Lemma, and the rest of the Beaver D who brought it all game and really gave the team the opportunity to win. Special teams were pretty good again and I felt that maybe Sammy Stroughter would pull out a Reggie Bush like performance and win the game on a punt return. The offense on the other hand, wasn't great. Just punchless. I really felt like that game would have been a great time to inject a Canfield or Polk just to see what happens.

I'm going to the UW game. I'm hoping this will be the turnaround game like a few years ago. If the defense can stay improved then the O can't help but get more confident.

That game felt like Stanford or Arizona from last year. A game we should have won, but found a way to lose.

Ugh

God I hope we win pretty today so I don't have to read another post about "...it's the WAY we lose thats the problem...".

A loss is a loss.

What happened to the Defense?

There have been two articles this last week in the G-T and the Oregonian about the offense and where the unstoppable offense has gone. However, I'm wondering where the defense has gone over the last couple of years. Youth? Less speed? Less talent? Poor playcalling?

I honestly thought the defense would make a considerable jump over last season with the young LB talent and another year of experience in the secondary. Plus, I was hoping Dorian Smith, Joe Rudolph, and Pernell Booth would make a big difference in the pass rush.

The key I think is the pass rush. It feels like we hardly ever blitz and when we don't we rarely get pressure on the QB. Everything starts there in the pass defense. If you give a Pac-10 QB 4-5+ seconds to throw every pass, then the secondary is going to have a tough time covering that long.

The secondary hasn't been as bad as last season, but they seem soft. Last year we were beat long all day. This year we are letting more simple underneath passes that we seem to be playing off 5-10 feet away on. Also, they really need to contain the run when it gets past the linebackers. Solid tackling to keep the big running plays into hue running plays.

The linebackers I'm not really sure about. I simply haven't seen much that's spectacular out of the LBs. I think sometimes that the 2nd team looks better than the 1st team. I don't know. The jury is still out for me on these guys, but they need to start stuffing the run hard soon.

I don't know how to fix the D, but it needs to be fixed. What I don't understand is why more people aren't talking about the defense. Where's the outrage over Mark Banker? Can Canfield play defensive end?

Cheer on the defense early and often today and hope that they step up early and make a big step forward. Because without a defense, the predictions from SI and other "fans" or a 2-10 season may come true.

Game thoughts and fan thoughts

We've got Wazzu this weekend and nobody really knows what to expect. I know that the Beavs need a win. This stretch coming up has the Beavers playing 3 teams the before the season were marked as W's on the schedule by most Beaver fans (WSU, UW, UA). The Beavs need a big home win to make that happen.

The Cougs are now the media darlings because they nearly upset USC. They are a decent team, but everyone forgets the blowout to Auburn and barely sqeaking by Baylor. So they are beatable.

Last year the only way the defense could stop the Cougs was to force a turnover. They scored on a few of those turnovers as well which helped immensely in the comeback. The Beavs need to step up the defense and pressure the QB Alex Brink and cover the heck out of Bumpus and Hill. The Cougs can usually run pretty well, but I'd concentrate on the pass if I were the Beavs because that's what killed us last year.

The offense should be able to move the ball against the Cougs, but their D isn't bad. One guy, Mkristo Bruce, has 8 sacks already this season. Watch out Matt! Ultimately, the Beavs need to run the ball better and challenge WSU deep downfield. I love the screen passes, but you can't hit those 5 times in a row. You have to take a shot downfield to keep the defense honest. Maybe line up Jackson more often.

On Saturday the Beavs are facing a team that they should matchup well against. It's a game they have to win at home. With the defense the way it's been I think the offense needs the mentality that they have to score every time down the field. I honest have no clue what will happen this weekend, but if we win I have a feeling the score will be like 37 - 30.


On another note...

Can you be a Fan and root against your team?

I understand not liking a guy. I understand wanting the team to play better. But to actively root against your team and coach 4 games into the season with a 2-2 record and 9 games to go? That I don't understand. I've heard on talk radio and in the message boards about how some people are hoping the Beavers only win 2 games so coach gets fired. What? Do you think that if we go 2 and whatever that we will magically be 11-1 next season just because we have a new coach? Changing coaches bring uncertainty, players leave, and recruits change their mind. Change isn't always a good thing. And I guarantee this fan base will be clamoring for a change if the new guy doesn't get it just right in year 1.

But honestly, how can you call yourself a fan and root against your team? Really I want to know. If anyone has an answer post a comment.

Really, Beaver fans have been bad fans since 2000. We got spoiled that season and have never been quite the same, have we? Every season it's something. For years it's been the QBs fault. Every QB has come under fire since Johnathan Smith led us to a 5-6 record in 2001. Will we ever learn? If Canfield gets the job, how long before we start clamoring for his job? 4 games? 2 games? a season? We've had some good seasons since 2000. Only 2 losing seasons. Yet with the attitude of Beaver fans every year who would know? And you know what? It makes it less fun for the fans in general to watch the games. When the loud minority is always complaining about something it makes things less enjoyable for the hardcore and casual fan. As if a simple loss (or blowout) isn't enough. It's been 6 years of this stuff and I guess only another 11-1 season will make it let up.

Whatever. I'm going to go to games and yell for my team to win. If they don't I'll still support them. If at the end of the season I think it's time to change something, then I'll make it known. Bobby D knows what he's doing people. Let him do his job.

Cal Loss

Well, I think most of us kind of expected this to happen after seeing Cal blow out ASU. I place the blame squarely on the defense in this one. They play better than against BSU, but still let them continue drives after getting to a 3rd down situation early in the drive. I don't know what the problem is because they seem athletic, fast, strong, and skilled. Perhaps it's experience or youth. I don't know. But I do know if our defense doesn't start making stops consistently, we're screwed. Say what you want about the offense, but the key is the defense. If they score on 5 or 5 drives in the first half, the game is over.

I do think the fans brought it early and tried to will the defense to shutting them down. But the defense has to use that energy and be good or else we're just going to get quieter and quieter because it's clearly not helping. And don't complaing about the fan noise in blowouts. We'll be loud if you can keep it close and make the game exciting.

WSU feels like a must win game to me. However, it seems like everyone else in the conference has gotten better this season. Well, except for Stanford, ASU, and USC. This next 3 game stretch against WSU, UW, and Arizona is huge. I don't know that we have to win all 3 but we need 2 out of 3. These are teams that are not top 25 teams and we should matchup well with. We need to now go out and prove we have the ability and will to win.

I'm personally not going to talk about coaches until the season is over (figuratively or literally). I don't think it's fair and you can't tell what this team is yet. Except I'm pretty sure we're not top 25 material.

As far as QBs. I didn't think Matt Moore was bad against Cal, but he did have some drive stoppers on a couple of badly thrown balls. If he gets a slow start against WSU, I say try Canfield. He's the future and he looks ready. Plus, maybe it kickstarts the offense for a drive or two.