Hoops Civil War

The Beavs started off really well and really played good nearly all game except for one 7 minute stretch in the first half. A 3-point loss after being down by as much as 9 in the second half is a good showing.

Here's a couple pics I snapped with my phone...



Marcel Jones for the dunk! It was an exciting finish, but not the result we wanted.


Here's the final shot from Josh Tarver. An off balance 3, but we had to get a shot up quick. He needs to practice getting his shot off the dribble. He'll need that in the future.

UCLA next. That's gonna be a tough one.

Go Beavs!

10 wins

What an amazing game. Perfect end to the season. 10 wins. That evokes memories of the Fiesta Bowl year. Sure, the 2000 team was better but they were steamrolling people at the end. This year's team had a bunch of close games that they had to nut up and make some plays to win. When you're in the final four of the Pontiac play of the year voting, you made some plays.

This season felt almost more euphoric than the Fiesta Bowl year. In fact, 2006 was about as good of a year as you could have if you are a Beaver fan. We won the baseball NCAA national championship. We went to the world series in softball. The gymnastics team hosted the national championships and actually made it to nationals. The women's hoops team made the WNIT. Pretty good year. Oh, and the Ducks fell back to the earth and crash landed on football this year :).

10 wins baby!

Game Day: It's time for the Sun Bowl!

Game day!

I'm going to watch the Beavs in HD for the first time ever. Are you ready for the game?

Everybody seems pretty confident that the Beavs will win today. ESPN, the local papers, and almost everyone outside of Missouri. As long as the Beavs don't listen to those people, we should be alright.

On paper, the Tigers look tough. They only allow 172 ypg through the air and have 12 ints. Their offense is really good too. 415 ypg is nothing to slouch at. They are definitely explosive on offense.

Luckily there are a few things going the Beavers way. The allow almost 140 yards rushing. They don't have a ton of sacks. They have lost 3 of their last 4 games and 4 of 6 in the last half of the season. Plus, they have two key players ineligible and have had the flu running through bowl practice.

The Beavs have been very business-like during the last half of the season and have a great attitude going into this game. Plus, they have a major goal to still accomplish - win 10 games.

This bodes well for the Beavs. My prediction is the Beavs win 34-21.

Go Beavs!

Whoa. What happened to the Ducks

Come on Ducks, that was pathetic. I hope the Beavs watched that game and learned that they DON'T want to do that.

How did the Ducks lose 38-8 to BYU? Yikes.

Should be an extra great Christmas for those of us Beaver fans who have Duck fans in the family :)


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Riley not taking ASU job

Well, I would have been VERY surprised is Coach Riley took the ASU job. I don't think he was really ever a serious candidate for that job, but it was something to keep the beat writers busy.

Turns out Dennis Erickson will be coaching the Sun Devils for the next few years. That could be a big get for ASU, but I don't think it means ASU can dial in a trip to the National Championship in the next few years.

The job I was always concerned about was the Alabama job. Since Coach Riley went to 'Bama, I figured he'd take a serious look at that position. But since he turned them down a few years ago, maybe he burned his bridges at that school. My guess is Mike will be at OSU a long time.

Go Beavs!

YouTube and the Beavs

There's a lot of YouTubin' in Beaver Nation. Search "OSU Beavers" or "Oregon State Beavers" on YouTube and there's a bunch of great stuff.

Here's a great one from a Beaver fan:



Link

A little groggy, but happy

That was a late one last night, but it was worth every minute. Great win and another game that the Beavers hang on when I thought they were just possibly going to let the game slip out of their hands. Great win and great for recruiting too.

Some thoughts:

* Glad to see Joe Newton get involved in the offense in a big way. I'm hoping for another big bowl performance from him.

* Jeremy Perry was playing the game with his hair on fire. This was his Civil War game. I hope his knee is OK or at least he can get it ready for spring practice.

* If you listened to the ESPN announcers, then you probably didn't hear much about the Beavs. Their love affair with Hawaii was grating. If I have to hear about how the Hawaii recievers are taught to catch with their hands one more time I'm gonna hurl. Or was about that Colt guy and his accuracy.

* All in all that offense is very scary. Especially when you have a 295 lbs fullback and a 250 lbs running back ready to take shovel passes and run over every safety and cornerback in front of them. Those big guys were almost unfair.

* Game balls to Matt Moore, Gerrard Lawson, Jeremy Perry, Dorian Smith, and Sabby Piscitelli. Those guys made a big difference last night.


Good win Beavs!