A look at OSU's next opponent: Boise State

We all know by now that Boise St. got pounded by Georgia. The first half was a disaster for their offense and the second half was probably just as bad for their defense. BSU fumbled twice and were intercepted four(!) times directly leading to at least three, if not four touchdowns. In the second half the BSU 'D' let the Bulldogs drive down the field and score on their first four possessions of the half. Not sure there is much we can learn from this game. We can hope for a similar collapse in Corvallis, but it's not likely. They know they can beat us because they did it last year. So the Beavs had better get up for this one because it will be a battle.

The 2005 Broncos

This year's BSU team is a young team. There are only 9 seniors out of the 105 players on the team. However, many of these young guys have been starters and have experience. They lost a few key players, but there should be guys who can step up and take over. These guys are 36-3 over the last three years with the highest scoring offense in the nation since 2000. Wow. I think they have arrived and have learned how to reload.

The Offense

At quarterback you have Jared Zabransky. He had a major breakout year last season as he threw for almost 3000 yards and 16 TDs. He also ran for 13 TDs, good for 2nd on the team. That's a lot of points that he created. The only question for Zabransky is: can he bounce back for the Georgia meltdown? That will be a big question for BSU on Saturday as well.

Zabransky won't have last year’s top receiver, T.J. Acree, to throw to this year because he has graduated. Other than that loss, the receiving crew looks to be decent with Drisan James (who was out for the UGA game) leading the way. As a side note former OSU receiver, Cole Classen, will be returning to Reser Stadium for the first time since he transferred last season. He will probably get some playing time. The tight end, Derek Schouman, had a pretty good fall camp so he will be a threat as well. Overall, I expect the receivers to be good.

The running game looks solid with a committee of backs: Lee Marks (nearly 1000 yards in 2004), Antwaun Carter, and freshman Lee Johnson. Marks had a tough day against Georgia, but Johnson did pretty well with 48 yards including a 28 yard run. Carter also had a decent day against Georgia racking up 47 yards on 7 carries. Considering their offensive line is expected to be pretty good this season, the running attack should be good.

The Defense

The defense looks OK on paper. They only allowed 100 ypg on the ground last season. However, they allowed 250 ypg in the air. In the Georgia game they allowed 394 yards passing and 180 rushing. That sounds bad on both ends but Georgia only averaged 3.4 yards per carry on the ground. [*NOTE: the actual average was 5.5 ypc. So maybe they can't stop the run all that great. Then again 180 yards isn't bad against a Georgia team with the game in hand.]

Linebacker Korey Hall is a stud and has been named to multiple defense and linebacker award watch lists. The linebackers look strong with another senior, Chris Barrios, having a good 10 tackle day against Georgia.

The secondary is very young and took a hit when junior starting cornerback Quinton Jones was hurt early in the Georgia game. That meant true freshman Orlando Scandrick got to play. Their rover and free safety are both sophomores as well. This secondary could be giving up a lot of passing yards to the Beavers as they try to outscore the Broncos.

I don't know much about the defensive line other than they look experienced (1 So, 2 Jrs, 1 Sr) and maybe a bit light. The tackles roll in at 293 and 274 pounds. The ends are 261 and 244 pounds. No sacks against UGA and no tackles for loss for the big guys up front. However, they must be doing something right to stop the run.


Summary

Overall, it's going to be a tough game for the Beavs. They had a fairly easy game against PSU that didn't really test them. It did give confidence to Matt Moore and many of the new players on both sides of the ball. But we still have many of the same questions we had at the beginning of camp. I think this game will come down to turnovers how well each defense plays. Both offenses should be effective against the other defense even without the Beavers having a great running game. All in all, I say the Beavs win in a close game. Maybe something like 31-27. It will be a battle though.

I can’t wait for Saturday! It’s time to see how LOUD Reser stadium can get!


Articles on this Weekend's Game:

The Oregonian - Coaches in 'rivalry' have plenty to prove

Corvallis Gazette-Times - Ready for revenge

Portland Tribune - Collision course

The Idaho Statesman - BSU focused on the future

The Idaho Statesman - Broncos work to avoid more travel woes

The Idaho Statesman - Speed not an issue for OSU's Hass

Corvallis Gazette-Times - SCOUTING BOISE STATE

Portland Tribune - Boise State at Oregon State

BeaverFootball.com - Oregon State, Boise State ready to rumble

Yahoo.com - Boise State Bronco Two Deeps


Boise State's Loss to Georgia:

The Idaho Statesman - Southern fried: Georgia hounds BSU

The Arbiter (school newspaper) - Broncos cash in reality check

The Oregonian - Broncos, Zabransky told to 'flush' loss to Georgia

Link to Pac-10 article from Fresno St. blogger

A Fresno State blogger, mdg, has an article on the week one Pac-10 struggles and his impressions of the teams going forward.

One item of note: he has listed Oregon State as a possible sleeper depending on how they fare over the next two weeks.

mdg CFB: California (&Pac 10) Troubles

News from the Pac-10

There are a couple of big stories from Cal and ASU that popped up over the weekend:

First, it looks like ASU will be playing LSU at home this season. This was a home at home series, so now ASU will go to LSU for the second leg. I imagine this isn't exactly desirable because now they have to sell tickets 6 days in advance. But now they have home field advantage which could mean that we may see an upset.

FanBlogs - LSU-Arizona State moved, North Texas date in the works

NOLA.com - LSU will play Arizona State in Tempe, not Baton Rouge


Second, the Cal Bears lost their newly name QB starter, redshirt freshman Nate Longshore, to a broken leg. He may not return this season. You're thinking, no problem they have that JC guy who's so highly touted. That would be Joe Ayoob. However, when he came in against Sac. St. he laid an egg. Apparently, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. His first 10 passes were incomplete. In fact, he was so bad that he was benched for the 3rd string QB. Looks like Cal is going to be running a bit this season.

FanBlogs - Golden Gate on high alert after Cal game

Thoughts of Reser Stadium

The first game has come and gone. I thought I'd share my experience on the new side.

Watching the Game

My seats are on the first level, above the students about 6-7 rows up on about the 15 to 20 yard line. You can see in my pictures where my sight-lines are and generally where I sit. I thought the view was great and I had no problem viewing the game even when the ball was at the other end of the field. Plus, when we are about to score on my end we get an up close and personal look at the team.

Seats

The seats were surprisingly comfortable. I thought the all plastic seats would be a little hard, but they are great. 100 times better than the hard benches we had on the old side. The leg room was great as well. I'm about 6'1" and I really loved the leg room. The cup holders rocked. I LOVE having a cup holder. The only bummer was that the sound system kept going out. But when it was working it was nice and loud.

The Rest

Generally, it just felt like there was room to move. In the concourse, bathrooms, and everywhere else on the lower level there was just plenty of space. Not too crowded. There were a lot of people in the bathroom at one time but the bathroom was so big it was no problem.

I love the TVs at the concessions. That to me is really a step up into the next level. That gives the stadium a "Pro" feel.

Love this quote from coach Mike Riley:

"I've been in a lot of new NFL stadiums, and there's nothing any better than this. I'm very proud of Oregon State. I'm very proud to represent Oregon State at this time, because it's different. It's one of the best stories in college football in the last 50 years."

Overall, it was awesome! I can't wait until the whole stadium is done. My only complaint is that they haven't changed anything on the "old" stadium at all. Bob, please replace those old faded flags on the old side with three new ones like the new side has. How about a little orange paint to brighten things up? Maybe a nice "Oregon State" sign on the ground level wall on the other side to match the new side?

Oh, and now we need a bigger JumboTron. Looked a bit small when compared with the huge new addition.


Some articles and reviews of the new stadium:

Corvallis Gazette-Times - Players enjoy new field

The Oregonian - Beavers fans like it all at shiny new Reser Stadium

The Register-Guard - Ron Bellamy: Oregon State building a big, bright future
The Register-Guard - Bob Welch: Reser Stadium stands up to play-by-play

Thoughts on the PSU game

Photos of PSU at OSU, Sept 3rd

Here's my thoughts on the PSU game. I'll take it position by position. Overall I thought the Beavers played a good game. It was a great first game. However, they do need to improve by next week if they want to beat an angry BSU team. I expect we will be angry as well after last year's game.

Offense

Overall it was a good show. They moved the ball effectively and converted when we got close. I'm happy with what I saw.

Quarterback

Matt Moore started off slow, but looked great. Really love the roll out throws. DA couldn't throw unless he was standing still. Moore looked a little like those Boise St. quarterbacks that always kill us. I was pretty happy with Matt overall. Ryan Gunderson didn't look so good. However, I think most of the overthrows were due to some jitters. His throws were getting better towards the end of the game, but still not great. He was really struggling with the "touch" throws. Whereas Moore seemed to drop the ball right over the linebackers into the receivers hands.

Running Backs

I was surprised by our running totals. I thought the running game was better than the yardage showed. All of the screen passes and shovel passes probably skewed my perception. But there were some holes and people were running through them. We're not Texas or Michigan but I think I saw some progress. Bernard was an excellent pass catcher out of the backfield. Two one-handed catches. I was really impressed and I think he's almost as big a weapon as a the TE was last year. Nate Wright looked decent. Fuller didn't really get to show his stuff. Kinda surprised he played special teams all game. So much for redshirting him I guess.

Wide Recievers

Hass was awesome. Anthony Wheat-Brown was good. Kevin Swanson was a pleasant surprise. Hawkins had a great TD catch. Great route. All in all, this is the Tstrength of our offense by far. The TEs are not going to be as big a part of the offense this year, that's for sure. I think the RBs will pick up the slack though.

Offensive Line

Mixed bag. I thought the run blocking was a bit better. But its hard not to be better than last year. Not sure about the pass blocking. Moore got a bit of pressure so they started rolling him out occasionally. Still a work in progress. But I think they have made progress.


Defense

Overall, a little disappointing. I thought they would do better against the run. Traditionally, we have been excellent against the run. We weren't yesterday. But we had some good interceptions and stood our ground on 3rd down. We should get better as the newer guys get more game experience.

Defensive Line

Boy, they sure didn't get much pressure on the PSU QB. I think Pernell Booth got the most pressure of the game once he got in (I hope the knee is OK). The ends didn't disrupt things too well. That could hurt us. I hope things turn out a bit better because we need to get pressure on the QB.

Linebackers

Linebackers did pretty good. They helped get pressure on the QB with some blitzes. They sure ran well on Doggetts side in the first half. I was pretty down on Doggett until I saw him step it up in the second half. Man, we have a lot of big, young linebackers. I think we will be fine at LB all season.

Secondary

Pretty good showing for the first game for most of these guys. I like Keenan Lewis so far. I think he may be a very special player for the Beavs. Not so sure about Lawson yet. I think he is serviceable, but I don't think he's at an elite level yet. He may not start all season unless he steps it up. My buddy Dustin thinks Aaron Miller should get in there instead.

Sabby did good. Herron played nicely I thought. He seemed to get more action than Sabby and he is a big guy. Our safeties sure had to make a lot of tackles on the running backs. Not a good sign.

Special Teams

Average to bad. Missed field goal. Poor directional punts. Dangerously close to allowing a big punt return. Poor decisions when to catch punts and when to bring out a kickoff out of the endzone.

However, I think we will be ok here as the year goes on. Too good of a coach. Too good of kickers. Too good of young talent.



That's it! Feel free to comment on the game and give me your thoughts!

Articles on the game:

Portland Tribune - Beavers get ‘W,’ but work to do

Corvallis Gazette-Times - Opening Reser in style
Corvallis Gazette-Times - Oregon State notebook

The Oregonian - Beavers sputter, then turn it on
The Oregonian - As promised, busy beginning for Bernard

The Register-Guard - Beavers: Bring on Boise State

The Seattle Times - Hot housewarming for OSU at new Reser

CBS Sportsline (AP) - Oregon St. 41, Portland State 14

OSU 41, PSU 14. Photos from the game and the festivies

I took plenty of pictures before, during, and after the game against PSU. There are a couple of panorama shots in there with the stands all full with people.

Photos of PSU at OSU, Sept 3rd

I'll be giving my thoughts of the game in a subsequent post today.

Reser Stadium. A Year and a Half in Review

On this eve of the first game in the new Reser Stadium, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on how far we have come. Thankfully, the structural engineer who posted those amazing pictures from the roof of Reser is back. Aaron Burkhardt, otherwise known as zendiggo on Flickr, has posted an older set of Reser Stadium construction pictures from when the towers first went up.

Reser Construction Photos

Thanks to Aaron for another set of great pictures!


Of course, you might be wondering what other people think of the new expansion. Aaron also turned me on to a Portland Architecture blog that had a post about the new Reser:

Raising Reser…to Autzen’s Knees

Can’t say I agree with him. Feel free to make your opinion know Beaver Nation.


I’m sure you’ve seen this before, but it’s worth a reminder. Each Reser Stadium webcam has a time-lapse movie of the entire life of the Raising Reser project. The timeline is from June 1st, 2004 to yesterday.

Reser WebCam 1

Reser WebCam 2

Pac-10 3-0 with Oregon, WSU, ASU wins

I watched most of the Oregon game and the second half of the Wazzu game last night. BTW, Tivo is a good thing. Makes watching games so much faster. Thought I’d note a few of my impressions.

Oregon at Houston

The Oregon offense was interesting. It looks a lot like Utah’s offense. Considering Mike Bellotti took a trip to the guru, Urban Meyer, this summer that probably isn't much of a surprise. To me it didn’t seem like many of the new tricks worked for them. What did work was passing the ball. Shotgun or not, they have been doing that fine for the last several years.

Clemens sure ran the ball A LOT. I think there’s a really good chance that he will get hurt sometime this season because he’s going to take a lot of hits. They are in for a long season if that happens because I have no confidence in Dennis Dixon. Even though Dixon is quick and fast, he did not look very good throwing the ball. His throws with power and a spiral so there’s a chance he could be ok, but his accuracy was way off in the Houston game. I don’t think he’s ready to start yet. They would become a one-dimensional team that basically runs the option all the time (Yikes!).

Couple of other notes: James Finley looks good. I’m bummed he’s not a Beaver (he signed with the Beavers out of HS then didn't qualify). Also, Jonathan Stewart is their Steven Jackson. He’s looks scary. The secondary and special teams coverage worries are not over for Oregon. They got burned a couple of times and the second long ball did not look good. The safety and corner ran into each other (they were beat anyway) on a 3 and 15!

Idaho at WSU

OK, so I missed the first half when things really unraveled for Alex Brink. He has a pretty weak arm from what I could see and I have a feeling he’ll get picked off quite a bit this year. His throws seem to float and have no zip. They ran the ball a lot. Plus, maybe it’s early but the Wazzu defense didn’t look that amazing. Unless maybe Idaho is that good. They didn't look like they were doing anything tricky.

All in all WSU looks very beatable.

Temple at ASU

Yikes! Temple isn’t good, but 63 points is a little scary. That makes the Beavers home Pac-10 opener against the Sun Devils a little more in doubt. I’ll wait to make any predictions until after they play LSU. Assuming they can play LSU. Apparently the Federal Government may not allow them to play at LSU’s stadium because much of the relief effort is being handled there.

Yvenson Bernard profiled in local Florida newspaper

Yvenson Bernard is written up in a local Boca Raton newspaper. Apparently he went to school with Sabby Piscitelli. I knew they were both from Florida, but I didn't know they were teammates. Pretty cool.

Boca's Bernard eager to key Oregon State running game: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

One interesting thing to note is this:

"Bernard's roommate is former Boca Raton teammate Sabby Piscitelli. A junior strong safety, Piscitelli is arguably the team's best defensive player and is the lone returning starter. Analysts are already calling him a high-round pick in next year's NFL draft."


Yikes! Sabby can't leave after this season! It's great the NFL is looking at him, but he can't leave early. Learn the lesson of Brandon Browner and stay in school!

What you need to be ready for the first weekend of games

OK, it's almost here. So close you can taste it. Here's a few things to get you ready for this, the first weekend of college football!


First, remember to WEAR ORANGE!

When you go to the Portland State game this weekend bring your best ORANGE shirt. There's a grassroots effort to make the entire stadium orange. And we need your help. If you need more instructions read this post: Important Beaver Nation Call to Action.

11:30am is the Ribbon Cutting at the front of the stadium. So take a break from tailgating before lunch to see that because lots of Beaver legends will be there including Jonathan Smith, Ken Simonton, Dennis Erickson, Paul Risser, and more.

Bring a few bucks to put into the Katrina relief fund. Count on there being people ready to take your money and help out a good cause. Remember, the Beavs were in Louisiana last year at this time.

Get there before kickoff to see the fanfare before the game. It will be special.

Be loud!


Second, review the TV schedule and do some scouting:

2005 TV College Football Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 1
Oregon at Houston, ESPN2, 4 p.m.
How will the Ducks new offense gel? Are they any good?

Friday, Sept. 2
Arizona at Utah, ESPN, 5 p.m.
Great game to see how for Arizona has come, or how far Utah will fall

Saturday, Sept. 3
Washington vs. Air Force, ABC , 12:30 p.m.
How does UW get an ABC game after last season? Good game to see if they have improved. Check it out at the Alumni center.
Boise St. at Georgia, ESPN, 2:30 p.m.
Scout the Beavs second opponent. This could setup nicely for the Beavs. Kind of like our LSU game did for them last year. May have to TiVo this one
Portland St. at Oregon St., BSN, 3:00pm
You will be at the game though, right?
USC at Hawaii, ESPN2, 4 p.m.
Yawn. Look at the JumboTron for this one.
UCLA at San Diego St., ESPN2, 7:15 p.m.
Probably nothing to see here...unless UCLA struggles...

Sunday, Sept. 4
Louisville at Kentucky, ESPN, 12:30 p.m.
Huge scouting opportunity for us Beaver fans who don't get to see UL much
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, ESPN2, 4:15 p.m.
Just because it's a good game


Finally, quickly brush up on the rules on changes:

How instant replay will work this year in the Pac-10

Information on the new Harris Poll for the BCS

2005 College Football Rules Changes (PDF) (See Major Changes on page 4 of 6 - big changes are spearing, unsportsman-like acts, and instant replay)


You're set! Go Beavs!

Mike Riley's Coaches show to be held in the club level at Reser

I just heard on the Joe Beaver Show on KEJO 1240 in Albany that the coaches show will be relocating to the Club level at Reser Stadium. There will be food available and the doors will probably open about 6pm or so. The show starts at 7pm.

That's pretty dang cool. Fox and Firkin was OK, but a little small. Hmm, I'm guessing they won't be serving beer. Oh well.

Seattle P-I offers up it's Pac-10 preview

Well, another Washington newspaper has offered up it's Pac-10 predictions (link) and low and behold, the Beavs come up last again.

I think I've figured it out. They don't want to pick the Huskies last like everyone else did in the Pac-10 (they are in Husky-land after all) so they pick on the Beavs. They are just Husky homers! I think that's evidenced by this story detailing all the best 1-win turnarounds in the Pac-10 since the 30's (link)

Here's the reasoning by Ted Miller of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Pac-10 Football: Second chances in Pac-10

"Where might a plot-thickening disaster occur? Look to the state of Oregon. Either the Beavers or Ducks will end up disappointed this season.

Obviously, I think it will be the Beavers, whose fans didn't take kindly to a spring prediction that Oregon State will finish last in the conference.

They might not be so shrill after starting tight end Joe Newton was lost for the season to injury during preseason practices and starting receiver Marcel Love was ruled academically ineligible. Starting linebacker and team co-captain Chaz Scott apparently is ineligible, too.

That said, if the Ducks end up on the short end of the Civil War on Nov. 19, and finish with a losing record, it's possible coach Mike Bellotti might find his seat getting toasty -- an unthinkable idea just a few years ago."


Time to prove them all wrong, right Beavs! I see a new group of heroes emerging out of this turmoil to lead the Beavs for the next few seasons.

What do you think? Are you worried about the upcoming season? Have guarded optimism? Confident we will have another bowl game coming?

Portland State Viking Lineup for this Saturday

Scout.com has published the PSU lineup with starters and the backups that's expected this Saturday.

Yahoo! Sports - NCAA Football - Portland State Viking Two Deeps

Three fans offer up their predictions

A nice little article from Roseburg where the writers step aside a let a few normal people make a prediction on how the Beavers and Ducks will perform this season.

The News-Review - What are your expectations for OSU and UO football?

Whoa! Some serious Beaver hate goin' on over at the Vancouver Columbian.

Wow. Nick Daschel of the Columbian must not like the Beavs. Or else he wants some serious hate mail from Oregon State fans.

Nick predicts, no not predicts...guarantees that the Beavers will finish last in the Pac-10. First, read this excerpt and his reasoning:

Columbian.com - Commentary: Pac-10 fantasy football

"It's fantasy if you believe that:

...

* Some team other than Oregon State will finish last in the Pac-10.

Too much is working against OSU:specifically talent, breaks and schedule.

The Beavers return 16 starters, but it's the eight who have left who matter most. Six were in NFL training camps, and most will stick.

Bad breaks? OSU has already had a season's worth, and the season hasn't started. Three of the team's best returnees, tight end Joe Newton, linebacker Chaz Scott and receiver Marcel Love, are likely finished for 2005.

Who designed the Beavers schedule, Saddam Hussein? Six of OSU's first seven opponents could be Top 25 teams.

Say hello, cellar.

...

Oregon State 2-9"


First of all, exactly what does talent mean? Lack of proven talent maybe, but the last two recruiting classes at OSU have been some of the best recruiting classes we have ever had! Lots of these young guys were recruited by almost everybody. Including many of the newest starters to replace those 8 guys who left. Lamar Herron recruited by USC, Fuller by everyone in the Pac-10, Jeremy Perry by everyone, Tavita Thompson by Colorado, Matt Moore was a top-10 QB. Anyways, there's talent there. Even the JC transfers look good, Aaron Miller, Nate Wright, and Ruben Jackson. I admit it is unproven, but you cannot say there's no talent. We've had unproven talent before in Stephen Jackson, Brandon Browner, Aric Williams, et all and one point.

The breaks have been bad for OSU, but only the Newton injury really hurts. The other positions are two of the deepest positions on the team and OSU will be able to absorb the losses of Love and Scott just fine.

Our schedule this year is quite a bit easier than last year. No USC, no LSU, WSU at home, ASU at home, Boise St. at home, Arizona at home, Stanford at home. Many of those games we might have a hard time winning on the road. At home they are much more winnable. Plus, we have an amazing winning percentage at home since 1999. However, having to play at Cal, UCLA, Louisville, and Oregon is bad. But other than the Civil War we may have lost those games at home anyways. Playing at Washington is a toss up. It depends on how good Washington is more than OSU.

A record of 2-9 means the Beavs only win one other game besides PSU. Who? Stanford? Arizona?


Here's what I expect to happen:

PSU - W
BSU - ?
UL - L
ASU - W
WSU - W
CAL - L
UCLA - L
UA - W
UW - W
STAN - W
UO - L

6-5 or 7-4. Depending on the BSU game. The D should be good enough for 3-4 wins alone.

Any thoughts? Am I way off base here? Do you agree with Nick?

Beaver Football Preview show on KVAL

For all you Beaver fans who get Eugene stations there is another local Oregon State Football preview show on KVAL. It's this Friday at 7:30 pm. Channel 13 on Comcast.

From TiVo.com:

Beaver Football Preview 2005
Fri 9/2 7:30 PM 13 KVAL
Duration: 0:30


For those of you that don't get KVAL, I'll try to post a summary of the show. Heck, if KVAL will authorize it, I'll post a divx version of it. But, I'm guessing they won't let me do that.

KVAL Sports

What's happening at PSU (opponent #1)

Portland State is the first opponent for the Beavs this year. How are they doing? Thought I'd see what I could find out there in the world of the Internet.

The Trib has a article from a week or two ago previewing the issues facing the Vikings going into fall camp.

Viks start filling in holes - Coach’s hopes ride high on new QB, tackles, running back

They have a new QB from Chehalis, Sawyer Smith. Everyone is hoping he brings the passing game back. The Vikings have been a great running team the last few seasons but have struggled a little in the air. He is more of a pocket passer than his predecessor, Joe Wiser, and he's a big guy at 6-5, 230. I'm guess there will be a few sacks against OSU. (Spotlight on Sawyer Smith)

Nic Costa joined the team from U of A and will be lining up a WR. He could be a nice deep threat with his amazing speed (4.34!). I'd watch for a few reverses and maybe a trick play on a reverse where he throws (Kinda like James Newson is the LV Bowl in 2003).

The O line is experienced and decent, but not very deep. RB position looks solid with Joe Rubin returning and finally getting the full time starting spot. The tight ends can catch, but they are more blocking tight ends. WR is a little suspect, but Costa will give that a boost. QB is unknown at this point.

Offense: PSU will be good running the ball. Fortunately OSU is very good defending the run. Our secondary will be tested a little with the speedy Costa, but I don't expect the passing game to do much against our D. I expect us to pressure the new QB hard and knock him down a lot.

On D the line could be a bit of a work in progress. They lost all four starters from last year. And they were pretty good last year. However, they have some big guys inside waiting in the wings. The DE could be suspect. Looks like their LBs are pretty deep. Bunch of guys there to play 3 positions. The secondary looks fairly solid with multiple people who started last year returning.

Defense: PSU was the best defensive team in the Big Sky last year and will probably be pretty good again this year. They will be tough on the Beavs new QB because the secondary is pretty strong. Since the defensive line is new the running game should get going, but the linebackers are pretty good so big gains could be tough to come by. The Beavs might be able to go outside with the run as the OLB probably aren't as fast as Pac-10 LBs. This should be a great warmup for our offense to see just how far they have come in the running game and with the new QB.

Prediction: I'm calling a Beavers win, but the most interesting part of this game will be: how do the Beavers look? Are they poised for a better season than people think? Or do they need some work?


Here are some stats from last year:
2004 Vikings Stats

Note: The Vikings led the Big Sky in total defense (346.3 ypg), scoring defense (20.3 ppg) and rush defense (111.6 ypg) in 2004


TEAM STATISTICS............. PSU......... OPP
--------------------------------------------------------
SCORING..................... 335......... 223
..Points Per Game........... 30.5.........20.3
RUSHING YARDAGE............. 2248........ 1211
..Average Per Rush.......... 4.7..........3.2
..Average Per Game.......... 204.4....... 110.1
..TDs Rushing............... 29.......... 13
PASSING YARDAGE............. 1864........ 2598
..Att-Comp-Int.............. 283-147-13...423-218-17
..Average Per Game.......... 169.5........236.2
..TDs Passing............... 14.......... 11
TOTAL OFFENSE............... 4112........ 3809
..Total Plays............... 761......... 807
..Average Per Play.......... 5.4......... 4.7
..Average Per Game.......... 373.8........346.3

SACKS BY-YARDS.............. 20-116.......10-66
KICK RETURNS: #-YARDS....... 30-649.......49-914
PUNT RETURNS: #-YARDS....... 27-336.......18-75
INT RETURNS: #-YARDS........ 17-244.......13-154
KICK RETURN AVERAGE......... 21.6.........18.7
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE......... 12.4.........4.2
INT RETURN AVERAGE.......... 14.4.........11.8
FUMBLES-LOST................ 15-9.........21-11
PENALTIES-YARDS............. 116-1050.....99-841
..Average Per Game.......... 95.5.........76.5

Their passing offense was bad last year. Their rushing offense was obviously quite good. And they scored a lot as well. Wow. Only 20 sacks? Lots of penalties though. The defense definitely was strong last year holding opponents to only 20 points per game. The return game was quite good averaging 12 yards per punt return and 21 per kickoff return. Nice.


Oregonian - PSU primed for Smith to step up - After several seasons in a passing slump, the Vikings put their hope in a new quarterback

Bozeman Daily Chronicle - Big Sky football: Tough schedule of Beavers and Broncos looms for the Vikings

KGW - Sawyer Smith leads Portland State into challenging season

Scout.com - 2005 Preview: Portland State

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

Looks like a few more classic Beaver games are going to be aired over the next few months. FSN is not only airing the 1998 Civil War victory on the 8th of Sept, but they are airing the 2000 Civil War win and the 1999 UCLA blowout win. The only other game is the UW loss in 2000 that was only lost but a mere field goal.

No times are listed, but the 1998 Civil War game is Thursday 9/8 at 7:30 PM.

FSN Northwest to Highlight Classic Games

Other games shown:

9/29 The 2000 Civil War: No. 8 Beavers Shoot Down No. 5 Ducks
10/20 The 1999 OSU Rout of UCLA Ends an NCAA-record 28 Straight Losing Seasons for the Beavers
11/3 The 2000 Beavers and Huskies in the Northwest Football’s Version of “Wide Right”

Opponent News: Longshore wins Cal starting QB job

Looks like Tedford is going to go with a Freshman QB, Nate Longshore, over their highly touted JC transfer, Joseph Ayoob.
Interesting.

Check out the details here:
Longshore wins Cal starting QB job : Fanblogs College Football Blog

and here:

Contra Costa Times - Longshore grabs the reins at Cal

Beavers Land New Recruit

According to BeaverFootball.com the Beavs have a verbal from a lineman in Tempe, Arizona. Check out the story here:

BeaverFootball.com: BREAKING NEWS: BEAVS LAND ARIZONA HOSS

Here's an interview with Mitchel on PrepAZ.com:

Player Spotlight: Mitchel Hunt

Here are his 2004 stats from that story:

"58 tackles, 2.5 Sacks, 9 tackles for a loss of 41 yards, 3 Fumbles recovered, 1 forced fumble, 3 QB knockdowns and 15 QB harassments"

And awards:

"As a Junior I made All Conference at Defensive Tackle (2nd Team) and as a Sophomore I made All Conference at Defensive End (HM) and my coaches awarded me Gatorade Rookie of the Year."

And his numbers as of last February:

"Height: 6 foot 2.5 inches. Weight: 250 pounds."
"40: 4.9, Bench: 315, Squat: 500, Clean: 260."

Apparently Mitchel Hunt and his teammate, Matt Mosley, may be a package deal. Mosley is a WR/DB at Corona. This article talks about that possibility: Summer camps lure college-football hopefuls

"Me and Hunt are thinking about it (playing football at the same college)," Mosley said. "We are both going to take an official trip down there, and it is definitely a possibility. A big factor will be if it is a great place to live for five years."


One more profile of him on scout.com in case you're dying for more information:
Mitchel Hunt

Welcome Mr. Hunt!

Go Beavs!

Aerial photos of every Pac-10 stadium via Google Maps

I found this cool post through FanBlogs that links to an aerial photo of each football stadium in the Pac-10. Unfortunately, the Raising Reser expansion has made this a little out of date! Now that you've seen the new Reser, see how the other half lives in their old, outdated stadiums :).

Jeff Quinton: Google Maps: Pac-10 Stadiums

Preview of Oregon State from the Stanford point of view

The Bootleg, a Scout.com team site covering Stanford, has a preview of the Beavers on their site. It's fairly negative towards the Beavs, but at least they are realistic when it comes to the Cardinal's chances when they come up to Reser in November. Plus, they touch on the Beavs matchups with other schools as well.

2005 Look Ahead: Oregon State

Civil War from 1998 on Fox Sports Sept. 8th!

I was looking at my TiVo today and found this little gem coming up on Fox Sports Northwest:

FSN Classics: "Oregon at Oregon State" (From Nov. 21, 1998)

Thursday 9/8 7:30 PM
FSN


Get those TiVos ready to record that one! The game that started it all!

The new Reser

After touring Reser yesterday, I must say it actually exceeded my expectations. The founders loge and club level areas were very nice. The founders loge was quite unique. Like a sports bar. How many professional teams have anything that comes close to that? Just amazing. And it's really getting me excited for next weekend against PSU. I can't wait to see how loud it turns out to be.


I think the biggest thing it does for OSU in general is to start to shed our image as a lesser school in the Pac-10. Our football facilities have been upgrading for a while, but when you see that 1/2 of a stadium you know we've come a long way. Makes me feel even better to be supporting the Beavs.


Great job to Bob DeCarolis and all the others who made Raising Reser a reality! Now let's sell it out, win a bunch of games and get phase 2 started!

BTW, this is a great article by Paul Buker of the Oregonian on the new stadium: OregonLive.com - Rising to new levels

Plus, if you want a few more pictures of Reser, check out these pictures from the football board on Beaver Sports Central II:

Outside Photos at Open House
Open House Photos - part II

And here's a re-link to my pictures:

Raising Reser Open House

Spotlight articles on Matt Moore and Sabby Piscitelli

The GT has a good little article on Matt Moore today. However, one of the more interesting quotes I thought was this:

Corvallis Gazette-Times :. Taking Over the Reins:
"When it comes to who is receiving Moore's passes, he is fortunate to work with a seasoned group of receivers.

Senior split end Mike Hass should finish his career with all of OSU's career receiving records and senior flanker Josh Hawkins has been playing the best in his career.

The biggest contributor could be sophomore Anthony Wheat-Brown. He moved from flanker to slotback, and the position suits him better. His performance in practice has improved from a year ago."


That's encouraging to hear that Hawkins is looking good. I'd love to see a Robert Prescott-like senior season for him. He's such a big target that could really help the Beavs take some pressure off Hass. If Anthony Wheat-Brown has a breakout season then watch out.


Here's another quote that's encouraging a least a little about the running game:

"Yvenson Bernard, Jimtavis Walker and Nate Wright have shown promise throughout the fall. Both scrimmages produced positive yards, which was much better than the negative totals from a year ago."

Hopefully this is a good sign that the RBs are hitting some holes and the o-line is making a few. PSU will be an interesting first game to see what kind of team the Beavs will turn out to be.


Here's an article about Sabby Piscitelli that's worth a read:

Summer work lifts Piscitelli

I love those articles about how someone has really put in the time to try to improve. Kind of like the Joe Lemma article a while back.

Raising Reser Open House Pictures

Alright, I took a whole bunch of pictures of the Open House. Check it out here:

Raising Reser Open House

OSU preview from The Seattle Times

Again, just a look at how other places look at us. This one from the Seattle P-I has a much more negative feel than the Arizona one:

The Seattle Times: Sports: Pac-10 football previews: Beavers looking to soldier on, not fade

Bryan Payton changing positions to Free Safety

Interesting. In this week three recap from Scout.com (via Yahoo) one of the roster changes that were made this last week was Bryan Payton from cornerback to free safety. In the scrimmages he did seem pretty big compared to the other cornerbacks, but there are some good safeties in the program. Hopefully its a good move for the Beavs and Payton.

Joe Newton speaks

Joe Newton, the star tight-end for the Beavers, was interviewed by the GT and talks about his injury. Good article that finally sheds some light on the injury, the recovery, and Newton's state of mind.

.: Corvallis Gazette-Times - Newton still stunned by injury

Here's another article from the Oregonian:

Newton is out 10 to 12 weeks

Seth Tarver commits to the Oregon State basketball team!

Sweet! Seth Tarver has verbally committed to OSU. Nice job Jay John! The Tarver's are becoming quite the Beaver family. Josh is a freshman on the basketball team as a point guard and Zach is currently a backup receiver on the football team.

Seth is one of the best seniors in the state this year and was a part of last years state championship Jesuit team.

Tarver had been recruited by Arizona, but they signed a different player at the same position so he came to OSU.

He is 6-5, 205 and averaged 17 ppg with 9 rebounds pg.

PortlandTribune.com - Seth Tarver commits to OSU basketball

Seth is the third recruit to verbal for the Beavers basketball team this summer. The other two are also guards / forward types as well. Lathan Wallace from Jefferson in Portland and Calvin Haynes from Woodland Hills, CA have both verbaled earlier this year.

According to the Tribune there is one scholly left for Coach John and he will use it on a post player.

One last basketball note, the season tickets for basketball went on sale today.

Oregon State season preview from the Arizona Daily Sun

I found this article from the Arizona Daily Sun that previews the Beavs this season. Nothing really new other than a few new quotes. However, I always like to see how other parts of the country portray us and view us. Pretty favorably in this case.

Arizona Daily Sun - Oregon State aims to disprove predictions

Reminder: This Saturday is your chance to tour the new Reser Stadium

Don't forget, this Saturday is the Raising Reser open house from 10 am to 1 pm. You will get to see the club level and suite level as well as test out the seats in each area. It's free so get out there! I'll try to get some pictures for those who can't make it and post them here.

At 2 - 5 pm the Beavs will be practicing. No scrimmage.

The official numbers on the stadium are out: 43,300. New attendance record, here we come!

Open House

Quick Look at 2005 Beaver Baseball Players in the Pros - Andy Jenkins

Three players from the OSU Beavers baseball team that made it to the CWS in Omaha got drafted and are playing in the Minors: Jacoby Ellsbury, Andy Jenkins, and Nate Fogle. Thought I'd check up and see how they are doing.

This week it's Andy Jenkins


Andy Jenkins, Greensboro Grasshoppers (Florida Marlins affiliate)

Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	E
Andrew Jenkins	37	129	16	27	8	0	1	14	38	9	25	1	3	.270	.295	.209	5

Stats

Andy has had a bit of a rough time at Greensboro. He's getting a lot of playing time which is good. But he swtiched over to 3B so that coupled with the wood bats may be causing some struggles. Plus, he's been playing for a looong time with that long CWS run right into the minors.


Some recent articles:

Hoppers' Home Towns: Andy Jenkins
Q & A with Andy Jenkins

Many Google News game stories

Best home stadiums according to Rivals.com

OK everyone, how can we get on this list? A certain school from south of Corvallis is on it. Bleh.

Anyways, Rivals has published their list of the top ten best home fields. Essentially who has the best home field advantage when taking everything into account.

Rivals.com - No place like home

A summary of the top-10:

1. Lane Stadium (Virginia Tech)
2. Tiger Stadium (LSU)
3. Ohio Stadium (Ohio State)
4. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Florida)
5. Beaver Stadium (Penn State)
6. Autzen Stadium (Oregon)
7. Kyle Field (Texas A&M)
8. Camp Randall Stadium (Wisconsin)
9. Doak Campbell Stadium (Florida State)
10. Jordan-Hare Stadium (Auburn)

We need to make the new Reser a place where people fear to play!

Check out this story at FanBlogs...Four voters quit, others question the Harris Poll

Things are getting more interesting with the BCS. Apparently, some of the college football "experts"...weren't very expert. And they got exposed. One has quit the poll already, as did a few others who work for ESPN.

Check out this article:

Four voters quit, others question the Harris Poll : Fanblogs College Football Blog

A roundup of articles about two potential walk-on OSU receivers

This article talks about a potential local walk-on from Lincoln High who may join the Beavs next spring. He really wants a shot with the Beavs and is putting in the time to get there:

Making his case at OSU
Taylor Kavanaugh, former Lincoln High School star, dreams of playing for the Beavers one day


This is a bit of an older article I meant to post that is from the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Brian Davilla. I've seen him do some good things with the 3rd stringers in the scrimmages and could be a good "hands" receiver here. In the first scrimmage he caught a TD. Kinda sounds like another Mike Hass type guy. If he gets any significant playing time he can't help be compared to Hass because he is also a walk-on. However, he is a junior and is planning to redshirt this season.

Good article on Brian:

Davilla hopes Beavers will be believers

Chaz Scott saga may be coming to an end

It looks like Chaz Scott won't be playing for the Beavers this fall. The chances are getting less and less as fall camp continues.

The G-T has an article today on the subject.

.: Corvallis Gazette-Times :. Sports

It's definitely a blow for the Beavs. It's not Joe Newton big, but he was not only a great OLB but also a great special teams guy. I was thinking that he was the next Beaver linebacker who would be drafted. It could still happen, but the "not retaining eligibility in senior season" line on his resume won't look too good. Character and other intangibles rate pretty heavily in the NFL these days. Hopefully Chaz can complete school and get a degree anyways. He may transfer to a D1-AA school to play his senior season out. Maybe he should just go up to Linfield and help them win another championship.

As far as his replacement, it's looking like Derrick Doggett is the starter. However, I'm guessing Andy Darkins and Andy Darlin will get some time because the Beavs need to get some LBs with experience for next season when Bray and Ellison graduate.

I think this actually could end up being a good thing. It will allow some young guys to get some experience for next year. That way we won't be going into next season with three brand new linebackers. We are so deep at linebacker that we should be able to absorb a loss like this.

More Reser Photos. These ones are pretty amazing

OK, so my attempt at some Reser Stadium construction pictures pales in comparison to this guy. I found a gallery from a structural engineer, Aaron Burkhardt, and he's got pictures from just about everywhere in the stadium, including the top of the roof!



Cool Reser Stadium Pictures

Scrimmage and Reser pictures taken today

I've got some new pictures I took today and one from last week. A couple are of the scrimmages but mostly I got some pictures of the front of the stadium with the new Reser Stadium sign on the front. Not many pictures have been taken of that side, so I thought I'd do it and throw them up here.




Pictures of Reser and the scrimmages




Also, it looks like the Beavs are going to be doing some major adjusting after losing Joe Newton for possibly the whole year. The Portland Tribune goes into it in more detail, but basically it looks like you'll be seeing more 3 and 4 receiver sets and the fullback in the mix. Plus, Anthony Wheat-Brown is looking really good to the coaches in practice. That's a great sign. We'll see how this turns out, but I think it puts even more pressure on the running game. I sure hope that our new line creates some huge holes this season!

Oregon State Soccer anyone? Great preview on OSU Beavers.com. Plus the National champions are coming to Corvallis

If anyone has an interest in soccer it looks like the Beavers are poised to make it back to the NCAA tournament this year. They are really ramping up recruiting and appear to have a very good team.

According to the articles linked below:

* 4 straight recruiting classes in the top 20 in the country
* 2 out of 3 years in the NCAA tournament
* The all-time assist leader in school history, Ryan Johnson, is a senior
* OSU lead the Pac-10 in goals in 2004 with 41 and ranked second in points with 109
* 17th in the nation in scoring offense last year with 2.16 goals per game

They play last year's national champion in Corvallis on Saturday, Sept. 17 in the Diadora Classic. That would be a game to try to watch if you only go to one game.

They also host UCLA who is always great on Sunday, Oct. 9.

Oregon State Athletics - Men's Soccer Preview

This Week in Pac-10 Men's Soccer
2005 season to kick off Thurs., Sept. 1.

Great article on Lamar Herron new OSU Safety

Wow, I had no idea about Lamar Herron's past. This is a great article by Paul Buker that really lets us learn who Herron is and all of the hardships he's been through. Even if you aren't a Beaver fan it's worth a read. It's a long one so set aside some time or print it out for later. I'm a big fan of Lamar Herron now.

OSU free safety keeps going amid loss, pain

Beaver Football Preview show on Fox Sports, plus the 2004 Civil War Replay!

Just got done watching the Beavers season preview on FSN. Not really anything we hadn't heard before but there were some nice interviews, a little recap from last year, and shots of the new stadium. It's definitely a bit old because Joe Newton and Chaz Scott are mentioned as key players for the upcoming season. Say it ain't so Joe...say it ain't so...

Anyways, the Fox color guy, Petros Papadakis, did predict a 4th or 5th finish for the Beavs and a bowl game. Nice.

One last thing, did anyone else think that Lindsay Soto's interview with Mike Hass was kinda weird? She seemed too happy or something.

For those who missed it you can watch it on a replay on these days:

Sun 8/28 11:30 AM (FSN)

Thu 9/1 1:30 PM (FSN)


Also, for those of you who get the Fox Sports Regional channels on digital cable the Civil War from last year is being replayed on Fox Sports Pacific. Set that TiVo and replay it at all your tailgaters in 2005! Dates and Times:

Tue 8/23 1:00 PM (FCSP - channel 415)

Wed 8/24 12:00 PM (FCSP - channel 415)

OSU Scrimmage Tomorrow!

The Beavers final fall scrimmage is tomorrow! Should be around 4pm, but I'd get there early just in case. Hopefully the first team gets some more work in this time.

Go Beavs!

Cole Clasen may be starting for Boise St. against OSU on Sept. 10th

Cole Clasen may be competing against the team that gave him a shot as a walk-on receiver just a few short years ago. It appears that Boise State has a few projected starting receivers suspended or ineligible for the start of the season. Three receivers will not be available for the Broncos Sept. 3rd game against the Georgia Bulldogs and Cole Clasen is one of four remaining receivers who will benefit with increased playing time. One of those receivers won't play for BSU at all this year.

Perhaps if Cole plays well he could play a significant factor on Sept. 10th against OSU. Maybe even start. Cole played a lot at Reser Stadium his first couple of years, but transferred last year due to a lack of playing time in the foreseeable future. Of course, with the new turf and the new half of a stadium Cole may not recognize Reser.

Here's the article from the Boise State student newspaper:

Arbiter Online - Position battles and roster changes forming for season opener

Information on the new Harris Poll for the BCS

FanBlogs have come through again and posted a list of the Harris Poll voters. The Harris Poll will replace the coaches poll which decided to not contribute to the BCS formula. It's essentially a group of ex-football players and ex-coaches who will help to balance out the AP.

Some local names you might recognize:

Terry Bradshaw
Boomer Esiason
Lou Holtz
Rocket Ismail
Steve Largent
John Mackovic (for real?!)
Anthony Munoz
Bob Grim (Go Beavs!)
Steve Preece (Go Beavs!)

Check out the full list as well as answers to your burning questions about the poll here:
Who votes in the new Harris Poll for the BCS? : Fanblogs College Football Blog

AP College Football Voters

You ever wonder who the AP voters are that decide the Beavers fate? Fanblogs posted a list of the voters as reported by the AP.

We only have one voter in Oregon:

Aaron Fentress, The Oregonian, Portland

The beat writer for the Ducks. That's just great.

Fanblogs College Football Blog

2005 TV College Football Schedule

Nice. Check this out, the full college football season schedule at SI.com:

SI.com - NCAA Football - 2005 TV Schedule

Fox Sports has a nice TV schedule that isn't filled out yet, but it might be good to bookmark for later in the season.

ESPN/ABC schedule is filled out nicely ABC/ESPN Networks 2005 College Football Schedule.

Some of the upcoming Pac-10 games and Beaver related games to look out for in September:

(Pacific Time)

Thursday, Sept. 1
Oregon at Houston, ESPN2, 4 p.m.
How will the Ducks new offense gel?

Friday, Sept. 2
Arizona at Utah, ESPN, 5 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 3
Washington vs. Air Force, ABC , 12:30 p.m.
Boise St. at Georgia, ESPN, 2:30 p.m.
Hmm, this looks like last seasons OSU schedule
USC at Hawaii, ESPN2, 4 p.m.
UCLA at San Diego St., ESPN2, 7:15 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 4
Louisville at Kentucky, ESPN, 12:30 p.m.
UK sucks, but maybe we'll see something hopeful in this game

Friday, Sept. 9
Washington State at Nevada, ESPN, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 10
Washington at California, ABC, 12:30 p.m.
First Pac-10 game televised
Stanford at Navy, CSTV, 3 p.m.
Not sure if anyone actually gets CSTV...
Boise St. at Oregon, FSN, 3:30 p.m. (Oregon State, actually)
What the?!?! Stupid SI...It's OSU you *#&#$!
Arizona St. at LSU, ESPN, 5:45 p.m.
Good one to watch in the bar after the OSU game

Saturday, Sept. 17
Oregon State vs. Louisville, ESPN, 9 a.m.
Hmm the OSU / Louisville game is missing on the SI.com schedule...
Oklahoma at UCLA, ABC, 12:30 p.m.
Fresno State at Oregon, TBS, 4 p.m.
Arkansas at USC, FSN, 7:15 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 23
California at New Mexico St., ESPN, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 24
Notre Dame at Washington, ABC, 9:30 p.m.
USC at Oregon, ABC, 1 p.m.
Arizona State at Oregon State, TBS, 7 p.m.

New Raising Reser pics and story

The Salem StatesmanJournal has an awesome "Raising Reser" only area with all of their stories to date and a great picture gallery. Gotta check it out:

Raising Reser Page

Photo Gallery link:

The Reser Stadium Photo Gallery

And finally the latest story on the expansion. A good comprehensive article.

Reser is reborn

Will Joe Lemma have a breakout year?

I love articles like this because they get me pumped about a guy that may be flying under the radar. Joe Lemma was the starting defensive end opposite Bill Swancutt, but he wasn't very impressive. However, they first step to improvement is admitting the problem. He's done that. Now if he can improve like he wants to our Defennsive End problem may become a strength

.: Corvallis Gazette-Times :. Focused on success


I'll be rooting for a breakout year cause we need one.

No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster

No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster

Kenny Hooks joins the University of South Alabama

Looks like Kenny Hooks has found a spot on the University of South Alabama roster. Not sure if he'll have to sit out a year, but the article doesn't say anything about that. Best of luck to you Kenny!

USA Vanguard - Men's hoops squad restocks roster

Bowl Projections for this season

College Football News has published some bowl projections for this season and OSU isn't in any of them! However, they are in the "other teams considered" category. Suppose that's like winning honorable mention.

Pac-10 Bowls

ROSE BOWL
Pasadena, California
January 4, 2006, at 8 p.m. ET ABC
Rose Bowl: 89,063
BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2
CFN Projection: USC vs. LSU
also considered: California, Florida, Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia Tech

PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY BOWL
San Diego, California
December 29, 2005, at 8 p.m. ET ESPN
Qualcomm Stadium : 70,000
Pac-10 No. 2 vs. Big 12 No. 3
CFN Projection: Arizona State vs. Nebraska
also considered: California, Oregon, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

VITALIS SUN BOWL
El Paso, Texas
December 30, 2005, at Noon ET CBS
Sun Bowl Stadium 50,426
Big Ten No. 5 vs. Pac-10 No. 3
CFN Projection: Minnesota vs. California
also considered: Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Oregon, UCLA

INSIGHT BOWL
Phoenix, Arizona
December 27, 2005, ESPN
Bank One Ballpark: 42,915
Pac-10 No. 4 vs. Big East No. 2 or 3
CFN Projection: Oregon vs. West Virginia
also considered: California, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington State, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh

PIONEER PURE VISION LAS VEGAS BOWL
Las Vegas, Nevada
December 22, 2005, at 8 p.m. ET : ESPN
Sam Boyd Stadium: 40,000
MWC No. 1 or 2 vs. Pac-10 No. 5
CFN Projection: Utah vs. UCLA
also considered: TCU, BYU, Oregon, Washington State, Oregon State

EMERALD BOWL
San Francisco, California
December 29, 2005, at 4:30 p.m. ET ESPN
SBC Park: 38,084
MWC No. 2 vs. No. 3 vs. Pac-10 No. 6
CFN Projection: TCU vs. Washington State
also considered: Air Force, BYU, New Mexico, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA

COLLEGE FOOTBALL- 2005-06 Bowl Projections

Cool Helmet Map of Div I College Football

This is pretty cool. Paul (or someone else maybe) put all of the D1 helmets on a map of the USA.



Paulwesterdawg's Georgia Sports Blog: Helmet Map of Div I College Football

How instant replay will work this year in the Pac-10

According to FanBlogs, the Pac-10 will have the same instant replay system as the Big-10 this season.

Upon further review: instant replay

"Only the replay official can stop play to review a call. All calls are reviewed by a replay official from the press box. If a play is in question, the replay official alerts the officials on the field and play is stopped. The replay official watches angles provided by the television coverage for that game. Calls involving clock and/or game management cannot be reviewed even if noticed by the replay official. Instant replay is used in all conference games. In non-conference games, the visiting team must agree to use the replay or it will not be available. The types of plays that are reviewable include plays that are governed by the sideline, goal line, end zone and end line, passing plays, and other detectable infractions, such as forward progress with respect to first down. "


Hmm, forward progress with respect to first down. Does that mean that the spot can be reviewed? What about games that don't have television coverage? Or do they all have to have some basic replay or TV coverage now?

Strangely negative article on the Beavers 2005 team

Herald and News: Klamath Falls, Oregon :: Beavers' offseason has been bizarre

First off, even though this writer is previewing the 2005 OSU Beavers football team and making a prediction, he has to bring up the offseason incidents multiple times. Not sure how important that is to rehash, but maybe they think their readers forgot about it already. Let's take a look at some of the excerpts.

On the offseason

"Aside from the $93 million put into renovating Reser Stadium, the spotlight has been on Corvallis because of a string of bizarre criminal activities"

...Then he rehashes all of the incidents, Rudolph, Walker, Siegert....

"None of the six players arrested were kicked off the team by head coach Mike Riley."

What's that comment? Why say that? You obviously think some of them should have been kicked off the team. Most other articles have simply said that they were suspended for the first few games. It also makes no mention of the new disciplinary policy that DeCarolis implemented.

On Quarterbacks:

"At quarterback, the Beavers will need to replace the talented, but mistake prone Derek Anderson..."

There's a nice back door compliment.

"The smart money is on Moore, who transferred from UCLA after being beaten out by Drew Olsen as the signal caller in Westwood, Calif."

Even this comment is somewhat negative..."beaten out". From what I understand he got injured and that's how he lost his job. The new coaching staff like Olson better than him.

On the running game

"In fact, the Beavers ranked dead last in Division 1 yards per game, at a horrid 70.7 ypg clip in 2004."

OK, it was horrid.

"Walker is a former blue chip recruit who transferred from the University of Florida.

As the aforementioned run-in with the law attests, he needs to keep himself focused off the field to be productive on it, but his talent is unquestioned."

Huh? Time to bring up the off field incidents again. Injecting your opinion in there. Nice. What he needs to do to be successful is have some holes to run through and hit them. When he talks about Siegert later in the article he doesn't bring up anything about the sheep incident again. Or how he needs to keep his mind off of gay sheep to be successful in the field.

On recievers:

"Haas isn't a burner, but he creates separation and catches everything in sight. In 2004, Haas broke OSU single-season school records with 86 receptions and 1,379 receiving yards."

This also seems sneakily like he's trying to put down Hass in some way. Let the numbers speak for themselves! Being a "burner" isn't all there is to being a WR.

His prediction:

"I believe the Beavers will end up with a best case record of 8-3, with a more likely 6-5 or 5-6 season on the horizon."

Well, at least he didn't pick us 7th in the Pac-10.

The next OSU Beavers scrimmage, notes from yesterday's scrimmage

According to the The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA:

"The Beavers have scheduled a second and final scrimmage for next Tuesday, sometime between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the team's practice field. "


I'd recommend 3:30 because they tend to finish the practice with the scrimmage. So it might start at 4:00, but if you can be there I would get there early just in case.


This last scrimmage was not really a full scrimmage, but it was cool to watch people perform in game-like situations. I got there late, but Fuller's run looked pretty good. Next year he's going to start looking like Steven Jackson. Especially the Beaver players seem to put on weight.

Some of the young guys look so big already! Pernell Booth is a big guy. DT of the future. Which may mean next year. Frank, Christopher, Tavita, Darlin all those young guys looked big. The future looks bright to me.

If any of the pics I took turn out OK, I'll update this with some pics.

The fight for the starting flanker job - Josh Hawkins and Ruben Jackson

There's a fight at the flanker position brewing. I feel Josh Hawkins will start the season as the starter no matter what. I think he has the size and potential to maybe pull a Robert Prescott and really improve for his senior year. Ruben will probably be a main guy on special teams and get to contribute that way early on. However, Hawkins needs to get going early because once Jackson gets the plays under his belt he could break into the starting lineup. I didn't see either of them in the scrimmage yesterday and Hawkins was not in pads.

Some articles on each player and the battles in general:

Josh Hawkins
The catch is key

Ruben Jackson
PortlandTribune.com :: Quick-study receiver gives Riley high hopes - Transfer Ruben Jackson emerging as OSU looks to replace Marcel Love

The fall-out from the Beavs Off-season of turmoil

Ever wonder what the guys who we're involved with the in-season and off-season incidents are thinking these days? Here's a follow-up article from the Register-Guard that talks to AWB, Rudolph, and others about their state of mind going into the season.

The Register-Guard :: OSU's bad boys change their ways

I like this quote from Joe:

"'I'd always been on the edge before,' said Rudulph, who has a scuffle-filled practice history with the Beavers. 'Now, when something bad happens, I just let it go. I've changed my demeanor. I think before I act.' "

Seems like this experience has changed him and possibly made him a better person in the long run.

Some of the other guys seem to harp on the fact that Corvallis is a small town. As if that's any excuse. However, they do seem to all have grown up a bit.

Seems that Riley is really a great guy. Jimtavis Walker's quote from the article is good:

"He stood by us throughout the ordeal. He would talk to us man-to-man. I was honest with him from day one and he was there to support me 100 percent."

That's really cool. I think that will only help his recruiting in the long run.

Scrimmage today! Also, check out the remaining practice dates

The first scrimmage of Fall Practice is set for today! Unfortunately, we don't know when it will happen other than sometime between 2-5. I've heard some say 3pm. But I've seen many scrimmages start at 4pm. But who knows!

Here's the schedule for the rest of the practices for the Beavs this fall:

Tue., Aug. 16 2-5 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 17 8:30-11 a.m. & 6:30-9 p.m.
Thu., Aug. 18 2-5 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 19 8:30-11 a.m. & 6:30-9 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 20 2-5 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 22 8:30-11 a.m. & 6:30-9 p.m.
Tue., Aug. 23 2-5 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 24 8:30-11 a.m. & 6:30-9 p.m.
Thu., Aug. 25 2-4:30 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 26 2:30-5 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 27 2-4:30 p.m.
Mon, Aug. 29 1:30-4 p.m.
Tue., Aug. 30 2-4:30 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 31 2-4:30 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 1 2-4 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 2 4:10-5 p.m.


Oregon State University Fall practice dates

Andy Darkin's Blog - check it out

For those who haven't read the Oregon State Beaver linebacker in the Barometer yet, all of his articles are posted on his blog:

The Rear End

Check it out. It's a good read. John Canzano wrote an article on him over the weekend:

This columnist a pairing of brawn, brains

Profile of Trent Bray, OSU Beaver MLB

The GT had a great article yesterday about Trent Bray. He went through a lot with the coaching change. It's an interesting read. Thank goodness he stayed because he's good.

Trent Bray stepping out of the shadows

Beavers practices open to public

The Gazette-Times has an interesting article about the Beavers fall practice and how it has been kept open to the public. I personally love the fact that the practice is open. Plus, I think it lets the fans get to know the players better and makes them more passionate about the team. I don't think there is much of a downside unless all of the Pac-10 schools start sending secret scouts/spys to scout the Beavers as an upcoming opponent. That won't happen because game film is a much better indicator of what the team can and cannot do.

I was just up at UW and wanted to check out Husky stadium. Well, there's a huge plastic trap wall around the practice field and the stadium to keep prying eyes away from the team. It felt weird. When you're 1-10 you probably have bigger problems than a few plays getting stolen in pre-season. How about selling tickets? One way to get the fans excited might be to open up practice and let them see the team develop. Just a thought.

Speaking of practice, I think I'll go tomorrow and take a few pictures of the team in action.

Hometown article on Nate Wright, new OSU RB

A little local article about new RB transfer Nate Wright. It's got a picture of Nate in high school in 2001 and some quotes from Nate. Lots of good background info on where he came from and how he got to OSU.

Charleston, West Virginia :: Sunday Gazette-Mail :: ‘All-State Nate’ has the Wright stuff at Oregon State

Anthony Wheat-Brown ready for a breakout season?

The GT had an interesting article on Anthony Wheat-Brown in Saturday's paper. One thing particular interesting is this little comment:

"Wheat-Brown experienced a growth spurt since last season, adding noticeable lean muscle. He says he feels stronger and faster."

Wow, I hope that's a David Lucas style transformation. Into a prototypical NFL reciever. If he could step up and become the next great reciever at OSU that would be awesome. We need a Newson/Hass type transformation for one of the young guys.

Come on Chaz

Looks like Chaz Scott may be out for the season due to acedemics. He's got until school starts to get in and enroll for Fall term. However, that means he'll probably miss a game or two at best.

Ouch. I thought he would be the next NFL guy from OSU. He may still be, but we could use him on the field.

Here's the story:

Not on the field, and not even in school

First week of practice...what happened?

This is a pretty good little summary of the first week of practice. A few quotes, list of who's out and who's in. A good quick way to get up to speed:

Yahoo! Sports - NCAA Football - Midweek practice update

The Wednesday Register-Guard in Eugene also has a good summary of the Personnel situation in the first week of practice.

The Register-Guard - Oregon State Football Notes

Another article on Beaver Running Game - good quotes

I really like the stories I've seen out of the Mail Tribune from Southern Oregon. Their stories seem to be chock full of quotes from the players. I think that's just really cool.

Beavers seek well-grounded O

Beavers lose Newton to muscle tear

Good lord. Not good news for our brutal pre-season this year. Hopefully he'll only be out 3 weeks to a month and can be back for the start of the Pac-10 season.

Read about it here:

Beavers lose Newton to muscle tear

Welcome Ruben Jackson

Our Wide Recieving core just got a shot in the arm. Ruben Jackson made it into school and should help bolster a WR group that was good last year but lost a key guy in Marcel Love just a few days ago.

He apparently is a really good return man too which is always a place we need some help.

Beavs lose Trent Greener, strength coach

The Beavers lost another member of the coaching staff last week. Trent Greener has moved on to the University of Washington or all places.

New Albany native is new strength coach at U of Washington

Hopefully it's a coincidence that the Beavers resurgence in 1999 coincided with his arrival. Trent had been the strength and conditioning coach since 1999 until last week. Check out the article for more info.

Stories on the Running Game

Some good stories on the new running backs for the Beavs in the GT this last couple of days:

Ready for impact : Fuller plans to play a big role for Oregon State

No more blues for Jimtavis Walker

I think the running game is the key to a sucessful season this year. It is soooo crucial since we have a new quarterback (or two) and were so bad at it last year.

Some good news for the Beavs!

The secondary got a boost as Aaron Miller has gained is eligibility and will start practicing with the team.

Also, the JC running back, Nate Wright, is in school and will be practicing as well. He is apparently very fast and quick. Sweet!

Quick Look at 2005 Beaver Baseball Players in the Pros - Nate Fogle

Three players from the OSU Beavers baseball team that made it to the CWS in Omaha got drafted and are playing in the Minors: Jacoby Ellsbury, Andy Jenkins, and Nate Fogle. Thought I'd check up and see how they are doing.

This week it's Nate Fogle


Nate Fogle, Spokane Indians (Texas Rangers affiliate)

Name	W	L	ERA	WHIP	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H
Nate Fogle	1	0	4.70	1.43	9	0	0	0	0	15.1	12

Stats

Looks like Nate is doing OK in his pro debut. The WHIP (walks + hits / ip) is a bit high for a reliever. You'd like to see that closer to 1.00. The ERA reflects the WHIP in that he's not exactly dominating people. But he's not doing bad either. At least he's getting into a few games.


Some recent articles:

Fogle contributes to triple play

Nate gets his first win against the Eugene Emeralds

Status of OSU Football going into fall camp

Great article in the Corvallis Gazette-Times today. Check out the OSU FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK.

The article details all the guys who may not make it into camp this year and their status, the new signees, the new walk-ons, and everything else you need to know! A must read.

Football practice starts today! And another loss to the team.

Football practice from 2-5pm today!

More articles on the 7th place prediction in the Oregonian today and the Mail Tribune (lots of good quotes in this one). Similar to my post a couple of days ago about the team wanting to prove everyone wrong. Sabby has a nice quote in there: "We've got a lot of great athletes. . . . I think we're going to surprise a lot of people."

Bad news on the Wide Reciever front. Marcel Love probably won't be in school this fall. Looks like Anthony Wheat-Brown will move over to his position and leave a hole for one of the other guys (Stroughter, Hawkins, Powers, etc) or the new transfer (Ruben Jackson) to come in and contribute.

OSU Volleyball article in the Register Guard

Nice article on the new head coach of the Beavs in OSU Women's Volleyball. Looks like they might have a shot at post-season on a more regular basis.

OSU Volleyball: A renewed commitment - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Joe Newton on the recent Pac-10 prediction of 7th for the Beavers

Beaver Football

I love this kind of attitude by Joe Newton towards the Pac-10 sportswriters predicting a 7th place finish for the Beavers this year.

The News-Review - Sports - TOM EGGERS
"
...
The Beavers were picked seventh in a Pac-10 preseason media poll, which doesn't bother Newton. He believes OSU has enough talent to make another postseason appearance.

"You have to prove yourself," he said. "We don't have any reason to argue with that (prediction) unless we put up some wins."
...
"

I would love to see the Beavs take this as a challenge and try to prove people wrong. I love that attitude and think it can only lead to good things.


Beaver Baseball

Also, In the article there is also a note about Beaver baseball player Brett Casey. His coach, Dirk McClain thinks Brett has a chance to start next year:

"
...
McClain believes he has a future college standout on his Richey's Market team in shortstop Brett Casey, the son of Oregon State University baseball coach Pat Casey. Brett Casey plans to play baseball and basketball for the Beavers.

"I think he'll be an outstanding (baseball) player," McClain said. "He's got a chance to start there as a freshman. He's got great hands."
...
"

Not sure where he would play since the entire infield is returning and Darwin Barney is no slouch at SS. Maybe Cole will move to 1B and he would take over an OF spot. Of course that would depend on how good his bat is. "Good hands" doesn't take you very far in RF.

Keston Cheathem - new OSU WR

This news is a little old, but I thought I'd get it up here for historical puposes. Plus, I found some stats from his high school years...

The Beavs will have some wide receiver help after Mike Hass, Marcel Love, and Josh Hawkins graduate next year. Keston Cheathem has transferred from Michigan to Oregon State. He was in the 2004 recruiting class out of Pomona HS in California.

College football: Cheathem joins OSU program, and now waits

Cheathem's stats as a WR:

30 rec for 700 yds with 6 TDs.

He played Safety in HS as well as receiver, but apparently Lloyd Carr, UM head coach, spoke with Mike Riley and said that he would recommend him at reciever as he has made good strides there. This could be a great addition to the Beavs future.

Here's another story about Keston:

Corvallis Gazzette-Times: Receiver leaving Michigan for Oregon State

Oregon State to have open house for Reser Stadium on August 27th

In case you haven't heard, Reser stadium will have an open house on August 27th! You gotta be there to check out the new grandstand, suites, club level, and all the amenities. Might be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Oregon State Daily Barometer Online - Reser to have open house

At 1:00 pm there will be a practice and probably a scrimage to get the team ready for their kickoff against PSU on Sept. 3rd. She be fun.

Go Beavs!

A flurry of new OSU Beavers news

Some new news this week as I return from a long weekend in the Bay Area. I've been starved for football news so I thought I'd post the latest stuff. The Pac-10 media picked OSU 7th. I'll be taking a look at all the predictions from the various sites and posting them in another post. So look for that later.


The big news that probably doesn't really mean too much is that Matt Moore wins the starting quarterback job. This is a good move by Mike Riley to keep the press at bay and let everyone know where they are at going into the season. However, Gundy can easily get the starting job by simply working hard and Matt not performing that great. Remember, Riley put in a walk-on RS freshman halfway through the season in 1998 named Jonathan Smith. He will put the best lineup on the field.

Here's a good recent Portland Tribune article on Matt Moore: New Beaver quarterback is rarin’ to get going

---

Joe Newton is on the watch list for the John Mackey Award. It goes to the best TE in D1. Joe should be an integral part of the passing offense again this year. It might help him if the running game gets going. Not sure if their blocking skills are taken into account.

---

Interesting OSU Basketball story on a new team member that the team itself recruited to join the team as a walk on:

When the team recruits a walk-on

Beaver Baseball loses prize recruit

Shane Sullivan a 2005 graduate of Capital High School and OSU Baseball recruit got signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays recently. Thus, we won't be playing for OSU. Sullivan went undrafted but ended up getting signed as a free agent.

It's too bad because he looked like another Jacoby Ellsbury after batting .471 with 6 HRs and 26 SBs.

Good luck Shane in the minors.

Capital slugger Sullivan signs deal with Tampa Bay

Quick Look at 2005 Beaver Baseball Players in the Pros - Jacoby Ellsbury

Three players from the OSU Beavers baseball team that made it to the CWS in Omaha got drafted and are playing in the Minors: Jacoby Ellsbury, Andy Jenkins, and Nate Fogle. Thought I'd check up and see how they are doing.

I'll start with...


Jacoby Ellsbury, Lowell Spinners (drafted by the Red Sox)

Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
Jacoby Ellsbury	10	36	10	10	0	1	1	7	15	8	5	9	0	.422	.417	.278

Jacoby is leading the team in stolen bases even though he's only played in 10 games. The Spinners have played 37 total games. So that's cool. An impressive SB rate (no CS by the way). He's only batting .278 but his .422 OBP is pretty good considering he didn't walk at a real high rate in college. He's got a HR, but his OPS is only around .839. Not bad but hopefully that improves a bit. He's played in wood bat leagues so it shouldn't take too much to adjust. All in all a good start! Keep it up Jacoby!

Some recent articles:

Baseball America's Daily Dish (Ellsbury interview)

Boston Red Sox select Ellsbury (Ellsbury interview/article)

Early Oregon State Basketball Preview

Football hasn't started yet and people are already posting predictions of the OSU Men's Hoops team...

Collegehoops.net Top 144 - Oregon State Preview

Here is Joel Welser's prediction:

"...Projected Conference Rank: Losing David Lucas is huge and the loss of J.S. Nash doesn’t help either. Yet it is a solid team that will be built around Nick DeWitz, Chris Stephens, Sasa Cuic, Lamar Hurd and Jason Fontenet. There won’t be many easy games against Pac-10 opponents this year and the Beavers haven’t proven that they can do much of anything on the road. A few conference victories away from the Gill Coliseum would put OSU higher than 9th in the conference, but it will be tough for Jay John’s squad to pull that off. The bench has options and Kyle Jeffers would most likely get relegated to starting on the pine if OSU needed to play three guards with Jason Fontenet stepping into the starting role.

Projected Post-season Tournament: none..."


Yea, this is probably fairly accurate. Assuming no one makes any major improvements from last year and the newcomers don't make much of a splash I would predict they will be a little worse than last year. Probably just under .500. However, I think that people will improve and we should be able to at least sustain last year's level. Plus, everyone is in the tournament this year which means everyone has a better shot to win a first round game.

Looking at the new schedule, it does look a bit tough but about the same as last year. (Full Schedule)

BTW, we're not the only ones dealing with a big loss. Arizona (Frye, Stoudamire), ASU (Diogu), and Washington (Conroy, Robinson) all have pretty big holes to fill. Cal should be better with the return of their big man and Stanford is sure happy Hernandez stayed.

I predict the Beavs will parlay the confidence gained last season into a couple more road wins. If they get bigger crowds due to last season's success they may be able to repeat last seasons home record. That would be good, but they may not be able to win virtually every Pac-10 home game. So that would make it a wash.

It's a tough team to read and a lot depends on the success of players such as Jeffers, Hurd, and Angelo. Guys who haven't quite broken out to become major offensive threats. We need go to guys. Cuic and Stephens are go to guys as long as they can find some consistency. DeWitz is the go to guy. We need some breakout seasons from the new/young guys to really keep last season going and make a push for an even better season this year.

The first few games should be really revealing.


Go Beavs!

Patrick Fuller joins the Beavs

OSU Football just recieved a shot in the arm. 2004 recruit Patrick Fuller, who never quite made it into school last year has enrolled and will be available for the 2005 season. Nice. The Beavers needed some good news almost as bad as they need some running backs to replace Stephen Jackson. 2004 was a horrible rushing year for the Beavs. Without Derek Anderson the Beavs will need a good running attack to take some of the pressure off of their new quarterback (either Ryan Gunderson or Matt Moore). Plus, I just learned that another potential RB Burnley (at least he provides depth) has left school due to academic reasons.

Fuller was pretty good in high school and was recruited by many of the top schools in the nation. He had 2409 yards his senior year to go with 23 TDs.

Some articles about Fuller:

TB Fuller cleared to play this fall

For Fuller, getting in was the hard part (This is a great article)


Practice is almost here!

OSU Football Practive Dates are set

Finally! Football is nearly here. I don't want the summer to end quite yet, but I can't wait to see the Beavs in action again.

Here's an article from the official OSU web site detailing the dates:

Football Practice Dates Set


Scrimmage dates are not known yet.


Go Beavs!