The Beavs are playing themselves this weekend.

I watch the Duck v. Arizona game last weekend and I noticed that they seem very similar to the Beavs. Small running backs, good QB, decent recievers, and a tough D.

But it doesn't stop there. Check out these numbers:

Total Yards
ORST 423.6 / 29th
ARIZ 427.9 / 28th

Passing Yards
ORST 251.6 / 35th
ARIZ 255.5 / 30th

Rushing Yards
ORST 172.0 / 42nd
ARIZ 172.4 / 41st

Points Scored
ORST 33.7 / 24th
ARIZ 39.7 / 11th

And we have the exact same number of offensive first downs.

Hmm. Super even match up. Hopefully we can overcome the home field advantage!

Surprise! Oregon Changes Their Uniforms (again)

I guess at this point its not surprising that the Ducks would change their uniforms yet again.

Hmmm. Even more black. Maybe they're trying to get some late season mojo from the Black & Orange.







Oops. My bad. Got confused by the black. Boy, they do look a lot like the Beavers uniforms, huh.

They even have a new black flag.



I'm watching the Duck/Arizona replay and when I saw those feathers on their shoulders I was REALLY hoping that when they turned around they would have some feathers on their ass. Tailfeathers would be hilarious. Really, other than the feathers, the uniforms are pretty plain. I'm good with plain, but the Oregon color guy just said they look like they could have got them at K-mart(!). Of course, that was after he just got done saying Terence Scott is one of the best receivers in the Pac-10, so I took it with a grain of salt.

Maybe the Beavs should roll out some armored tails or buck teeth on their helmets.

Are the students doing a "blackout"? Really? Wow. Deep down somewhere, I think Phil Knight is a Beaver and he's just f-ing with the Duck fans. At this rate the Ducks will be having Orange highlights in their uniforms by spring practice and an Orange out next November.

Beavs Beat Cal, Keep Dream Alive

Great game, great win.

The Beavs are finding ways to win through defense and now special teams. What an awesome kickoff return for James Rodgers. He was so fast that he was 20 yards ahead of everyone at the end! That kicker looked like he was standing still.

Great game Defense. Great game Quizz (again). Great game fans. We were loud. As loud or louder than USC. I love the new "hua!" at the end of the first down song. Man, the Civil War is gonna be crazy! I really hope we beat U of A so that game is for all the marbles!.

Couple of post-game thoughts:

* Johnny Hekker is growing up fast and looks like he's gonna be a good one.

* Moevao looked a bit rusty, but he looks like he can make the throws now and he should get his rhythm back soon.

* Sammy was huge! I loved the "Sam-my!" chant for each punt return.

* I knew Kevin Riley was screwed at the end after he threw the interception that didn't count (false start). But to get the exact same result on the net play? Whoa!

* Finally the fly sweep started working again. That was sweet.

* The blocking was huge! Especially loved those upfield blocks from receivers and running backs even.

* I taped and re-watched the game. I think that announcer said RB about 52 times.


Another HUGE game next week. I think there's going to be a lot of Beavs there. Come on Beavs!!!

UCLA Win Propels Beavers Into The Top 25

Beavers Fans, we're back in the top 25.

USAToday Top 25 Coaches Poll

AP Top 25

Harris Poll Top 25


That was a great win against UCLA even if the FSN feed kept pooping out all game. And we had radio only for the first quarter.

Props to the Defense again. Quizz was awesome. McCants ran well. Canfield threw well in the 2nd half. Great Win!

I don't think there's a QB controversy. Whoever is most healthy should play.

Cal is going to be tough. Especially defensively. They look pretty good on defense.

Arizona State Aftermath

Whew! That was a heart-stopper of a game.

Great job Canfield, Quizz, James, Kahut, Sammie, Morales, the O-Line, and the bend-but-don't-break defense.

Boy did ASU play the role of villain well. They were pumped and ready to play, that's for sure. Hate to say it, but they looked a bit like Miami of the Southwest.

I don't fault them. They needed to do something different after losing 5 straight and playing with a lot of emotion and swagger almost worked. They were taunting the Beavs as they ran out on to the field. They were dancing on the sidelines during timeouts. They were running across the field to the Beavers sideline. They acted a bit out of control and certainly brought back memories for me. Oh how far we have come.

How exactly is there no ejections when 15 or so players ran across the field to challenge the other team?


Back to the Beavs...

I think this game is huge because if we win big, we lose to UCLA. Now I think the guys will get grounded and realize that they could lose at any time and they really do have to take it one game at a time.

UCLA is net and if we could get that monkey off our back, that would be very big. Every game is big and every game is a battle from here on out. One game at a time.


Great win Beavs!

Arizona St. Tonight!

Dennis is back (again). Will the Beaver fans boo or cheer?

The weather is looking mixed. It was really nice for the homecoming parade, but now its raining. Hopefully it won't be as bad as the Cal v. Oregon game is. Of course, that could actually help us a lot since we run the ball well and they don't.

A Look At The Stretch Run

OK, so the Beavers passed the trap game test. And we now have a road win. So where does that put us for the rest of the season?

This may be one of the hardest seasons to predict in Pac-10 history. I watched Arizona beat up on Cal in the second half of their game last night. Will the real Arizona please stand up? For that matter will the real ASU, Cal, and Oregon please stand up. Inconsistency is the only thing that is consistent about the upper tier teams this weekend.

OK, so we've gotten through the easiest stretch of our season and head into a bye before the stretch run.


What's next?


Arizona St.

Coming off of a bye week and it being in Corvallis, I think this is a winnable game. They are only averaging 334 ypg and 84 ypg on the ground. Of course, even with our experienced secondary we can still give up yards passing. Hopefully the bye week will help us figure things out. The defense gives up 143 ypg on the ground which can only help us. If we can pressure Rudy and run the ball, thus shortening the game, then we win.

UCLA

Another road game and we seem to have a lot of trouble beating UCLA the last few years. They are the team we just can't seem to beat. This could be a tough game. They aren't great offensively, but seem to pull out crazy wins and keep things close. They will also have a bye before meeting us which is scary. However, if there's a year to beat UCLA on the road, this is it. If we're a good team, we should win this game.


California

This is a scary game. They also seem to beat us in Corvallis and are pretty good this year. They are beatable, but they have a lot of talent on that field. Can we do it? Yes. Will we do it? I don't know. They give up 109 ypg on the ground so Lyle and James will need to be on this game. This game will determine whether we have a shot at a good bowl berth or not.

Arizona

On the road. Great defense. Scary. Its a game we could win but unless Tuitama gets hurt, it may be anther Utah type game. Very tough and they will be up for us. Too tough to call, but the game scares me.


Oregon

Can they throw? If not, they will be in trouble. Its still too early to call, but its looking to be a classic as both teams will be good again. Man, I want 3 in a row.



Our chances are good, but this is a tough road ahead. This could be special!

Go Beavs

Husky Game - Review Of The 2007 Debacle

It took a while to shake the Husky bug for us Beavers. Even in our greatest season (2001) we lost to the Huskies. It wasn't until Alexis Serna came along that we really started to beat UW. Now we're on a 4 game win streak.

So can we bring back Serna? How about a look-alike from the soccer team? Probably don't need him this year.

The only reason this game remotely gives me pause is:

A) Its a road game

B) The Huskies have been wanting to get us back for last year

C) They may just get pumped up enough to start out fast


Can we make sure we don't get those refs from last year?


Here's a few videos from last year to get you pumped up for the game:

Lyle's block:



The WORST CALL EVER



Why they're pissed



Looking again at that hit, it really wasn't bad. He was just trying to wrap Locker up and Jake put his helmet down into a dangerous position. Jake was the one leading with the helmet.


Hopefully nobody gets hurt and was take control quickly so that the game doesn't get out of control.



Go Beavs!

Game Day! Wazzu meets Beavers as 30 point dogs

It feels like its been forever since the Beavers have had a game. All I want to see today is the same determination that we've had the last three weeks along with better execution. Just keep getting better and make a statement like we did against Hawaii. Don't give them a chance.

That's it. Execute, play hard, and a couple of big plays.


Go Beavs!

Utah Shocks OSU, Special Teams Still a Problem

Skocked. I can't believe we lost that game. It felt exactly like a midseason game of the last two years where we take a few shots and come out victorious in the end. Well, maybe Alexsis Serna was the reason for that.

The kicking game hurt us bad in that game. Missing an extra point is almost unforgivable. And that sent us on a spiral of 2-point tries that were unsuccessful (which by the way I hope we never do again.). There could have been redemption by hitting a 42 yard field goal in the second half (almost automatic for Serna), but nope.

I think the coaches have to take a little blame on this one. Going for two twice was not necessary. In fact, make one of those extra points and we're up by one and they might have onsides kicked or at least we would have had the opportunity to run the clock out with one first down. Also, the final drive clock management was poor. Just get to OT. Why give them enough time to drive down and get a FG? Especially when you know our punter isn't going to rip off a 60 yard punt. I mean, we were on the 20! Are we going to drive 80 yards (or 60 for a FG) on that defense in 90 seconds?

And to the Ute fans who rushed the field, get over yourselves. You narrowly missed being upset on national TV. You're #15, you should win games at home against unranked opponents. Just because you beat the team that beat USC doesn't mean you beat USC. That might be the worst reason to rush the field in college fooball history. Way to go Ute fans, you proved you're not one of the "big boys". In big boy football we only rush the field when we beat someone in the top 10 in the nation (and we're not in the top 10).


I can't believe we lost that game.

Jake Locker Wants To Play Defense and OSU v. Utah

This from the train wreck that Husky football is becoming:

’It is possible’ Locker could find himself in a new role for Huskies - The Tacoma News-Tribune

However, Locker might be able to return more quickly as a safety, linebacker or tailback, and UW football coach Tyrone Willingham did not rule that out Monday. “It is possible,” Willingham said. “I couldn’t tell you where right now, but I think I said, and others have said, that he is a tremendous athlete with the ability to play five, six, seven positions.”

If Coach Willingham plays his best player on defense, he is crazy. In fact, even if he's not fired immediately (and its pretty clear that he's probably gone after this season) will he have any chance of being hired elsewhere?

I say no.

This isn't 1960 when people played both ways full time. This is 2008 where Jake Locker is not only an NFL prospect, but an MLB prospect. He stands to lose his future livelyhood if he gets unlucky and say injures a shoulder, elbow or rotator cuff by doing something as simple as making a tackle.

Don't do it Ty. Its a career killer.

---

Oregon State at Utah. Most prognosticators are calling a Utah win. The line is Utah to win by 10-12. All of that is good for the Beavers. We will not overlook Utah. Rather than over-confidence from a big win all we will get is confidence.

Does that mean we win? I don't know but I think our chances are good. Its going to be a battle. If we can continue the strong defense and not succumb to the inevitable trick play, then we should be able to keep it close. Brian Johnson is a little proned to interceptions. That would be big if we could get an INT or two.

I can't wait for this game!

Go Beavs!

OSU 27, USC 21: Our #1 is Better Than Your #1

(AP Photo/Steve Slocum)

#1 Jaquizz Rodgers (and the entire O-Line and blocking scheme) > #1 USC.

What a night, what a game. This was nearly total domination in the first half. This was taking their best shot and coming back and winning anyways. This is a HOME WINING STREAK against USC!

This one feels different than 06. I can't tell if I'm more in shock or find it less hard to believe. The hype was so huge about USC that I figured lightning couldn't strike twice. Plus, we started so slow in the season. But I'll be damned, we're hitting our stride early this year. The Utah game is big next week.

Can I get a "I heart Quizz Rodgers" shirt up in here?! Dude never went down on the first hit. He made nothing plays into 5 yard gains, OK plays into 10 yard gains, and frustrated the USC 'D' all game. This wasn't trickery, this was up the gut, in your face, I'm better than you game plan. I LOVED IT. Our best play was up the gut. Everyone was blocking lights out. James Rodgers was sealing awesome for the cut-back, I saw Sammie level Ellison on one play, and even Quizz was pass blocking great.

If we win next week, win all our games in October, then we could be setup for a magical stretch run in November with the best teams at home and when we are at our best. Maybe a 2000 type run?! Damn, I sound like a Duck fan.

Woooo Hooooo! Where's the Tylenol!

Go Beavs!

Quote of the game:

"I am just beside myself," Trojans coach Pete Carroll said. "They didn't hide what they were doing, they just did it and we couldn't stop it."

Here's some great post-game stuff:

USC postgame - Cliff Kirkpatrick Blog

Quizz Show: Jaquizz Rodgers and Oregon State's Domination of USC Analyzed - FanDome

Oregon State highlights vs. USC (9.25.08) - YouTube

Beavers' new Quizz show stumps and thumps USC - John Canzano

Thursday Night Lights - Bob Welch

USC Game - Not A Sell-Out?!

This is hard for me to fathom:

Beavers fans ready for big-game atmosphere - Gazette-Times

There are still about 4,000 general admission tickets left to purchase for the game. They are the $75 variety. All the club seats are sold out.

So the students line up around the block to pick up tickets, but Beaver Nation has left 4000 gen admin tickets on the table? For USC? The #1 team in the nation?

I guess there are more pessimists in Beaver Nation than I thought. Who cares if we lose big. We're expected to as evidenced by the 25 point spread. But would you want to miss beating a #1 for the second time ever? Or how about having a home winning streak against SC?

Come on people. Get your butts in the stands and watch this game!


Go Beavs!

Sometimes Bye Weeks Are Great For Fans Too

The Beavers had a nice weekend to relax, heal, and prepare for USC this week. That can only be good when coming off of an easy win last weekend. Hopefully the coaches see something in the film they can exploit. And hopefully our defense has become experienced and confident enough to take a shot at the best team in the conference.

Sometimes bye weeks are good for the fans too. We get to do some errands, yard work, and watch the other teams around the league/nation. This week I watched the most Oregon football I've seen since Civil War last year. My only complaint about the UO vs BSU game is that the Broncos let the Ducks back into it. BSU was in total control at the end of the 3rd quarter. Although that new freshman did look pretty good in the pocket. Of course, the way Duck QBs go down it only a matter of time.

After watching OSU lose to Boise St. twice on the road over the last few years (then having to hear Duck fans talk about it) that game made the bye week a little better. Hell, a lot better. I'm still smiling. Just remember Duckies, we never lost to the Broncos at home.


Go Beavs!

Weekend Recap...Defense - check...Forced Turnovers - check...Blow Out - check

I went to the game last weekend and despite it being the hottest football game in recent memory, it was a pretty good game to get Beaver Nation's hopes up for USC.

When I walked into that stadium I wanted to see a few things from the Beavs. Better defense, force defensive turnovers, better special teams, and domination.

Three out of four isn't bad. Id say other than the first drive, our defense was great. The interceptions were huge because we're gonna need those in the next two games. And by dominating a lesser team (like we should have done vs. Stanford) we got back some confidence and maybe a touch of swagger that we sorely need against USC. The special teams were a mixed bag. Great return phase. Not so great on the kicking side of things.


On to a bye week, then USC. And boy do they look good. Our only hope is that they come in overconfident and we get 3-4 early breaks and we capitalize on them. If we can keep it close and build momentum for Utah, that is the key. We need to take down Utah like we did Cal last year. That could be the lynchpin if this season. Especially since many teams are looking vulnerable in the Pac-10 (and some downright bad). Man, I wish we could play Stanford again.

Penn St. Rolls Beavers

Well, I was afraid that this would happen. The Beavers go back east again and play the part. It doesn't matter if its an up and coming team like Boise St, Fresno St, or Cincinnati (maybe Utah?) or an established power like LSU or Penn St. The Beavers have only played competitively in maybe 2 games on the road against decent out of conference teams in the last decade.

I'm beginning to think this early season slow start thing is a self-fulfilling prophesy. If people (press, fans) are always asking about how you're going to start fast and why do you start slow, then you start to believe it. And it becomes a wall for the players and maybe worse, the coaches.

Conservative game planning may not be the way to break the cycle. Perhaps we need to shake things up a bit. Throw the ball down field. Have a drive where all you do is fly sweep and run sweep. Go for it on 4th down. Fake punt. Blitz like crazy.

Or maybe the anwser is to just schedule weaker. Only get teams you can go home at home. Kansas went to a BCS game with a weak schedule. We went in 2001 with a weak OOC schedule. When you play all 9 other Pac-10 teams, do we really need to schedule another BCS opponent? Why not get Minnesota or Vandy to play us?

No matter what the Beavers come home this weekend. Let's make sure they get this win because we need some momentum to pull off our game 5 upset that we always seem to do. Be loud and ready to cheer on a win. Its early. The good thing about our self-fulfilling prophesy is that every also tells us we finish strong. The players and coaches believe it and they can do it with the schedule that we have.

Time to start the strong finish. Go Beavs!

Game Preview from a Zombie

Zombie Nation came back with his own thoughts on the game. Check them out in full here:

Preview, Game 2: No. 19 Penn State vs. Oregon State - Zombie Nation

Why PSU will win -- The rushing game: If Stanford can rip off 210 yards against Oregon State, then Penn State shouldn’t have too much trouble. But this week, PSU has to be ready for a team that’s no Coastal Carolina. OSU has won at least nine games two years in a row, and won its last two bowl games. But OSU did lose to Stanford. Penn State will need to keep the ball as long as possible this week, with the suspensions on defense. Special Teams: It’s supposed to rain, a lot. If so, this one can come right down to the special teams play. I’m guessing Kevin Kelly will hit one of two this week, but the return games and punting will be stellar. Even if AJ Wallace doesn’t play (I think he will), Penn State should enjoy great field position on a soggy field.

Why OSU will win -- Turnovers: Get Penn State out of its groove early, and this one could go Oregon State’s way in a hurry. And now with the PSU suspensions, OSU will be looking for every way to take advantage. With slippery conditions possible, look for the OSU defenders to constantly rip for the ball. I’m not sure OSU can go toe-to-toe with PSU if it turns into a shootout, but the Beavers would love for it to come to that. The Passing Game: Oregon State was reduced to chucking the ball around once behind at Stanford. This week, Mike Riley already said the key will be balance. But I really think the balance for OSU will come from the passing game. Get the PSU secondary nice and soft, then send a few runs right at the depleted PSU defensive line. It’s a tough task, even if the PSU defense will be watered down, but not entirely impossible.

What will happen: I just don’t see PSU losing this game. But OSU will scare the hell out of PSU fans. Once PSU pulls away from a tight game, ESPN will talk more about the recent off-the-field issues, instead of the game itself. Daryll Clark will look great again, but the running game will be even better. The defense will be surprisingly stout, but not by PSU standards. The PSU wideouts will shine.

Prediction: No. 19 Penn State, 38 - Oregon State, 24

Problems at PSU...Does this help the Beavers?

Penn St. has just announced that 4 players will not be playing the Beavers this weekend. Included in the list is starting defensive end and All-America candidate Maurice Evans. In addition, a starting defensive tackle, Abe Koroma, will miss the game. A backup TE and CB were also suspended.

Penn State suspends three players, dismisses another - Philadelphia Daily News

Although no charges have been filed and Lt. Bill Moerschbacher, a Penn State campus police spokesman, said the investigation is ongoing, coach Joe Paterno suspended starting defensive end and All-America candidate Maurice Evans, starting defensive tackle Abe Koroma and backup tight end Andrew Quarless for the 19th-ranked Nittany Lions' game tomorrow against Oregon State in Beaver Stadium.

The fourth player living in the apartment, cornerback A.J. Wallace, was absolved of blame by Paterno, at least for now.

The suspensions of three key players overshadowed the announcement that reserve cornerback Willie Harriott, a redshirt junior cornerback and special-teams player from New Haven, Conn., had been dismissed from the team for an undisclosed reason. Harriott had not been in Paterno's good graces since he was cited for underage drinking in August 2007.

So does all this help the Beavers? I think the answer is clearly yes. Anytime you lose an All-American candidate, it has an effect. My guess is that Penn State is pretty deep at many positions so they should have someone serviceable in there. To lose half your D-line which is considered a strength...it could be good for the Beavs. More time for the Lyle and perhaps more running room.



Go Beavs!

Oregon State at Penn St.: Why the Beavers Will Win (Or Lose)

With a relaxing Labor Day weekend to recover from the gut wrenching loss to Stanford, its time to forget the past and look to the future. The future makes me nervous. Penn St. was dominant over Coastal Carolina and its a long trip out to Happy Valley. Can we pull off an LSU type game, but with a win? Or will we continue our east coast blowout streak?

Zombie Nation asked a couple of questions, and here are my answers.

Three reasons OSU will win...

1. Oregon State's run defense. Last season the Beavers run defense allow 899 yards for the entire season. There were a lot of graduations, but the current starters all rotated in heavily last year and are pretty experienced. In addition, senior safety Al Afalava is back for the Penn St. game and he is a big hitter who helps out a ton in the run game.

Oregon State has seen a lot of spread in Oregon, a little in Washington, and Utah over the last couple of years. We know how to defend it and have defended it pretty well. Our defensive speed is good. So the Spread HD can be contained.

If Oregon State can hold Penn St. to around 100-150 yards, then they should be winning the game.

2. Coach Riley and the players thrive on these big games. The Beavers gave LSU all they could handle and should have won the game. Riley has yet to lose a bowl game. They beat #2 Cal away last year and USC the year before to snap their big winning streak. I think the players will be pumped and ready to show the nation their stuff. If they get out to an early lead, then they can win.

3. Forcing turnovers. Last year Oregon State had 24 interceptions and 4 for TDs. They have the secondary back and guys who are ball hawks. After forcing no turnovers against Stanford, turnovers will be a point of emphasis and guys will be stripping and looking for the INT. If OSU has a +2 turnover margin or better, they will beat the Nittany Lions.


Three reasons OSU will lose...

1. Turnovers. In all of the Beavers big losses the last few years, turnovers are the culprit. Interceptions, fumbles, and crazy touchbacks. Cincy killed us on takeaways. Louisville and Boise St. all picked us off at will. If we lose the turnover battle, we lose the game. If we give up 5+ turnovers, then it will get ugly.

2. Its game 2. The Beavers haven't had a great start to the season since 2002. It's kind of a Beaver thing to start slow and finish strong. The Stanford loss might mean its another slow start for the Beavs. We lost some great players last year and we are young. Those young guys have to learn on the job and it takes a few games to get going.

3. The running game. After not being able to establish the run against Stanford (granted we had to pass a ton because we were behind), and with the yards PSU put up last week. It could be a slow death. If Penn St. establishes running dominance early and the Beavers can't run, then it will take a career performance from Lyle Moevao to win. He had 400 yards last week, but he would need zero interceptions and some help from the defense to make that happen. If the Beavers can't run either inside or outside on the fly sweep, they will lose the game.


Score...

Its hard to predict a win on this game. I think our early season woes and young LBs and RBs make it tough to call. They say teams improve most from game 1 to game 2 and we will need it. We did have a much tougher game last week than PSU and the Beavers will be ready to go. Not to mention I still have the bad taste from last week in my mouth.

I'll call a 38-21 Penn St. win. I hope I'm wrong and the game is much closer than that.

Prove me wrong Beavs!



Go Beavers!

Beavers Lose To Stanford, And Take a Gut Punch

That game was a tough loss for the Beavers. And it was tough for Beavers fans like me who just want a season where we start off strong for once. Bob DeCarolis wonders where the fans are at the games, but it tough to build excitement when you're written off after the first 5 games. It still could turn out to be a good start. Maybe this loss will inspire the guys to beat PSU. Maybe lightning will strike twice and USC will go down again (they have had their share of bad early Pac-10 losses).

As far as the Stanford game, that was an emotionally tough game for us fans. The game went something like this:

* Yes! The season has started!
* OK, starting slow, but we're OK so far.
* Nice 2 minute drive to tie it up at halftime! We've got this game now!
* Got the lead! But it feels a little hollow because we settled for a FG.
* Crap! Can anyone stop that guy? He's running over us!
* How can Stanford be opening up those huge holes?
* Uh, oh. It's Cincy, Boise St., and Louisville all over again. Ug.
* Wait a sec, we have a shot to win this thing...
* Hey, we're gonna tie this game!
* What happened! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! (Cries in beer)

It's games like these that make me think were not going to win another game. But after I slept on it, there are some positives.

The positives:

* Our 2 minute offense is really good.
* Lyle is not perfect, but he's actually a pretty good QB.
* Our running game could be pretty good at some point this season. I saw flashes
* Our O-line is OK. At least in pass protection. Lyle had a lot of time to throw.

The negatives:

* This isn't last year's defense yet.
* Turnovers and mistakes are the key to every game for the Beavers here on out
* RBs catching passes out of the backfield is sketchy


One question I had is, where was the Fly Sweep? Our bread and butter last year and we don't run it first play of the game? We need to make teams prove they can stop it.

Oh, and that #44 on Stanford should have been ejected. I have never seen a cheaper shot on the QB than that helmet to helmet job after a handoff. That guy goes to Stanford?! Harbaugh didn't even take him out of the game. Weak.

ESPN sure loved Stanford/Harbaugh. Does the S in ESPN stand for Stanford?


Penn St. next.

Stanford Is a Must Win Game

Yes, we already have our first must win game. And its the first game of the season. Yikes!

Most Beaver fans have a fairly optimistic view going into this season. Good seasons are built on beating teams you expect to beat, pulling out a few good wins, and probably losing to most everyone better than you. Great seasons have a win or two over a great team.

Here's how I see the Beavers opponents stacking up:

Must Wins
@Stanford
Hawaii
Washington St.
@Washington
@Arizona

Good Wins
@Utah
Arizona St.
@UCLA
Cal

Great Wins
Penn St.
USC
Oregon


Must wins are the teams that every Beaver fan says "W" automatically in the pocket schedule game.

Good wins are ones where you think, hmm, this could be a tough win or a loss. Win a couple of those, and you're in a bowl game.

Great wins are the USC win in 2006. It's last year at Cal and Oregon. These are the ones people remember and turn good seasons into great ones.


Back to Stanford. We must win this game. It allows the guys to go into Penn St. fired up, relaxed, and ready to prove who they are. It takes the pressure off if we don't come away with a win at Penn St. And most importantly, its a Pac-10 road win.

I want this season to be a great season. And the way to make that happen is to be 3-0 to start the season. It all starts today.

Go Beavs!

Craig Robinson on the national stage

Check out that sweet orange tie!

2008 Football - Pocket Schedule Game

Its time to start the old pocket schedule game. I ran a poll a few weeks back before fall camp had started and I found that people are very optimistic about this season. Of course, its easy to pick a number. Harder is predicting how the Beavers get there.

Here's a review what Beavers fans think the football team will do this year:

Wins - % of Votes
  11 - 10%
  10 - 15%
   9 - 32%
   8 - 27%
   7 - 7%
   6 - 2%
   5 - <1%
   4 - 2%
   3 - 5%

About 10% think we will have a losing season. However, 25% of fans think we're headed for a BCS game. I voted 9 wins. So yea, either we have a serious case of Orange Crush or we know a lot more than the pundits. Other than Sports Illustrated, it seems we are averaging about a 6th place finish in the Pac-10 among pre-season magazines/polls. Of course, we are always low in those just like we are always low in the recruiting rankings.

Lets look at the schedule:

2008 Schedule - OSUBeavers.com

at Stanford
at Penn st
Hawaii
USC
at Utah
WSU
at UW
ASU
at UCLA
Cal
at UA
UO

At first glance, its clearly very tough. I wish the Stanford game was at home, because that's a tough one to start with. We cannot look past them towards PSU. That said, I'm calling the game at Stanford a win. We have to have that one to get off on the right foot.

W - at Stanford

Penn State is tough. I think we have a shot, but we haven't actually won a huge game out of conference early in the season. Will this be the year we finally start off strong? This could be our Michigan. It would be HUGE! That said, even though I think we can win, I'm putting this down as an L.

L - at Penn st

Hawaii has a new coach and lost some good seniors. W.

W - Hawaii

USC should have Sanchez back. I'm not sure I believe in Sanchez, but the rest of their team is so good. If we are going to beat them, this might be the year. But I have to be realistic and call an L here. But how huge would this game be if we're 3-0 going into it? Reser would be ROCKIN! If god is a Beaver fan, he will make this happen.

L - USC

At Utah. Tough call here. Typically this is when we start hitting cruise control on the season. But playing at Utah will be tough. Revenge factor. Hmmm. I say we pull it out and our defense wins it for us. W.

W - at Utah

WSU: new coach. W.

W - WSU

Washington will be tougher this year. But I think our D just knows how to play against the run. We will be swarming and the Beavs will win in Seattle once again.

W - at UW

Big game with ASU. Erickson returns again. They have a target on their back. We tend to play poorly vs. ASU, but I call a win. This will be our first in a few years and will set up a great stretch run.

W - ASU

Yea. We ALWAYS seem to lose bad at UCLA. So this will be a loss, but it will inspire us down the stretch for our traditional final run.

L - at UCLA

And during that run we will beat Cal again, Arizona away, and the Ducks for a 3rd consecutive time and on to a bowl game!

W - Cal
W - at UA
W - UO


To recap, here's the predictions:

W - at Stan
L - at Penn st
W - Hawaii
L - USC
W - at Utah
W - WSU
W - at UW
W - ASU
L - at UCLA
W - Cal
W - at UA
W - UO

9-3, 7-2 Pac-10

Holiday Bowl anyone?


Go Beavs!

First Fall Practice...Punting, Shotgun, Quizz, Canfield and more!

I finally got out to see my first fall practice on Monday at Reser Stadium. It was a pretty laid back practice with a bonus of lots of special teams work.

Some notes:

Special Teams

There were three punters practicing and only two were really any good. #7 Hekker had some very good punts. And generally he was kicking them fairly consistently. Some didn't have a ton of hang time which could hurt, but enough did that I think we may be better off in the punting dept. this year. #18 Sehnem looked pretty good too, but his best punts just weren't as good as Hekker that day.

The punt blocking looked pretty good and Sammie was as quick as ever returning those punts. The punt rush seemed good as well, but they never got a block so it was hard to tell.

I think Kahut was kicking again, but it was pretty limited. Overall they did well, but they didn't practice anything very long (maybe 30-35 yards).

Offense

Moevao took most of the snaps on the live drills. They are clearly really concentrating on getting him ready for Stanford. He looked pretty good overall, but they may have been implementing some new plays because he was forcing the ball a lot on certain routes that seemed to be covered well (to me at least). But the few times someone was wide open, he seemed to hit them. So that's good. They worked on shotgun, which I don't remember seeing in the past. That should give our O Line some extra time on key passing downs.

Canfield did all of the drills that the other QBs did. He didn't get many reps and he threw nearly all short balls, but he never seemed in pain. Engstrom got a few reps too, but I don't remember anything spectacular. Katz had a good arm, but I saw almost nothing of him in the live drills.

The running backs all looked good. Quizz just looks so fast. Probably because he is fast. And strong. He will make an impact this year. I liked how McCants looked as well. Fast and strong. Francis looked OK, but I don't remember seeing him do much.

The WR and TEs looked good. Nothing spectacular, but everyone looked pretty sharp.

Defense

It was pretty non-contact so it was hard to evaluate the front 7. They definitely would have had a few sacks if they could have. The secondary looked really good. almost stifling at times. They and the LBs definitely swarmed to the ball very well on anything underneath. If our pass rush can be close to last year, teams will have a tough time against us. I didn't really get much of a sense for the rush defense because there were almost zero inside run plays, but the couple I saw looked like they had it stuffed.


Overall, I came away a little happier about the punting situation, the secondary, and maybe the running backs. Everything else was either hard to judge or I expected better.


Go Beavs!

Joe Beaver Show Back On The Air...and is Podcasting

I caught part of the first Joe Beaver Show of the 08-09 season today. And it sounds like they finally added something I've been asking about for the last 2-3 years. They have a podcast!

They mentioned it on the air and I found the link at kejoam.com. Copy and paste this (http://www.hypothetical.net/beaver/pod.xml) into iTunes in the Advanced menu, then "Subscribe to Podcast...".

Its like TiVo for radio. Pretty cool!

2008 Football is Underway

Beavers Fall Camp has started and things look promising. So far mostly good news has come to the camp with Simi Kuli probably here on Sept 1st.

Get out there and watch the 2008 Beavs if you get a chance!

2008 Fall Camp Schedule (subject to change)

Aug. 1-2 2 p.m. (shorts)
Aug. 3-4 2 p.m. (shells)
Aug. 5 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 6 8:30 a.m. (full gear) & 6:30 p.m. (shells)
Aug. 7 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 8 8:30 a.m. (full gear) & 6:30 p.m. (shells)
Aug. 9 2 p.m. (full gear/officials)
Aug. 10 No practice
Aug. 11 8:30 a.m. (full gear) & 6:30 p.m. (shells)
Aug. 12 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 13 8:30 a.m. (full gear) & 6:30 p.m. (shells)
Aug. 14 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 15 8:30 a.m. (full gear) & 6:30 p.m. (shells)
Aug. 16 2 p.m (full gear/officials)
Aug. 17 No practice
Aug. 18 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 19 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 20 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 21 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 22 2 p.m. (full gear)
Aug. 23 1:30 p.m. (full)
Aug. 24 No practice
Aug. 25 6:30 p.m. (shells)
Aug. 26 6:30 p.m. (shells)

2007 Football Season in Review

Fall camp is coming up, and I'll be doing the pocket schedule game for the 2008 season soon. However, I thought I'd do a quick review of the 2007 season:



'Nuff said :)

Poll: How many do the Beavs win next year?

With no CWS to watch and football season a bit away...its time for a poll!

Beavers don't make the tournament...I blame the new compressed schedule

That's a major bummer. It looked like we'd squeak in again. I can't wait until Oregon gets back into the league so maybe the Pac-10 can start getting 6 teams in. The SEC got 9 of 12 teams in. Seriously? Plus, they only had 2 national seeds which the Pac-10 also had.

Honestly, I think that the new schedule cost us a trip. By requiring the season to start so late teams like the Beavers had to play a ton of games on the road to get in over 50 games. For teams in the SEC and California thats easy. But we had to play all over to get it in. How does ASU play 2-3 times more home games than us in a compressed season? That's a HUGE advantage.

Quite honestly, I think the late schedule start date was a hindrance rather than a help to us northern schools. That rule must be repealed. The kids are basically pros playing 5 games a week. When are they going to class? Ugh. I can see why Pat Casey is tired. Lots of travel and lots of games back-to-back-to-back.

Well, lets start a new run next season! Thanks for another fun season Beavs!

Ouch. Baseball Team Takes a Major Blow

The Beavers may have just done what they couldn't afford to do against USC.  They got swept.  They had every opportunity to win the game, but it seems their close game luck has run out.  And to think a hit batter on a curveball would let in the tying run.  That's the breaks I guess. 

I was pretty surprised by the decision to start Peavey.  I think you stick with Robles.  But the coaches went for a hunch and it almost paid off.  His line was pretty good.  Too bad the bullpen couldn't pick him up.  I'm also surprised that they went with Keitzman in a game that meant so much. 

Now even if they win out, they may not be able to ride the National Champion card to get a berth in the playoffs.  Seems like the National Champs should get an automatic berth, right?

Well, one last shot to beat a decent team today.  Long Beach State tonight.

Will the Beavers Baseball Team Make the Tournament?

It's been a bit of a frustrating year this year in baseball. Maybe not quite as much so as last year (before the playoff run) but frustrating nonetheless. Its the up and down nature of the thing. Playing well against great teams and bad against bad teams. Losing series to Wazzu and Gonzaga was not good.

All that said, even losing the two games to USC, we're still in it. What do we need to do to get in?

Here's the remaining schedule:

USC
Long Beach State
Pacific
Pacific
Pacific

I'd say we need to win the last game at USC to finish .500 in the Pac-10. Then if we can beat Pacific 2 out of 3 at home, we're probably safe. Although a sweep would be nice, because they don't look all that good. A win against LB State would look very good as well.

I think the NCAA wants the defending champs to make it into the playoffs so if we just do OK down the stretch, we'll probably make it in.


Why has this year been so tough? Clearly, its the pitching and defense. We've never been a much better hitting team than we are this year, but our pitching and defense was a lot better the last 3 years. This year is particularly bad.

Stutes - He's never really been dominating in his career, but he has been OK this season. Very up and down but at least keeps things close most outings.

His 5.56 era is a little misleading. A 1.49 WHIP ((BB+H)/IP) is not great, but good enough to win you some games. 8.2 K/9 is pretty good and helps get out of some jams. A 63% LOB% seems low but since our team rate is around 60% maybe our defense just doesn't have great range. The 4.4 BB/9 is pretty high for me, but this is college. Our team BB/9 is 4.8 and opponents are walking 5.0 per game. Wow. If Stutes gets hot at the end of the year, then he can be an ace. Otherwise, he's a 2 not an ace.

Reyes - Not a good year. 1.68 Whip is very high. 4.6 BB9. Almost a .300 batting average against. Yikes. If he was a rookie, he would not be pitching every week. He was expected to be our ace. Is his stuff still good? I don't know. But he needs to improve next year or he may be out of a job. One indicator that he's kinda getting unlucky is that his LOB% is 48%. Thats the lowest on the team. Maybe the D hasn't been great or he can't pitch with people on base, but when over 1/2 the people who get on base score, thats not good.

Robles - Our best starter all year if you look at his season stats. His ERA is high, but most other numbers show he's been a solid #2. 1.175 WHIP. 7.3 K/9 (anything over 6 is good enough). .181 average against and .226 batting average on balls in play. Another stat, fielding independent pitching is a low 2.89 (Stutes is 5.14, Jorge 7.05, and Peavey 10.16). And he hasn't allowed a HR all year. So that huge 5.61 era is very misleading. His LOB% is a little low too so that proves that his ERA is a bit of a fluke. If he's not hurt he needs to be pitching every weekend.

Peavey and Osich have started this year too, but they are struggling mightily. Peavey would be fine if he could up his K rate a little and get that hit rate below 1 per inning. He gets hit hard when he gets hit (8 HR and 15 2b in 38 IP - thats the same as Stutes in 1/2 the innings). Osich just walks way too many. 9.3 BB/9. Over one per inning. Plus people are hitting .307 off of him.

I say give James Nygren a shot against the big boys. His numbers look pretty good. Only 3.1 BB/9 - best on the team among pitchers who play regularly. K's are a little low at 5.9 K/9 but he has a 63% LOB% and 1.250 whip. Both very good for our team. He's pitched mostly against lesser teams, but given his numbers he deserves a shot to prove himself.


Just a quick note on hitting. Two things surprised me when I looked at the hitting numbers. First, Lonnie Lechelt is having a great year. He's the second best hitting on the team next to Ryan Ortiz. If he could ever talk a walk, he'd be very good.

Second, Joey Wong is not as good of a hitter as I thought. Even with his 5 HRs a .705 OPS (OBA+SLG) is basically a weak hitting SS. He does make up for it by walking a lot and what appears to be clutch hitting. But, I was surprised because my impression was that he was having a pretty good year.

The only criticism I'd have for the lineup recently is that Jordan Lennerton isn't playing more often. He's a good hitter who has pop and is the best defensive 1B on the team. I realize Ortiz needs rest from time to time, but the Moose needs to play!


Here's to beating USC, LB State, and sweeping Pacific!

Go Beavs!

Must read article on Sammy

Great article on Sammy Stroughter's ordeal and how he made it back.

Stroughter's long road back - SI.com

Gotta read that one.


The baseball team got some national exposure as well.

Casey, Oregon State build for the long run on diamond - USAToday

They are predicting another playoff appearance for the Beavs. Good read.

Spring Game aftermath

Looks like the D will be good again in 2008 if the Spring Game is any indication. Even without Simi Kuli and Ben Terry the D Line was tearing it up much of the game. Granted, we have had a ton of O-Line injuries, but even so, they looked really good.

The biggest surprise was some of the unknowns. Like Justin Engstrom who may have had the best day as a QB. Also, the big WR out of Eugene looked pretty good. He may not get much PT, but it may bode well for the future. Then there were all the new LBs, CBs, safeties, and everything else that we got our first look at. Good stuff.

Looks like only one of the QB walk-ons will be kept for Fall:

Riley, Beavers to choose from walk-ons

Only one of three walk-on quarterbacks — sophomore Brennan Sim and freshmen Justin Engstrom and Zach Anderson — is likely to be invited to training camp. The 6-5, 205-pound Engstrom was the most impressive in the spring game, completing 10 of 15 passes for 108 yards.

Overall, I'm pretty excited. The D looks as good as ever. The kicking game doesn't look like it will miss a beat. The O should be OK with all the new RB talent coming in. Moevao looks very confident and the TEs looked good.

If the offensive line can come together and the running backs can improve, we should have a great team in '08!

Sweet Visual 2008 Pac-10 College Football Schedule

A Cal blogger must have spent some time on this. Pretty cool:



Its a visual helmet schedule of all the teams in the Pac-10! That should get you ready for the spring game!


Thanks Flickr user bearsnecessity!

The Register-Guard Takes Cheap Shot

Does anyone know what Rob Moseley is talking about?

Avoiding spring breaks: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.:

"And was anybody outside of Benton County surprised to read about late hits by Beaver defenders? The Ducks will try to avoid any of those in a Civil War road game on Nov. 29."

Is that a reference to the Alfalava hit in the Civil War? And Duck fans think that Beavers linger on things forever. Get over it!

How's that Belotti family doing? Oh, and when you've shackled the State of Oregon with the albatross known as your basketball arena, I hope the alumns can bail you out!

Frohnmeyer is retiring. Maybe the Phil and Kilkenny won't get a free pass anymore:

University of Oregon president will retire next year - Seattle P-I

"But faculty members do have concerns over the increasing prominence of athletics under Frohnmayer, Sayre said, especially because a large chunk of the $1 billion raised during his presidency has gone to athletics."

Spring Football - The Defense is still good

This is what every Beaver fan wanted to hear this spring:

Day 6 report (not exactly eyewitness account) - Behind The Beavers Beat

"Riley was hopeful that OSU had the depth, and enough fresh blood, to re-load on defense, where much of the front seven is gone, including all three LBs. ... QB Lyle Moevao told the scribes in attendance, 'it's just a bunch of new faces out there doing the same thing as last year.''"

Excellent.

Welcome Craig Robinson

The Beavers have a new basketball coach. After giving it a couple of days to simmer, I'm in the "wait and see" camp. I think its way too early to say he's in over his head like Tim said, but its also too early to praise this as a great hire. Like Ryan White, I have to say that I'm...interested.

There's a lot to digest with Coach Robinson.

* He's a total unknown on the West coast.
* He did a pretty impressive turn around at Brown. Granted...its Brown.
* He's been very successful outside of basketball in a very competitive business that involves strategy, selling, and long hours.
* He's related to Barack Obama.
* He's bringing in a system that can potentially help level the playing field and talent gap.
* He's a good, thoughful, and intelligent speaker

I think he could be a great hire. He's the type of guy who you want to succeed. He fits in well with Mike Riley, Pat Casey, LaVonda Wagner, and the other OSU coaches.

So, hey, I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I don't buy anyone who says that Billy Grier or Bennett would have been better hires than Craig. I see him as an East Coast version of those guys. And when it got down to some unknown at IUPUI...ugh. Sure, I wanted Eustacy to get an interview but I can understand not compromising as well.

I say good hire for now and let's wait and see how this Princeton-esqe offense comes together.

Here's the NY Times article on coach Robinson: Coach With a Link to Obama Has Hope for Brown’s Future

I looked around for some video on Brown, but there wasn't much.

Here's some from what looks to be a Brown student... Brown University Bears Beastin!

There's more on the related videos area. Nothing spectacular.

Eugene/Corvallis loses another local sports radio show

This is a cliche, but we lost one of the good guys in local sports radio this past week. Steve Tannen, former host of SportsTalk on KPNW, has been cut after 10 years.

It's not like we have a lot of options in the local sports radio market down here in the mid-valley. There's the Joe Beaver Show on 1240 AM, and we can get Portland's KFXX Primetime at night usually (Big Suke and Issac Ropp). After that, it was pretty much Steve Tannen and his Sportstalk. Local radio has really taken a hit lately. The Herd went national, and what happened to the Saturday morning show on KFXX?

It's sad and similar to what's happening across all radio. Radio is becoming more homogenized and national. Music radio is just bad these days. Especially when I can find 100's of podcasts that have much newer and better stuff. I guess I'll have to wait for a good local sports podcast to show up. Anyone?

Steve was a Duck, but he respected the Beavers and would give them props all the time. He had a good balanced show and didn't get caught up trying to shock people or stir up bad blood. I enjoyed listening to him and Nate in the afternoons and I hope he makes it back on air in the near future.

KPNW pulls the plug on Tannen’s ‘Sports Talk’ in favor of Savage - Eugene Register-Guard

“To me, it wasn’t just a show,” Tannen said Wednesday. “I put my heart and soul into that. It was kind of a part of who I am."

SportsTalk silenced from airwaves - fans have loud reaction - KVAL

Former Bio on KPNW:

Steve kind of keeps an eye on the world of sports in order to fake his way through KPNW's SportsTalk. He's on a never ending mission to convince people that it's not logical to be a Duck fan and root for any team from Seattle. He and his wife Kathy are animal nuts with 2 dogs, 3 cats and Kathy runs a dog walking business. They're also lunatic Oregon football fans who have attended every home game in their section 11 seats since the start of the 1995 season. Go Ducks, Yankees and Jets!

Oregon State Beavers Finally Have Respect

Oregon State has been the Rodney Dangerfield of the Pac-10 for quite a while. We don't get no respect.

In football our pre-season ranking nearly always is much lower than our final position. Not to mention that our recruiting classes rank low every year for no good reason other than that we are the Beavers.

Last year after winning a National Title in baseball we were ranked pretty low in the Top 25 all year. Even after a scorching hot start, nobody would give us respect.

In baseball, times have changed my friends. This week we are ranked #22 in the Baseball America Top 25 despite a bad start by our recent standards. We were 5-5 and 0-3 vs. Top 25 teams at the time of the ranking. Hey, I'll take that. I'd say that ranking is respect for what we've done.

That said, I think we will be a good team this year. If the defense can become stellar again and the pitching comes around then we will be great again. That huge 22 run effort was big and if that translates to more hitting, then it could be a really great season. The Beavs are young so we may not know how good this team is until Pac-10 play gets going.

Go Beavs!

Where is the furthest any season ticket holder travels to Beaver football home games?

I got an interesting comment yesterday asking about Beaver football season ticket holders. What's the furthest season ticket holder by distance? I've certainly heard of Central Oregon season ticket holders and maybe even some from Washington. Southern Oregon could be a bit of a haul.

So if you are or know of a season ticket holder who travels a looong way for each home game, leave a comment and I'll make a cool Google map widget to show where people are from and calculate the furthest season ticket holder.


On a side not: OSU Basketball is slipping further and further from relevance for Beaver nation this year. The G-T has way more articles on the 2-time national champion OSU Baseball team than the hoops team these days. I find myself watching more NBA games than I have in the last 10 years. Hmm, I wonder how many new Blazer fans are also Beavers fans?

OSU Beavers Recruits: Tony Wilson

Since we just looked at Jordan Bishop, lets take a look at another new Beaver from the Salem area, Tony Wilson.

Tony is a linebacker from Sprague.who is one of the better players to come out of the state. He's projected to be a middle linebacker with decent speed.

Area football players commit to universities - Statesman Journal

Wilson, a second-team all-state linebacker as a senior and former Central Valley Conference defensive player of the year, picked Oregon State over an offer from Portland State and interest from Washington and Oregon.

Oregon State's reputation as the west coast Linebacker U helped draw Wilson's interest to Corvallis.

"That's one of the reasons why I committed is just their defense and last year they were probably one of the best in the Pac-10 or the best," said Wilson, who plans on majoring in business.

I love to hear about OSU being linebacker U. Especially when recruits talk about it.

Tony Wilson Profile - OSUBeavers.com

Chris Fetters on Wilson - "Wilson brings a lot of things that other big linebackers may not have - and that's athleticism. He’s big, strong, tough, physical - but he's also really athletic for his size and moves extremely well, a very fluid runner. On top of that, he's a very smart player"

Tony Wilson Flip... - Tony Wilson LOI signing ceremony

Scout Profile
Rivals Profile - Highlight Video 1 - Video 2

Recruiting Spotlight: Jordan Bishop

WR Jordan Bishop was a good in-state get for the Beavers out of Salem. He joins Tony Wilson, a LB, as two of the top in state recruits for OSU.

Jordan played DB and WR in High School, but looks to use his size (6-3, 195), speed (49.56 in the 400), and athleticism (23' 6 in long jump) to dominate at wide receiver in the coming years.

Jordan was lured partially by the expected return of Track and Field at OSU. That's great that its already happening. I figured to return of track would be good to help increase the overall team speed on the football team.

Area football players commit to universities - Statesman Journal

Bishop also had to weigh offers to compete in track and field, a sport in which he also excels.

But after getting into football this fall, he decided the lure of the sport was too much to pass up.

"Oregon State is also getting a track team in 2010, which is my sophomore year, if I'm still into it, I'm going to probably do track then, too," said Bishop, who likely will greyshirt or redshirt next year.

One note in the Statesman Journal, it appears that Jordan will greyshirt and look to start playing on 2009.
Football: Here’s a look at which local players are going where - Statesman Journal

West Salem’s Jordan Bishop has verbally committed to play at Oregon State as well. Bishop, according to West Salem coach Shawn Stanley, will greyshirt next year and delay enrollment until January of 2009.

Here's his profile on OSUBeavers.com:
Jordan Bishop, WR, 6-3, 195, Salem, Ore. (West Salem) - OSUBeavers.com

...head coach Shawn Stanley on Bishop – “If he is not a Division I receiver than I will never coach one because he is the best I will ever get -- I have never seen anyone catch him from behind.”

Other Links:


Jordan Bishop Football Highlights Part I - Part II - Part III

Scout Profile
Rivals Profile


Jordan Bishop Track and Field Athlete Profile

One more signee?

Looks like we will be getting one more commitment coming is soon:

Several from isles mainland-bound - Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Si'ilata (6-2, 285), who excelled on both sides of the ball, named Oregon State as his choice. However, he did not submit his letter to Kahuku coach Reggie Torres to be faxed.

Kemoeatu and Si'ilata are not NCAA qualifiers yet, but Torres said both are on track academically to clear that hurdle.

He's a 6'1", 325 lbs. offensive lineman out of Kahuku High in Hawai'i.

Scout Profile

Rivals Profile

OSU Beavers Recruits are in - Simi Kuli Spotlight

The Beavers signing day is over and they have done well. I think there are still a couple of players who may sign late (including a punter), but this is the class!

Signing Day - Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 - OSUBeavers.com

I thought I'd see what I could find out there about Simi Kuli. He was the #1 rated JC player and a 5 star player for both Scout and Rivals. At defensive end, he looks big and fast. He's going to be a good one.

Some highlights from his college career:

* Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 for the Mission Conference
* 2007 Stats: 68 tackles; 7 sacks; 29 quarterback hurries
* 2006 Stats: 12 TFL for 44 yards; 3.5 sacks for 24 yards; 10 QB hurries; 2 fumble recoveries; 50 tackles

Simi Kuli Profile - OSUBeavers.com

Simi Kuli Highlight Videos - Rivals.com

News Articles:

Defensive end leads solid class - Gazette-Times

“I think what gave us an edge there was he had enough wisdom to see what we do defensively and he fits into that,” Riley said. “He looked at us where we are nationally as a defensive team. He liked that. Probably bigger than that was how he connected with our team, the players on the team and the former teammates he had at El Camino.”

National letter of intent day - OregonLive.com

"If I were a defensive tackle, I wouldn't want to face him for 60 minutes. . . . He's going to beat you a half-dozen times. He's going to get some sacks. He's going to get some hurries." -- El Camino coach John Featherstone

This concerns me a bit:
Kaveinga decides on USC, where he will join Baucham - DailyBreeze (LA)

Among the El Camino highlights are two Florida State players (RB Tavares Pressley and WR Corey Surrency), a Miami-bound player (FB Patrick Hill) and five Pac-10 players - WR Verran Tucker (Cal), DT Justin Thompson (Oregon), RB Jeremy Francis (Oregon State), OL Brent McNeil (Oregon State) and DE Simi Kuli (Oregon State).

Kuli, a five-star defensive end, needs to complete about 20 units by Aug. 1 before he can join the Beavers.

Hit the books my man! We want to see you in orange and black!

It's Super Wednesday (or LOI signing day)

Huge day for college football programs across the nation. The Beavers are reportedly signing 16 players in addition to the 3 JC guys who have already signed.

This class looks to address a number of needs. First and foremost, the defensive line. 5 star Simi Kuli looks to continue the tradition of great defensive ends at OSU. But also JCs Ben Terry (DE) and Stephen Paea (DT) should help with all the defensive line departures this year. We should have a good mix of new and returning guys up front.

Running back is clearly another area of concern. We recruited there hard last year and may be set with McCants and Mokhtar. However, JC RB Jeremy Francis and 2 HS RBs Jacquizz Rodgers and Jovan Stevenson should make the graduation of Yvenson easier to handle.

There's some very interesting guys in this class who are rated not so high but could turn into the next big thing at OSU. Especially at wide receiver. Keynan Parker is an athlete with 4.3 (!) speed. WR anyone? Also, Jordan Bishop is a big WR out of Salem who looks like he could be very good. WR Kevin Walker out of Cali is our highest rated HS player according to ESPN. He could get some serious playing time next year as a true freshman.

Walker is a thickly built, sturdy wide out that looks great on the hoof. He is a polished wide receiver and it is easy to see he is a coaches kid-- takes pride in the little things.

I like that we're getting another QB and 3 more offensive lineman. Got to keep that pipeline going. We're a bit light on LBs, but the one we got looks pretty good. We're stacked at LB right now anyways.


To get the up to the minute signing day action, go to OSUBeavers.com. Pure-Orange is bound to be hopping too: Recruiting.


NOTE: I heard Mike Parker on the national Fox Sports Morning Radio show talking about Bobby Knight. That would be a big hire for OSU. But would it be a good hire?

Congrats Derek and Chad!

Derek Anderson and Chad Johnson are going to the Pro Bowl. Great reward for a huge year by Derek!

They join T.J. Houshmandzadeh who was already invited.

Oregon State gets no love from recruiting rankings...does it matter?

Signing day is nearing and that means a new hope for the future and a chance to see how everyone stacks up for the next 4 years.

Unfortunately, other than a few stats and opinions by "experts" there's really no way to know how any of these kids will pan out. The ratings are a bit of a joke. They take into account some NFL-esque stats, if they will have a chance to have an impact as a freshman, and maybe one look from someone who knows football, then throws a star ranking on them. But what it doesn't take into account is potential. I.E. a safety who is really fast, but maybe slow for a safety, who puts on 30 pounds and becomes a stud LB who is hard hitting and fast (Doggett, Barnett, Ellison). Or a short, slightly slow RB who is very shifty, tough, and does all the little things right (Simonton, Bernard, Rodgers).

What I'm saying is it doesn't measure potential at all. But coaches like Riley, Banker, Langsdorf, Cav, etc all do. They can build players into something that Rivals, Scout, and ESPN didn't expect and mold a collection of individuals into something greater when they are on the field.

So I cringe when I see another article like this one on ESPN:

Class of 2008 Pac-10 recruiting overview, part one

Saying we're going to be in the bottom half of the Pac-10 for recruiting. Part of that is pure numbers. We had a ton of Greyshirts from last year's class that will add to this current year.

I agree with this assessment:

Underrated Class: Skeptics continue to overlook the Beavers


So stay tuned on February 6th and lets see what the future looks like!


Oregon State 2008 Football Commitments (15) - Rivals.com

Beavers Football Recruiting List - Scout.com

John, Giles gone

As the major newspapers reported, Jay John was fired over the weekend. Assistant Kevin Mouton takes over and looks down the barrel of a UCLA and USC home stand. Yikes!

What surprised me was that Mouton's first order of business was to kick C.J. Giles off the team. Bummer. Seems like you'd want to give the new coach a chance to do that himself. Too bad it didn't work out.

More on this later.

Coach John may be fired, but it won't help this season.

I haven't blogged about the Beavers Men's Basketball team this year, but after starting 0-8 in Pac-10 its time.

By the time you read this Coach Jay John may already be fired. I hope that OSU keeps him through the end of the season because it doesn't gain us anything to fire him now. It probably hurts the players. And really, only Pro teams fire coaches halfway through the season right?

Time to catch up with the season. It's been a disappointing season. I've watched a few games live and a few on TV. I've been a season ticket holder the last 4-5 years because I thought that Jay John knew what it would take to build a winner because he'd seen it at U of A. After that NIT season I really felt that he had brought us over the hump and we'd be back to the Orange Express in no time.

This is definitely Coach John's last season (if not his last days). I think it is time for him to go. I think he got spoiled at Arizona. He couldn't get elite talent, yet he wouldn't change his offense to help his players. The offense clearly relies on players to make plays. He's just not good enough with the X's and O's to overcome a lack of talent like say WSU can.

I think this season he may have the best collection of athleticism he's ever had. Heck probably the best since the Miller days. Quite a bit of talent too. But no leadership and no confidence really doomed this team from the beginning. Plus, there's the poor shooting. I think that goes with confidence, but its been a common theme with Jay's teams and really OSU teams for the past 15 years. I actually like alot of these players and I think its possible that the right coach could have a serious breakthrough next season.

So we'll see what happens this week. Thanks to Coach John for his effort and lets hope for a Dennis Erickson-type hire this time.


Makes you appreciate Mike Riley and Pat Casey, huh?

Bernard passes torch to Rodgers, Beavs beat Terps

OSU beat Maryland last night in a game that wasn't especially exciting for the neutral viewer. But for Beavers fans it was just fine. Sure, we were all cringing every time a QB dropped back to pass. But every time James Rodgers or Yvenson Bernard touched the ball something good happened.

It was like the past and future meeting up for a game. Yvenson Bernard handing the torch to James Rodgers. Both guys had over 100 yards rushing and combined for all of the Beavers TDs. And we needed all those yards because the QBs we a little shaky.

How about that Beaver D? Back to their late season form allowing only 19 yards rushing. And only 11 first downs. Wow.

The penalties and turnovers made for a sloppy and frustrating game, but a win is a win. The Beaver fans represented (9000 offical tickets sold, how many more in the stadium?). That will be great for future bowl games.

Some post-game thoughts:

* Maryland had some serious cheap shots all game. What was that about? We're they trying to channel the USC trojans? That was something I didn't expect.

* That last drive was money. Up by a TD. On your own 1 yard line. Oh, just drive the length of the field and kill the game. Nice.

* The Oregonian's coverage was a bit strange, eh? Between Canzano putting doubt in to Beaver Nation about Jaquizz and Ken Goe complaining about our bowl game (talk to the Pac-10, not us) it was a strange postgame day. Does Goe think we pick which bowl we want to go to?

* I'm gonna miss this defense. I'm gonna miss Yvenson Bernard. Thanks seniors!!!

Free Emerald Bowl Tickets from Qdoba and KXL

If you're reading this at work and want an excuse for a road trip to San Francisco, then tune into AM 750 and listen for a chance to win Emerald Bowl Tickets:

Hey Beaver Nation! Qdoba Mexican Grill is a proud sponsor of the OSU Beavers and we are giving you the opportunity to see the Beavs take on the Terrapins in this huge PAC-10/ACC showdown.

Tune in all this week to NewsRadio 750 KXL's Morning Sports Broadcasts with Jay Allen. Jay will be giving you the opportunity to win Qdoba Prize Packs, filled with Beaver gear and a Qdoba $25 gift certificate.

On Friday, December 21st, one lucky winner will receive a pair of tickets and a pair of hospitality passes to the Emerald Bowl. Not to mention, a $50 gift certificate and Beaver Gear courtesy of Qdoba Mexican Grill.

OSU's Mike Riley builds NFL QBs

While watching Matt Moore lead the Carolina Panthers to a win over the Seahawks yesterday, I had a thought. Coach Riley knows how to prepare QBs for the rigors of the NFL. In fact, he may prepare QBs better than most coaches in the Pac-10. This is fairly hard to prove, but I think we should play this up and see if we can get more elite QBs to come to play for Coach Riley and prepare for the NFL.

One of the knocks on Riley is that his system seems to be harder so new QBs tend to have a hard time adjusting to it. My contention is that this learning curve actually prepares QBs better for performing in the NFL. Its a small sample size, but Matt Moore and Derek Anderson have done very well in their first NFL action. Riley runs a Pro-style offense that demands a lot of its QBs. If I was a young QB with a strong arm, I would seriously consider OSU. Mike has coached in the NFL and he knows what it takes. And he gets players prepared for life in the NFL. Plus, the Pac-10 gets you prepared for the speed of the game as good and any conference.

Great job Beavers alumni!

Moore's first start sweet - Seattle P-I

ESPN Gives Derek Anderson some love - OSU Beavers Blog on OregonLive.com

Rodgers and Simonton: Deja Vu?

Wow, the similarities between the 1998 Simonton run in the Civil War and the 2007 James Rodgers run are uncanny.

Think about the situations. Both true freshman stepping up huge all season. Both in multiple OTs. Both to break some major Civil War streaks. I've got a good feeling about this guy!

Thanks to ThomasG86 for pointing this out! (Scout.com Board)

The photos:





Then the video:







Bring on the Terrapins!