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Well, there's just not much to say here. Tomorrow's game could very well mean the difference between going bowling and going home come December. The Beavs have Reser, Vegas (-12.5), and a reassuring historical pattern - slow start --> fast finish - on their side. Hawai'i has the Haka dance. Advantage: who? Let's see what the media think:
Post a comment | View comments (2)This should perk you up a bit, Beaver fans. Cliff Kirkpatrick of the CGT and The Oregonian's Paul Buker have hinted at a couple of OSU recruiting coups over the past few days. Let's start with Kirkpatrick, who had some good news for the football program:
Despite being one of Saturday's marquee games, the Beavers' match-up with Penn State hasn't drawn much in the way of previews, especially from the national media. But that's OK. They'd just overrate the Lions, anyway. Here's what I could scrape together from the local guys and a few curious observers:
I thought the long weekend might help, but no, Thursday's loss still hurts. It seemed as though OSU had the game in hand on two or three separate occasions, only to watch a key turnover or missed tackle put Stanford in control. And that final, fateful play...not a fun way to lose. At least it was an exciting game.
Despite the loss, there were encouraging signs from this team. CV3000 at Building the Dam points out a few here (beware some blue language). Lyle Moevao's poise, toughness, and overall output stood out. Sure, he made a couple of mistakes, but 400+ yards and 3 TDs is nothing to sneeze at (especially in an opener, on the road, against a solid defense). He's going to turn some heads this year.
It's here.
The day of reckoning has finally arrived. Will OSU get off to another sluggish start? Or will we see a different team this year, one that knows just how crucial an early Pac-10 win can be? Speculation time is over. This is everyone's last chance to examine the Beavs and make predictions before the pigskin starts flying. First up, the media:
Not yet familiar with the Beavers' new men's basketball coach? Well, tonight he's going to introduce himself to you - and millions of others - at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Coach Craig Robinson is slated to give an introductory speech for his sister, Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
During this past week I was on the road with the OregonLive.com high school sports crew for our annual 'Seeing Doubles' blog tour. One of our last stops on our week-long trip was at Sprague high school to see the Olympians football team. Much to my surprise, on hand to see the team's development were Sprague alums and members of the OSU baseball team, Joey Wong and Brad Kidd. Here's what they had to say about their summer, Sprague football and more.
Less than a week to go, everyone. Doubters: you're on notice.
Following up on yesterday's post about the defense, here's a breakdown from Kerry Eggers of the Trib. The O's Paul Buker has the goods on OSU's rugger-turned-DT, Stephen Paea. And Ted Miller over at ESPN sizes up the major issues facing each Pac-10 team. Here's what he has to say about the Beavers:
Since the start of training camp, there's been a lot of optimism surrounding OSU's offense. We've heard nothing but good things about Lyle Moevao, Ryan McCants, the receiving corps and The Rodgers Brothers, and there is consensus that the line will be one of the Pac-10's best if guys like Jeremy Perry and Brent McNeil can get healthy. It seems safe to say that the Beavs will not have trouble scoring points this year.
But can OSU stop anyone? For the first time in awhile, people are worried that the defense might be vulnerable.
The Oregonian's Paul Buker delivers the goods in a feature on Jacquizz (AKA "Quizz") Rodgers today. Here's a taste:
Quizz Rodgers' teammates are more than willing to get carried away after watching him explode for two touchdowns in Thursday's 55-play scrimmage.First, Quizz Rodgers took a screen pass 69 yards for a touchdown, executing a cutback move to the middle of the field that was right out of the Sanders playbook.
Then Quizz Rodgers wriggled loose for a 64-yard touchdown on a simple draw play, freezing defenders with another one of his jaw-dropping changes of direction.
Said Quizz Rodgers later, in the understatement of preseason camp: "I can make people miss."
On Wednesday, I outlined the Beavers' ideal 2008-09 season. If you missed it, just know that a BCS championship, a Heisman trophy and scores of blue-chip recruits were involved, as well as complete and utter humiliation for the U of Owned (hat tip to BVSRBTR on the nickname).
Today, I want to examine the flip side of that coin.
Ted Miller of ESPN.com, who's been posting best case/worst case scenarios for each of the Pac-10 teams, tackles Oregon State today. The bottom line: in the best case, Miller has the Beavers beating Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl and finishing #6 in the BCS rankings; in the worst case, he sees OSU enduring a losing season as the Ducks cruise to a BCS bowl.
In case you aren't in the loop, my main duties here at OregonLive.com involve high school sports. That being said, I was at the Nike Global Challenge over this past weekend where U-19 international teams and and the best US players in the nation were on hand to battle it out for gold medals in a USA basketball sanctioned event. One of the players in attendance was Terrence Jones of Portland's Jefferson High School, and in this interview, he says he's being recruited by the Beavers as well as other Pac-10 schools. Can coach Robinson bring him to Corvallis?
Lots of Beavers content over the past week. Here's some of what you may have missed:
Kevin Hampton of the Corvallis Gazette-Times takes a look at freshman tight end Colby Prince. Once a first-team all-state receiver at West Albany, Prince is now learning a new position under the tutelage of OSU tight ends coach Tim Euhus. Says Euhus:
Check out some images from the practice field as Oregon State gears up for the 2008-09 college football season.
