Beavers Beat UCLA 26-19

The Beavers played what I call a pretty ugly game. The offense sputtered for most of the game but came through when the game was on the line to pull out a victory over UCLA 26-19. But we were a penalty call and a drop interception away from losing the game.

The offensive once again moved the ball in the first half but could only manage one touchdown and three field goals. The defense played well again in the first half, holding UCLA to no points and sending the Beavers into the halftime locker room with a 16-0 lead.

But once again the Beavers defense did not show up to play in the second half. The Beavers gave up a field goal and two late touchdowns to UCLA and allowed them to tie the game at 19-19 with just over two minutes to play. This is the eighth time in eight games that the Beavers defense has given up two many points late in games and brings you to consider that this team just does not have what it takes to hold other teams down. For the first time in many years the Beavers are lacking a shut down defense and must go out and outscore their opponents.

The offense is putting up good numbers and is leading the nation in red zone efficiency. The Rodgers brothers can take over games with their speed and Canfield is starting to play like an NFL prospect.

Its really to bad. This offense is very very good at times and if the defense could stop making stupid penalties and get stops in 3 and long situations this team could very easily be 8-0 right now.

Mark Banker and Mike Riley have got to get these young men on defense playing smarter, wrapping players up and flying to the ball like previous years teams or there may still be a few bumps in the road down the stretch.

With CAL on the road next week the Beavers have got to get ready for another dog fight in what is really a must win game if the Beavers want to be in an upper tier bowl game. But the road has been a good place this season for the Beavs so they just might bring home the win.

Good Job today Beavers in getting the win. Now focus on CAL and lets go get another road win.

GO BEAVERS!

With 4 games left on the schedule, there is no sure thing out there the way this defense is playing.

Beavers Come Close But No Cigar

Beavers make to many mistakes to beat USC in LA tonight but played a great game and were in it to the very end. Final Score USC 42 BEAVERS 36. Hard way to lose Beavs but your true fans will always be here cheering for you no matter what.

Watch for my complete game breakdown later as the Beavers prepare for Homecoming and UCLA.

GO BEAVERS BEAT UCLA!

USC Leads 21-9 at Halftime

The Beavers are still in this game but have wasted some good opportunities to keep the game even closer or even be in the lead. Can the Beavers adjust at halftime and comeback on the road? 30 minutes to go. We will see.

Follow Beaver Fans on Twiiter at #gobeavs.

GO BEAVERS!

Stanford Game Photos

Finally got the game photos from the Stanford game done. It's been a busy two weeks at work. Some good photos but its hard to get shots in late afternoon with the sun where it is most of the game. Oh well, enjoy!

History in the Making as Beavers Travel to USC

On September 16th, 1960 an Oregon State College football team did something that has not been done since. They beat USC in Los Angeles 14-0.

The top songs for the week of Sept. 16th were Johnny Burnette, "You're Sixteen" and "It's Now or Never" by Elvis Presley. The movie "Psycho" was just hitting the movie screens. Dwight D. Eisenhower was President of the United States. The United States had not yet entered the Viet Nam War. The Dallas Texans beat the Oakland Raiders 34-16.

In 1960 a new house cost $12,700.00. the average income per year was $5,315.00, a gallon of gas was 25 cents and the average cost of new car was $2,600.00 . You could go down to your local Ford dealer and purchase a new Ford Mustang for $2368.00.

Mark Hatfield was governor of the State of Oregon. Oregon State College would not become Oregon State University for another 7 months. Terry Baker, Oregon State's only Heisman Trophy winner was starting his sophomore year in high school. Parker Stadium in Corvallis was 7 years old and held 28,000 fans. The Beavers finished the season 6-3-1, tied for first with Washington and Tommy Prothro was Oregon States head football coach. USC would go on to win 12 of the next 20 conference titles.

Little did the Beavers football team know the meaning of the game that they were about to play at USC that warm fall day in Los Angeles in front of 32,928 fans. Forty-nine years later, no other Oregon State football team has beaten a USC football team in Los Angeles. The last time the Beavers won at USC, many of the parents of current team players were just being born and the parents of the 1960 OSU players lived through one of the most turbulent times in world history. The nation and the world was only 14 years removed from the crisis of World War 2 and the Korean War had ended just 7 years earlier.

This is one of the last major streaks the Beaver Football Program has left to end. Earlier this season the Beavers stopped another such streak at ASU where they had not won since 1969. Can today be the day the Beavers finally get this monkey off their backs? Lets take a quick look at how both teams are doing this season and try to see if the Beavers can pull of the upset that will end the streak.

On paper this is a miss match. USC has the bigger, stronger players with more speed and a better pedigree. The series started in 1914 and USC leads the series 54-10-4.

However, that fact alone has not meant much the last few years. Since 2000, no other school in the country has beaten USC more then Oregon State. Starting in 2000 the Beavers have beaten the Trojans three times in Corvallis. And the Beavers have had their chances to beat USC in L.A. In 2001 the Beavers missed two field goals late, one with only 35 seconds left in regulation, only to lose to USC 16-13. This is a streak that is ready to fall and Mike Riley has his sights firmly set on it happening this week. When Mike Riley has a bye week he is 9-3 in his next game. He has won 7 in a row and his last loss coming off the bye week was to #2 USC in 2003.

BY THE NUMBERS - Click Here for Complete Stats

USC dominates the stats this week, but the Beavers are not putting up big stats this season so far. They have trailed in stats in every game this season except Portland State. This week the Beavers only meaningful advantage in stats shows up in turnover margin. The Beavers are +2 this season, not great, but USC is -2. If the Beavers can win the turnover margin they will have a chance to win. The rest of the stats are pretty close really with only slight differences between the two teams. I expected the differences to be bigger. The one stat that scares me the most is sacks. USC has 26 sacks this season and OSU has given up 19 sacks. If the Beavers O-line cannot protect Canfield this will be a very long day. And consider this. USC mostly rushes 4 lineman, and does not blitz very often. It will be interesting to see the protection schemes that the Beavers come up with to protect Canfield.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Beavers must protect the QB and open running lanes for Quizz. USC has a strong rush defense but the Beavers have come up with ways to run the ball in the past vs USC. Quizz ran for over 150 yards last year and the Beavers found open receivers all over the field. The game rests firmly in the hands of the men on the offensive and defensive lines. If the Beavers can pressure the USC quarterback and protect Canfield, this could be the Beavers day. I am sure that USC coaches have reminded the USC players of what happened last season and will be well prepared for what the Beavers might throw at them.

The Beavers have not done well in Nationally televised games during the regular season and this game is on ABC at 5 pm pacific time. Last season with the Rose Bowl on the line the Beavers folded like a cheap tent against Oregon in the Civil War. Can the Beavers overcome nearly 50 years of history and a prime time TV audience and shock the world one more time? YES WE CAN!

FINAL SCORE

BEAVERS 27
USC 24

GO BEAVERS!

Congratulations Sammy Stroughter

Former OSU Beaver Sammy Stroughter is now in the NFL History books. Sammy returned a kickoff 97 yards for a TD on Sunday to set a Tampa Bay Record for longest return for a TD in team history. Way to go Sammy. GO BEAVERS!

Beavers Win! 38-28 Over Stanford

Gotta Love Football. Beavers beat Stanford 38-28 on Saturday night. Quizz goes off for 189 yards and 4 TD's. More Coming later today.

Man a busy week of work. I hate it when work takes time away from my Beavers. But there are bills to pay so we must do what we must do.

It was a great game last week for the Beavers on offense and also on defense at least for two quarters as the Beavers jumped out to a 31-7 lead at halftime. It was the Beavers best half of play this season. Quizz goes for career high in yards and touchdowns and many other players have big games for the Beavers. Good Job guys.

The Beavers defense held PAC-10 leading rusher Toby Gerhart to under 100 yards rushing for the game. First time this season Gerhart did not reach 100 yards.

The Beavers offense went off in the first half for 31 points, scoring on every possession of the first half.

Then there is the second half. The Beavers defense gave up 3 Stanford touchdowns and three scoring drives of 83, 91 and 99 yards. This while the Beavers offense scored once and punted 4 times. This is the third week in a row where the Beavers defense has failed to show up in the second half.

In the last three games the Beavers defense has given up 56 second half points while the Beavers offense has scored only 28 points and since the Portland St. game the Beavers defense has given up 84 second half points while scoring only 45 on offense. Combine that with the lack of the quick start offense that the team has had in previous years and you can see the problem. At this point no lead by the Beavers is safe the way the defense is playing in the second half. OK, you can say that the Beavers may have played a lot of second and third team defensive players in the Stanford game but what about the UNLV, Arizona and Arizona State games?

With the Beavers in a bye week this week and having to travel the following week to USC to face the Trojans, Mark Banker must try to figure out what the problem is with his defense. Is it a lack of talent? A lack of experience? What is the problem? Mike Rileys teams have shown a tendency to start slow and pick up the pace after week 5 in the season. With an extra week to prepare for USC can the Beavers go on the road and break another long losing streak this season? It has been nearly 50 years since OSU has won at USC. For the Beavers to do that the team had better show up and play two full halfs of football and not just the first half.

Click Here for Post Game Stats

First Place Stanford Cardinal Come to Corvallis

The 4-1 (3-0 pac-10) Stanford Cardinal come to Corvallis this Saturday to play a 4pm game against our Beavers 3-2 (1-1 pac-10). The Cardinal are a much improved team for 2009 with victories over Washington State, San Jose State, Washington and UCLA. Their only loss was on the road at Wake Forest 17-24.

Granted, Stanford has played some questionable competition thus far but they are convincing many people that they will be a threat this year in the PAC-10 and will play a role in determining the champion in this conference.

Since 2000 Stanford is only 2-6 against the Beavers and 4-8 in the last 12 meetings.

Stanford is second in the conference in scoring, rushing offense, 3rd down conversions and time of possession. As more of a run oriented offense Stanford leads the PAC-10 in pass efficiency which means when they do pass they do it very well.

The Beavers are coming into this game off a very big victory in Tempe over ASU. A place the Beavers have not won a game vs ASU since 1969. The Beaver offense took advantage of ASU turnovers scored 4 times for a 28-17 win. But the running game and the offense in general is still not running a breakneck pace and the defense is still giving up way to many yards in the air.

The Beavers offensive line seems to be playing better by not allowing as many sacks of Canfield however the running game is still stagnant. The defensive line is putting more pressure on quarterbacks but that is mostly coming off the blitz and not from the 4 down linemen.

Although the Beavers have won three games, they are giving up a lot of yards per game and not controlling the ball on offense the way they have done in the past. If you look at the box scores after games you have Canfield throwing the ball way to much and much fewer rushing attempts per game. The ASU game was one of the Beavers more balanced game with 24 rushing attempts and 30 passing attempts. This discrepancy may be two fold. The Beavers offensive line cannot open the holes for Quizz to rush threw or they are trying to give Quizz fewer carries to not wear him out physically like last year. My guess is it is the first one.

No matter what the reason, the Beavers must become more balanced on offense to compete in this conference. Canfield cannot continue to throw the ball 35 to 45 times a game and expect to win.

BY THE NUMBERS - For Complete Stats Click Here

Since the first game of the season the Beavers have not won the stats game prior to a game. This week once again the Beavers are blown out on the stat board 21 to 10. The big stat the Beavers need to capitalize on is their rush defense. Stanford is a big time running game that averages 100 yards more per game then the Beavers do. Stanford passing game is not as strong but it is very efficient so the Beavers defense needs to do what they can to stuff the run and not give up the big pass play.

For the first time this season the Beavers are ahead in turnover margin which could be big in this kind of defensive game. Also the Beavers have the advantage in red zone offense and defense so that could play big this afternoon.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Beavers have got to be efficient with the ball because Stanford will be controlling the clock. So the Beavers must take advantage of every opportunity they get because they might not get the ball back right away. Establish the run, and beat them with the pass. Stanford's pass defense is questionable so the Beavers could win this with big plays in the air.

FINAL SCORE

BEAVERS 24
STANFORD 20


GO BEAVERS!

Beavers Win! 28-17

OK, OK my tweets over the last two hours have not been very nice to the Beavers (it may have been the beer talking). But it was a great win for the Beavers tonight and a much better game for the O-line and Canfield. The one pick Canfield threw was a bad throw but it was tipped so I will give him that one. Still think they went deep to much tonight in situations where they just could have gotten 3 to 5 yards and controled the ball better. The secondary still looks to give up lots of yards the the D-line has to put more pressure on the QB, but it was a step in the right direction.

I look for Adaniji to make a big impact on this offense before this season is over and I think he could be the key player at really making this offense purrr.

The Beavers defense still has a long way to go but the offense had a much better night. Good Job Beavs!

Once the beer wears off I will have a more complete breakdown.

GO BEAVERS!

Struggling Oregon State Travels to Tempe to Face ASU

A struggling Oregon State Football team must now go on the road in search of a victory and more importantly, an identity. The Beavers 2-2 (0-1 PAC-10) face an Arizona State team that is has two victories over a couple of cupcakes and a near miss loss on the road at Georgia 17-20. It is this game at Georgia that perhaps the real Sun Devil team showed up to play and nearly came home with a win. This may seem on the outside like a task that is within reach of the Beavers. But look at one simple fact. As good as Beaver team have been the last 10 years, note this. Oregon State has not won a game against ASU at ASU since 1969. The Beavers have lost 16 consecutive games at Sun Devil Stadium (not counting the Fiesta Bowl Victory). And the Beavers come into Tempe on a 2 game losing streak, having given up 10 sacks in the last two games and 15 on the season.

The Beavers Defense has been a hallmark of Oregon States success the last 10 years but this season appears to be a rebuilding and not a reloading year for the Beavers defense. The defense has given up 86 points in their last three games for an average of 28.7 points per game, 13 sacks including back to back 5 sack games and only has 2 interceptions on the year. What has become of Linebacker U?

The Beaver offense seems to be moving the ball well and scoring enough points to win games. The Beavers are averaging 26.8 points per game, 135.8 yards rushing and 255.8 yards passing. They have huge scoring threats in the Rodgers Brothers and have emerging players on offense stepping up to play a big role such as Damola Adeniji, Joe Halahuni and Darrell Catchings. The in the most important area of the offense, the one part that must be successful to make the rest of the offense click is failing to do its job. The offensive line has become the largest piece of swiss cheese on the west coast. The last two games the Beavers QB has been sacked 10 times and Quizz Rodgers has averaged in the mid 80's for yards per game. For the Beavers to be success this weekend in Tempe and the rest of the season, this has to change.

In looking at each teams stats for the 2009 season. It is clear that the problems we have discussed over the last three weeks with the Beavers team are showing up on the field. ASU won 19 of the 32 categories and tied the Beavers in 3 others. This gives ASU a 19-10-3 advantage statistically. The weaknesses in the Beavers defense show as the Beavers failed to win a major defensive category. On offense, the Beavers lead in many categories showing that they can move the ball and score points, but it also shows that the Beavers have given up 15 sacks this season to ASU's 5.

The stats also show how bad the Beavers running game has been the last few weeks. For a coach that insists that the Beavers must have a balanced attack on offense and with Quizz and James Rodgers running the ball. The Beavers are 6th in the PAC-10 in rushing yards and first in passing yards. This shows that the Beavers offensive line is not opening up the holes needed to get Rodgers threw the line and the Beavers offense is being forced to throw the ball to get yards. Then the defense can load up their blitz packages and put more pressure on the offensive line, thus getting more sacks and interceptions. This is a dangerous trend that the Beavers must take care of this week in Tempe if they want to win.

BY THE NUMBERS - Click here

THE BOTTOM LINE

For the Beavers to break the streak this week and come home from Tempe with a win for the first time in 40 years, the Beavers must fix the problems that we have been discussing the last three weeks.

The Offensive line must protect the quarterback.

The Offensive line must open holes for Quizz to run threw.

The Beavers QB's must not take the sacks and get rid of the ball or throw it away.

The Defensive line must put pressure on the ASU quarterback to help the secondary cover the wide receivers.



So the big story this weekend and where the game will be decided with be in the trenches. The Oregon State offensive and defensive lines must improve for this team to be successful. Let's hope someone can step up their game and lead this team on to victory.

FINAL SCORE

BEAVERS 32
ASU 28


GO BEAVERS!