HOME SWEET HOME - BEAVERS FACE ARIZONA ST. AND DENNIS ERICKSON

Home Sweet Home is probably what the Beavers are thinking this week after another tough road loss at #3 Boise State last Saturday in which star wide receiver James Rodgers was the victim of a head to head blow by BSU safety Winston Venalbe. That blow gave James a concussion and sent him to the bench for the remainder of the game. The Beavers now say it is a game time decision whether James will play in todays game with ASU.

Most teams can absorb the loss of a single player. But when that player is responsible for approx. 40% of your offense then it becomes a major problem. Now the Beavers may have to face the Sun Devils without their favorite target with an offense that is ranked 113th in the nation in total offense with James Rodgers.

If you think that is a problem the Beavers have bigger issues. The Beavers defense is ranked 108th in the nation for total defense averageing 458.3 yards given up per game.

The problem with the Beavers defense is two fold. The defensive line is not putting any pressure on opposing quarterbacks and the defensive secondary is getting beaten badly allowing 253 yards per game. Last week at BSU, Beaver cornerback Brandon Hardin was repeatedly beaten by Boise State receivers.

It's a case of the chicken and the egg. What do you fix first? The D-line putting more pressure on the QB will force poorer throws that could result in turnovers. But if the secondary does not close down the coverage on receivers, the QB having less time to throw may not help much. It's time for the Beavers defense to finally step up this week and play like Beaver defenses of old. Fly to the ball with abandon and put constant pressure on the QB and receivers.

Saturday OSU is honoring the 10th anniversary of the Fiesta Bowl team. Not sure if that will help us or just fire up Erickson and his crew. That was a great team and one that I will always remember for how fun that year was.

If this current group of Beavers, with all their early season promise cannot overcome their issues on offense and especially defense then it will be difficult to find wins in the PAC-10 this year. The PAC-10 this year is very tough with Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Oregon, USC and UCLA all playing really well. Could be a long year for the Beavers. Today will really tell a lot about what the Beavers can do and whether they can get it together and make a run in conference play.

BY THE NUMBERS - CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL HEAD TO HEAD STATS

With the way the Beavers have been playing on offense and defense in the first three games this season it will be a long time before they are leading in statistics in a pregame breakdown. ASU is ahead in 23 of 32 categories and in most cases the differences are not that close.

THE BOTTOM LINE

I have not gotten any more confident in what the Beavers can do. The Boise State game really revealed a lot of weakness in the Beavers defense and the offense is hit and miss at best. Without James Rodgers in the lineup, and with what I saw out of ASU last week vs the Ducks I feel that the Beavers are going to have to play a near perfect game on defense to win this game. I feel the offense can put up enough points to keep it close but right now I do not feel the defense will show enough improvement to overcome the ASU passing game.

This is one weekend of only a few times in the last ten years that I do not feel the Beavers can beat what should be a lesser team at home. Yes Beaver Nation, I am picking ASU to win this game. I hope I am wrong.

FINAL SCORE

BEAVERS 27
ASU 42


GO BEAVERS!