Beaver Fever: An Oregon State Dynasty

[βїģĐмợ]

It sure was nice knocking you guys out of Rose Bowl contention last year. Anyway, still gonna follow this dynasty.

[Emac78]

Man, I really can't stand the way easportsworld is set up now. And now they only allow three pics on the server at a time unless you buy slots. And now I can't get my oldest pic to be replaced by the new one. AARRGGHH!!! I'll figure this out later.

[packersfan4eva]

^lol

[Emac78]

2009 Season Preview

When we last left the Beavers, they had just won maybe the most boring bowl in history, the 2008 Sun Bowl against Pittsurgh, 3-0. Before that, the Beavers were blown out by the rival Ducks in the Civil War at Reser Stadium with the Rose Bowl on the line. It was disappointing for Oregon State to have the regular season end the way it did. But it was also a season where the Beavers completely surpassed expectations. Now Oregon State will look to build on that success from last year.

It is still unclear who will start for Mike Riley at QB. Oregon State will have the luxury of having two experienced seniors at QB. Unfortunately, it will still be a difficult choice for Riley as neither has proven to be surperior to the other. Lyle Moevao played well last year but a shoulder injury sidelined him a good portion of the year. Sean Canfield filled in well but he has yet to show the poise and leadership of Moevao. However, Canfield is getting valuable reps at practice while Moevao is still recovering from his shoulder injury. Riley is not even ruling out having a dual-QB system but that is unlikley to happen. But whoever Riley chooses, the offense should be in good hands.

Mike Riley has yet to make a decison between Lyle Moevao (left) and Sean Canfield. (right)

Probably the greatest strength of the team is the Beavers' standout tailback Jacquizz Rodgers, who rushed for the most yards in Pac-10 history by a freshman. His vision, agility, and elusiveness allow him to turn any play into a gain for the Beavers. The only question about Rodgers is whether he will be able to stay healthy as he is likely to take a beating this year. Ryan McCants is more of a straight ahead bruiser that will spell Rodgers from time to time. Just look at the scores in the Civil War and last year's Sun Bowl to see how value "Quizz" Rodgers is to the Beavers.

Can Jacquizz Rodgers stay healthy carrying such a load for the Beavers?

Big brother James Rodgers will also take some of the load off of his little brother, Jacquizz Rodgers with the fly sweep out of the slot. Look for that play to continue to be a staple for the Oregon State offense. But James Rodgers has also worked on his route running and catching to help him become a true receiving threat. He will have to be a legitimate receiver this year as Oregon State lost their two leading receivers from last year, Sammie Stroughter and Shane Morales. WR Darrell Catchings will look to vill the void and either Moevao or Canfield will need Catchings to play well. So far in spring and fall camp, Catchings has looked sensational. But look for the Beavers to throw to their veteran TEs a lot to make up for the loss of possession receiver Shane Morales.

James Rodgers (left) will need to become a legitimate reciver and Darrell Catchings (right) will need to play well.

On the offensive line, the Beavers lost Andy Levitre, a second-round draft pick, along with dependable guard Adam Speer and tackle Tavita Thompson, who started the last half of the season after serving an NCAA suspension. The line will be the biggest challenge on the offensive side, as QBs Lyle Moevao and Sean Canfield, tailback Jacquizz Rodgers, receivers James Rodgers and Darrell Catchings and a host of veteran tight ends are returning. The skill position guys won’t accomplish much, though, without the guys up front. Three line starters return. Junior center Alex Linnenkohl was a major find last season. Another huge find last year was OT Mike Remmer who is now a Sophomore. Remmers was a walk-on who started the first seven games during Thompson’s absence last season. Look for the line to look shaky early on but to improve by the middle of the season. Offensive line assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh will get those guys ready to play.

[b]Offense[/b]

QB Lyle Moevao SR(RS) 88
QB Sean Canfield SR(RS) 87
HB Jacquizz Rodgers SO 93
HB Ryan McCants SO(RS) 87
WR James Rodgers JR 92
WR Darrell Catchings JR 86
WR Casey Kjos JR 84
TE Howard Croom SR 88
TE John Reese SR 86
OT Mike Remmers SO 91
OT Timi Oshinowo JR(RS) 87
G Brent McNeil SR 83
G Burke Ellis SO(RS) 86
C Alex Linnenkohl JR(RS) 87

Gone are DEs Victor Strong-Butler and Slade Norris on the defensive line, who were great book ends off the line. But Oregon State will still have DT Stephen Paea who was at least partly responsible for Butler and Norris getting a combined 22 sacks. In fact, with Paea, look for DEs Ben Terry and Kevin Frahm that role of Butler and Norris. Paea has a knack for disrupting offenses and he will help an inexperinced defense.

DT Stephen Paea will disrupt offenses.

Oregon State will also bring back OLBs Keaton Kristick and Keith Pankey. They will be joined by SO(RS) MLB David Pa Aluhi who has very little experience but looks like a good athlete. This group will be led by Kristick who is always around the ball but this group could struggle early on until OSU defensive coordinator can get them up to speed.

OLB Keaton Kristic always seems to be near the ball.

The place where the Beavers might have their greatest problem is in the secondary. Oregon State needs to replace all four starters in the secondary, three of whom were taken in the NFL draft. Senior CB Tim Clark is the most experienced of the bunch, having started six games in his career. However, he has been getting torched by QB Sean Canfield and WR Darrell Catchings in practices. Look for this to be an area of weakness that teams will look to exploit all year.

CB Tim Clark is the most experienced player in the secondary with six games.

The Beavers are being picked by most of the pundits to finish 4th in the Pac-10 but outside of USC, Oregon State has been the most consistent program in the conference. In addition, the schedule starts favorable so Oregon State should get off to a good start unlike past seasons. Their early season test will come against Cincinnati at Reser Stadium. But the Beavers could easily be undefeated when they face the Trojans in Los Angeles in week 8. Unfortunately, Oregon State will face USC, Cal, and Oregon on the road and they are unlikely to be favored in any of those games. Oregon State should be favored in all of their games except for the three just mentioned but will likely stumble somewhere else to finish with an 8-4 record and 4th in the conference but do not underestimate the coaching staff under Mike Riley.

[b]Defense[/b]

DE Ben Terry SR 85
DE Kevin Frahm SO(RS) 86
DT Stephen Paea JR 90
DT Mitchel Hunt JR(RS) 85
OLB Keaton Kristick SR 89
OLB Keith Pankey JR 85
MLB David Pa'aluhi III SO(RS) 86
CB Tim Clark SR 87
CB Patrick Henderson SR(RS) 85
CB James Dockery JR(RS) 82
FS Suaesi Tuimaunei  JR(RS) 86
SS Lance Mitchell SO(RS) 82

[b]Special Teams[/b]

K Justin Kahut JR(RS) 80
P Johnny Hekker SR 83
KR/PR James Rodgers JR 99

[b]Schedule[/b][

1 vs FCS West
2 at UNLV
3 vs Cincinnati
4 vs Arizona
5 at Arizona State
6 vs Stanford
7 Bye
8 at #4 USC
9 vs UCLA
10 at #15 Cal
11 vs Washington
12 at Washington State
13 Bye
14 at #12 Oregon (Civil War)

[Emac78]

Game of the Week

#17 BYU (0-0) at #2 Oklahoma (0-0)

Chris: Welcome to College Gameday for the first weekend of the 2009 college football season. That's right. Football is back and boy do we have some good games to kick off the year. We are coming to you from Norman, Oklahoma where the the #2 Sooners (crowd cheers) will take on #17 BYU. This is an intriguing matchup to start the season. Brigham Young will have their chance to represent the Mountain West against one of the top teams in college football and they are looking to crash the BCS party like their rival Utah. It would be huge for that conference if they could pull the upset. Of course, these fans know all too well about being upset by a non-BCS team such as they were by Boise State (crowd boos) in one of the most memorable bowl games in history.

Speaking of #14 Boise State and upsets. #12 Oregon Ducks were looking to avenge the loss they took last year against the Broncos in Autzen. But Boise State was able to make it back-to-back wins over the Ducks on Thursday night with a 30-23 victory over Oregon, who many had picked to win the Pac-10 this year. So that has set up the Broncos to already have a chance to be BCS buster.

But today, we will have #13 Georgia looking to move on without Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, taking on #9 Oklahoma State down in Stillwater. The Pokes will look to show the rest of the nation that they are deserving of a top ten ranking. On top of that, Frank Beamer and #10 Virginia Tech will meet #6 Alabama in Tuscaloosa for what should be a great game. So we will get right into it when we get back...

[b]Preseason Rankings[/b]

1 Florida
2 Oklahoma
3 Texas
4 USC
5 LSU
6 Alabama
7 Ohio State
8 Penn State
9 Oklahoma State
10 Virginia Tech
12 Oregon
15 Cal

Chris: Alright, we've talked about the top ten so now who do you guys have in the BCS championship game when it is all said and done?


Kirk: I think it is a no-brainer that you have to pick Florida. Not only do they have Superman himself in Tim Tebow, but they bring back so much talent. The Gators are absolutely loaded. I say the Gators play against Ohio State and Florida makes it back-to-back, beating the Buckeyes again.


Lee: Nice pick Kirk. But come on...Ohio State! No chance sweetheart! Because it's going to be USC that will finish undefeated in the regular season. Everybody's questioning whether they can replace all that talent they lost. Forget about it. Pete Carroll will have that team playing as good as anybody. And Oregon and Cal aren't going to beat them, and Oregon State won't beat them in the Coliseum. But they fall to the mighty Gators in the championship.

Chris: I think we're all going with Florida but a team people might be sleeping on is Texas. I mean they are ranked #3 but a very quiet #3. But Florida will be the champs when it is all said and done. Okay, we'll start previewing this week's games when we come back.

Games of the Week

#12 Oregon 23
#14 Boise State 30

#13 Georgia at #9 Oklahoma State
Kirk: OSU Lee: OSU

#10 Virginia Tech at #6 Alabama
Kirk: VT Lee: Bama

Chris: Alright, that brings us to the one we have here between the Big-12 and the Mountain West, BYU and Oklahoma. (crowd cheers) It looks like the headgear is here so it is time to make your selections.

Kirk: Seriously, how many points did Oklahoma score last year? You can't seriously tell me that BYU has the magical answer to slow down the Sooners' offense. The Sooners roll today. (crowd cheers) Bradford is one year wiser and he should be able to torch this Cougar defense.

Lee: You are underestimating BYU and I'm sure Oklahoma is as well. They better not sleep on the Cougars because these guys are better than you think. That HB Harvey Unga is a load to bring down and QB Max Hall, though he is streaky, should play well. But come on...they're going up against the Sooners and their talented defense. Plus, like you said Kirk...how are they going to stop OU's offense. Okay...I'm ready to pick...(Lee puts on the Cosmo headgear as the crowd boos voicestrously) Go BYU! Go Cougars!

[goDawgs1433]

Nice update Emac. First game coming soon?

[Emac78]

Hopefully, first game should be tonight.

[packersfan4eva]

awesome. i can't wait

[Emac78]

FCS Portland State at Oregon State

Corvallis, OR - Unlike last year where Oregon State kicked off the season with a conference game on the road down in the Bay Area against Stanford, the Beavers started the 2009 season against the FCS Portland State Vikings at Reser Stadium. It was a cloudy evening in Corvallis. The students have yet to start school and the stands were half empty in a meeting where Oregon State was sure to dominate.

Portland State had the ball first and went three-and-out to start the game. The Beavers wasted little time before getting on the scoreboard when WR Casey Kjos, in the slot motioned in where he got the handoff from QB Lyle Moevao on the fly sweep. Kjos was able to turn the corner, made a move on a Viking defender, took off down the sideline until he was tripped up, but not until he had crossed the goal line for a 55-yard touchdown run to put Oregon State on top 7-0.

OSU WR Casey Kjos scores a 55-yard touchdown on the fly sweep.

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It would not be long before the Beavers had the ball back as the Vikings struggled to get anything on offense. After a couple failed passes from QB Lyle Moevao, HB Jacquizz Rodgers got the handoff on a run to the outside. Rodgers got to the outside, stopped on a dime, juked past one defender, then spun past another defender, before taking it to the house for a 62-yard touchdown, giving the Beavers a 14-0 lead.

OSU HB Jacquizz Rodgers spins by a defender en route to the end zone for a 62-yard touchdown run.

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The Vikings continued to fail on offense and the 2nd quarter opened with Jacquizz Rodgers bulling his way into the end zone from two yards away to put OSU up 21-0.

OSU HB Jacquizz Rodgers in with his second touchdown.

Portland State continued to just look awful on offense but they did finally manage to move the chains. As bad as the Vikings looked offensively, at least they had not turned over the ball. However, just as the Vikings looked like they were about to cross midfield, the PSU QB would throw a pass into double coverage where OSU SS Lance Mitchell made the interception.

OSU SS Lance Mitchell with an interception.

With the success Jacquizz Rodgers was having on the ground, Oregon State started attempting playaction passes to try to open up the passing game. While in the red zone, the Vikings brought an all-out blitz but QB Lyle Moevao was able to get rid of the ball, floating a ball up to TE Howard Croom who was left all alone. Croom was able to get under it for the catch and easily walked into the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown reception, opening up the OSU lead to 28-0.

OSU TE Howard Croom left all alone for a 23-yard touchdown reception.

As the first half was nearly over, the Beavers continued to do nothing wrong as OSU FS Suaesi Tuimaunei came up with an interception when the PSU QB threw it right to him. With a decent return, OSU was already in scoring position where HB Jacquizz Rodgers would close out the half with a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 35-0 at halftime.

OSU FS Suaesi Tuimaunei's sets up a 1-yard touchdown run for Jacquizz Rodgers before the end of the half.

In the second half, Oregon State attempted to pass the ball around a little bit, but Lyle Moevao would be hit as he threw the ball, causing him to leave the game briefly. In came Sean Canfield who threw a pass into coverage and just like that had thrown his first interception of the season, which came in the red zone no less. But the Vikings again failed to move the ball. On the ensuing possession, the older brother of Jacquizz Rodger, James Rodgers got the handoff on the fly sweep out of the slot where he sped to the outside, side-stepped around one defender, spun past another defender, then ran through a tackle, and was off to the races for a 71-yard touchdown run to make it 42-0 OSU.

OSU WR James Rodgers runs through a tackle on his way to the end zone for a 71-yard touchdown.

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Later, the Beavers again found themselves in the red zone where Moevao dropped back to pass, had a bunch of time, but got impatient so he tried to thread the needle as it was picked off by a Viking LB. As great as the running game looked, the passing game struggled the entire game. James Rodgers only had one reception and WR Darrell Catchings only had a couple. Moevao was under 45 per cent accurate. But it did not stop the Beavers from putting up 42 points. As the few fans that stuck around started exiting the stadium in the 4th quarter, OSU kicker Justin Kahut would miss his only field goal opportunity of the game when he missed from 32 yards out. But Oregon State would run the clock out, shutting out Portland State 42-0 to start the season. Next week the Beavers will travel to Las Vegas to take on the Rebels of UNLV.

FCS Portland State 0

Oregon State 42

QB Lyle Moevao: 9-20, 133 yds, td, int
HB Jacquizz Rodgers: 21 car, 153 yds, 3 td
TE Howard Croom: 3 rec, 57 yds, td
OLB Keaton Kristick: 6 tkl

[goDawgs1433]

Goddamn, Quizz is fast. Great start to the season for him.

[Emac78]

Yeah, we'll see how we do against a real team. Moevao was terrible. He was so inaccurate, missing open receivers left and right. I thought it was realistic though so it was kind of cool to see since I'm used to seeing like 75-80% accuracy from 09. I tend to stick with Corso plays but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that this year since it seems like my entire playbook is runs and playactions. I like to just dropback and pass occasionally.

[packersfan4eva]

wow, 9-20???? against an FCS TEAM???? can't wait to see what happens when the pac-10 season starts

[Emac78]

Week 1

#2 Oklahoma Makes Big Statement
Beating #17 BYU 42-14

OU QB Sam Bradford torched the BYU defense for 364 yards and four touchdowns.

Norman, OK - It was BYU's chance to make a statement for the Mountain West, but it would be Oklahoma that made the statement on a wet night at Gaylord-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall clearly did not have a team that was ready to play in this kind of atmosphere as QB Max Hall threw an interception on his 2nd pass of the game. Then on Oklahoma's first play from scrimmage of the 2009 season, QB Sam Bradford hit WR Jameel Owens who broke a tackle and was gone for a 43-yard touchdown to put OU on top 7-0 just like that.

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BYU would later try a flea flicker but Hall under pressure would be picked off by OU SS Quinton Carter who took it all the way back for pick-six to put the Sooners ahead 14-0. But the Cougars would finally find some success on offense but a 35-yard field goal attempt would go wide left for BYU. In the 2nd quarter, Bradford continued the onslought as he would hit WR Adron Tennell in the end zone from eight yards out. Then on the Sooners' next possession, HB DeMarco Murray would tack on a 1-yard touchdown to make it 28-0.

The Sooners looked like they were about to score again before the end of the half, but Bradford uncharacteristically was intercepted in the red zone. Then BYU HB Harvey Unga finally put the Cougars on the scoreboard when he got the handoff, spun past a host of Sooner defenders and found some running room for a change. Downfield he stiff-armed a Sooner defender to the ground and housed it for a 71-yard touchdown run to make it 28-7 OU at halftime.

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In the 3rd quarter, BYU was able to hold Oklahoma scoreless, but unfortunately for the Cougars, they did not score either. Bradford would increase the Sooner lead when he found his FB in the flat who raced in for an 18-yard touchdown to put Oklahoma up 35-7. But Bradford was not done as he would lob a nice touch pass between the BYU secondary right into the hands of WR Adron Tennell who fought forward for a 31-yard touchdown reception to make it 42-7 OU. With under two minutes left in the game, BYU QB Max Hall hit HB Harvey Unga on a short connection, but Unga broke loose and housed it for a 56-yard touchdown. But Oklahoma still thumped BYU 42-14.

BYU 14

QB Max Hall: 16-34, 167 yds, td, 2 int
HB Harvey Unga: 16 car, 106 yds, td, 4 rec, 79 yds, rec td
DE Jan Jorgenson: 8 tkl, 4 tfl, 2 sk

Oklahoma 42

QB Sam Bradford: 27-41, 364 yds, 4 td, int
HB DeMarco Murray: 33 car, 99 yds, td
WR Adron Tennell: 7 rec, 94 yds, 2 td
SS Quinton Carter: 4 tkl, int, td

[b][size=+2]Games of the Week[/size][/b]

#12 Oregon 23
#14 Boise State 30

Maryland 32
#15 Cal 26

#13 Georgia 31
#9 Oklahoma State 24

[u]#17 BYU 14
#2 Oklahoma 42[/u]

#10 Virginia Tech 41
#6 Alabama 20

Miami 13
#20 Florida State 20

[b][size=+2]Heisman Watch[/size][/b]

QB Tim Tebow (Florida)
QB Sam Bradford (Oklahoma)
QB Colt McCoy (Texas)
HB Jahvid Best (Cal)
QB Daryll Clark (Penn State)

[Emac78]

Goddamn, Quizz is fast. Great start to the season for him.

He really is. But not as fast James. But I want to see how we do against an actual Division 1 team, oh wait...FBS or whatever it is now.

wow, 9-20???? against an FCS TEAM???? can't wait to see what happens when the pac-10 season starts

I know. I'm a bit concerned about that. Some of it was probably me not used to the game yet, but some of it was him and his errant throws. We'll find out I guess.

[-Ray27Rice-]

Nice win, should be a decent game against UNLV...and UMD defeats Cal, thats what I'm talking about.