Cliff Kirkpatrick

A wave of more than 50 orange and green clad fans will roll into Reser Stadium this weekend.

The family and friends of the Kavanaugh brothers will be around to watch the Oregon State football team face Portland State in the season opener for both teams.

OSU’s Taylor Kavanaugh gets to face off with his little brother, Connor of Portland State, for the first time ever.

Since Taylor, a fifth-year senior, is only 18 months older than his sophomore sibling they’ve always played on the same team.

Both were standouts at Portland’s Lincoln High. Connor was a 6A all-state QB and threw for 3,283 yards and 34 TDs, while Taylor was a four-sport athlete and all-state as a WR.

“I’m excited to see him play because he had quite a high school career,” Taylor said. “He’s a fun player to watch.”

The brothers complement each other. Connor has been throwing Taylor passes since middle school, when the game got serious for them.

“I’m so excited I can’t tell you,” Connor said. “It’s going to be an awesome experience. I’ve been looking forward to this since the game was announced.”

Kavanaugh family members have been long-time OSU alums, with Connor the black sheep of the family.

Taylor tried to lure his brother to OSU but Conner accepted a scholarship from the Vikings.

“Oregon State was my team growing up, and my entire family went to Oregon State, but I came here and don’t regret anything coming here,” Connor said.

The family will split their allegiance for this one day. Their father, Dan, had custom made t-shirts half orange and half green as a tribute to his sons.

Both hope the other does well in the game, but would prefer a win by their own team. However, they can critique each other’s performance as the holder on place-kicks.

Connor is the backup QB and expects to get some playing time. Taylor said it won’t be a problem if D-ends Ben Terry and Kevin Frahm sandwich his little brother.

“I’ve been prepping him for this for his whole life,” Taylor said. “I’ve pounding him my whole life. He’s a tough kid, smart and quick. He’ll be ready for anything the Big Sky throws at him. The big guys on our line are pretty intense, so we’ll see what he can do.”

Check of Connor Kavanaugh signing and playing guitar with Corvallis High alum and PSU’s QB Drew Hubel.

 Video report

Here’s another video interview with the Beavers from Tuesday. The above clip is the Quizz and Paea Show. DT Stephen Paea went on stage weekly with Victor Butler last year.

With Butler with the Dallas Cowboys Paea recruited RB Jacquizz Rodgers to go before the cameras with him. Their interactions weren’t as funny as Paea and Butler. They just need time to work on their act.

The video cut off before Paea couldn answer about his teammates getting embarrassed chasing Quizz around the field. It was the best part. So this is what he said off the air.

“All I have to say is they are not the first ones to get embarrassed by Quizz,” Paea said. “It would be an honor to be embarrassed by Quizz.”

Notebook link

Here’s a link to my football notebook in Wednesday’s GT. It goes deeper into TE John Reese’s request to redshirt, hiding play signals and other things.

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1. Cliff: Paea on USC, De Carolis
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3. Cliff: Paea staying
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5. Cliff: More on Paea, links