Cliff: Canfield, offense discussion (updated)

Oregon State QB Sean Canfield is the starter for Saturday’s game, even though much of the Beavers blogosphere doesn’t agree.

Coach Mike Riley quickly said he still has faith in him the day after last weekend’s game, and backup QB Lyle Moevao continues his support while his shoulder is still building strength in his injured shoulder.

See how Canfield feels about his lack of Internet popularity with his comments in the lead to my notebook in Wednesday’s GT. Here’s a link to my main story on the vibe of the players as they head into to the conference opener, coming off a loss.

“Sean spent a good deal of time watching football, (Monday),” Riley said. “That’s the idea of taking the next step of getting ready. It helps coaches to go on to the next game, and it’s good for the quarterbacks.”

The five sacks and several hits stuck with Canfield. He saw where some of the issues where his fault for holding the ball too long or not feeling the rush.

He’s not mad at the young offensive line, or himself. Canfield expects improvement by the offense each week.

One of the problems Canfield had was he admitted that he lost confidence in the line to protect him. That happens after being hit too many times.

“The sacks are not one person’s fault, it was the whole (offensive) unit,” Canfield said. “Looking at the film it’s frustrating to see all the plays we left out there.”

Riley remains committed to the offensive line with two underclassmen on the left side of the line with OT Michael Philipp and OG Grant Johnson.

“There’s no doubt about that group is a work in progress,” Riley said. “It’s full of ability, but performance is another thing. Finding balance is important.”

The Beavers allowed 10 sacks in three games, and are on pace to give up more than 40 in the season. They allowed 21 in 13 games last season.

“It does mean something,” Riley said. “That’s pretty scary.”

And it’s more than just pass protection. RB Jacquizz Rodgers only gained 73 yards with a 3.7-yard per carry average. That’s 41 yards off his average.

“That stat was a pretty good picture of the non-rhythm we had as a team,” Riley said. “It’s hard to play our game and get Quizz the touches we’d like him to have that way. The bad plays last week messed us up.”

And the solution?

“No bad plays, no penalties, no sacks,” Riley said. “We had the recipe to win that game, but we messes it up. We will give up sacks, but we just can’t disintegrate like that.”

So it will be interesting to see what the offense can do against Arizona’s aggressive defense. Canfield will need time to read their zone pass coverage.

The above video I took at Arizona is a flashback to last year when the Beavers won the game on a Justin Kahut FG. And the below AP photo is just too interesting to not run somewhere. It’s of LB Keith Pankey without his helmet.