Cliff: OSU football notes « Cliff Kirkpatrick

category: OSU Sports

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Here are some leftover Oregon State football notes and quotes to clean out the notebook before the Arizona State game on Saturday.

Coach Mike Riley was asked this week if he has to tend the players’ mental health more than Xs and Os after losing two close games.

“It’s a natural thing to wonder,” he said. “You have to have a mental toughness when you get in that situation again so you know you are going to win the game.”

Is this a week to work on that more?

“These times call for that,” Riley said. “It’s not different from the past. A lot of times no matter the situation if the last game you didn’t win you have to overcome things mentally to get ready for practice. How you fight through it is a big factor.”

What’s going on with the punt returns with two different guys? Have you settled how you using them?

“It’s settled in our mind with what we’d like to do back there,” Riley said. “There are plays we’d like to get back. Those lost yards in games add up.”

What are they doing wrong?

“You need to make a decision and go for it,” Riley said. “You have to catch those balls. If we run into that again (being kicked away from) we’ll put two guys back there to cover the field. We have to win the net (yardage). We’ve hardly had returnable balls. Punts have been all over (the field) for us.”

The Beavers have only 12 seniors on the team, which ties them for the seventh fewest in the nation with UConn and Idaho. So is there enough senior leadership to guide them to another strong finish to the season?

“We always had great leadership,” QB Sean Canfield said. “The practice doesn’t change. We’ve practiced great so far. We’ve just started the way we have. I don’t know why that is. The leadership to come back is a big part of it with seniors stepping up. That’s why we’ve bounced back.”

Some poor defensive numbers after four games have stood out about the Beavers. They are tied for last in the nation for sacks with two. The pass defense is ranked 110th of 120 teams. The defensive players feel the stats will even out as the season goes on.

“Numbers are numbers,” LB Keaton Kristick said. “We have a long season ahead of us.”

And remember to follow the blog and me on twitter.com/cliffgt over the weekend. It’s going to be another quick trip, leaving in the early morning hours Saturday.

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