After a week to digest the Oregon State football team’s postseason, read the comments on the blog and e-mails sent me I’ve decided to chime in on some things.
The sky is not falling on the Beavers. If you remember where I picked them in the preseason I had them 7-5 and going to the Las Vegas Bowl. They actually won one more game than predicted.
My feeling was the team was good enough to reach third place, but would slide to Vegas due to technicalities in bowl contracts, which it did. The Beavers were actually tied for second place.
The reason for the pick was that the defense had to be rebuilt, but the offense would score points. Both those things happened. So in a way this was a transition year.
The team turned out better than expected. Losing to the rival two years in a row upset the fan base, as with the team. A loss is a loss, but the Beavers were more competitive on the road than at home in 2008.
That being said, there’s no reason to slit your throats. The Beavers are going to another bowl game. No, it’s not the Rose or Holiday. However, it’s one of the best matchups of the 34 postseason games.
My thoughts are if you are not in a BCS level game any game is just another game, opportunity, to get better and build momentum for the following year and make a run at the elusive BCS game.
The only problem with the Las Vegas Bowl is the lack of practice due to its spot on the calender. It’s not a concern to get ready for BYU, but for the young guys. Bowl practice is an opportunity prep next year’s key players.
Nearly all the defense returns next year with the exception of key players CB Tim Clark, LB Keaton Kristick and DE Ben Terry. The group should be a point of strength. All the special teams specialists are back, except for a holder.
The offense returns except – and this is a big one – a QB. Ryan Katz needs all the work he can get. And even if Peter Lalich makes a move, he needs even more work to get up to speed. And we’ve all seen how it takes a while for a QB to get in a groove with the Beavers due to everything they have to know.
So enjoy one more game. It should be a good one, win or lose. The players return to practice Monday and I’ll catch up with how they are doing.
4 comments
DaMonkey says:
Dec 12, 2009
Cliff… excellent insights, as usual. I, for one, am still recovering from the Civil War… it's still a tough one to swallow… especially with all my duck friends rubbing it in constantly.
If I were a betting man I'd bet on BYU in this matchup given the philosophy of "bet on the team that WANTS to be there". OSU was putting all of their eggs in the Rose Bowl basket as they should have… it's just that this game IS a let down game and, like it or not, motivation will be an issue. I just don't see them getting fired up for BYU on the 22nd of December like they would've for Ohio State on the 1st of January… ain't gonna happen.
That is my gut feeling… I hope I am wrong. We'll see…
I'd love to know your thoughts on this… thanks!
WebTraveler says:
Dec 12, 2009
With the QB situation I am not following dropping Eastern Washington for TCU. I just wish that the TCU deal could have come up before Boise State was scheduled and we could have done TCU rather than Boise State.
tradernum1 says:
Dec 13, 2009
The defense needs to get better, not just older.
I would hope that Riley and company are looking to adjust how they coach the quarterbacks. It ALWAYS takes too long for quarterbacks to be positive contributors to the offense.
If you have seen Katz and Lalich in practice you can see that they have a ton of talent. It's up to the coaches to get that into game condition.
fparnon says:
Dec 14, 2009
Mike Riley and his coaches have a big challenge to get the Beavers energized to play BYU only eight days from today. It will be tough after the Civil War loss to get the players excited and "up" for the Las Vegas bowl. But I think Riley is up to this challenge.
I sure hope so, because this could be a very important game for the Beavers. It's one of the best bowl matchups this year, featuring two ranked teams with high-powered offenses and capable defenses. Fans are eager for the start of bowl season, and this matchup coming right at the start of bowl season should draw a large TV audience. It's another great stage for the Beavers to show their stuff to a national audience, including pollsters and high school recruits.
Also, if the Beavs win this game, they will get a Top 15 ranking for this year, and (even more important) a Top 15 preseason ranking for next year. If the Beavs start in the Top 15 next year, and then win their very tough early season games (including Boise State away, and maybe also TCU away), the Beavs will be positioned for a serious run at a BCS bowl next year.
In short, there is a lot riding on this year's Las Vegas bowl. Go Beavers!!