The Oregon State football team decided to paint its practice field blue Monday in preparation for Saturday’s showdown with No. 3 Boise State.
Bronco Stadium has the infamous blue turf. It’s really stunning and takes time to adjust. It’s a major home field advantage.
An anonymous donor paid for the 440 gallons that was poured on the grass. Thanks to my wife, who did my video due to my crazy schedule.
23 comments
mrskirkpatrick says:
May 18, 2012
Smurf Turf. Little blue men are cute.
purple_orange says:
May 18, 2012
I have an idea to get BS to change back to a green field. First get Oregon/Nike tapped into this technique. Heck, they could afford multiple colors. My Alma Mater has an indoor stadium with a field that is rolled up (five yard segments) to allow use for track, basketball, tennis, etc. Oregon could match their du jour uniform with the field. Sound crazy? Perhaps but I bet the NCAA would step in and mandate one color for all fields and BS would consequently lose its blue field.
ElJefe says:
May 18, 2012
I think they already have a rule like that, but Boise St. was grandfathered in and allowed to keep their blue turf.
aaron_ says:
May 18, 2012
yeah i remember seeing something about that rule and yes BSU was grandfathered….
OSU4life says:
May 18, 2012
I like it! I love how Riley and company are going all in for this game! Beavers will be prepared and ready to go!!!
Corvbeav says:
May 18, 2012
I hope the blue practice field make our Linebackers faster! lol
maffub says:
May 18, 2012
What will make our LBs faster is knowing their assignments… and trusting their teammates to know their own. The guys are thinking out there when they need to be reacting… THAT is what makes them look slow.
JackBeav says:
May 18, 2012
I watched and got excited on one play in the second half when Pankey had a clean run at Froman's blind side. As he approched for the hit, Froman just ran away. And he put big distance between him and Pankey. Can you explain how Pankey missed his assignment on this one? He had a running head start and was made to look like he was the one standing still… by a slow QB.
protherj says:
May 18, 2012
That QB was not slow.
JackBeav says:
May 18, 2012
He has straight line speed. i think he was a WR in high school… or something like that. But while he outran a Pac 10 starting LB who had a running head start… and he pumped multiple times while looking downfield for a pass the whole way… he wasn't exactly sprinting a 40.
maffub says:
May 18, 2012
JackBeav,
That plays into EXACTLY what I was talking about. Pankey was playing tentatively… he doesn't trust his mates to be in the right spots.
I don't care if we're talking about me, Adam Froman, or Abe Froman, the sausage king of Chicago… the tentative player will lose almost every time.
JackBeav says:
May 18, 2012
He wasn't tentative. He was slow. Masaniai was the one who forced the scramble in the first place, and he outran Pankey in pursuit. Maybe the QB was too fast and Pankey just gave up. But that brings up another problem, and I don't wish to think that of any player.
aaron_ says:
May 18, 2012
i really think i would like to see Tony Wilson gettign some more snaps in there. He looked agressive and decisive out there. Camat also showed well on a few plays.
tradernum1 says:
May 18, 2012
The O is reporting that part of the reason for the blue field is that there won't be any walk through on friday because of "scheduling difficulties".
Is this more minor league bull from BSU, or is it OS's scheduling issue?
ckirkpatrick says:
May 18, 2012
Sort of, not really. Opposing teams don't usually get to go on a walk-through because there is always double header HS football games going on there Friday. Teams must be there early in the morning to do the walk-through. OSU is not going to be there until 4 or 5 p.m.
Game Day can not set up inside on Friday either, because of HS football. Game Day will go inside in the early morning hours.
ckirkpatrick says:
May 18, 2012
Collins converted to LB right before the season. He asked for it, figuring his nagging injuries were from the quick movements a safeties does. He figured his big body was suited better for LB.
He's still learning LB, so he's only been in on a limited basis.
Philipp has been injured through all of spring and most of training camp. McAndrews has not been hurt during that time and played well. So, McAndrews got the start the first game due to being in there while Philipp was rusty. Philipp started second game because McAndrews was sick.
As for the defense, they improve with practice and playing time. So, that's what they are doing. They will be faster.
tradernum1 says:
May 18, 2012
If you have blue turf and only play (at a maximum) two real opponents a year, then you're minor league.
duckduckbeaver says:
May 18, 2012
Just keep believing that……….
JackBeav says:
May 18, 2012
The defense will improve and be faster for the same reason it does every year… personnel moves. The question is not what can we do with what we have. We want to know if it's going to take a 55-10 drubbing on national TV for our coaching staff to make those changes… like it does every year.
We saw a huge rotation on defense against Louisville. Part of the problem was that we had no real 'team' on the field. They looked like a bunch of individuals out there for assessment. There should be a lot of good tape on those individuals to start putting them in the right places.
If no changes are made, then Boise will start the game running to the left and passing quick fades over intentionally blind corners. That's how the last two games have started. I don't see why the team who originated this method against us wouldn't just continue it.
If our corners decide to mutiny as Dockery did on his interception, or if our coaches put some average speed in at the SAM, then we might get Boise off the field after a third and long.
Beavocalypse says:
May 18, 2012
Thanks for the answers Kirk.
Mind if I ask some follow up questions?
Is Philipp healthy now?
And what is Cameron's progress in the new position? Will he see more time on the field?
protherj says:
May 18, 2012
We did the same thing 2-3 years ago (massive subs on D) and people called it depth…
JackBeav says:
May 18, 2012
We did it last year too, and the 'depth' eventually started. It will happen again, but will it be in time to keep from losing the conference opener?
Every year we hear the apologists tell us that experience trumps talent, and we should just let the experience meld into a solid unit. When that fails to happen every year, the talent steps in and takes over, and the experience takes a seat while we wait another two or three games for the talent to meld.
We could have put much better athletes on the field for a trial by fire. What would the downside be? Would they have made so many mistakes that we wouldn't be rated in the top 100 defenses in the nation?
Why do we have to wait for experience to gain experience to get better?
ckirkpatrick says:
May 18, 2012
Philip is healthy. He played all of last game.
Collins is being used part-time because he hasn't learned the LB position, yet. Next year maybe.