OAKLAND, Calif. — Crunch time comes for the Oregon State football team with two games to win one for bowl eligibility. No. 7 Stanford is heavily favored this afternoon, but the Beavers will be competitive.

Making it more interesting is that it’s pouring rain this morning. More rain is in the forecast later. Will this help the Beavers to have Oregon weather?

I picked the Cardinal 31-21 in today’s Game Day section of the GT. Statistically, Stanford is a safe bet. However, I said that last week with Southern California, and the Beavers won. That’s why they play the game.

“Our team plays better against better teams,” RB Jacquizz Rodgers said. “Hopefully, it will bring us up this week.”

Here’s my main story in today’s GT here on how important WR Markus Wheaton is to the Beavers with James Rodgers on the shelf.

When he touches the ball more than 10 times — on a pass or rush — the Beavers win. Less than 10 touches means a loss.

Here’s a link to the cover story in the Game Day. It’s on Mike Hass, No. 2 on the GT’s countdown of the top 12 OSU players of the last decade. On the link you can see the stories of the previous 10.

Here’s a link to my Players to Watch. Stanford QB Andrew Luck is the obvious choice. He’s a mobile QB who can hurt the Beavers scrambling. If he’s contained, good things will happen for OSU.

My OSU player is DT Stephen Paea. He’s playing well lately. It’s up to him to blow up the middle of the pocket.

Here’s a link to a download for a 15-minute radio interview I taped Friday night that will run around 2:30 p.m. today on Xtra Sports (860 AM) in the Bay Area. It’s with Stanford’s version of Mike Parker. Many topics are covered.

Remember to check the blog before, during and after the game for updates. Hopefully, my comments won’t disable itself. I’ll try to make sure it’s up. Also, follow me at twitter.com/cliffgt.

And since Oregon won last night, potential of ESPN Game Day camping out on OSU’s MU quad before the Civil War is great. Is that a good thing?

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