RB Malcolm Agnew needs a good game today.
There’s plenty of reading in Saturday’s GT to get you in the mood for the Oregon State football team’s game in Seattle’s CenturyLink Field against Washington State. You have plenty of time, too, with a 7:41 p.m. kickoff.
My main story looks at why the OL has fallen on hard times. It’s two bad recruiting classes, and what happened with the players. On the link you get more links to the preview stories that ran in the week.
Go ahead and comment here about the story and situation. Readers love to discuss recruiting, and lack there of, of the Beavers.
Here’s my Game Day special section main on the series with the Cougars. OSU had been getting the better of it until last year.
How have you like this series? After after about three weeks I got angry e-mails saying it was reason for the team’s losing because the players saw how bad the program was in past and they were depressed.
Here are my three offensive keys to a Beavers win:
No. 3 Run the ball
Coach Mike Riley keeps promising to run the ball more because he needs to balance the approach with 168 runs to 269 passes. The 69 ypg in the last five games isn’t cutting it. RB Malcolm Agnew (hamstring) made it through he second full week of practice, and is expected to get a lot of work.
No. 2 Smart QB play
Freshman QB Sean Mannion is passing for 65 percent, which is an impressive number. However, he’s thrown nine INTs to five TDs. He’s also fumbled. When the pressure has been applied, Mannion makes one of his rookie mistakes.
No. 1 Score
The offense gains 386 ypg but only scores 22 ppg, which ranks No. 11 in the Pac-12 Conference. The red zone offense is No. 11 in the Pac-12 at 73 percent. Three field goals have been missed and there have been three turnovers.
Offensive player to watch: RB Malcolm Agnew
Agnew is back for the second straight game. He gained 49 yards on 10 carries last week. If Riley follows through and give him the ball more, he hopes to get back in his rhythm that allowed him to gain 223 yards in the season opener against Sacramento State.
My prediction: Washington State 24, OSU 17. I did my matchups for the Game Day section, and the Cougars had nearly all the advantage. There were a couple even matchups. It looked OSU was playing USC.
And finally, one last Seattle singer to get you in the mood. Yes, there’s a lot of Grunge in the car with me today. I wanted to use a Soundgarden video, but I hate Vevo ads. So, I cheated with Chris Cornell’s Audioslave band. I like them better anyway.
3 comments
OS_Beaver says:
Oct 22, 2011
I agree Cliff. I would like to see getting Agnew 100 yards as one of the key goals of the game because doing so will greatly increase our odds of winning. Better balance will put Mannion in less position to throw costly picks as the defense will have more respect for the run. I expect we get pass happy again in the second half though. Riley better figure out how to beat what was recently a doormat team or else this loss will enrage Beaver Nation even more.
WSU 34, OSU 24
OSU vs WSU Preview:
http://beaverbyte.com
Rob says:
Oct 22, 2011
Cliff,
shouldn’t you be the music critic instead of the of OS football beat writer? (don’t be insulted but i often enjoy the linked music more than the article
one of these times can you ask Riley or Langsdorf why when we win the coin toss why we elect to take the ball (common wisdom says that having the ball to start 2nd half more important than to start the game–if you’re behind it allows you to catch up and if you’re ahead it allows you to deliver a knock out punch–i’ve even heard riley say to last possesion of the 1rst half and first possession of 2nd half are most important in the game)–but even more so when you have a young inexperience QB who would benefit from settling into the game. I suspose they are thinking if we can sustain a drive on the first possession it would set a great tone for the game…but we have AMPLE evidence over past two years that it doesn’t work (inexpereinced QBs are better with a little time to adjust to the game)
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Oct 22, 2011
OSU historically always took the ball in the second half. They are not doing that year so the new QB gets the ball in a decent spot and is not behind on his first possession.