Cliff Kirkpatrick

The Oregon State football team had its final real practice before leaving for the Las Vegas Bowl on Thursday afternoon. There will be a walkthrough Friday before the players leave at 3 p.m. to arrive in Sin City at 7 p.m.

There are two more practices at UNLV and then a walkthrough at Sam Boyd Stadium left.

“I think it has been very good leading up to today,” coach Mike Riley said. “I’ve liked what we gotten in. I liked how we practiced. I think it’s good.”

DT Brennan Olander (knee) and DE Taylor Henry (knee) returned to practice.

RB Ryan McCants moved to the scout team to help the defense prepare for BYU’s Harvey Unga. He did that earlier to prepare for Cal’s Jahvid Best.

“I think it’s good for Ryan to get more work than he’s getting down here (with the offense) rotating in,” Riley said. “We put him down there for his work and to help or defense.”

That means Jovan Stevenson is the No. 2 ball carrier for the game, Riley said, since he’s getting all the work with the offense.

Be sure to follow the blog and twitter.com/cliffgt. I’ll keep up with what the Beavers are doing.

Check out my Friday story in the GT here. It’s a look at the defenses in the LV Bowl. And if you want to catch up with everything written from the Civil War to know, click here.

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Two key Oregon State football players and some reserves joined the injured list Wednesday. One, however, is back to action.

Backup OT Geoff Garner had a long-term sore knee examined and there’s nothing wrong, coach Mike Riley said. Garner returned to practice.

Temporary setbacks were DT Brennan Olander (knee) and DE Taylor Henry (knee). Olander is a starter and Henry gets playing time as a third-stringer.

“I think they are just both sore,” Riley said. “They will be able to play and are fine. I hope Taylor practices tomorrow. Bo is just resting.”

OL Rory Ross had surgery on his right knee and is on crutches. He’s a redshirt freshman being developed. He had a lingering injury OSU decided to take care of now so he can be ready for spring practice.

OT Wilder McAndrews is on crutches for a leg aliment. He’s had wrist and finger injuries the last two years that kept him out of action.

“Wilder, he can’t stay healthy,” Riley said. “He didn’t have surgery, but it’s something that will need to be fixed or time to heal.”

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Civil War media day came a day earlier this week since the No. 13 Oregon State football team’s road showdown with No. 7 Oregon is on Thursday night.

There were a lot of extra TV cameras and photographers. It must be a big game or something.

UPDATE: QB Sean Canfield did his press conference. He came across tense with his game face on. Is he nervous? The Rodgers brothers didn’t even hang around.

Post-practice update
I didn’t have to sneak in to practice. The Beavers are keeping it open all week, but requesting no cameras of any kind, even on cell phones.

The Beavers piped in the sound all practice to prepare for the crowd at Autzen Stadium. And it was loud. It was much louder than last game in preparation for Washington State.

Canfield was back to his mellow self. Maybe he just had a test on his mind.

Anyway, check out coach Mike Riley talking about the upcoming game. Extra video will be posted throughout the day. The second and third Riley videos picks up were the one above leaves off.

Below is a video of LB Keaton Kristick. I’m going to miss him next year. He has a great personality and humor. He wears a Marvel shirt around to these gatherings so OSU people make him put on an OSU shirt.

His favorite character is Wolverine. That must be why we get along. My youngest son is named Logan for a reason.

And here are some notes.

Uniforms
Riley said he doesn’t know what uniform the team will play in, but expects it to be white.

Injury report
TE Brady Camp (shoulder) should be ready for the game. DT Brennan Olander (knee) is questionable.

“I hope Brennan Olander can get to the game and play,” Riley said. “He has been a big factor for us. That’s up in the air. Brady Camp looks like he’ll be ready.”

Latest line
The line has moved. The Beavers are now 9.5-point underdogs. They started out at 8.

“The underdog stuff and points is for you guys to talk about and the fans to argue about,” Riley said. “It play no part in the preparation for the game.”

Long rivalry
The Civil War is the seventh-most contested rivalry in the nation with this being the 113th meeting. It dates back to 1894. Oregon leads the series 56-47-10.

Here’s who are ahead of the Beavers and Ducks: Minnesota vs. Wisconsin (119), Kansas vs. Missouri (118), Nebraska vs. Kansas (116), Texas vs. Texas A&M (116), Miami-Ohio vs. Cincinnati (114), North Carolina vs. Virginia (114) and Auburn vs. Georgia (113).

Balanced offense
The Beavers enter the final regular season game with 395 pass attempts and 388 rush attempts – a difference of seven. The seven-play difference is the smallest in the Pac-10.

Here’s what the other teams have done: UCLA (12), Washington State (18), Washington (22), Arizona (32), Arizona State (36), Southern California (73), California (89), Oregon (168) and Stanford (203).

Road warriors
Oregon State is the most successful team in the Pac-10 Conference in away games the last two seasons. The Beavers have won eight of their last 10 league road games, losing a 42-36 decision to then-No. 4 USC this season, and 36-28 in the 2008 season opener at Stanford.

Northwest title
Lost in all the Rose Bowl hype is that the winner of the Civil War will stake the claim of the Pacific Northwest title with wins over Washington and Washington State . OSU won all three games in 2007 and in 2004.

Tough to shutout
OSU has scored in 38 of its 44 quarters (86.4 percent) – fourth in the nation, trailing only Houston (45-48, 93.8 percent), Boise State (39-44, 88.6 percent) and Florida (39-44, 88.6 percent).

The Beavers haven’t been shutout in a game since Sept. 28, 2002 at USC (22-0) – a streak of 107 consecutive games and 158 of 159 games dating back to a 1997, a shutout again by USC (23-0).

Facing ranked teams
Oregon State has won seven of its last 13 games against ranked opponents, including four on the road – at No. 24 Hawaii in 2006 (35-32), at No. 2 California in 2007 (31-28), at No. 18 Oregon in 2007 (38-31) and at No. 23 California in 2009 (31-14).

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