Cliff Kirkpatrick

There’s only a brief time to catch up with the reading for the Oregon State football game against Washington at 12:30 p.m. today in Reser Stadium. So I’m using this post for the Saturday reading and game thread.

Feel free to comment here throughout the day, or ask questions. And you can follow along at twitter.com/cliffgt.

Here’s a link to my main story in Saturday’s GT. It’s on DEs Gabe Miller and Matt LaGrone taking over the starting job and the positive impact they had on the pass rush. From there you can find links to the whole week of work.

Here’s a link to my five keys to the game that the Beavers must do to win. Here’s a link to the players to watch. My pick this week is S Lance Mitchell and Washington QB Jake Locker. Locker is a stud and Mitchell is having a very good year stopping the pass and run.

“(Locker) can do everything,” CB James Dockery said. “We have to bring our A-game. We have to play the pass. We have to keep our eyes one our man. There are times you think he’s going to get sacked and he breaks the pocket and makes plays down field.”

My pick for the game is OSU over Washington, 31-14. The Huskies are tough but the Beavers are playing well, are at home for the last time this season and have a desire for a good bowl game. And of course there’s the rivalry.

“Any time you get to play some Northwest team, that’s bragging rights,” Dockery said. “You want to win. But I want to win every game.”

Sad news
OSU football public address announcer Mike Stone will not be at the game today. He is with his ailing father out of state. He started in 1997 and not missed a game.

And to get you excited for the game, remember this play? It’s the last time to bring this one up since QB Lyle Moevao is graduating this year.

First quarter
After both teams punt the ball, LB Keaton Kristick had one of the most amazing diving picks ever. OSU takes the ball on the UW 17.

Two plays later and QB Sean Canfield hits TE Joe Halahuni on a 3-yard TD pass. OSU up 7-0 with 10:22 left.

An awful punt by UW sets up a 44-yard FG by Justin Kahut. OSU was a little too fancy with a failed reverse and a dropped Wild Beaver play. OSU leads 10-0 with 3:18 left.

OSU is charmed so far. Canfield, Quizz and Ryan McCants have fumbled but got it back. And for Quizz, he fumbled a Wild Beaver handoff to James Rodgers.

Second quarter
Beavers finish off the latest drive with another 44-yard FG by Kahut. OSU up 13-0, 13:28.

Beavers defense is on fire. There’s a massive pass rush. Coverage is good. Quizz makes four stunning moves on a 42-yard run to set up the next TD. Canfield hits James Rodgers on a 6-yard TD pass. OSU is up 30-0, 7:38.

UW rallies with a 66-yard drive. Penalties and bad tackling help keep it going. Jake Locker hits Jermaine Kearse on a 3-yard TD pass. OSU still leads 20-7, 2:21.

RB Jovan Stevenson is in on the final drive of the half because Quizz has a leg issue. Beavers still score a TD on a 70-yard drive. Canfield his James Rodgers on a 10-yard pass. OSU up 27-7, 0:24.

The update on Quizz is it’s a left hip, but not serious. OSU was being cautious. There could be more McCants and Stevenson in the second half.

Third quarter
James Rodgers returns the opening kickoff to the UW 1. It was an 84-yard return. Quizz scores on a 1-yard run. OSU up 34-7, 14:05

More OSU defense stops UW and more OSU offense leads to another Quizz score. OSU up 41-7, 7:31. Quizz topped 100 yards on that play. That’s the 13th time he has done that in his career.

Beavers are forced to punt after scoring on seven straight drives.

Fourth quarter
Beavers emptying the bench on defense. S Jordan Poyer getting some playing time, among other second/third string guys. And they force a fumble. Matt LaGrone forced the fumble. Poyer recovered it.

Washington makes it interesting by forcing Canfield to fumble. Well, it’s not that interesting even though the Huskies score on a 39-yard TD pass by Locker to Kearse. OSU still up 41-14, 9:27.

OSU responds with another TD, this time by Halahuni. It’s 48-14, 8:18. The game is over check back in a little bit for the postgame blog.

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Oregon State football coach Mike Riley met with the media Tuesday to talk about the Washington game. Check out the clip of him in the above video.

The bottom video is of DE Gabe Miller talking Cal and Washington. It gets a little loud at the end. More people are in the Valley Football Center at that point.

Doughnut patrol
The Rodgers brothers and Riley handed out 20 dozens of doughnuts Monday morning. It was James Rodgers’ idea, and he got it from his uncle.

Injury update
It’s the status quo. S Anthony Watkins (shoulder), DT Brennan Olander (back) and WR Damola Adeniji (thigh) are expected to be back to practice.

Ticket update
There are about 1,100 tickets left for the game at $75 each. UPDATE: Make that 850 tickets left.

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BERKELEY, Calif. – The Oregon State football team put together a complete game and defeated No. 23 California 31-14 Saturday night to become bowl eligible with its sixth win of the season.

Here’s a link to my main story in Sunday’s GT on the state of the Beavers and how they did in the game. Here’s my secondary story on Cal’s Jahvid Best and OSU’s defense.

Here’s a link to the Beavers Report Card. Here’s a link to the notebook. There’s always a lot of good tidbits in there.

The only concern was the lack of a running game. QB Sean Canfield picked up Jacquizz Rodgers with a big game.

“Their defense did a good job of handling our run game,” TE Joe Halahuni said. “We just had players step up and do our job.”

What was impressive was the adjustments the coaches and the players did on the fly when Quizz couldn’t go anywhere. And then Canfield just just took it on himself to carry the team.

“We kept our composure,” Canfield said. “We put some points up in the first half, and I think we are very close to putting up a lot more points.”

Coach Mike Riley attributed the offense’s success to the pass protection. Not run blocking didn’t bother the linemen. They stayed focused on the pass.

“(Cal) played very well, and we protected our quarterback very well to allow him to throw the ball,” Riley said.

The defense stuffed the run, contained the pass and pressure the passer. LB Keaton Kristick had a good game. Overall special teams were solid.

“Our (coaches) just prepared them to play against this offense, and we were well-prepared,” Riley said. “Then we played very aggressively.”

A big move was starting Gabe Miller and Matt LaGrone as the DEs. They have been the most effective of the group in part-time roles.

“It was Gabe and Matt playing well,” Riley said. “And we need all our ends playing well.”

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