Cliff Kirkpatrick

Oregon State CB Tim Clark (broken right foot) was around campus on crutches Monday. He’s still down, but at peace with the injury. He’s looking forward to rehab and training for a shot at the NFL.

QB Sean Canfield was invited to the Jan. 30 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. It’s the premier postseason all-star game for the top prospects in the NFL draft.

OLB Keaton Kristick said he’s going to the East-West Shrine game Jan. 23 in Orlando, Fla. That’s the next-best thing to the Senior Bowl.

OG Gregg Peat got an East-West invite, but he’s still waiting to accept. He hopes for a Senior Bowl invite, depending on who accepts and leaves an opening for him. UPDATE: Peat clarified that there has been Shrine talk, but he hasn’t gotten an invite, yet.

Check back later tonight for more updates after practice.

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It wasn’t a foregone conclusion the Oregon State football team’s offense was going to be successful this season.

There was a returning QB and star RB, but the offensive line needed to be rebuilt with two underclassmen on the left side, true freshman Michael Philipp and walk-on Grant Johnson.

Read more about the linemen and the man behind them, Mike Cavanaugh, in Thursday’s GT here. And check out the above video of OG Gregg Peat. He talks Washington State and Cavanaugh.

Here are a few comments from Peat that didn’t make the story or the video:

“That’s the way he coaches,” he said of Canvaugh’s aggressive approach. “He gets the most out of us. We like that.”

“In the beginning of the season it was a rocky start,” Peat said. “We gave up a lot of sacks and the run game wasn’t where we wanted it. But as the season went on we got better, but we are not perfect, by far.”

The offensive lines development led a stellar offense. Sean Canfield leads the conference in passing and Jacquizz Rodgers is up for several postseason offensive awards.

“This offense has turned into a pretty good picture,” coach Mike Riley said. “Our offense threatens people with the interior running game with Quizz. It threats on the edge with James (Rodgers) and Markus Wheaton. Our running game is balanced. We have a number of guys making plays in the passing game.”

OSU reached the point that if the running game is stopped, the passing game takes over, and vice versa. There can be gimmick plays such as Wild Beaver or be conventional.

“Its fun to see the overall growth and production,” Riley said. “It’s important for us to continue to climb. You can feel it when we are going good with the execution and guys making plays.”

Balance has come from the backups and support personnel. TE Joe Halahuni and WR Damola Adeniji are prime examples of the offense spreading the wealth.

“Playing for Joe was a big deal,” Riley said. “He hasn’t played much before. He was overcoming a significant (knee) injury. It was just a matter of time before it clicked in. Once it did, it’s a good thing. The quarterback looks to him more, and there’s more in the game plan for him.”

RB Jovan Stevenson and WR Aaron Nichols are examples of the backups stepping in so there’s no difference in the offense.

“When you got that going that whoever goes in and it doesn’t matter, that’s a good thing,” Riley said. “We try not to be overly excited about that. That’s what we expect. That’s why they practice and that’s why they are on the team. When they go in the game our expectations is to help us carry on if we are doing well, and if not, help us get better. They are very good examples of us being able to do that.”

Getting to know …
Here’s a link to my oddball Q&A with C Alex Linnenkohl. For a preview, he’s another player afraid of these creatures.

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Media folks hung around the Valley Football Center on Tuesday to interview some Oregon State football players when coach Mike Riley wandered by for lunch.

He came up to the horde, and asked if anyone needed him. Everyone lined up. The funny thing is that there might be handful, maybe less, of coaches at the NCAA Division I level who would do that.

Anyway, to the updates. And check out the new photo decorations around the remodeled VFC.

Catchings update
Riley has been dropping hints that WR Darrell Catchings (ankle) is out so long-term he can’t even predict when he’ll be back. I thought that was his code for medical redshirt attempt. So, I asked him about it.

“What I’ve decided to do is see where his health is, and if he can start to run in two or three weeks,” Riley said. “If not, we’ll enter into an appeal process. But it involves a lot. It’s never a given.”

Riley originally said two-three weeks, but he clarified he should have said six weeks. That means Catchings would be back for the Nov. 14 game with Washington. That would give him three regular season games and a potential bowl game.

“(Trainer) Barney (Graff) thought it was six weeks at the time it happened, then the conditioning and the time to get back is another three weeks,” Riley said. “We’re looking at the very end of the year.”

Then I asked Riley about how sure he was about getting a medical redshirt from a high ankle sprain.

“It won’t be a gamble,” Riley said. “If he’s healthy enough to play in three weeks, there’s a lot of season left. If not, then it’s the only option.”

Peat update
OG Gregg Peat (knee) walked around without a limp. He bruised it in Saturday’s game. Peat hopped around and said he’ll be fine for the game.

2010 schedule
SID Steve Fenk said the proposed move of the Washington game to the end of the 2010 schedule now looks shaky. The Beavers do plan to create a midseason bye in the schedule, but there are other options in the works.

Nice story
Here’s a link to a story that was in the GT you have missed. It’s about an off-the-field situation.

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