BeaverBlitz.com - BeaverBlitz Newsstand: Mon. October 26

October 26, 2009

Peter Riley Osborne
BeaverBlitz.com Staff

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BEAVER FOOTBALL

Football falls to No.4 Trojans at the sold-out Coliseum
Daily Barometer
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
The Oregon State football team had a chance to rewrite history this past Saturday at the Coliseum - a place they hadn't won in 49 years against the No. 4 USC Trojans. Unfortunately, they lost 42-36 and USC never trailed. It seems like just yesterday the Beavers defeated the Trojans 27-21 at Reser Stadium and kept USC from playing for the national title. "I'm very, very proud of our team for their fight and nobody blinked, everyone tried to make plays," head coach Mike Riley said. "We always kept trying, and I do love that about our team." Senior quarterback Sean Canfield threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns for the Beavers. Oregon State (4-3, 2-2 Pac-10) had 482 total yards during the game. He threw no interceptions and was sacked just three times.

OSU shows balance, resilience in USC defeat
Register-Guard
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Mike Riley is looking ahead to Oregon State's home game on Saturday against UCLA as the opportunity for the Beavers to start "making a stretch run for our identity."

Beavers upset in wake of USC loss, but still confident
Gazette-Times
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Oregon State football coach Mike Riley predicted his players would be upset with all the missed opportunities when they watched the video, and he was right.

Biggest year ever for Ducks? And Beavers aren't done yet, either
Portland Tribune
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Oregon State didn't cash in on its opportunity last Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

BEAVER SPORTS

OSU NOTES: Riley: It's about us getting ready to play
Portland Tribune
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
UCLA is 0-4 in the Pac-10 and would seem to be an opponent Oregon State should handle when the teams collide at 1 p.m. Saturday at Reser Stadium. Oregon State coach Mike Riley doesn't want to hear any of it. The Bruins (3-4 overall) are "a good team, with a really good defensive front, and we know it's going to be tough to beat them," Riley said Sunday night. "Really, the entire Pac-10 is unpredictable. You'd better come to play or you're not going to win on any given day." The Beavers (4-3 overall, 2-2 in Pac-10) spent Sunday mulling what-could-have-beens as they watched video of their 42-36 loss at Southern Cal Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Mike Riley on Sunday: he doesn't expect a USC hangover to affect his players in the UCLA game
Oregonian
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Riley bemoaned the missed opportunities to pull off another upset of the Pacific 10 Conference's flagship program.

Oregon State misses its chances against No. 4 USC
Gazette-Times
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Just think what would have happened if the Oregon State football team performed close to its potential. The Beavers felt they needed to play a perfect game to defeat No. 4 Southern California, but they didn't need to be that good - just efficient.

Volleyball Comes up Short against No. 13 UCLA
Official Site
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Los Angeles, Calif. - Senior Rachel Rourke (Queensland, Australia) and junior Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) both tallied double-doubles, but the Oregon State volleyball team came up short against No. 13 UCLA (18-25, 22-25, 17-25) on Saturday evening.

USC football: Five observations from Trojans 42, Beavers 36
OC Register
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Any discussion of this game has to start with the Trojans' defense, or lack thereof. The past six quarters have not been pinkard1025pretty: 47 points and 728 yards. That was a month's worth of games last season. So what's going on? First of all, remember that USC basically has an entirely new front seven. As talented as the new starters are, they're bound to be inconsistent; that's just the way the vast majority of young players are. Second, as good as Josh Pinkard (far right) is, he's still a safety masquerading as a cornerback. He's a darn good college corner, but as Saturday night proved, he's vulnerable at times against quick-footed receivers in man coverage. Third, Mike Riley knows how to attack Pete Carroll's defense. How many times did Riley dial up the perfect play for QB Sean Canfield? When USC dropped into zones, Canfield threw checkdowns or hit Joe Halahuni (9-127) leaking out from his tight end spot. When USC played man, Canfield threw slants, seams and skinny posts, often picking on Pinkard. What's really odd about the past two games is that the Trojans usually are the ones who make the second-half adjustments. Maybe we're all just spoiled.

Pac 10 Best and Worst of Week 8
Buster Sports
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
USC-Oregon State going old school Pac-10. A couple of gun-slinging quarterbacks and offenses trading touchdowns in the most entertaining half of football to date this Pac-10 season. The SEC likes its defense, but out here on the West coast, we like it when two teams hang seven touchdowns on the scoreboard in two quarters.

What the soon-to-be Beavers did Friday night
Oregonian
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Oregon State-bound quarterback Sean Mannion got the best of UCLA-bound quarterback Brett Nottingham Friday night, as Mannion passed for 397 yards and four touchdowns and Foothill used a late comeback to beat 10th-ranked Monte Vista-Danville 41-37 on ESPNU. Sounds like it was a hell of a game.

Rowing Sweeps Open 8+ Races at Portland Fall Classic
Official Site
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Oregon State men's and women's rowing squads swept the Varsity 8+ races at the Portland Fall Classic, held on the Willamette River on Sunday. The Oregon State men's 8+ "A" crew won in a time of 16:33.84 while the women's 8+ "A" crew won in a time of 18:38.46.

Beaver Blogs

Cliff: Sunday football notes
Gazette-Times
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
First, the above AP photo. Some Oregon State football fans have been crying foul about the Pacific-10 Conference refs for years, and for good reason. Here's a pic of CB Tim Clark getting a stiff arm to the facemask. Didn't WR James Rodgers get flagged for this exact thing twice in one game this season? At the bottom, isn't that a horse collar tackle on WR Casey Kjos? On to the notes from coach Mike Riley on Sunday night. RB Jacquizz Rodgers (sprained ankle) didn't run with the team when it met Sunday, but he walked around without problem. "He'll be ready to play," Riley said. WR James Rodgers (bruised knee) doesn't have anything structurally wrong. "He'll be ready to play, too," Riley said. "We'll see if they'll be ready to practice on Tuesday."

What we learned in the Pac-10: Week 8
ESPN
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
3. Arizona and Oregon State are rising: Sure, Oregon State lost at USC, but here's a guess that game film won't make anyone in the conference excited about playing the Beavers, who again are clearly a top-half team. Arizona is surely still ruing the loss at Washington. Without that late deflection, the Wildcats would be sniffing the nation's top 10. Both are bowl teams. The question is how high up the pecking order can they climb? Here's a guess that matchups on consecutive weekends at Cal (Oregon State on Nov. 7; Arizona on Nov. 14) will be revealing.

Pac-10 power rankings: Week 9
ESPN
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
4. Oregon State: The Beavers lost at USC but the impressive effort proved their legitimacy. Oregon State figures to be a few wins away from clawing its way into the national rankings -- perhaps if it can win at California on Nov. 7. Also, is it just me or did Sean Canfield throw his helmet into the suddenly deep "All-Conference Quarterback" ring?

Pac 10 Week 8 Reprot Card
Buster Sports
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
Oregon State: I can envision a time in December when we look back and say Oregon State vs. USC was the best game of the Pac-10 season. The Beavers did the unthinkable: making the Trojans' defense appear pedestrian. A Pete Carroll-coached USC team has never given up 36 points in Memorial Coliseum. There can be no doubt now that Jacquizz Rodgers is one of the country's best running backs, and a certain Heisman Trophy candidate in 2010. USC figured to make Rodgers a central part of the game plan, and yet a determined defense and a first-half ankle injury still couldn't hold the sophomore running back to less than 100 yards. He might have locked up Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year on Saturday. Yes, the Beavers made too many mistakes on defense and special teams. But all in all, it was a solid performance and one that signals the Beavers are going to be murder in November. Grade: B-plus

Trojans Take A 15-Round Split Decision
Building the Dam
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
The USC Trojans and Oregon St. Beavers were scheduled to play a football game, but both teams, and their fans, came away feeling like they had just been parties to a 15 round heavyweight fight. The kind not seen since the generation of Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. One the Trojans took on a split decision as much as by the 42-36 final score.

Notebook: Don't look now, but Arizona Wildcats are becoming a dangerous team
Oregonian
Sound-off: The Lodge | Beaver Nation
While Oregon and USC slug it out Saturday at Autzen Stadium, the Arizona Wildcats will be keeping a low profile in Tucson.