Home Athletics Grading Jonathan Smith (and General Thread)

Grading Jonathan Smith (and General Thread)

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I don’t have a ton of time today, but I wanted to get out some ideas on how Smith has progressed, and see if people see this the way I do. I’m going to give some key areas and then grade them. We should probably do this every year to hold coaches accountable.

Recruiting: somewhere between a B to B+ (up from C+). I’ve always said you can win with legit 3-star talent, and Smith has been the best at getting high 3-star talent and even some legit 4-star talent. The level of athlete has improved each year. Failure to recruit a good kicker in 5 years is disturbing, and QB recruiting failures were a concern until very recently.

Preparation: B+ (stable). There’s nothing glaring here. His teams have always been well prepared, and that trend seems stable.

In game coaching: C (Up from D-). There were minor improvements here. This past season, there were times I thought he’d be a degenerate and go for it, but he punted. So that’s some progress. Overall still way too much miscalculated risk. I’m convinced he doesn’t understand statistics very well at all. Until coaches realize the “stat sheet” is an aggregate of all teams, many of which are better than yours who go for it more and skew that sheet, they’re going to continue to make these miscalculations.

Player Development: B+ (stable). Only a few guys in each class wind up not contributing, and that could be for their own reasons. But he seems to mostly put players where they should be, and finds a roll for all players. I said Martinez should have been the starting back from game 1 this past year, so I think he still doesn’t always have the right personnel on the field. Identifying the best player from day 1 is an area that needs improvement.

Staff hires and management: B+ (stable). Holds staff accountable. Hires good fits. Even willing to hire an unproven guy like Brey who had obvious talent yet no real experience. The Lingren hire keeps this from being an A for me. Lingren is okay, but he’s a weak link in many ways.

Character/Loyalty: A+ (stable). No character problems with Smith, his staff, or his players. Players seem loyal to him and the program and “buy in”…staff hasn’t left. All good signs that he’s doing things the right way.

Motivation: A+ (up from A). Seems a real strength that nobody talks about. Inspires his players. And it seems this is improving as players buy in and see results.

Let me know your grades below. Feel free to go off topic.

764 COMMENTS

  1. 7
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    Thanks for the topic and new thread.

    In game coaching seems a bit low, and is compromised by the lack of a good+ QB and a reliable kicker, both of which are recruiting and/or player development shortcomings.

    I think multiple games would have been easier, and the in game coaching easier, with an actual passer and a reliable kicker. If the Beavers had had a Penix-type QB, USC and UW are likely wins, and the CW is probably a win and less competitive, with the coaches in-game decisions simpler as a result of a more balanced offense.

    Overall, recruiting and developing depth is accurate and so welcome. No longer does the team or fans have to worry for example about a #2 RB’s talent and game readiness – RBs go 3-4 deep and are effective even with limited reps. Its just that lack of a QB until this year.

  2. I have a slight issue with “Player Development: B+ (stable)”. The issue I have with putting players on the field seems to be a position coaches decision with Smith’s approval. Doesn’t seem like Coach Smith is the type to micro manage the depth chart, but mainly makes sure the ones who have put in the work are the ones who start and get a fair shake at the starting role over incoming players. Coach Smith wants the smartest player on the field who understands the playbook/scheme rather than talent, but limited playbook/scheme understanding. This also proves this point with so many players being early enrollees. The sooner you get on campus, the sooner you get to work on understanding the playbook/scheme and meshing with the team as a whole. With that said, yes, Martinez is the best option at RB, but he needed time to understand the scheme and still does. Fenwick would fall forward once he was touched, not just wrapped up, but touched. Player Development from first day with the team to graduating I would give the staff an A- to A due to body of work.

    The category you’re looking for is “Starting the Most Athletic Player” your grade would be more apt to be a C- to C due to not putting in the most Athletic/Talented player like Martinez and possibly BG at this point. If you think DJU will start 2023 it’s an uphill battle because DJU has to earn his spot and learn the offense and how to game manage. Coach Smith isn’t going to put DJU or Aidan Chiles out there to “Go be an Athlete and compete” without them fully understanding the playbook and game managing like BG is able to do currently.

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      OSU has never had the option of putting a 5* qb “out there to go compete and be athletic…(except for Seth The Great and we know how that turned out). I agree that JS will pace the opportunities for DJU unless he just explodes in camp and BG is a clear second.
      Realistically DJU is ready by WSU or Utah for conference play and BG doesn’t screw it all up in non conference games ( which I don’t think he would).

      Categories:
      Recruiting- A: JS has a specific type of player he has declared to be looking for while recruiting, not concerned with star ratings but with football iq and length. He gets an A for sticking to it. Each class has been progressively better even though each will be ranked in the 50s and bottom half PAC 12. Peterson’s OKG recruiting in action, it worked at Boise St and UW and is working in Corvallis, just a qb above game manager away from elite.

      Preparation B: Gameplans are part of preparation and it has been suspect with heavy passing early in games. Defensively Bray seems have all systems go, but Lindgren and Cookus pull back to a B with some glaring moments.

      In Game Strategy B: Improvement from prior years certainly. Leaving Nolan in to throw 4 ints wasn’t ideal game management. Team resiliency must play a part in some of his decisions in game. Knowing the team
      Won’t give up even after a risky play goes sideways.

      Player Development A: Mahalzcik gets this one to the A category as the line has become the team’s foundation and a lot of those guys were under the radar. Defensive line improvement will be the next checked box. OSU has had skill players but the line becomes the deciding factor that was missing back to Riley 2 era.

      Staff hires B: it is a good thing to have low turnover with the staff as long as the winning and continuity is there. But low turnover and bad results isn’t good. Tibesar answers the what would JS do in such cases. None have been known as great recruiters but it is better to get your guys and be steady recruiters. Tibesar was the only questionable hire but he was a fundamental instructor rather than a tactician. At least the team tackles now.

      Character A: See Colletto. Low drama and talented, intelligent likeable team that becomes easy to root for, and emotion is ok, showboating on a common play is not (I’m referencing any Duck player at any time in the last 15 years)

      Motivation A: Team resiliency in the face of daunting situations reflects excellent character and motivation for the entire program. Perhaps what we have seen over the past couple of years is a reflection of the outgoing senior class but I think it is a function of the team culture being set by JS through honest steady and humble leadership. Some guys respond to the knucklehead from Colorado yelling at them but I’d guess most guys will play much better and be more loyal to the steady confident leader who treats them like grown men.

      JS has this program to a point we dreamed of and longed for 10 years ago when Riley left, and I hope JS exceeds Riley’s reign over OSU football and turns those old tropes into fables. We no longer need to be careful what we wish for, we can see it on the horizon and it is possible to win without Riley in Corvallis after all, just as we all said 10 years ago.

      Go Beavs!

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        This comment COT nomination right off the bat. Agree with everything you’ve said. Riley 2.0 will be a fain memory in the next year or two once JS wins the Pac-12 Title(Riley never won a Pac-10/12 title in his tenure and Coach Erickson was Co-Pac-10 Champs with UW in 2000. So yes, JS has the chance to get the Beavs to Utah Status. Stable and Steady and recruiting guys that fit your system and culture.

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        Good point on too many pass heavy game plans, especially when they didn’t have a great QB. Trying to force an issue. Definite knock against, but I think I was putting that in the Lingren jab more than Smith, but I’m sure Smith is part of that, so yeah.

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      There was really no proof Martinez didn’t understand the playbook. That was a theory formed from people who wanted to believe Smith always plays the best guy. They made it up with no evidence. From the moment he got into games, he was really good. I don’t remember any more missed blocks or anything like that when compared to normal vs any other back.

      • His knowledge of the zone blocking and having to find the hole to run through is one aspect, but the other is coming out of the backfield to be a receiver. Early in the season when he would get in, he would go to the first hole that opened up and most of the time it would collapse and another hole would open up a second or 2 later on the other side of the OL. Quizz was really good too, but it took him 4-5 games to get the zone blocking where you can’t hit the hole that was open before getting the ball, but wait for the second hole that opens up. That’s where he got his success from later when he took more and more reps and eventually became the starter. It finally clicked for him eventually. Needless to say, maybe he would have had a breakout game against USC like Quizz did had Martinez started day 1, but we shall see if the RB rotation was more on AJ Steward or is a Smith decision once we get a new hire for the RB Coach spot.

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          I think you’re making that up. He’d have a great run then a poor run, or visa versa, and then he’d get yanked. There wasn’t enough sample to say anything definitive was going on. He was clearly the best talent. And even if I grant what you say as true, there is a weight or scale to all of this, where his running ability overwhelms those deficiencies. It’s like saying a manager should play Jesse Barfield in RF over Babe Ruth because Barfield had better range and arm. There’s a point where Ruth’s offense is just so much better, you never play Barfield. This proves to me again Smith doesn’t understand statistics or things like weights (probabilities). That’s a decision that, to get correct, requires those skills.

          • This is the spring game footage, but it’s still valuable footage. https://www.750thegame.com/videos/watch-oregon-state-highlights-from-spring-game/

            1:43-1:46 mark in this video and pause at the 1:45 mark and look how Damien Martinez’s saw a hole on the left side right away, but the hole was really on the right side between RG and RT.

            The next play, he sees the hole open between C and LG, but once that lane closes quickly, he is able to shift and go to the 4 gap(between RG and RT) and get a good gain. He would have hit the hole faster and harder had he not needed to side step to the right and plant and go.

            3:03 mark, Martinez is back in and again starts going to the left, but then cuts back to his right to go around the RG and RT.

            7:45 mark, Martinez is back in and a gaping hole opens up in the 0 hole(Center) Damien gets the ball and runs full force for that hole just to meet a LB and gets cut down. Had he bounced to the outside to the left, he would have had a better chance of getting more positive yards.

            next play, he had 2 holes to choose from, but would have been tackled either way since an OLB covered the run on this play.

            8:18 Martinez should have gone to the 6 hole(outside of bunch trips right) where he had Dunmore on the outside ready to block and seal the edge.

            8:40 mark, Martinez doesn’t bump the edge rush on the OT and because he doesn’t bump him, BG has the ball swatted away from him for a fumble and defensive recovery.

            11:20 Martinez runs it in on a toss sweep to the right side.

            That’s just highlights from the Spring game. Couldn’t find early game film, but yes, Martinez is a fluid excellent runner when he hits the right hole, but if you can’t be patient and look at the flow of the blockers, the zone blocking scheme is different from “hit the first hole you see” or “22 dive” or “34 Dive” like my team ran back in the days of HS.

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            If you couldn’t see Martinez was the best RB on the roster, nothing I say is going to make you see it now. We can move on. But it’s something Smith has to fix.

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            PFF had him as the worst blocker of the group. I’m sure that had something to do with it.

            I don’t have a problem with easing freshmen into things.

          • you literally told me “I think you’re making that up.” I went and proved I wasn’t making it up, but basing it off my observations(which you do a lot on here with HS recruits mind you). Martinez will post better #’s in 2023 than 2022 and will get more of the #1 reps and depending upon the RB coach, we won’t see a 2-3 carry and get pulled situation(at lease I hope we don’t). RB’s do need to find a rhythm by carrying the rock for a minimum of a series. If they get a long run or keep getting hit hard, then ya, I can see taking out the RB to get a breather or use them situationally like Lowe in 3rd down situations.

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            You play the best runner unless he’s an atrocious blocker, and he wasn’t. The position is running back, not blocking back. Martinez was clearly the best runner, and by a lot. If he misses a block every 20 plays or so you live with it, or the coach puts in the better pass blocking back on those 3rd down plays to limit any deficiency, but you don’t sit your best runner for over half the season under any circumstance. You’re just helping the opponent by doing that and playing a worse runner. This is on Smith. It was an error. Just accept it. Your golden boy prodigal son is flawed and will make some errors. This was a big one.

          • Why not give the blame to AJ Steward then? He was the one coaching the RB’s right? Smith just gives approval of starting players, but it’s up to the position coaches to advocate for who starts and why. Yes, Martinez IS the best runner in the RB room. Did he have the best vision consistently though? no, he didn’t. Smith constantly preaches consistent play from his players and they will start. BG became consistent and stable with being a Game Manager. It worked for last season. Now he needs to improve his throwing and timing if he wants to start in 2023. If Aidan is more consistent, then he should start. The Spring game link I gave above and the time stamps of Martinez’s runs clearly told me he wasn’t confident and ready to start right out of the gate. To me there are 4 things a RB needs to start:

            1) Vision to see the flow of blocking and find the second hole(Quizz was incredible at doing this along with Yvenson Bernard, Ryan Nall, Steven Jackson, and Ken Simonton.
            2) Reliable Carrier – meaning doesn’t Fumble. Again, Quizz, Jackson, Yvenson, and Nall all come to mind
            3) cut and go/burst – Martinez is the best RB in this category
            4) catching out of the backfield – this one is hard because neither Nolan nor BG hit the RB in the flat on a drop down like Mannion used to do.

            These are the categories for me. Fenwick found the right hole, but didn’t have the cut, go and burst ability to make it work consistently. He had the vision, but was reliable in ball security. Vision is the biggest asset next to running, cutting, and burst in a RB. You can be the slowest player on the team, but you find the right hole, you can get 3-6 yards a carry consistently.

          • He was not the best runner by a lot. Jam is right there with him but is a more seasoned and more complete back at this point.

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        Totally disagree that Martinez was the head and shoulders RB1 from Day 1. It takes time for a jumping player to learn the blocking scheme and time when the hole opens up. He needs to review films, get coaching and work on his craft at practice.

        Look at the stats for the first 5 games of the year:

        Fenwick – 277 yards on 59 carries (4.7 YPC)
        Martinez – 145 yards on 38 carries (3.8 YPC)

        It’s easy to say now that Martinez is the better back and no one would argue with that, but to say he was the RB1 at the start of the year is just lazy and self-serving. It’s basically the same as me saying that Bellichik should have started Brady over Bledsoe earlier back in the day. No duh.

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          No, too small a sample. Fenwick was allowed the carries to get into the game flow, and Martinez wasn’t. Just a terrible comparison. Martinez didn’t get heavy carries until WSU, over halfway through the season, and nearly put up 1,000. Just way better a player, and that didn’t happen in a few weeks. It was there from the start if you watched closely. Smith missed it. It took a 3 carry, 83 yard day vs Stanford for Smith to see it. Just accept the error.

          • Did Martinez outplay the other running backs in the games that followed?

            Fenwick ran for over 100 yards the next game…

            Martinez also had a really bad fumble vs Montana St, he was lucky the ball literally bounced right back into his hands.

            Martininez didn’t earn the starting job out of camp, that was pretty clear. He didn’t outplay anyone until the Stanford game and rightfully then he was given the lead back role.

  3. Player development is probably A- or A.

    I know it’s only one data point, but if you compare PFF ratings to 247 “talent ranking”, only Wake Forest and Illinois did more with less this season among P5 teams.

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      Player development is good. There’s not much difference between an A- and B+.

      I hold it back a bit for his inability to develop a kicker, a QB, etc. I mean if anyone should be able to develop a QB it’s Smith. That has to be held against him and with some weight. And it’s not just a recruiting/talent problem. He’s gotten highly rated QBs to come in. It’s either he can’t develop them, they’re a bad match for the system, or some other variable. DJU will be another opportunity and test. Maybe next year Smith gets an A.

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        Also, QB is more on Lindgren. My biggest knock against him has been his inability to land a top QB. Now we got two in the same cycle. If Lindgren can’t turn one of those two into an elite QB, it’s time to move on from him.

        Kicker and CB are my concerns. DB recruiting has been a big weakness. We lucked out with Oladapo as a walk-on. CB has been a perpetual weakness until this year. Hopefully seeing Wright and Austin set the standard will help that group for next year.

  4. Regarding Tongue’s move to ILB, this recruiting analyst looks to have it right from 2018.

    https://247sports.com/player/makiya-tongue-46038773/

    “Plays wide receiver at U-High, but likely projects on defense at the next level. Has some positional versatility with his size and skill set. Very possible he ends up as a safety who could grow into a linebacker. At wide receiver he shows good pace in his routes. Is quicker than fast, with much of his separation coming off the line rather than further downfield. Is a physical presence on the outside. Has solid ball skills, which would translate well to the defensive side of the ball.”

  5. I think Smith’s recruiting and development grades are very much connected. Smith recruits players who want to develop, and who he feels like he can develop with his coaching style. He’s not picking guys who think they already know everything, or guys who have to be force-fed knowledge.

    The combination of his coaching style and recruits is creating a welcome culture where everyone is fighting together for a common goal. I like it.

        • yes, but if you look at the minimum qualifications:

          Bachelor’s degree in a field of choice.
          Running Back (RB) coaching experience required
          Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) experience or National Football League (NFL) coaching experience
          A demonstrable commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity.

          versus the preferred qualifications:

          Master’s degree in discipline of choice.
          10 years FBS RB coaching experience preferred
          5 years Pac-12 coaching experience preferred
          Recruiting Coordinator experience preferred
          The ability to communicate effectively with professionals, parents, and students.
          The ability to multi-task in a high stress environment.

          Bryan Applewhite fits the bill for 10 years of FBS RB experience, but not Pac-12 coaching experience and has Recruiting Coordinator experience as well.

          What about Telly Lockette coming back? He did coach during the Ryan Nall era which was easily the only bright spot of Oregon State football in those early GA years. haha kidding…

          What about the Boise State Assistant AHC/STC/RBs he’s currently making $125k with 2 years left on his contract. He has history with Coach Smith and has history in the Pac-12

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    Isaiah Crocker(oregon WR) in the portal. One of those guys who had a ton of potential, but went to the school where he got buried on the depth chart and barely saw the field. Should have come to OSU.
    Too late now though, not worth taking a chance on for 1 year as nobody knows what he can do. Wasted talent

  7. Solid B grade for me. The 2020 season was quite the disappointment but now the program is trending up. One thing that is nice to see is the team isn’t being carried by one player. Not a team one injury away from disaster. UW and Oregon are teams like that. Starting QB goes down and they are toast. Smith has built the team in more of Utah’s mold. Guys keep on coming up. Lose Musgraves early in the year and they just kept going.

    I had always thought that he was hired too early in his career and it would be hard to let him go if things went south. I am happy to be wrong there.

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    Pretty disappointing Omar basically ghosted OSU.
    Didnt talk with Sanders and the NIL collective, entered the portal with no conversation with the coaching staff, didnt even post after he entered the portal. Just alot of nothing.

      • Is $30,000 considered his nil value or is it the amount he’s receiving? Either way, assuming other nil amounts we have seen posted are true, $30,000 isn’t a lot of money. I have only seen well-wishers regarding his decision. Perhaps it was something personal?

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          30K is just what the site comes up with as an NIL value based on star ratings and what not.

          But the NIL deals we’ve been seeing have been totally insane, especially out of the SEC.

          With Omar being a proven and experienced player and at a position of need for LSU I wouldn’t be surprised if he brought in at least $500k if not significantly more.

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      Man, that’s pretty shitty. I know it’s not an apples to apples comparison, but can you imagine leaving your employer who has treated you well, developed you, etc. Without giving any notice? Good way to burn bridges.

        • Kind of my point. In business, have the courtesy to have a candid conversation.

          “Coach Bray, LSU is offering me xxx, and I think I have to take it. Thanks for all you’ve done for me. I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

          Not that hard, and no one would have blamed him for taking the money.

          • He couldn’t.

            “Hey coach, I know I’m a scholarship athlete, but another school has contacted me illegally and wants to give me a shit ton of cash. Peace out.”

            All of the NIL transfer shit is tampering. Zero chance an NIL collective contacts a kid without a coach telling him to. Notice he announced and stayed in the portal for a week to make it look legit. Even picked up an AssToMouth offer. But let’s not pretend the LSU deal wasn’t 100% done before he even announced.

        • The business part is what he’s talking about.
          While most NFL teams don’t give two shits if you sexually assaulted 20 women, as long as you can play, a handful of teams take notes on players who act unprofessionally–aka, counter to business norms.
          This will give him more hyped exposure, but he will never reap the rewards of what he helped to build. Some NFL teams see these things, and take notes on them, should an “all things being equal” scenario come up.

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      Remember these are still young men. I’ve worked with a LOT of grown-up adults with reasonably “successful” careers who shy away from having difficult conversations.

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        Yeah, but that’s a spineless person. Honestly, I’m not glad he is gone talent-wise, but I’m glad he is gone spine-wise. Lol.

    • Wouldn’t telling his coaches that he has an NIL offer from another school be admitting to tampering? He was obviously approached before he entered the portal. Hell it was probably completely negotiated before he entered the portal. It’s shady as fuck but it’s SOP at this point. He was probably told that if he wants to transfer and get his money he has to clam up.

      • That’s what gets me.
        Who in the world makes life decisions like this without an enforceable contract for payment in hand?
        It’s utterly idiotic to make this kind of move on faith… especially to a school where the head coach forces shipped players into the portal after recruiting them, saying, “They obviously aren’t up to the academic standards of this school.”
        ?
        This school?
        It’s friggin’ LSU.
        Stand in line for a sporting event, and be transported back in time with the language used.

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      Omar’s mom tweets:
      Dear Beaver Nation, This is probably the hardest tweet ever. Please know this was not an easy decision for Omar. I thank you for supporting him from day one. I am so grateful for all of you. We will always bleed orange and black, so this is not goodbye!

    • Interesting in that Sanders actually coached him at CV. Discussions I had with Scott back when Omar came to town he seemed pretty glowing about their relationship. Weird he would ghost his current team and past hs coach/nil arm at osu.

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          Did you read the eggers article posted below? Shall I quote?
          “Sanders, Speights’ head coach at Crescent Valley, has not talked to him since he declared for the transfer portal.”

          Also no news publicly eg Twitter which would indicate he felt no obligation to the fan base or coaches/school.

          Ie. Ghosted. Derp.

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    Sounds like the DT transfer we offered yesterday. Sio Nofoagatotoa, will likely be visiting during Spring ball. Not planning to join any teams this term.

    • He can join in April barring he’s on quarter terms currently. Or otherwise it will be fall unless he wants to take incompletes in his classes and worry about academic trouble.

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    If you have ever had a conversation with Omar or talked to his friends and teammates, you’d understand that you are a POS. Weak ass post.

  11. Bad take. Respect his decision without acting like your were his agent and he didn’t listen to you.

    He gave OSU 4 incredibly productive years and was part of the rise of the program. Let him go and wish him well.

    We aren’t privy to anything about his decision and that should be ok. He isn’t responsible for your happiness so leave him alone.

    I’d guess there are some underclassmen looking forward to the extra playing time next year.

  12. inaccurate take. not sure why this $30K number keeps getting thrown around?
    On3 might value someone as having $30 NIL value, but that’s a guestimate on their part, trying to say what a player’s potential NIL value is. Has nothing to do with real NIL deals.
    Plus, it’s On3. The Barstool sports of recruiting sites. The bar isn’t very high and they’re well below it.

    • The thing that doesn’t compute for me is if this decision comes down to something as simple as needing more exposure before entering the NFL draft, is being a role player on LSU really going to give a player more exposure than starring on the defense at OSU?
      Sure, more casual fans might see him, but it’s not like scouts don’t know about him already. They’d see him at OSU, LSU or PSU (Portland State). If he’s good enough to make an NFL team, they will find him.
      Obviously this wasn’t about moving closer to home.

      • Maybe he bought into the SEC hype and didn’t want to miss his chance to play in the SEC and “compete against the best.” The writing is on the wall regarding his NFL future, so why not spend another year playing at the highest level attainable for him?

        • Or his draft stock is on par with other comparable backers taken in recent years, and he thinks this will move him into guaranteed money.
          Or… this is guaranteed money worth the risk of injury.

  13. Not your best take, and the fellas above me give plenty of reasons why that’s the case. He represented OSU well during a crisis both in the real world and on the football field. He is also a young man that’s trying to figure out life and we shouldn’t be so entitled to call him spineless when this might have been a difficult (and understandable) reason to leave.

    I get that this portal/ NIL shit stings but we gotta be better. Getting hostile toward any 18-26 year old is a little much.

    • The hostility is unnecessary.
      He’ll face enough of that in Louisiana.
      Still can’t believe he would rather play there than in the NFL.
      And 30k is nothing. That’s less than players on NFL practice squads make.

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    Okay, I deleted the Omar Tweet. I don’t want to drag down the site’s fanbase to my level. That criticism made the most sense to me.

    Edit: I kind of regret this already. The guy is clearly a spineless sellout who took the money.

  15. Will add that in addition to production on field for team, Speights hasn’t had any off field controversy.

    It seems like he has a good support network surrounding him, just based on what was reported when he first committed to the Beavers.

    • And the NCAA investigation into Michigan’s violations is stalled because Harbaugh refuses to admit he lied to the enforcement committee. I thought he might bail to the NFL because if a Level 1 is decided he could be suspended for some games. I guess he keeps saying he wasn’t aware the committee will eventually back down.

    • SJ39’s clothing line…
      It never occurred to me that Nike doesn’t have a say in the NIL deals… unless they do the deal themselves.
      How do they feel about all these athletes repping brands not associated with the school’s merch deal?

  16. 19

    The tweet about Speights was downright disrespectful. What are you a scorned teenager who was said “no” to?

    There wasn’t much Speights could do at OSU as far as his draft stock was concerned. If he declared for the draft, he was looking at being a UDFA with long odds of even sticking with a practice squad. Going to the SEC may increase his profile. Plus, he may get more opportunities to make plays as he will now be playing next to Harold Perkins who is the best LB in college football. It’s a calculated risk but he needed scouts to view him differently as being at another school gives him that chance he could not have gotten at OSU.

    I would have loved to see Speights stay at OSU one more year, but he is looking out for his own long term future. To me, it’s like at work when your boss asks you to put in 100 hours of work per week to boost profitability and increase the value of the company. Sure, that is great and all, but really only benefits the company. If you wanted to out in 100 hours a week at work, I much rather do that where I can actually increase my own personal wealth through an equity stake. It’s basically what Speights is doing.

    I thank him for his four years of contributions to our program and will wish him well as he continues to chase his dream. I wouldn’t slam him on Twitter for that.

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      Sure. It’s disrespectful to ghost the coaches. Someone can leave for their own reasons, but he likely took money, and worse, he didn’t talk to the coaches or even tell the coaches. Dude is a total coward any way you slice this.

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        You sound petty and we all know you don’t have enough information to make such scathing remarks. I wonder if you actually are the coward who loves to call others cowards.
        Pretty bad look for you Angry.
        Question his motives all you want but no need for ad hominem attacks based on nothing other than your imagination.

      • I thought it was funny that his mom got snippy when you asked about money. Yes, dude is making moves to set up his future. But let’s not pretend there wasn’t a stack of cash involved.

    • 7
      2

      Yes, pretty embarrassing for a human being, let alone someone who claims to be a Beaver fan, to post that about a college kid.

    • “There wasn’t much Speights could do at OSU as far as his draft stock was concerned.”
      This is wholly true, if you replace OSU with college football.
      Showing leadership at a championship level, as opposed to being maybe a player for a third plce team… if lucky….
      All hypothetical shit at this point, and not our concern.

  17. 10

    A couple of other “character” notes I think are worth mentioning:

    On-field; the players play with a healthy aggression, and are very confident, without being annoyingly cocky. I love that the DB’s smile and talk a LITTLE after a play, even smile after P-I, and don’t hang their heads or pout and get taken out of their game. After the CW, one player remarked in a post game interview that their mantra is [paraphrasing] “The score is always 0-0. Every play.” So they never counted themselves out of it. After losing to UW and losing a shot at their goal of a PAC championship, I was a little concerned they might not be up for games like ASU and CAL, and I was very wrong. They went out and took care of business and thoroughly beat teams they should have beat.

    Off-field; in interviews, these players were not just polite, but consistently respectful. I remember one player picking up something a reporter had dropped and handing it back to them. More than once after an interview clip I noticed OOB posting “His mama would be proud of him” about some player.

    I think its refreshing to see a balance of on-the-field confidence and aggression, without cheap shots and excessive talking, coupled with respectful behavior off the field. And there’s been few notable off-field incidents that warrant player suspension (WR Harrrison comes to mind as an exception for the LV bowl).

    These attributes make them a team of which alumni and fans can be proud.

  18. Big game tonight! Men’s basketball with the chance to win vs Stanford. 11th ranked Beavs vs 12th ranked Stanford. Who’s ready to watch some impressive dribbling around the perimeter to take a 3? Being bad is “bad” enough but add in a not exciting brand of basketball…yikes.

      • Thats what I meant. 11th in Pac vs 12th in Pac. Good news is, we’re only down 12 with 7 min left in the 1st half. So there’s time.

      • Good Lord, Beavs have scored all of 14 points in 13 minutes. Down 26-14. They can’t shoot, can’t get open, can’t defend, and can’t rebound.

          • Closed the gap with a late run in the 1st half. Down 9 at the half. Stanford seems to have figured out our offensive scheme of dribbling around the perimeter and taking a 3. We’re 4/11 from beyond the arc. Halfway thru and season and a team shouldn’t be making some of these mistakes. They’re young but most of them have played big minutes the entire year. Hope they can make a hame if it in the 2nd.

  19. 6 pts in the paint so far. 11 min left in game. Down 16. Would be nice to say this was an off night but it’s not. So sad. Not sure who they try to target next but can you keep Tinkle if he only gets you 10 wins over the last 2 years?

      • Thanks I guess? Lol. Watched to the end for some reason. Lost 46-67. Ugly, ugly game. Don’t think your football team should have more wins in 1 year than your basketball team has in 2. Yikes. Tinkle seems like a great guy but I think things have ran their course. They can find someone much cheaper to win 3-7 games a season.

      • Anyone, I think literally anyone that has any connection to the game of basketball could win 3 games a season. Hell, hold open tryouts for coach. Let a candidate coach em for a week. Next candidate gets the following week. Something has to change. So many uncompetitive games and to the other bottom feeders in the Pac. Colorado and Stanford beat the pants off of us.

    • 11
      1

      I’ll guess he outplayed Tres in a noon ball session so he rides the bench for half the year to get his head on straight. Same with Pope, no reason to have a competent point guard so sit him a while too.

      Tinkle gets paid millions to wreck the psyche perfectly talented kids in less than 3 months every year. He is been fool’s gold from the start. Only a senior led team can be close to successful in his system and he won’t have enough guys stay and endure his nonsense over a 4 year period anymore. Time to move on from sweaty pits and find a new coach.

  20. Who’s the leading candidate to replace Omar? And I assume this opens up a new scholarship for a transfer? Any ideas who we could target?

    • Think this was the Mason Tufaga transfer transfer last week. Came a day before the announcement Omar was hitting the portal and I figure the timing is related.

      • So Omar left because of that transfer? Maybe? That is odd if he thinks he can’t compete. Somehow (friend dying etc) I missed that Tufago news last week. That’s huge. Seems like an upgrade even. See ya, Omar.

          • 2
            4

            Oh gotcha. Misunderstood that. Seems like an upgrade given his 4-star pedigree and only a Freshman. Was he a mission guy? I see he didn’t play at Utah. Either way, great replacement it seems. I bet they can coach this guy up and max his potential.

          • I also mentioned I have a Utah friend who personally knows coach Whitt. My Ute friend says Tufaga was buried on the depth chart due to their depth at LB. Tufaga was also being recruited by Oregon State. in 2020. He enrolled at Utah Jan 2021. He’s been at Utah for 2 seasons. so he’ll be a R-Soph this season to have 3 years to play 3 since he’s post Covid year.

          • No mission. He had Utah and OSU in his top 2 a couple years back and chose Utah. He brother, Isaiah, spent some time at OSU before that.
            Redshirted 1st season. Didnt play last season due to depth. So no real game experience yet.
            Also, looks like he had a baby recently, so probably a busy guy right now with family duties, school and football.

    • 1
      1

      Just watched the Mason Tufaga film. Dude looks like a Greek statue. Completely ripped and lean. Really fast. Saw Oregon, USC, et al offers. Man, great get. Probably will be better than Omar eventually, maybe even after two camps (Spring and Fall) where he gets coached up to speed. Only thing I didn’t like was tackles high and throws his shoulder at guys instead of wrapping them up, but that can be fixed. Technique is one of the easier things to fix.

  21. Great hire. Almost every starter he’s coached made it to the NFL and BSU’s running game immediately improved with him there. He was also AHC and ST coordinator. Hopefully he will add value in other places.

  22. MLB won’t suffer too much with Mascarenas and Miller coming back, Jordan stepping up and Tufaga arriving.

    Pretty sure this is actually the position with one of our highest average recruiting rankings.

      • I guess the opportunity cost needs to be looked at too. If Omar had come back 1 more season, does that cause one of our you LB signees to hit the portal in search if playing time elsewhere, knowing he would start every game and hasnt missed many snaps in his career?

        • My whole thought was that he was going NFL and not risking another year where he could be injured and just not end up in the league.
          So yes, this was a thought in that calculation. We would have lost some players, had he stayed.

          • Agree Jack. I assumed he was gone. I just didn’t see it being in the portal. Maybe he’s better than I thought if LSU wanted him. I think most are upset that he left the Beavs because of where he left to (another college team). Imagine if he went to USC or somewhere else in conference…………

          • “Maybe he’s better than I thought if LSU wanted him.”
            Five star talent on the roster, and LSU fans are all gaga over the three star who apparently has no draft value.
            Right?
            This is why I wonder who gave him his draft analysis. That line of reasoning–that he’s not NFL-ready–is just bunk.
            Is it possible he hypes his way into the first round, and that makes a difference in his rookie contract?
            Sure.
            But he’s losing a year of NFL development for taking that chance.

  23. Everybody seems to hate Coach Prime, but I have to admit, I admire what he’s been able to do at Colorado in a very short amount of time.
    Just landed that 5* CB laat night, so he has the top 2 corners from 2022 and 2023 classes at Colorado.
    Plus that QB that Florida fumbled away, Jaden Rashada, is visiting Colorado this week, per reports.

    Plus we get videos like this:

    https://twitter.com/DeionSanders/status/1616266126169870338?t=PE0O6FRadDlYsaY-b94YMA&s=19

    • It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. He professes to be old school, yes sir/yes ma’am, hold the door open type of guy. We’ll see how that sits with some of these kids who think that’s what they want until they actually get it.

      There’s no denying that he’s bringing hype and exposure to the Pac-12 which is good for everyone involved.

    • Coach Sanders is bringing hype and drama, but does it wear thin, flash in the pan, or is it self sustaining? I will not call him “Coach Prime”. It’s self righteous and I won’t do it. I’m in the wait and see category. I guess I’m just happy we have Coach Smith because of how genuine he is with running his program. Coach Sanders seems like he wants it to be a reality show and any exposure is good exposure.

      Oregon State is the best kept secret in the Pac-12. We keep doing our thing and our players prove they’re the best by being the best on the field and not with their mouths and videos.

      • 1
        4

        I will not call him “Coach Prime”. It’s self righteous and I won’t do it.

        You mean self-aggrandizing or self-serving?

        Signed,
        Your favorite PedanticBeav.

        • You’re a walking, talking, contradiction and you just insulted yourself by misspelling “PedanticBeav” with “PendanticBeav” and stating below:
          “Don’t be that guy. PedanticBeav.”

          I think I triggered Angry today.

    • 2
      2

      I expect him to be a great recruiter and terrible coach, but we’ll see. I’m open to being wrong on this one, and he could be a decent coach. He doesn’t strike me as a disciplined X and O guy. He strikes me more as a coach who might inspire his players via words. I don’t think that wins long-term. You need a balance of both skills. If he has X and O skill, the rest of the PAC is f’d.

  24. 2
    5

    Regarding Omar: I could care less if he gave the coaches proper notice and then left. The big problem is he didn’t. The NFL will get wind of that when they do pre-draft interviews. I doubt it is sitting well with Smith or the staff…I’m sure everyone has moved on, including fans (yes, I have, I just want to make sure everyone knows what this guy did), and it’s next man up, but it will bite him at least a little in those due diligence interviews.

    This would be like dumping your wife who was completely devoted to you for some girl who had a bigger house, and worse, not even telling your wife you left. She just wakes up one day, and you’re gone. I mean, it is completely unacceptable behavior. That people are defending this on Twitter is fucked up.

    • In all fairness, the only coach there is confirmation from is his high school coach. I highly doubt that he actually just hit the bricks without talking to anybody. Especially with the the timing of the Tufaga transfer.

      • 1
        1

        It does seem risky. LSU has a ton of talent, and he might not even play there if someone rises up…he was guaranteed a starting job at OSU. If his goal is the NFL, I view that as high risk. I personally wouldn’t trust LSU or any SEC team with a verbal agreement like this…those coaches will change on a dime due to all the pressure.

        • His only guarantee here is that he’s a leader. If that’s enough to be the starter, so be it. But his on-field role would have diminished this season, because of rising talent.
          The only thing keeping NIL verbal agreements somewhat straight is that one agrees to go to a school who has yet to flake on the NIL side.
          Florida? Not an option to those with a lick of sense.

    • So you could care less, meaning you do care if he gave coaches proper notice or you could not care less, meaning you do not care if he gave proper notice?

      Is it possible that he told the coaches he was looking at entering the draft and told them he wasn’t returning to Oregon State next year regardless? Would make sense why the coaches were surprised at him being a grad transfer instead of declaring for the NFL draft. His draft stock must have been lower than he wanted and felt he needed better exposure for himself than he would have gotten at Oregon State. IDK. Now I’m making all this up.

      • 1
        7

        So you could care less, meaning you do care if he gave coaches proper notice or you could not care less, meaning you do not care if he gave proper notice?

        Don’t be that guy. PedanticBeav.

        • I was merely asking for clarification, but I’ll let this go and have the argument of sentence structure and meaning in my own head instead of bothering you by asking you questions like this in the future.

          Sorry that working out sentence structure and meaning of sentences(which is what I was taught in elementary school back in the day) bothers you just as much as not knowing what someone is saying bothers me.

          • 2
            3

            Clarification: this won’t affect my life in any appreciable way, so I’m over it 99%. I’m making a stink about due to 1% moral outrage regarding how you treat people who stood beside you and gave you your chance. You have the difficult conversation with that person. That he didn’t, makes him forever a loser in my book.

            I actually like the transfer who’s replacing him better. I think we upgraded. So I’m actually glad we lost a guy with this character and gained a player who looks like he could be better. At worse we shouldn’t drop off using a sum of the parts approach.

  25. Omar’s transfer to LSU seems pretty simple. He was likely told that he would go undrafted. If he were lucky enough to make a practice squad and last the whole season, he would make around $200k. Judging by what SEC schools have been rumored to be offering recruits, he is going to make substantially more than that. There is no way OSU could have offered anything close. He is taking care of himself and his future. I don’t like it, but I don’t blame him for it. He was a great player for us for four years. If it wasn’t for the Covid year, coming back would’ve never been on the table anyway. Best of luck to him.

    • Agree Bendbeav
      Maybe he didn’t talk to Beavs NIL groups because he already knew what he would be offered…I hadn’t thought about that.

      I think it’s time to move on.

    • 4
      2

      Who told him this?
      That person is wrong by a considerable factor and should not be given credence in the future.
      To be sure, he doesn’t get the SEC money he’s getting, if they didn’t think he was already NFL-ready.
      I’m not too upset about this, because I figured he was gone, anyway. But I find it disturbing that he’s being told how to feel about his own abilities, and how that opens him up to the skeez that is the portal… again, full of people telling him who he is and what he should feel about his abilities.
      If we dropped Omar in the NFL right now, he would be a contributing LB on just about any roster, starting for some. It’s absolute nonsense that he goes undrafted with coaches like Carroll and GMs like Brandon Beane–no… not related to Billy–out there.

      • You dropped Carroll’s name as an example, so what is the one physical trait that Speight has that makes you think that Carrol and John S would consider him? Their history has shown that they are looking for the freak trait/talent which means a lot of draft experts think they “reach” for a lot of players especially at LB. Bruce Ivrin, Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, Cody Barton, and Darrel Taylor all come to mind as LB the Seahawks have drafted that have a physical trait that stood out during the draft process.

        • Now that you’ve given comparables, I can see I’ve been looking at this from the wrong end.
          Going to hypesville won’t up his draft stock from 7th/undrft into the draft. It will up it from maybe a third day pick into possibly guaranteed money.
          Still a risk, but makes the only sense I can make of it.

  26. 39
    3

    The way Angry has handled this Omar thing is downright embarrassing for our entire fanbase. As usual this was a situation where you acted like you knew more than the rest of us because you heard one rumor from a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy. Even IF you’re right about how it went down, you don’t have any proof. YOU didn’t talk to a coach. You didn’t talk to Omar. Going at Omar’s mother on Twitter is some of the scummiest, lowlife, petty, immature bullsh*t I’ve ever seen. She has been nothing but classy through this process but you don’t give a shit because you’re a garbage, self-obsessed person who only cares about your own agenda. Think about it for just one second. You’re a grown man going after the mother of a college kid who is trying to make a choice that is best for his future just because you’re upset that your football team is impacted negatively. Absolutely pathetic.

    We all assumed he was leaving anyways. He was honored at senior day. Him coming back would have been the biggest surprise of any of the possible outcomes. Am I sad he left? Of course. Do I think the right thing to do would have been to be honest and transparent with the coaches during his decision making process (if we’re assuming what Angry believes is actually true)? Of course. But this is the college football culture we are in now. The hypocrisy of being happy for the transfers we have brought in while being irate at Omar is honestly baffling. You can’t have it both ways.

    He didn’t do anything wrong and he certainly doesn’t owe some anonymous loser on Twitter any answers to why he made the choice he did.

    Yeah, this was a very aggressive message. But when you’re representing Oregon State as a fan and you do stuff like this, you make us all look bad. That’s why it makes me so angry.

    • 3
      2

      Not that I agree with angry, but that kind of message is par for the course on Twitter. If anything, having unhinged fans say stupid crap on Twitter is a sign your program is getting bigger.

      • 3
        26

        Yeah. Haha. His mom seems like a total scumbag, too. I remember she was a drama queen when Omar and the other guy (Richter?) we’re trying to figure out where to go. She’s looking for her pay day and playing innocent.

        • 9
          1

          FWIW, I think his mom is cool. Everything she does is focused on making sure her boys are in the beat situation they can be in for success. Moved Omar out of Philly to Corvallis for his senior year of HS because the area where they lived was surrounded by violence and gangs and she didnt want her boys getting caught up in it. And she’s always been very friendly to me.
          Maybe the circumances around Omar leaving seem a little fishy from a tampering standpoint, but I would think that is more a product of having an agent than anything his mom pushed for.

          Who knows, maybe the agent geta a kickback from LSU for stearing players there, rather than Omar getting a payout. Or maybe both, or maybe neither. Impossible to know for sure when nobody will talk about it.

  27. 12
    1

    RE: Omar / Loyalty

    I left a corporate/global construction company 9 years ago to work for a smaller regional contractor. They pay me well, I have the flexibility to do my Alaska commercial fisheries and go watch my boys play baseball. I’ve passed up a lot of other, higher paying gigs in the past…I felt a deep sense of loyalty to this company and it felt good to be building something.

    On Monday, the Owner announced that he was retiring and moving to Florida permanently (has had a house there for years). Five people have gotten laid off with zero severance and zero notice. My day is coming soon.

    I’m not terribly bitter, but it does put things into a different perspective for me. The stark reality is that on a given week, I exchange my knowledge and abilities for a paycheck and vice versa. It’s an even trade, and we move on to the next week/month year until one of decides it’s no longer an equitable exchange. If someone wants to pay me more for that knowledge and ability, why wouldn’t you take it? Why didn’t I take it?

    Omar traded his abilities for scholarship at OSU for 4 years. It was an equal exchange. Now someone else wants to exchange a scholarship plus an additional sum of money (most likely) for that skill set. And as I sit here with AB up on one screen and my resume on another, I can’t say that I blame him all that much.

  28. And for Speights debaters:

    “6 LSU

    2022: 15 2021: 35 2020: 29 2019: 1 2018: 10

    College Football Rankings First Look: (10-4) The expectations will be off the charts with QB Jayden Daniels leading a high-powered veteran offense. The portal has been kind.”

    • Also, odd to me that Stewart left for an AHC title at Baylor, but then our new RB coach os given the AHC title too. Maybe Baylor just offered that much more money than OSU?

      • You have to add titles to some staff to justify their pay to the institution.
        “Ohh… so in addition to spending all hsi waking hours recruiting players, he’s a RB coach AND he’s an assistant head coach? Well then… recruit… um… coach on.”

        • This is how the Eddie Grans and Tosh Lupois of the world end up in actual coordinator roles… eventually to become exposed, or maybe even rising to the level of a Willie Taggart before flaming out.
          It’s the only way those coaches can justify spending that much on that recruiting gravy train.

    • Must have known Steward was leaving for a while behind the scenes.

      or maybe there is some recruiting importance to get him in before the normal signing period ends.

  29. 4
    2

    Tinfoil hat time(appropriate, given the subject)

    Remember a few weeks back I mentioned I had seen a handful of OSU coaches following Nick Rolovich out of nowhere?
    And then today, Rolovich has had kind things to say about Coach Smith and OSU, in his own sortof way. Plus he retweeted the hiring of Coach Bohna a little while ago.

    https://twitter.com/NickRolovich/status/1616559903266729984?t=SffiaFqikL5FBoGIQXGVUw&s=19

    And remember how last year, Brian Lindgren was openly talking about how he would take a head coaching gig elsewhere if the right opportunity presented itself?
    Got me thinking, is there any way Smith is preparing for Lindgren to make an exit and might be considering Rolo as the new OC/QB coach?

    All speculation on my part of course, and none of this has any legs at this point, other than the observations.
    But say that was a possible scenario. How would you all feel about a Rolo offense at OSU? And would OSU fans be receptive to Rolo in a less visible role?

  30. We’re a ground and pound pro style offense. Rolovich is more a run and shoot philosophy with some tweaks. He played qb at hawaii in or around the June jones era. Goes completely against what osu does.

    • We’re ground and pound because we havent had a QB who can pass consistently without throwing picks. Gulbranson was showing signs against Florida, but even as recently as the Civil War he had some pretty poor turnovers.

      • 2
        1

        Lindgren definitely doesn’t want to be ground and pound. That’s the one thing that worries me about DJU coming in: he was asked to do it all for Clemson and Lindgren has historically wanted his offense to lean on the QB to make big plays.

    • Didn’t see this comment when I replied up above, but exactly my point. Saban’s been doing it for years. He looks the other way, as long as they can coach their asses off

  31. There’s an audio link in the twitter feed, local radio show interviewing the dam nation collective guys. Its a little intersting if you care to learn about their approach to NIL amlnd a few comments on DJU and Speights transfer situations.
    Interview is way at the end of the podcast link.

    • Just the other day some were so down on Rueck and his system; wanted to see Noelle’s minutes cut significantly.
      I couldn’t watch the game (HS wrestling event took precedence) but this morning saw the headline on the OSU site:
      Mannen’s Block Seals Rivalry Win

      Watched vid on PAC site, glad Noelle got 24 minutes….especially those last few. Went right through a pair of defenders to get in position to make that block. Rueck sees her making other contributions which aren’t evident only during game time.

    • 14
      1

      One of the more disciplined games I’ve seen from a Rueck team of late. They looked like they had a plan and executed. Minimal turnovers. Mitrovic played a really good game. Timea Gardner is showing improvement already. Team could turn their season around if they play like this consistently.

      • 11
        11

        Just got home after the win and a celebratory old fashioned, or two, at Kingfish…

        Defense was much better! Threes were still an issue but they never let the ducks get into a real rhythm.

        Beers didn’t play seem to have as many minutes but she made the most of them and she still made an impact and was great on the bench cheering on her teammates.

        Gardiner continues to impress. What a get. Between her and beers, this team will have a good run. I think they’re better than brown and Jones were as freshman.

        Jelena had one of her better games but everytime she gets the ball she looks panicked. And she kept bumping her gums about something. Her body language looked deflated despite having a good game. She’s generally the biggest person on the floor, she needs to take control and finish. If she had half the moxie and grit of beers or Gardiner she’d be unstoppable.

        Crowd was into it. Unfortunately a lot of duck fans including the dumbo two seats down from me with the weak bladder. Jesus, put on some depends and stop asking me to stand up so you can go pee, fucko. When I said Jesus christ the last time she passed she actually asked ‘what am I supposed to do’ I suggested she get a better bladder.

        My kid rocked the house down, band was on fire, as usual.

        Refs actually called a decent game and didn’t let the beavs get pummeled in the paint.

        Fuck Kelly bald ass Graves and fuck the ducks.

      • It was nice for about 37 minutes and then almost another “4th quarter fall apart”, what the hell is up with that? Interestingly, it wasn’t turnovers this time, but an inability to defend the three-point line. I know I’m nit-picking, but it seems like this team should be better than their record shows. P-12 WBB seems vastly improved from 4-5 years ago, Rueck is going to half to step up to avoid middle-of-the-pack syndrome.

  32. There’s some stuff out there about Hugh Freeze/Auburn being interested in Chance Nolan along with Indiana. It sounds like he would have a better chance to start at IU.

    • We’ll, his highlights are high. But lowlights are LLLLOOOOOOOWWWWW…..

      So I could see taking a flyer on him. Wouldn’t bring him in hoping he’s the saviour of the program.

  33. 5
    1

    It seems like the NBA is becoming a sideshow circus act like the old WWF. Why is there a shoving match, altercation, taunting from the sideline nearly every night in the league? Last night ESPN apparently paid Shannon Sharpe to create some courtside drama by woofing at half the Memphis starting lineup and stopping play. Good grief what a bunch of clowns with clown acts. Of course it needed to be at a game with LeBron and Aja Morant to try and retain more attention for those guys. Morant is incredible and LeBron had his run but the NBA is losing its appeal more daily with these stunts. A bunch of clown roosters strutting around a barnyard is as much entertainment value.

  34. Well i asked Rolovich i was crazy to think he could OC/QB if Lingren left and he said I’m “crazy to think that, at this point”

    • 9
      30

      It’s not even that he’s fake-religioning the vaccine, in order to avoid it.
      It’s that the safety of his players and employer/co-workers take a back seat to his selfish, bonkers clown show.
      And his follow-ups in interviews make it sound more like the sport of football should be banned for a lot of the effects we already know about.
      The irony is that he followed another asshat in that category.

      • 34
        14

        Safety?

        The jab doesn’t work.

        Doesn’t stop infection.

        Doesn’t stop transmission.

        Could, maybe, possibly, reduce severity of symptoms.

        Nobody should have ever been threatened with termination to take it.

          • 27
            15

            Lie?

            The only lies came from your favorite political/pharma talking heads.

            “If you get vaccinated you won’t get sick”

            “Vaccinated people don’t spread COVID”

            “Winter of sickness and death”

            ” Influenza took the year off” <– my favorite.

            All lies. It's ok to admit you got duped. It happens. Acting like a petulant child instead of facing reality is one way to cope I guess.

          • 6
            16

            You listen to politicians, wfo, instead of looking at the science. The vaccine reduces severity and likelihood of spreading Covid if you got it.

          • 4
            9

            He’s not even listening to pols.
            He’s listening to YouTubers with no clue and no care if they have a clue, as long as they can scare the stupids into being afraid.

            The pussies are the target.

            The bulls-eye is wide and deep.

          • 4
            12

            “If you get vaccinated you won’t get sick”

            So stupid, nobody said it, except in a straw argument.

            “Vaccinated people don’t spread COVID”

            Straw man gets stupider.

            “Winter of sickness and death”

            Not sure what marketing nobody anywhere except for loony “news” sites reported actually performed, but be afraid… be very afraid… and Mexicans are bad, except the good ones… but they’re bad.

            Millions of dead US citizens are now a joke, according to WFO.

            Well done, WFO. Dead Americans are your joke.

            ”Influenza took the year off”

            What is this even a reference to? This is some of the weakest bullshit straw man bullshit I’ve seen. I happen to have loved not catching the flu, since everyone was for once being serious about their health… and the 1968 pandemic.
            I suggest to anyone who was unfortunate enough to catch SARS-CoV-2 to also start getting the flu shot every year, since the effects of catching covid are both known, in that it really fucks with every system in your body, an dthe 1968 pandemic on top of the 2020 pandemic might just kill you… numbers-wise.

          • 3
            1

            In fact, here you go. I know you’ll shit all over yourself focusing on who posted it but that doesn’t change the fact that poopy Joe and Fauci and the rest of these liars said exactly what they said. You pretending that they didn’t doesn’t change a thing.

            https://youtu.be/nTlxpxdH3Yk

          • 2
            2

            How is any of this deemed coherent, let alone conspiratorial?
            I mean, I can’t stand Joe Biden, and I’m not gonna defend his brain farts… that oddly don’t match what you say they do, in context, but what’s with the name-calling? Do you lack the ability to respect your own message?
            The vaccine does prevent the virus from spreading as much as it would have. The data is overwhelming, even with some states intentionally fudging it to try and play some narrative game in favor of anti-medicine.
            All you’ve done so far is prove you don’t know the definitions of efficacy and prevent.

          • I quit this site for quite awhile because of idiots like Jack. So arrogant and full of bluster. Reading his drivel made me want to puke. And now he’s spouting off again about something he thinks he knows a lot about: Covid and vaccinations. So, allow me to skip through his worthless bantering to something of a little more substance; like who is going to be the team manager for OSU’s rodeo team.

          • Losers gonna lose.
            This isn’t an argument. This is stupidity.
            This is telling people they shouldn’t be afraid to eat shellfish from a red tide, because a red tide is obviously a leftist conspiracy.
            If you want to accept that lot on life, go stand with the stupids.
            It’s definitely not on me.

        • 15
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          I dont think there is any data out there that proves the jab lessons the severity of symptoms. Its just more BS from the same people who from the start said that it would keep you from getting covid at all. All BS all the time. And all for a virus that over 99% recovered from.

          • 12
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            All I have is experience.

            My kids brought Rona home from school. They each laid on the couch for a couple of days then back up bright eyed and bushy tailed.

            Wife and I got it and it was pretty bad, not quite as bad as influenza B we got a few years before. Probably a week of tired and achy and not hungry.

            My dad got his jab and immediately went to a class reunion and got Rona. He got sick but not as sick as me and the wife.

            So maybe, from my sample of one.

          • 12
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            I understand what your saying WFO. Both my wife and I did not get the shot. She got sick and it was mild and over in a day and half. I got sick and was down for 10 days so who knows? I know that the so called experts have no idea but have pushed the angle that it lessons the syptoms as soon as everyone started to figure out that it isnt going to keep you from getting sick. A complete crap show.

          • 5
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            “…so who knows?”
            Well… virologists know, for one.
            Also, anyone who knows how to read a white paper would know, given the data.
            “I know that the so called experts have no idea, but….”
            Seriously?

          • 10
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            You have more than anecdotal experience, you have many studies showing the effectiveness of the vaccine, you’re just choosing to ignore them.

          • 4
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            You fucking still call it rona?
            How dense do you have to be to ignore a pandemic?
            Do you not care about your family’s health?

            Serious question.

          • 2
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            My neighbor down the road is a “Rona” user, as well, and I just find it so funny.
            He really ants me to use some connects in SoCal, so he can develop some land I really don’t care about. But his use of the word rona is just something I can’t get past. Dude! You’re worth millions and your whole life is you segregating your family from the real world, yet you resist efforts to make your family safe?

            Conservative, my ass.

          • 2
            2

            Ohhh boooo-hooooo, poor little Jack. You’re right, Kung-Flu was always better than Rona anyway.

            Could always go back to the well with China Virus, since is did, in fact, come from a US Government/Fauci funded lab in Wuhan China.

          • 5
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            “I dont think there is any data out there that proves the jab lessons the severity of symptoms.”

            That’s nice.

            Idiotic and simply wrong… but nice.

          • 4
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            Where is the data Jack? The data that shows, without any doubt, that the worthless shots actually lesson the severity of the symtoms. Its not there. It was the same people spouting that bull that told us that the shot would keep everone from getting sick. Like I said BS from the start. But the right people made a whole lot of money so there is that of course.

          • “It was the same people spouting that bull that told us that the shot would keep everone from getting sick.”
            Absolutely nobody said this.
            straw man blow down

          • 2
            2

            They also set it back up the next day where there were bodies that wouldn’t fit in hospitals.
            If you want to complain about how Donald J Trump employed federal assets during the pandemic, we can have that talk.

          • *nursing
            I’m sure it was autocorrect.
            Donald J Trump directed the 928 to numerous locations, like whack-a-mole.
            Now we’re denying reality, not just medicine?
            This is beyond stupid.

          • Because everywhere it docked nobody got on.

            Ermahgerd duh bodeeez in the streereeeettttzzzzzzuuuuhhhh

            Never happened.

            You got duped.

            And yeah fucking autocorrect was designed by ducking counts.

          • The USNS Comfort never had covid patients on it, because it took in other ICU patients who were not contagious, so the hospitals could receive and treat pretty much just covid patients.
            Not sure why your denying reality has to continue, here. It’s just a dumb look.
            Now that we’ve determined you have zero knowledge of how the military works, do you have any other questions?

            I have one for you.

            How many military personnel does it take to competently cover up a conspiracy of the sort you seem to think has occurred?

            The answer would be: hahahahaha!!!!! You think more than two people in the military can keep their mouths shut on somthing this stupid?!? Have you met the military? hahahahaha!!!!!

      • 23
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        Well I guess it is a good thing the Pfizer was willing to make all of their internal data on the vaccines public…75 years from now. That sounds like a trustworthy ploy. Pfizer has already paid out over $2 billion in fines for previous scandals relating to their practices.

        I guess we need to just to believe the pharmaceutical companies because they are altruistic and not at all reaping benefits/responsible for government contracts in the multibillions the past 2 years.
        We also need to trust our government officials since they are the only ones who tell us the truth. No other source has the truth, only government officials.
        Also we must trust everything the Anthony Fauci has said because he is science. He has no reason to lie to us. He was the highest paid official in American government so he cares about us and has dedicated his life to helping all of America. It isn’t like he has conflicts of interest with pharmaceutical companies or has patents on viruses and vaccines. I’d say it’s very unlikely the he is ever offered any unsavory kickbacks for using his authority in certain ways to benefit certain companies. No way at all that could happen.
        At least those who wanted to object to Fauci and Pfizer were silenced on all social media platforms, no more misinformation to deal with. I’m glad that was only private companies deciding to deplatform and silence opinions and questions. Thankfully there was no government official directing Twitter, Google, Facebook etc to target certain people since that would be unconstitutional and we know the government never does anything like that.
        It’s probably all just made up statistics and scare tactics when vaccinated get Covid much more than unvaccinated. If those studies were accurate, surely CNN would tell us the truth. Of course the major media outlets are trustworthy because they know they have a great responsibility to tell us facts so we can decide what to think. Even if the Church committee was correct about a CIA takeover of major media corporations, we should still trust everything we are told because we know the CIA has no reason to hide anything even if they did admit to the killing of President Kennedy and covered it up for 60 years. I’m sure all of the major institutions of America are to be trusted, it’s just the citizens who question those institutions who should be mocked and ridiculed. Thank you Jack for helping me get clarity on so many things.

        • 15
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          All of this makes more sense than, “Some yutz in a video just noticed that less than 100% efficacy means a vaccine won’t stop transmission, so we’re going to waste all our time whining about how a company kept this a secret… because they used words and terms that we don’t understand. So do your research, even if you don’t know what the hell any of it means, and you’re just going to repeat ad nauseum what the yutz in the video says.”
          I mean… how do you say things like this with a straight face:
          “It’s probably all just made up statistics and scare tactics when vaccinated get Covid much more than unvaccinated.”
          Of course it is. If you’re rofl, right now, I get it. It’s more stupid than even the stupidest parody anyone can come up with to try and make anti-vaxxers look like complete idiots. Yet people repeat the stupid, without irony… as if they think they’re making some kind of point.
          I mean… what the fuck, people?
          At least when people pointed at contrails and babbled incessantly about chemtrails, they had something tangible to point at, bonkers as it was. This anti-vax stuff is just people making up shit based on the fact they don’t understand their native language, let alone understanding science.

    • 6
      7

      Always answer with a tease. Just a little something to keep people guessing “at this point”. I’m over all this covid crap. Shots caused it, no they didn’t. Seriously why waste your time on this shit. We’ll never really know what the truth is so quit stressing/fighting over it.

    • 3
      16

      Straw man says Wazzu would hire a Muslim as head football coach.
      They arrested the mass murderer guy, and they said the FBI noted how he was basically a misogynist, as if that was some indicator the guy was a psychopath, not that he lived on the Palouse, very near to Idaho.

    • 3
      14

      Stfu-wfo

      Are the terrorists coming over the border tonight to teach CRT? After that, they are going total gender fluid on your ass. On Sunday, Portland going to collapse when Antifa looks at you sideways. Monday night, Sean/Laura/Tucker will tell you what to believe.
      By the way, oldest person in the world died at 118 this week. Was it the jab??/

      • 2
        3

        Mexican islamic terrorists are going to make your kids gay… then tell them to kill their fetuses… after they become infants… except infanticide is against the law… so radical islamists… amirite?

  35. 11
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    I think bringing in Rolovich as an off field assistant would be a good thing. Adds new elements to the offense. Staying with one system without making updates makes the offense predictable. Lindgren needs innovation to get the offense to the next level up. With DJU he can incorporate a lot more things into the offense.

    Beavs offense in terms of yards took a step backward in 2022. 500 yards less even with a large blowout of Montana St.

    The offense needs to be better next year as the defense probably won’t be as good.

      • Especially since he’s gotten here the offense has been in the top half of the Pac every year even with the old less talented players.

      • 2
        2

        In conference play, the offense scored 4 points less per game than 2021. Luckily the defense picked up and allowed 7 points less per game than 2021.

      • 13

        I’m not anti-Lindgren, but I am pro having a plan in place for when he leaves. He flat out said it this time last year that he would take a head coaching job elsewhere if the right job presented itself. So if/when an Idaho or Montana or EWU comes to him and asks him to take over, I’d like it to be a smooth transition.

        • 1
          2

          One dude who just got screwed by the pandemic was Brent Brennan.
          His best team lined up for 2020, and they played like it, yet nobody was in the mood to upgrade.
          And he’s now in the down-cycle of success… still maintaining and re-building.

        • I am not anit Lindgren either, but I do want to see evolution of the offense and eventually Lindgren taking on a head coach role or an NFL job. Don’t want to see him go down the Langsdorf path where he started off well but then began a slow decline. Riley couldn’t fire him because of their personal ties and it really hurt the program.

  36. 10
    1

    So does the new coach bring in any recruiting prowess? RB coach seems to be the coach we lose most often because of the success of the run game. I think this is a good hire, I just don’t know if he’s a star recruiter or not. I’m never worried about losing the RB coach tho because they have recruited well at the position and have success because coach M has the line run blocking so well every year.

    • 11

      If I recall Coach M is the run game coordinator also.

      One thing is for certain, if the same dude scouted and recruited Jefferson, Jam and Martinez he needs a raise.

    • 3
      9

      RB coach is code for the recruiting caoch.
      If they need to pay more for him to stay, as opposed to going elsewhere, where his recruiting abilities will gain higher pay, they add titles, so they can get past admin on pay scales.

  37. 17
    7

    You dumb asses celebrating Jack waking up from a drunken stupor to come back after a long hiatus have zero memory. No one in the history of this site has howled at the moon, said stupid shit and bogged down this site with arguments with themselves like Jack.

    Just go back in your basement you blow hard, self righteous jerk off.

    • 9
      1

      I was getting used to watching comment # to see if anything has been added at the bottom of the thread. Now I realize a +30 comments overnight or throughout the day is just Jack going back through the thread and commenting to himself and others long after the thread has moved onto other topics.

    • 2
      3

      Oddly, I was correct about the moon.
      Nailed the two impeachments prediction.
      A leopard doesn’t look at a complete moron and serial criminal like Donald J Trump and think he’s going to change.

      Thanks for helping to build my self-esteem, though, it looks like yours needs some work.

        • 1
          2

          idiot boy is bush league–pun intended, unless you relate him to baseball… then it’s a shitshow of corruption–compared to Donald J Trump.
          The only Panama rumors of idiot boy was that he was a rich brat who took part on the island of rich boy oat sowing. The Donald, on the other hand laundered the money of drug cartels and human traffickers. We might be inclined to ignore the fact-patterns that say this, except many of them were also written by a human-trafficker who is still not in custody.

          • 1
            1

            Who did I vote for, genius?
            You think I voted for Joe Biden and his right wing ways?
            You just don’t have a clue.

            But, it’s not your fault, since your words can be found on any nutso site that pushes them.

  38. Complimentary remarks about Tyjon Lindsey’s performance in the “Tropical Bowl” (MVP-like) Haven’t seen stats, but found this comment on his performance leading up to the game:

    “WR Tyjon Lindsey: 5-8 170, Oregon State

    Lindsey kept defenders in crisis mode at the top of his route because of how explosive he was out of his break. Don’t ever give him a two-way go, or it’s over. He drew a lot of “oohs and ahhs” throughout the week.”

  39. MBB playing in an absolutely brutal game against Cal. They somehow lead 11-9 with less than 8 minutes left in the first half. The only thing of even slight importance is that the Beavs could end a two-year road losing streak.

  40. Wow, 11 min into the men’s BB game and they’ve got 9 points. Shooting in the 30% range. Luckily, tied with Cal at 9 apiece. This team is awful. Or is it Tinkle? Both? Something needs to change.

    • Wow, Beavs go on one of their best runs of the season. Lead 27-15 at the half. Dexter going off. Will they push the lead at further or regress as usual?

  41. 4
    5

    to paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of my demise (or developing an alternative persona) are false. For what it’s worth, Jack’s posts look authentic to me. See y’all during baseball season.

    • 2
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      To not paraphrase Mark Twain, but to quote him directly:
      There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. Observe the ass, for instance: his character is about perfect, he is the choicest spirit among all the humbler animals, yet see what ridicule has brought him to. Instead of feeling complimented when we are called an ass, we are left in doubt.

      • 20
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        What Jack sees as stupid, I think is a clash of worldviews, and the existence of absolute truth. If the response to Covid had always been based in truth, many wouldn’t be so disagreeable, but there have been obvious lies and manipulation throughout from government and media alike. So I will remain a skeptic rather than swallow the CDC/WHO/NIH/Pfizer/Moderna kool-aid.
        Jack has no problem attempting to ridicule all who challenge his sophistry but I had enough professors try the same tactics and it is a shallow person who can only attack rather than present his arguments.

        Biden himself said get the vaccine and you won’t get Covid or spread covid, as well as many in the media. Fauci admitted lying about masks working or not working. CDC had on its website the ineffectiveness of masks. Fauci knew about and encouraged the use of hydroxychloroquine back around 2012. Pfizer admitted they didn’t test the vaccine for concerns prior to the release and then buried the results of harm once it was widely disseminated. I don’t ridicule Jack for disagreeing but he doesn’t seem consider the other side of any debate.
        Somehow Jack reappears and all are stupid. Weak personal attacks when facts don’t work for you.

        • 6
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          this is beyond ridiculous, let alone resembling reason

          You have provided nothing substantive in response to anything scientific. You have only brushed broad strokes with stale talking points created by some dumbfucks who once thought eugene mccarthy was a true murikan.

          • 12
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            You continue to prove my point. Your appeal to “scincetific” is empty because the “medical science” of Fauci has been exposed as political gamesmanship rather than what it once was, scientific method and discovery.
            Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and the blind leading the blind are more apt descriptions of what science is right now rather than a field of experts to be bowed down to at all costs.
            I will remain in the camp of reason and logic rather than “science”. Besides, I don’t think you want stats, studies or quotes anyway, because you dismiss the sources rather than consider them & prefer to be contrarian.

          • 5
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            –“medical science” of Fauci has been exposed as political gamesmanship

            By whom? By people who don’t even know what efficacy and prevention mean? That’s all I’ve seen, thus far.

            Johnny’s dad has a youtube up that says the exact same thing as Donald J Trump’s latest incoherent ramblings. It must be true! Hallelujah! Praise white Jesus!

          • 4
            5

            And who the fuck said anything about bowing down to anyone?
            Some of us actually paid attention in school and can understand our native language when applied to science. We can even read the white papers produced and glean information off them, instead of continuing to whine about imaginary complexities so stupid, Occam would slap them silly.

          • 6
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            Ohio beav, if you source the actual science you’ll find plenty of data on the efficacy of the vaccine. So far you’ve cited politicians and the media as some discovery of your critical thinking. Try harder.

    • It’s not really surprising. There will always be a division when the government gets involved in people’s personal lives. Obviously if it’s a topic where everyone agrees or disagrees with the government’s actions and regulations, then there is no division, but that’s never the case. You either trust that the government is making the best decision for the greater good of the country (maybe not for each individual person), or you don’t trust the government and believe they and large corporations are only out to steal your rights and your money. You can provide all the web links, data, videos, papers you want to support one side or the other, but it won’t matter. People are always going to believe their side, and the other side is making up lies.

      • 1
        4

        ?
        Why can’t links be provided?
        Other than it would be a waste of time and space, because “nuh uh” is the whole of the “other side’s” opinions-are-facts rants.
        The links they provide are pretty whackadoo, and they have little to do with what they claim, most often. The talking points are so ubiquitous, by now, the bums are talking about how Diane Feinstein drinks the blood of child sacrifices.
        That’s a side?
        But if you think trusts aren’t controlling markets, you haven’t been reading radical leftist rags like Forbes.

      • 1
        5

        There’s a wide swath of middle ground regarding trust of government that depends on the branch, agency, location, and duties and tasks they’re assinged to carry out.

    • Velling is going to have a far more productive career. I expect him to add some good weight, improve his blocking and have an expanded role in the offense. He looked really good as a freshman. I thought he looked like a 4 star out of high school.

    • Wish I could find the post. It was like 2020 and I said Musgrave was better than Q and would be a high draft pick, and a few people went nuts. Nobody ever comes back to own up to such posts. It was probably NucBeav, who loved Q and thought he was Mark Bavaro.

      • Musgrave was far less productive than Q. Anyone could see he had more potential but he never lived up to it and ultimately ended up quitting on his team. Some are projecting him as a high draft pick but we’ll see. Must be a huge need for TEs and very little options because if you draft him, it’s solely based on potential.

        • A season ending injury is not quitting on his team. Musgraves had more career catches and yards than Q for his career and would have had much more if he did not get injured.

          My guess is Luke will likely go in the 4th round. Knocked due to his injury history. Could go into the third round if he tests well at the combine and plays well at the senior bowl. He’ll be one of those guys where teams trash talk him so they can grab him in a lower round.

          • 8
            1

            My knowledge is second hand and so it comes with a caveat but-

            What people were saying on this board was the injury was NOT season ending. He played a couple of games, got hurt and was out for 4 games, and then was ready to play but chose to end his season (due to “injury”) to instead focus on draft prep.

            I’d call that quitting on the team. Especially in a special season where they needed him.

          • It’ll be interesting to see where he goes. I think 4th round is where he should go based on his athletic upside but his low production and availability concerns. I’ve seen mock drafts that have him going in the 1st round though, and teams do definitely fall in love with upside and athleticism.

            Musgrave has ridiculously low career numbers (2 total TDs in 4 years as a athletic freak of a TE!). He’s also been VERY error prone- drops, penalties, and whiffed blocks all throughout. Drops aren’t recorded stats in CFB but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had more drops than catches for his career. If I were a NFL team I wouldn’t even think about taking him before mid to late 3rd round, but you never know.

            Most players who go to the NFL give a lot back and elevate the program while they’re there. Musgrave is an unfortunate exception – he got endless reps and chances and hurt the team for years with all the boneheaded mistakes, and then just when it started to “click” he got hurt and then decided to quit after he recovered. Frustrating…TQ was reliable and I’d take that over upside any time.

            Good news is Velling looked really good this year – light years ahead of Musgrave at that stage in his career.

          • 2
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            Remmers, Hekker, and Isaac Seumalo also come to mind as NFL talent that didn’t do much for the Beavs.

            Seumalo was mostly injuries – had a strong true freshman year but never really played after that.

            Remmers and Hekker were maddeningly inconsistent and error prone.

          • My bad- misremembered. Digging deeper I think his best year was actually his true soph year. He was injured after that and missed a year. The following year he played but was never fully healthy and his play regressed somewhat.

            I think I was just bummed because he was finally fully healthy and poised to have an elite year for us but that never happened with leaving early. But he is definitely a great talent and highly underrated for the Eagles.

            Freshman year: P12 all-conf honorable mention
            Soph year: P12 all-conf 2nd team
            Injured year
            RS Jr year: P12 all conf honorable mention

          • Wait… missed the Seumalo note.
            How did Isaac not do much? He’s up there with the all-time great olinemen at OSU.
            And I think it’s hilarious that he’s the only one who doesn’t get any accolades on his current team, yet he’s the brains of the outfit.

          • 1
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            The negs on Musgrave could be misdirected, if the injury was nagging, and Velling was just that good.
            Why disrupt the development of Velling AND risk Musgrave further exacerbating his injury by forcing him back after a long enough rehab, that it would take him a couple weeks just to get back into game shape?
            If he did that, would the discussion be about how he was selfish and just wanting glory, despite clearly not being ready to play, let alone play at the level Velling was?

      • Productive College Player and NFL talent are two different things. It is why you have players jump rounds in the draft after the evaluation process based on a drills that don’t simulate actual football. Luke falls into this category, his production doesn’t match his projected draft slot, because he has great physical attributes for a TE. The opposite is true for Speights, production is great but the physical traits don’t translate to the NFL.

        • 3
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          What physical traits are lacking, for Speights?
          Half the backers in the NFL were slower and smaller coming out of school, and some didn’t possess the intangibles he brings to the game.
          I was reminded that there are teams out there that take flyers on less productive backers with the same or lesser measurables. For every Wagner or Kendricks, there’s a Griffin and a Barton.
          Meanwhile, productive players who get all the accolades from the college coaches they play against and who have equal or lesser measurables are thriving in the NFL, because they know how to play the game. Not having to “develop” someone on the professional level, beyond acclimating them to the game, is a huge plus for an industry that has a tendency to not enable long careers.
          If Speights’ measurables weren’t up to snuff, he wouldn’t be going to the SEC.
          He just got better than a fifth round rookie contract, and he can potentially up his exposure, and the hype machine will make him a lower round pick.

          • I don’t think he has the speed to be effective at the NFL level and at 6’1 235 his length/size don’t stand out. I googled something that said he ran a 4.65 40, but I don’t think he plays that fast in space and lacks coverage ability. Smart player, reads offensives well and will help LSU run defense, but I don’t think he gave up or received 5th round money to transfer to LSU. 75% of 5th round picks make NFL rosters, if he had a 4th-5th round grade we would have gone to the NFL. Speights was a great Beaver and filled his role extremely well, but the reason that the NFL is fill of players from smaller schools in the scouts are looking for special physical traits that stick out. I think Speights as a lesser version of Nakobe Dean, leader of the 2022 Georgia Defense, All American, Butkus Award winner, fell to the 3rd round and only recorded 13 tackles as a rookie.

          • Coverage and lane discipline are fair critiques.
            But his main critique is that he plays too fast, relying on his skills, rather than discipline.
            It’s an easy fix for someone who spends all day at work, as opposed to balancing leadership with football and school.

            This isn’t a hard analysis.

            Playing it as, “Well… he sucks and has to go play at LSU, becuase he sucks… but not as much as everyone who will be backing him up,” just doesn’t cut it.

          • Great College LB and Top NFL prospect don’t always equal each other. Speights is a good college LB (not great), and I think he adds value to the LSU defense. You are stuck on if the SEC wants him, he must have NFL draft value. I previously mentioned Nakobe Dean from the SEC, All American, Butkus award winner and LB from Montana State, Wyoming and Western Kentucky were draft before him. You can be great in college and have skills that don’t translate to the NFL.

            Another great college LB that comes to mind was Evan Weaver from CAL, Pac 12 defense player of the year, lead the nation in tackles, Consensus All American, set a single season Pac 12 record for tackles and went in the 6th round and never played a down in a regular season game.

            At this point we both have our opinions and we won’t know whose right about his NFL future until April of 2024.

          • “You are stuck on if the SEC wants him, he must have NFL draft value.”

            No, I’m actually stuck on his tape looking faster–sometimes too fast–than other backers tapes who are now in the league… and his measurables and intangibles being equal or surpassing half of them… on top of him being a highly productive player.

            And bringing up a perpetual back-up on the SEC level who transferred so he could get playing time on a lower level, while also being smaller, weaker, slower and not as fast at the point of attack as Speights… who gets picked in the second round… and ends up being a perpetual back-up–likely–is sort of proving my point.

            And pointing out that someone as slow as Avery Roberts probably isn’t going to make it in the league–after getting a sixth round pick, mind you… remember the context of this whole discussion–is a duh moment.

        • 1
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          If a team want to take a chance on Musgrave then the best spot for him is where he may be used like a Kittle or a Kelce. Do not misunderstand, I don’t think he is anywhere near those 2 at this point but with his athletic abilities someone will take a shot. They will not take a chance because of his blocking, which is mediocre at best. Q is starting for Houston because of his blocking ability.

          • 1
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            Kittle is an elite blocker, to be clear. Some games he disappears in the pass game because they only use him to block. He’s awesome in the pass game but I think he might be even better as a blocker.

            But your point is clear- a team drafting Musgrave would have to be looking for primarily a “catching” TE role.

          • No question – he’s a really great player. And a really great pass-catcher. But really well balanced. Kind of like Gronk – as incredible as he is as a catcher, he’s possibly even better as a blocker.

          • Lol I was talking about Kittle, not Musgrave with the Gronk comp. I was making the point that Kittle isn’t a great musgrave comp bc he’s also a great blocker.

            Kyle Pitts might be a better comparison, or maybe TJ hockenson.

            And yes of course Musgrave will be drafted for pretty much a pure pass catcher role.

      • This post really surprises me. Angry was so upset that Omar is leaving the team the way he did. Musgrave left the team mid-season. Seems odd that doesn’t bother him.

        I also don’t think comparing Q and Musgrave is a reasonable comparison. One was a pass catcher that could block and the other was a blocker that could catch. I don’t think anyone on this site would have argued that Q was a better receiver than Musgrave. But some would still say that the job Q did for the team was more important, especially with the lack of true production that Musgrave had. I wish him all the luck and hope he has a great career. But I think this thread feels a bit like patting yourself on the back for something that was never really in doubt.

      • They’re 2 completely different skill sets. TQ is an exponentially better blocker and Musgrave is more athletic. Too bad Musgrave couldn’t catch until last season where he got hurt. TQ is doing pretty well in the NFL.

      • The Athletic has a mock with Musgrave 2nd round:
        Nick Baumgardner
        Jan 30, 2023
        33. Houston Texans: Luke Musgrave, TE, Oregon State

  42. 2
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    Thinking about men’s hoops, curious if anyone has followed this team close enough to gauge whether they have gotten better as the season has gone along. To me, the real “tell” on this season will be if there is another flurry of transfer activity at the end of the year. If a starter or two bails out – I have to think Tinkle doesn’t get another “rebuild” – thank goodness Cal is in worse straits than the Beavs.

    • Not paying as much attention to the stats per say, but it doesn’t appear there are strides being made as a whole, but some players like Bilodeau have definitely made some strides compared to start of season. What hasn’t changed, is the mental errors, scoring droughts, etc. So perhaps some growth individually but not necessarily as a team. Just within the last 2 weeks they set a program record for lowest points (or at least a tinkle record) and followed that with another dismal performance with 48 points a few games later. The optics aren’t great either as they’ve gotten beat handily by some of the other bottom dwellers in the conference…losing to Stanford by 20 points isn’t a good look.

      To me, some of the issues are more systematic. There’s no offense, no interior game play. It’s dribble around the perimeter and take a 3 or long jumper. Pretty much the standard with Tinkle except there’s no 4 star coache’s kid or GP2 to be that player to carry the team. They don’t appear to be great shooters, which is unfortunate when you take so many long shots. Win vs Cal as they shot over 50% from 3 pt range but in many of their prior games they were shooting below 40%. Very few assists in this offense as well. Don’t remember the exact game but I think Stanford? Anyway, thru 30 min played they had like 6 assists. Lastly, I just don’t see this nucleus of young players sticking around to grow together for 3-4 years. Xfer portal has changed that old dynamic and it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see several of these guys xfer out after this season or next season, especially if the wins still aren’t there. Wayne seems like a great person, has definitely had some of the best years we’ve had in many, many years, but has also had several of the all-time worst seasons in program history.

  43. 4
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    Just listened to the most recent Dam Podcast. Was interesting to hear that Nolan still hasn’t landed anywhere. I know this has been brought up and it sounds like he might have some education issues to clear up, but they mentioned that after his injury they heard reports that he essentially left the program. Attended 1 practice is what was mentioned. Couple that with education issues to work through and it definitely does sound like he bounced out. Now, I’m not going to try and speculate on the extent of injuries since we don’t really know exactly what happened, but as someone who has had at least 2 documented concussions, they weren’t anything that caused me to not show up to practice, games or class. Wish him the best of luck but I think he’s got an uphill climb to land at a preferred location. Has to show he’s healthy, not a problem in the classroom, but just as importantly, how do you convince another school that you’re a team player, don’t quit on the team, etc when that appears to be exactly what happened? Especially at the QB position.

  44. @NiceBeaver:

    There’s a lot of speculation around the Nolan and Musgrave situations and a lot that we don’t know. What I’m curious about- do you have any idea how the coaching staff sees it? Do the coaches see them as having quit or was it actually driven by legit injury issues? Did the players handle the situation well?

    • For Musgrave’s case, I seen a tweet where he was pictured with the TE group (though he was in street clothes) after the Las Vegas bowl victory. So at the very least he was still in good terms with the team

    • I dont have any knowledge of that.
      I did hear from someone last year that he was late arriving to the LA Bowl game and didnt really spend much time prepping for that game. And that was pre concussion. So sounds like a pattern

      • Thanks!

        One of the bummers about the new ultra-secrective CFB paradigm is it can make players look bad when in fact they could be doing everything right. Players can look like they’re quitting when actually their injury is just worse than what’s being reported, and no one will say anything either way.

    • I heard secondhand (solid source IMO) that the coaches and some players weren’t too happy with LM and how he handled the situation. That was shortly before I saw a press conference with JS being asked about it and it seemed to confirm what I heard. JS seemed irritated based on his answer but didn’t seem to want to speak poorly about LM.

      • 4
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        Dude could have easily come back for the back half of the season. I understand his decision to not risk his future, but I also think he’s a two ball bitch for not playing when he was 100% healthy.

  45. Beavs picked up a WR transfer from Linfield college. Can’t say I know much about him other than he averaged a little over 800 yards per season his first 2 years at Linfield. 5’11, 186lbs. From Grants Pass area. Doesn’t exactly fit the “tall” receiver need, so I don’t really know what to make of this one other than they must have identified an available player who they think will fit the team.

    https://twitter.com/JoelValadezz/status/1617984007748345856

    https://golinfieldwildcats.com/sports/football/roster/joel-valadez/16565

  46. 6
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    I know this is very vague, but was told the NIL has some interesting new OSU stuff coming soon.
    No timeline and no hints about what is coming though.

    • 8
      4

      Ugh… been a Beaver fan too long but I swear whenever we are the trendy pick we face plant and end up 6-6 or something like that. Only time the Beavs are good is when everyone writes them off.

      • 3
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        That’s not the case anymore. I think the only things that could derail a respectable season next year are injuries or some uncharacteristic player discipline issues that removes key performers and distracts the team.

    • 7
      5

      We are losing about half of our defensive starters. Who knows how good the secondary will be. We lost players with tons of experience. I’m hoping for the best but these predictions are getting a bit laughable.

      • Cooper and Olidapo anchor a very good safety group, and if Julian is fully himself we are rock solid there. But two brand new starters at CB is a major concern.

        I think we’ll be about the same on the DL. LB – would feel better with Speights returning but I think we’ll be OK.

        It’s all about CB…really hope we’re not done with the portal there.

        • I think DL and LB play will improve, with more TFL/sacks.

          Safety play should be all-conference, and CBs have gotten some experience and are clearly a well-coached position group even if young.

          Martinez will be a full time starter with great depth behind him.

          If the offense can be more efficient and score more points, the defense’s job should be easier. Does a QB step up play and mesh well with receivers? That’s the key in my view.

          The homefield advantage should hold, and the schedule is very manageable.

        • From what I remember of watching the bowl game, granted I was in Vegas and, well you know…but I believe Robinson played pretty well in the bowl game. Obviously going to be hard to replace Wright and Austin but Robinson could be a solid option. Also, I’m curious if Cooper Jr stays at safety/nickel. I believe he played some corner for the Beavs this year when Wright was out (asu game?). If Julian is healthy, you have KO and Thomas as the 3 safeties. Or perhaps it is Thomas and Robinson at corner then KO, Cooper Jr and Julian at safety. Regardless, barring any surprises, I’d wager that is the starting 5 in the secondary. I really like Thomas. As a young player he was very impactful in his minutes. Couple turnovers, breakups, tackles…if he continues to develop I can see him being better than Austin and on the same level as the Wright bros.

          • Cooper is a nickel/ corner not safety. Julian and Oladapo will be the safeties. The question will be if Cooper stays at nickel or moves to a starting corner spot. If he stays at nickel I think Robinson and Thomas start at the corners unless someone else breaks out. I know the coaches are high on Thomas. Robinson played well in the bowl game but I think he might’ve been playing nickel so we might see Cooper slide over to corner. Hopefully someone will breakout like Cooper did. I think the JC corner they got might be from the same school so thats something to watch.

  47. We went from near worst defense in the PAC to best in the PAC in a game over one year. I don’t think talent jumped that much, but the coaching significantly changed. The tackling and running to the ball changed. Begs the question? Sean Canfield was 1st team PAC 10. We had the Rogers bros., supposedly, the defensive personnel were really good. Were we a DC short of the Rose Bowl? If JS were coach, he might of canned Banker and brought in a new coaching staff for the next season. The next season could have been special. Time will tell. JS seemed to make less in game questionable decisions as the season went on. Going forward, if everything exceeds our expectations, and we get into a tough battle in the Rose bowl or NC, are we a field goal kicker short of a championship?

    • 3
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      Here’s the issue with saying we got better so we will be better: So did many other Pac-12 teams. The top teams all got better and I’d argue they got better(er) than the Beavs. Who did the Beavs bring in that will be game changers next year? Qb, most likely/hopefully. We should have lost to…….Stanford!!!! We barely beat Fresno State who turned out to be a good team but not a power 5 good team. The ball could not bounce our way this past year and would have had 2 ish more loses and would have been 8-5. That is a still a good year not a year where you are thinking that we could win the conference next year. I won’t be surprised if we finish anywhere from 2-5 in the conference next year. I’d love to be wrong. Still some things to sort out with portal additions as well.

      • I don’t think you give Fresno the respect they deserve. They only lost one game when Haener was healthy (to us), won 9 games in a row and dominated WSU in the bowl.

          • Gotta agree with Bendo here… Fresno went 10-4, crushed WSU in their bowl game, and ended ranked (#24). I think that clearly qualifies them as comparable to a P5 good team.

            You’re right that we should have lost to Stanford and got crazy lucky to win. If we get more consistent QB play it’ll be a game changer.

            We lost very few pieces on O and our run game should be dominant no matter who’s under center. And between DJU, Chiles, and BG with a year of experience – I think all three options are major upgrades over QB play last year. DJU obv with the highest 2023 ceiling.

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            I don’t think the defense takes a step back. Actually may take another step up with a lot of young guys patiently waiting and seeing how Bray has the defense prepared each week. Bray needed a senior led team to do what happened for him on year one of his style, but the talent is there for the next group of guys to fill in with better understanding and some have a bit of on field experience already. The guys to watch and see how they add to the defense will be the Wyoming transfer, Howard, Chisholm, MMD and Alton Julian at full speed. 5-6 starters are gone but Bray played about 16-18 guys throughout the year so still plenty of talent and experience in the locker room that have already played in the system.
            Speights, Grant, Austin and Wright were all great contributors and leaders no doubt but JS is building it on a solid foundation and I expect another big year from the defense.

            On offense, if coach M has the oline ready to go, running backs are healthy, and we have a qb who can understand the defense and hit a wr on play action, all will be fine. DJ will be a plus overall for competition and for play calling when BG is in the game. I think pet of the conservative packages were to preserve our one healthy qb for most of the last 6 games. Having some options at qb will make the offense less predictable. Run the ball!

            Special teams will be special with Gould and Bolden returning, maybe an issue at kicker and punter still. Spring ball could reveal some changes there.

            Go Beavs! 11-1, possibly 12-0 and a special year can’t get here soon enough.

          • Love the optimist. Of the other top teams in the conference, who did we pass up in the off-season? I really only looked at transfer adds and don’t know what ex. Washington lost due to say the draft or end of eligibility.

          • Oregon and UW need to revamp their olives so their production likely goes down a bit.
            UCLA replaces qb, rb, te.
            Utah has talent returning but still need wide receivers.
            USC may be as good or better but lots of new pieces on the defensive side, still swing a running back.

            Beavs lose a few key players and get a 5* qb. I’ll take our chances.

          • I like your thoughts on the D because Smith emphasized “recruiting our own players first” and keeping the players they were developing. I expect the D Line and LBs will be faster and better, the Safeties potentially PAC best, and combined they can compensate for young corners that will improve over the course of the season.

            It’s completely reasonable to expect improved QB play and offensive production. Even if its BG, he’ll be better than last year.

            Every Beaver home conference game should be loud and a real home field advantage.

            Its remarkable how Beaver fans hate expectations, but that’s part of program progress and success. Its a good problem to have. Smith is instilling the right culture to deal with expectations, the players have bought in and can handle them. Now fans have to deal with expectations.

            I’m REALLY looking forward to next season. 2022 was the most interesting season since 2021, and ’23 the most interesting since ’22. Many of us thought ’21 should gave been a 10 win season. When did we as fans last reasonably expect meaningful bowl games 3 years in a row?!? The stakes progressively getting better. I’m

            The Beavers (football team) are winners. Deal with it.

            After conference realignment, who knows. Enjoy the hell out of the ’23 season. We all know NCAA football is headed to the shitter.

          • The playbook will be wide open with DJ. Line will be very good so he should have a very good run game and protection. I might be forgetting someone but I can’t think of anyone with much production behind Gould and Bolden. Hopefully we can get a couple of guys to step up and fill those roles. It would be great if Valsin could seize that wr3 role. That would add some height to the starters. Smith did say he thinks some of those guys are ready to play right away. Tastean and Hatten would be the most likely. They both look explosive. Wildcard is the Linfield transfer. Is he a bad ass and was underestimated by the bigger schools? Does he become a story like Grant, walk on and then end up being a starter and captain? Does Dunmore improve and work his way into the rotation or possibly a starter? It’s definitely the position on offense with the most question marks. I would hate to see DJ’s talent wasted because we don’t habe any receiver depth.

      • 3
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        Well you could say that they should’ve won the USC and Washington games.

        Punter will be fine with Josh green. Kicker is still a big question mark. I think it’s time to move on from Hayes. He hasn’t improved at all and is very inconsistent. Maybe use him on kickoffs and long field goals as he made 1 from 60 but it was high elevation. Other than that I think you give Sappington a shot or maybe someone else if they look good. Kicker definitely nèeds to be fixed as there isn’t anyone reliable and it could end up costing this team in a close game.

        • That’s a good point about losing those two close games. What could have been. I really, really hope we can throw the ball anywhere the staff wants the qb to. I wonder how many times they had a play set up but couldn’t call it due to qb limitations. Reser is going to be so fun next year. I wish we had usc at home again but good time to dodge them and get ucla.

          • This rarely is mentioned when talking about the UW game. I remember seeing it from my seats and he was gone if he held on. Would have put OSU up by 2 td and completely changed the dynamic of the game.

            When Mascarenas had his pick, I shot up from my seat and went nuts. I apologized to the UW fans behind me and they were cool as they said they didn’t want to see it anyways lol

          • Beavs had a better final play call than the cowboys did.

            We dominated the first quarter of that game and had 7 points. That might have been the only time Smith had some questionable decisions that really cost the team in a low scoring game.

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        “Should have” lost to Stanford, but didn’t. That’s an important distinction and a change from prior regimes who would have lost.

        Fresno State with Haener was a very good team, who, last year, had, “Tuh-duh!” DeBoer as HC, who turned UW around in one season from a team that lost at home to U Montana to one of the top offenses in the country.

        And then the Beavs lost by 3 to DeBoer and the Huskies. By leaving plays on the field. According to posters here, Gulbranson missed at least one open TD pass on that game, and maybe 2 others. That’s at least a 6 point swing…

        Game changers next year:

        DJ/Improved GB/Chiles;
        TE Velling, on roster;
        WR Dunmore, on roster;
        Healthy Alton Julian;
        Martinez as full time RB;
        Howard on DL, watch for him in back half/third of schedule;
        Easton Mascarenas and Mathias Malaki-Donaldson and ILB and OLB;
        On-roster; Lolohea, Hickle

    • Takeaways – Lots of question of who wins the open spots which makes the team’s potential up in the air, but competition should get the best players on the field. Kind of expecting a slow start from this team while they find the best fits for everyone. Canham building the program in the Casey mold.

      Rotation will be a work in progress. Kmatz for sure but all the other spots are up for grabs. Canham dropped a new name for a weekend rotation spot, Trent Sellers. Played at Lewis and Clark and dominated for his two years there. Originally went to WSU out of high school but transferred after one year. Looks like he’s a late bloomer, small guy going into college and grew into his body a bit. Good candidate for the Sunday spot. Ferrer and Brown will fit in where the team needs them, whether it’s the rotation or bullpen.

      Forrester is the clear leader of the team. Bazzanna and Forrester named more than a few guys they think will be impact players. Dernedde looks like he’ll be the starting SS to start.

      Alumni came back during workouts. Kwan was one of them.

        • He was one of the guys mentioned who are ready for a breakout year. Seems like he is in the lead for playing time early.

          Outfield will be crowded, Turley, Cedillo, Kasper, Talt, McDowell, and Dukart will all compete for time. McDowell like Kasper had a breakout summer league.

  48. Beaverfootball announces their newcomers in a tweet (transfers and Juco)

    A couple of new names on the list, denoted with a *

    https://twitter.com/BeaverFootball/status/1618678363375427589/photo/1

    *Karson Boschma – JC WR HUDL Link: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/17984451/6385af6cda5bda04d04ca829
    Tyrice Ivy Jr – JUCO DB
    *Dyontae Navarrette – Lewis & Clark transfer Walkon RB Hudl Link: https://t.co/rS8SNrzBfd
    Oluwaseyi Omotosho – Wyoming transfer OLB
    *Austin Ratliff – Silverton HS Walkon DB
    Grant Starck – Nevada OL transfer
    Jermain Terry II – Cal TE transfer
    Mason Tufaga – Utah ILB transfer
    DJ Uiagalelei – Clemson QB transfer
    Joel Valadez – Linfield WR Walkon transfer

    • to me, the most interesting new guy is Karson Boschma. 6’4″ JUCO WR with 4 to play 3.
      I have to assume he’s on scholarship, so there’s that taller WR position player they’ve been trying to land.

          • He didn’t, but could be a timing thing. i don’t think he was supposed to get on scholarship till Spring term.
            We’ve had transfers come to OSU before where they were in class 1 or 2 terms before their scholarship was available, so they were technically walk ons.
            But i also think leftover scholarship money can be re-distributed to help walkons cover certain expenses.
            I’m can’t say i know exactly how it all works, I just know of some walkons who were getting some financial assistance to help ease their burden in the past

          • Yeah, was thinking he didn’t get one so maybe he’s like Trey Lowe. Coming in on a financial aid agreement but then scholarship soon after.

  49. Aidan Chiles got another bump, 247sports got him at 96 now! 7th best qb in the nation right behind the qb Florida offered 13 mil but backed out.

  50. 3
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    Men’s basketball not treating Wayne very well for his bday. Down by 14 to Stanford. 8 min left in the first half. Beavs offense is stellar again. 11 points thru 12 min.

    • My only takeaway is that Cal must be god-awful. When did Utah get so good? It’s frustrating to watch when the Beavs aren’t even competitive for a little while. I think it was 10-0 to start the game.

      • It was. Took them nearly 5 min to score their first points. Only scored 6 points so far in the 2nd half after 8 min. This is brutal. The whole team are just God awful at shooting. I’m not even sure you want these guys to stick around for 3 or 4 years. Pope should be taking most every shot. He’s the only talent i’m seeing on this team right now.

        • LOL! Sounds like Jr High! I just went to a jr. high girls game and it was painful. Took one team over 20 minutes to get into double digits…thank god for 6 minute quarters.

  51. We are 3 points away from 40! 3 min left in the game. Can we do it?! Down by 24. It’s been one of the ugliest games I’ve seen in 36 years of watching Beavs bb. Holy hell.

    • Unless its an NCAA violation, maybe they can scrimmage against Beavers WBB to toughen up. In their win against the Ducks, the WBB team was looking pretty good.

      • Lol. We scored 44 tonight. Think we set a record low of 42 vs Colorado a few weeks back. Bad news is, we play them next. Then Asu, Zona, ucla and usc. I don’t see a win in any of those games and we legit could score less than 50 again in at least 1 of those. We’ve scored less than 46 in 3 diff games this year already. Yeah we had less wins last year but I don’t think the scoring was as abysmal as it is this year.

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    OT: Who do you want in the Super Bowl? Is Isaac Seumalo the last Beaver standing?

    If so, i’ll take the Eagles over the Bengals. Chiefs and Niners a few years ago was boring. 9ers are on a roll right now, but Chiefs were likely the highest performing team prior to Hurts’ absence.

    I likely won’t even watch, but if seumalo gets a 2nd ring, that’s cool. Hard to believe he’s been in the league 7 years now.

  53. Is it possible Barnes is ready to send Tinkle packing yet? Has there ever been a coach more effective at disrupting the ability of his own teams?

    These guys looked decent early in the season and now can’t do anything right. It has to be on the staff at this point. Last year he had the excuse of rebuild and locker room issues due to mass transfers. He promised they were going to be more diligent to not repeat those mistakes. Now he has a roster of new guys who have dramatically regressed since opening week.

    Go find another lowers level Coach with a few years under his belt and take a chance at least. Tinkle is a predictable disaster 4/5 years.

    • Its particularly troubling because I’m not seeing lack of talent and lack of solid players as much as a complete lack of a game plan w/ absolutely no flow on offense. How do you get less than 5 assists for the entire game? Yuck. And that’s w/ a better than average guard like Pope playing most of the game. I know he isn’t the issue.

      • It’s become bizarre, nobody can get open on any set plays with Tinkle’s offense. They just pass the ball around the perimeter until the shot clock gets down to 5 or 6 seconds. It’s been an ongoing pattern with Big Tink’s teams. It was even an issue at times with the elite eight team, but they were bailed out by the one on one talent of ET and some crazy low percentage three point makes by Lucas. Remember they were going nowhere until their miraculous two week run. It doesn’t seem like Barnes can keep ignoring this, but I realize there are financial considerations.

          • Yup, plenty of dribbling but they do those pointless perimeter passes at times. I’m starting to see some selfishness also. Akanno was open a few times in the corner or on the wing and he was just ignored. Probably because he is a poor three-point shooter, which begs the question as to why Tinkle has him in that spot to begin with.

        • Let’s not forget we were 14-12 and had just lost the Civil War, before the Elite Eight run.

          One loss, and they might have been going to the NIT… maybe… but probably not.

    • Stinkle?

      Might be time for him to return to Montana. Seems like the sample size is large enough and there’s not mych reason to expect more.

      Frustrating to see an increase in actual talent negated by scheme and in-game coaching…

      The NVidia alum likes basketball obviously, maybe he can help out with a new coach?

      Looking forward to that super computer facility he and his wife are donating to campus. Maybe Smith can refine his analytics and y them to his own team’s data…

  54. WBB playing #3 tree tough. Down 1 at the half.
    No AJ tonight due to ankle injury, expected back soon.
    Beers 2 fouls in her 7 minutes; maybe get more time in second half?

        • If the men played that slow, the offense wouldn’t be able to even dribble around the perimeter.

          It’s a completely different game.

          That being said, yes, the men need some semblance of an offense.

  55. 3
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    Beav gals with less TO’s than tree in the 3 pt loss, how ’bout that.(7-8).
    Per Rueck, Maples a tough place to play……”for many reasons we can’t talk about.”
    Tonight tree took 18 FT’s, Beavs only TWO.

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          We all know what it is but since we can’t talk abt that, I’ll be catty instead. Tara Vanwhatever appears to be a most unpleasant person, Brink (she of Nike entitlement) looks like a praying (I wd prefer preying) mantis, and Hailey Jones might want to quit pulling back her hair – her front hairline appears to be receding.

          • Oh, I think we can talk about the lopsided officiating; the remark about “reasons we can’t talk about” was made by Rueck on postgame radio.
            BTW, has Rueck had any T’s this season? Maybe he’s due, he usually gets at least one/two a year, doesn’t he?

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            Looked like Rueck wanted to go off after that last foul but getting the t there would have been terrible.

            If Brink got mugged half as much as Beers, Mitrovich and/or Gardiner she wouldn’t be anywhere near the same player.

    • Yeah, I thought that too. But its fair, and she’s at least she’s honest enough to acknowledge the potential to change.

      Over many decades we have gotten used to the idea that student-athletes sign a letter of commitment, play for one school, maybe two, and making change to different schools was difficult for them compared to coaches, directors, administrators, professors, and students. Meanwhile, (some) colleges and networks were making a great deal of money. A good buddy of mine left OSU after two years and finished his degree elsewhere. Why shouldn’t student-athletes be able to do the same?

      The transfer portal and NIL are hard to get used to, but its probably more fair to the student-athlete than historically. It also risks losing fans/viewers who may not want to follow even their own schools if the turnover rate is too frequent and high.

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    It is just Groundhog Day with this MBB team? Three possessions to start, terrible shots at the end of the shot clock. They cannot get open against half-court defenses. Either they refuse to follow the plan or Big Tinks does not have a plan. Either way, it’s on the coaching at the end of the day.

      • I was speaking to an overall trajectory, not just one game against a team that has struggled on the road. They played hard tonight, but the offense still has serious problems. Pope is not going to hit those threes every night.

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      And that is Tinkle’s modus operandi….lose so poorly that pressure builds to get rid of him then pull out an unlikely win to quiet the naysayers for another couple of weeks.
      This is the blind squirt effect rather than a turning of the tide.
      Barnes still needs to him back to Montana.

      • I don’t think it was an unlikely win. I get that people want to shit on Tinkle and I don’t have a problem with that, but it’s okay to recognize that the team isn’t too bad. There’s talent there, and I’d like to see some sort of offense develop around Andela/Ibekwe instead of just tossing it around the perimeter until there’s 5 seconds left on the shot clock.

        • We all would like to see some type of offense develop. That has been the problem his entire tenure. The guys play hard and get after it defensively but Tinkle has not shown any improvement as an offensive mind. He tends to micromanage from the sideline, which kills any natural flow to the offense.
          Any scouting would say play a soft zone and force them to shoot 3s, even open 3s. Beavs function decently against man-2-man.

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          Eight years ago, I imagined a coach who used to be a big to be a good developmental coach for the bigs.

          Wow, was I wrong about that.

          Half of it has to do with no basic fundamentals in individual play being inherent or taught to the bigs. But another is an offense that never runs through the high post.

          How does a coach who used to be a big not run his O through the high post?

          • Yeah, spot on. I guess he gets some credit for Drew Eubanks? Let’s see if he keeps Tyler Bilodeau and he gets better every year. I noticed Ryuny is now riding the bench and he was supposed to be a nice addition, so no development there. Warren Washington got the hell out and is now a starter for ASU.

          • Drew should have been a lottery pick after three years–possible first-rounder after two years.
            His decline over time, rather than development, contributed to the team’s poor seasons.
            Imagine putting him at the high post or the short corner and teaching him how to utilize his skills to take advantage of single defenders at those spots. He would have been a monster.
            I was willing to think at that time that it was a Drew thing–showing immaturity and blah blah blah.
            But we’ve had enough good to great bigs, in terms of moldable skillsets, that I was just being lazy in accepting that narrative.

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      So much for Daschel’s fawning article about how the team had turned the corner and had a chance for the tournament. He conveniently left out the home debacle against the Washington schools and only focused on the wins against UCLA and Oregon plus the close call against Stanford. With the talent WBB has, the Bears should not even be close at the end. Way too much inconsistency.

      • They’re playing much better than they did against the Washington schools. And the addition of Gardiner has brought new life. They won’t win the conference but will make some noise in the tournament.

    • To be fair, they played like they had that mentality going in, and then they allowed it to happen.
      That’s on the coach and how late the jobbing was in the last game.

    • Burrow later hit a receiver 36-38 yards downfield – in the side of the helmet – talk about accurate. No catch, but a helluva throw.

      Both those guys play at such a high level, several plays decided by inches…

      Pretty entertaining game, with some confusing interpretations of calls by the refs (hindered by crowd noise), the odd non calls…on the last punt return, a Bengal coverage player appeared to be pushed down from behind (same side of field the returner broke free), and in a subsequent replay showing the return man running down the sidelines in slow motion, I thought I saw a flag thrown, but it was never mentioned and there was no commentary about it. Mahomes was clearly out of bounds when he was hit, that was plain stupid by Ossai. Spotted KC an extra 15 yards for the winning kick.

      KC Coach Reid with quite the career: 4 straight NFC championship games with Eagles, 5 straight with Chiefs.

      • “Mahomes was clearly out of bounds when he was hit, that was plain stupid by Ossai. Spotted KC an extra 15 yards for the winning kick”

        Mahomes was already going down so it was a nice acting job and gift by the refs. Had the Bengals player just kept his hands to himself there’s no penalty. I have no dog.in the fight as I’m not a fan of either team but I thought it was a weak call. Whatever though.

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          Mahoney is so good he shouldn’t get bonus calls. It becomes a bit WWF the way they overprotect some of the qbs. He is fun to watch but it does seem like a huge advantage to have favoritism and the constant benefit of the doubt. As good as Mahomes is, they cover him in such a way that you begin to root against him after a while just on the nausea quotient.

          I’ll have to root for the Eagles and see if Seumalo can win a ring.

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            ” As good as Mahomes is, they cover him in such a way that you begin to root against him after a while just on the nausea quotient.”

            That’s what i thought. I was pretty neutral on the game, slight Cincy lean just for a different team…just thought it might be entertaining. But i did find that happening.

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          He wasn’t going down.
          But he did sucker the defender into the play by almost stopping, once he stepped out.
          And when the defender stuck his arm out, because he saw he was going to run into someone he was just thinking he was going to avoid, the flop wasn’t exactly masterful–a little bit of Divac in the flop–but it gave him the yardage he wanted.
          I have to admit, it was a brilliant move.

  57. 1
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    Sam Huard to Cal Poly is official. Even though it was expected, still weird to see a 5* QB transferring to a Big Sky team.
    There are only something like 20-25 5* players in a given year. How did they get thia so wrong?

    • I don’t think he’s a huge miss, it’s just a product of the current QB market. Huard wants to play right away, but his track record doesn’t suggest he’s ready enough to be willing to take the chance. If schools like Louisiana Tech are bringing in “proven” starters like Bachmeier, you have to go even lower on the totem pole to find someone that would take on Huard’s profile with the assumption he’ll be starting for them. Maybe playing for Beau Baldwin had some appeal, too?

      I fully expect him to have a big year with CP, then transfer somewhere bigger afterward.

    • His decision to leave means UW may get another 4/5* commitment this week. Some kid who has UO, OSU, CAL, Stanford, and UW as his top 5. Some predicting he’ll go UW due that being I think one of his last visits(?).

      • Their QB depth chart as it currently stands is really thin. They have Penix and the guy who started and was terrible in Lake’s debacle year and that’s it. Good situation for a freshman to step in, learn for a year, then compete for the starting job.

    • A victim of going into the portal at the last minute. Had he been one of the first guys in, I think the Beavs would have made a hard push for him.

  58. Saw a tweet from pro football network, whatever the hell that is, but they said Musgrave has some work to do on blocking development but is a top tier pass catcher. I know he was looking really good for the few games he played this year, but that analysis seems backward. Lol. Thought he was a better blocker than pass catcher…definitely plagued by drops until 2023. Hop3 he does go high though, would be awesome to see.

    • He’s never been a good blocker. You’re right that he only became a decent pass catcher very recently though! In fairness I think he had a couple of good pass-catching games to end 2022, including the bowl game.

      His film and production is not good though. I suspect he’ll regret not putting one complete season together. Though, I could be wrong. He’s a physical freak and teams can and do fall in love with that. So it’s hard to predict where he’ll go…1st round seems unlikely though. And that’s his upside if he could demonstrate production and health for a year.

        • That’d be funny if he reunited with TQ.

          If I was an NFL team I wouldn’t touch him before the 3rd round, and probably the 4th. Major questions around his production (including a long history of costly mistakes and unforced errors), his health history, his character (allegedly quitting on the team). It’s just a giant gamble on raw talent and potential.

          And maybe he turned the corner in 2023, but he seems to have really low football IQ in general. I’d want to see more than a handful of games with success at the college level before I took a chance on him being able to make the leap.

      • I’m curious to see how Ben Gulbranson responds to the off season developments. I think he’ll respond well, even with demotion likely by season’s start.

        • Competition is good for everyone and I expect BG to show dramatic improvement in his second year of actual play but it still may not be enough to overcome DJU for starter. BG’s arm strength is his limitation apparently. Look forward to reading the updates from those with any inside info on how the qb battles go in spring camp.

          • He may have a competition for second string with Chiles. I think he’ll be a team guy and deal with it though. With the top 3 of DJ, Chiles, BG, I suspect another QB is more likely to leave. BG likely understands he has the potential to be part of a special season with a good bowl game reward. I think he can be a valuable contributor and the team certainly backs him.

          • I also expect a fierce competition from BG.

            It’s funny that BG’s arm strength is something of a question mark now. He had the best arm of Nolan, Gebbia and him. But now is probably considered average vs DJU.

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          Ben has the knowledge of the playbook and DJU and Chiles both want to develop into the starting role. I have a feeling Angry will go ballistic if DJU nor Chiles are not named QB1 to start the season. I don’t doubt DJU is the better athlete, but how quickly can he and Chiles pick up the offensive playbook and learn game management on top of being an athlete? BG had a knack for being able to read the defense and audible into the right play later on in the season. If BG, Smith, and Lindgren can pass that knowledge onto DJU and Chiles, look out, the offense will be more efficient. If DJU or Chiles get the starting role right out of the gate based on pure athleticism and “upside” then we could get a similar outcome like Chance Nolan against USC and Utah at some point in the season.

          Spring game should be fun and have two teams and split the coaches up and play an actual timed and down and distance scrimmage. We shall see though what Smith wants to do for the Spring Scrimmage.

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            Oh good grief. Ben will be the third string and ride the bench and transfer after the year is over. If both can’t beat out Ben then we are in some serious trouble.

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            Aiden is planning to redshirt this coming year so I would think Ben is 2nd string unless he goes into the portal after spring practices.

          • Is that a comment that Aiden made somewhere? I’d assume that he’d be pushing and competing to start right away, especially since he’s enrolling early.

          • Aidan’s dad was saying that JS was transparent and they were supporting the DJ transfer. JS probably had a plan for him and before Aidan committed he knew he would redshirt and JS would be looking to add help in the QB room.

          • There’s a person close to him that has stated that multiple times, Aiden and his family know he needs to put on weight and gain experience so he plans to red shirt. I do believe he will be a young freshman as well, don’t know his birthdate off the top of my head.

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            Pretty comfortable with DJU/BG/Throckmorton/Dom Montiel for the coming season if Aidan is going to RS and grow. Positions us strongly for years to come.

            Don’t know much about TT or DM, interested in peoples thoughts about them as well, but I trust the staff to bring in the right type of player for OSU more often than not.

            I believe it will be a much tighter competition for the QB1 job than some think. BG is clearly a competitor and having DJU come in will only bring out the best in him and the rest of the room. Very excited for the competition we are about to witness.

            Whoever ends up starting when season starts, there is no promise they make it the whole year healthy. At least the past 3 years we have had to turn to our bench due to injury or otherwise.

            Also curious how our Jackhammer package (haha) evolves given his departure to the draft. Have heard names floated over the past year or two, but unsure where that lands.

            I am becoming concerned with the lack of success in the portal to this point in this cycle with landing WR’s. Silas/Gould are front runners in the room, maybe Dunmore/Valsin/Irish/Noga/Pope/Munyagi (I swear he got some reps when he was younger, could be wrong)/Walker/Rinney. Clearly need to land at least another large body WR with the position switch from Makiya.

            Maybe the depth is closer than we think. Have to believe Dunmore/Jimmy Valsin are going to get some reps this year. I am interested to see if it will be a current player or maybe a freshman like Wells or Hatten potentially.

            All that being said, count this life long Beav a happy fan from this season. Our program has been brought back from the deepest depths of a portable shitter outside Reser on game day, thanks again Gary, and we no longer are celebrating pipe dream promises and praying we maybe win a game or two.

            Count me happy I no longer have to listen to Angie spin BS to get us hyped about the likes of Brock Wellsfry, Christian Wallace and Tyson Penn during recruiting. I’ll trade DJU and the new Cal TE all day for what we used to get excited about as fans.

            Shout out to the BEST board, not always posting but always reading.

            Thorn to Prime
            Thorn to the Ducks, always
            Thorn to younger siblings signing with their older brother’s instate rival, looking at you Matayo and Daylen
            Thorn to USC and UCLA
            Thorn to Tinkle now and forever

            Rose to Beaver Wrestling
            Rose to Timmy H with the hot takes
            Rose to Bray
            Rose to Coach Smith
            Rose to the Beavs

            Looking forward to another great year! Go Beavs!

  59. 1
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    A summary of Sander’s recruiting impact at CU:

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/pac12/2023/01/31/deion-sanders-reshaped-colorado-football-roster-signing-day/11150157002/

    I didn’t realize they were having THAT much roster turnover: 42 new players, 23 transfers, 21 of which are on campus. The #1 CBs of ’22 and ’23 classes. He will get them competitive quickly.

    And i can easily imagine him working the refs…

    Which attention whore is going to be more annoying? Colorado or Oregon?

  60. ANALYTICS………BASEBALL………..angry gonna love this, (Bill too)!
    Bahns up with a piece on Mitch’s use of analytics, worth a quick read, here are a couple items mentioned:
    –New this year is the recording of every second of practice, from a multitude of angles, which Canham has used to both measure efficiency and evaluate the areas of the field that he can’t see in the moment.

    –The DAM Analytics Squad has sent a handful of its alumni to MLB organizations as well, including two members of last year’s team, …

    https://247sports.com/college/oregon-state/Article/Oregon-State-Beavers-baseball-2023-analytics-coach-efficiency-player-performance-203947860/

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