Didn't the (85) scholarship limit begin in 1995? And didn't Oregon State's administration begin putting a concerted effort into a much neglected football program around that same time?
If all this is correct, it means Pettibone was reaping recruiting rewards, via the rule change, from 1995-1997. This is significant since it was right before Riley took over. In other words, with more dispersed recruits, Riley would have inherited better talent than past coaches. And those players would be juniors unless they red-shirted. So, they were filled out and ready to go. Riley won 3 games with them; Pettibone won 2 games the year prior. The next year, Riley won 5 games.
The Beavers didn't snap the 28 year losing streak until Erickson took over.
For some reason, Beaver fans want to credit Riley with Erickson's success. Most think Riley broke the streak. Most barely acknowledge Erickson went 31-17 and took the Beavers to their lone BCS game. And when they do, there is always the "yeah, but did it with Riley's recruits" quantifier (which isn't even true).
Also, by that logic, when Riley returned shouldn't he have been able to take the Beavers to a BCS game? I mean, if all that is needed is Riley's recruits then a BCS games should be an annual event.
Maybe I am wrong. I didn't follow Beaver football closely until 2003. Some of you guys go back to the 40's. Maybe you'll ream me out for this post, but digging through the record book, I see facts that point to Erickson being the better coach. The guy has two National Championships and 7 BCS games on his resume. Riley has 0 and 0. But, Oregon State fans believe Riley is the better coach. Erickson just road Riley's coattails. It's hard to imagine if the story were reverse and Erickson was the coach and Riley had left, that Beaver fans wouldn't be praising Erickson and dissing Riley.
I'm not anti-Riley or pro-Riley. He is what he is. An average coach with a laid back attitude. He's not a perfectionist so he doesn't pay attention to detail. That's it. He'll never take OSU to a BCS game, or likely even an Alamo Bowl.
I don't think today is the day to fire Riley. He should be given until mid-season to assume play calling, and he should be given the off-season to fire coordinators. It's also important that big donors and fans alike see just how average he is, because they need to become better educated fans so we can avoid this problem with future coaches. For the old, dying guard, this is a learning experience in objectivity and reality. These problems began long ago. I think it's important to understand the recruiting/rule changes, NCAA dynamics, OSU admins, etc all played a role in transforming the program. It wasn't a Riley thing. I'm sick of hearing the uneducated/under-analyzed argument (recently made by Ted Miller) that OSU's renaissance was due to Riley. He was a small part. I'm convinced any average coach could have done the same. The fact that Erickson, a far superior coach, did better with Riley's recruits only strengthens that argument. It's why I don't fear taking a risk on a new coach.
Anyway, these two guys will be on display this weekend. I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy watching Erickson's squad more than Riley's.
What you don’t mention is when Riley took over for Pettibone they had run the wishbone and Riley went to a Pro Offense with a single back and 3 wide outs. Lineman couldn’t pass block, QB’s couldn’t run the offense and recievers were limited when he arrived . Riley had to recruit players for his offense and develop them. He showed rapid improvement. Pettibone took over for Kragthorpe who threw 10 million times a game. Erickson picked his spot for the short term as always. His philosophies on O and D matched Riley’s and he just had to add a couple of JC’s and some depth to a maturing roster. I think you are off base with this line of thinking. You are correct when compare Resumes and Careers,but I think Riley is a better coach today. You can’t compare ASU and OSU opportunities. ASU is in a sunny great city, has a better alumni base in Phoenix, one of the largest schools in the country and most importantly has the hottest co-ed’s in the Pac 10.
I agree with the above poster. You are off base on this. The above poster brings up the point I would have left out about the vastly different offenses Riley and Pettiebone ran.
Also, Riley does in fact deserve credit for bringing the players that Erickson lead to the Fiesta Bowl. Simonton and Smith, James Allen, Chris Gibson, among others were with Riley in 97-98 and recruited by Riley (well Simonton was, Smith was another Riley Walk-On turned star). The JC guys were actually Riley recruits that Erickson convinced to stay. TJ, The Presidents, etc.. And HS recruits like Siegler and Barrnet. Riley left for San Diego in Jan of 99. Erickson gets the ‘blame’ for recruiting JC ‘Thugs’ but they were Riley’s recruits. Erickson’s just lets his players play and play aggressive, so they got a bad rep. The only player that made a key contribution to the 2000 team that was all Erickson was Chad.
Now, would Riley have lead that 99 team to a winning season? Yes, no doubt. Would he have lead the 2000 team to the Fiesta Bowl? I can’t honestly say yes, in fact I lean torward saying no. In 2003 he took over a team loaded with talent (except fo the o-line) and lead them to an 8-5 record. And that team should have easily beaten Fresno St and UW that year. And had a good lead on at the time #5 WSU on the road, before the refs started screwing OSU. That 2003 team with Erickson probably would have won 10 games IMO. I don’t blame Riley for the sub par season. It isn’t easy taking over a program a month before Sping Practice Begins.
All that being said, since Erickson left and Riley returned Erickson has had one winning season (2007 with ASU). Riley has had 6 and is 5-1 in Bowl Games. And is 4-1 head to head vs Erickson. Dennis did some great things at OSU. And had he stayed, who knows where we might be. However, Dennis has been far from great since he left OSU. 49ers fired him. One losing season at Idaho (I know, its Idaho). One great year at ASU in 2007. Since then, three season of .500 or below at ASU. And he was very much on the hot seat coming into this year. Obviously this year looks to be a good year for Dennis and a down year for Riley. Still Riley would hold a 4-2 lead head to head assuming OSU losses Sat night. So, why exactly do people want Dennis back?
Angry likes to say OSU fans fear change. Maybe that’s true. We have a successful coach in Mike Riley. He is what he is. Mediocore with a decent season here or there and a bad season here or there. Can OSU fire him and attempted to do better? Sure. However I like to point out what Arizona did in 1999. They had a coach similar to Riley in Dick Toomey. A winner, but not Big Time Bowls/Conference Championships winner. So they fired him. Brought in a guy fired by Texas thinking they had their big time – big name coach. AZ was awful, god awful for 8 years until Stoops finally lead them to a couple of 8-5 years. So while OSU might get lucky and fire Riley and find the next Chris Peterson or Chip Kelly and lead OSU to the BCS. We could also land a guy that leads us back to years of horrible horrible football. At least Riley has proven he can win at OSU. He’s got a solid group of young players and a solid recruiting class coming in. He needs to makes changes on his staff no doubt, that pretty much all OSU fans agree on. But those that want him fired, need to realize that firing him right now won’t gaurantee wins for OSU. It could mean more losses. So, I guess chalk me up to one of those who is scared of change. At this point I don’t feel it’s needed.
Why is Riley a better coach today?
Why can’t I compare OSU and ASU opportunities? Further, if ASU is such a great destination, why isn’t Nick Saben their coach, and why don’t they have national titles?
How come Washington State went to two Rose Bowls (and Holiday) in the last 15 years? They have bad weather and ugly girls.
Why do you feel the need to make excuses?
-Angry
Erickson is the far better coach. Dennis has two national championships and could have easily had a third at Oregon St if we would have gotten 1 more foot and a first down against the Huskies in our Fiesta Bowl year.
I am not sure Riley will make a Holiday Bowl if given 5 more years and it is the new Sun Bowl anyway since the bowl lineup changes. Erickson gets his players to buy in and compete in a style that is far more exciting when it works. Riley’s wins are never pretty and besides lucking out with the Rodgers brothers he has not really done much. His biggest accomplishment in the last 5 years is making a Sun Bowl and scoring 3 points in an ugly game. For that we crowned him. Only other decent year he could not capitalize on harder work by the players and we got blown out by BYU in the 5th place Pac-10 bowl. That is middle of the pack and we got way carried away for nothing to show for it. Riley is slightly worse than mediocre in my opinion. I believe is NFL record was 14-34 and he was run out of town at the end and seen as a LOSER. He doesn’t ever show well in big games with the exception of USC who everyone guns for. Other big games on the road we are either blown out or shut out.
If he goes 0-12 or 1-11 it is time to cut bait and try to get Leach. Luckily, Leach is possible at a reasonable rate. Even if we give Riley an extra year don’t expect more than 5-7 next year. A good % of the fanbase is ready to move on. Without a fluke good year the interest is drying up too much I think. I still don’t see this ending well. Many people I have talked to are giving up season tickets for next year. Maybe if the coordinators go they will consider but I don’t think enough will. Quite a few people are turned off and ready to sit out a year or two until some major changes come to a stagnant program.
“Erickson is the far better coach.”
Explain his losing record vs Mike Riley head to head. And why since 2007 OSU has more wins then ASU.
The sample size is 4 games, and Erickson coached at Idaho for one of those, so really it’s 3 games, and Riley has won 2. That is way too small to be statistically significant.
7 BCS level bowl games, 2 national titles, and higher pinnacle at OSU using the same recruits as Riley.
That’s why I think he’s a better coach.
Dennis has a great Resume no doubt.
He won at Miami, with Jimmy Johnson’s players. And it was Miami in the early 90s. Not exactly known as being a follow the rules do things the right way kind of program. Plus that was before the scholorship rule changes. So, Yes Dennis did some great things at Miami, when the rules and landscape of college football were drastically different then what they are today. Or even back in 2000.
The sample size is 5 games Angry. Idaho (ok we can through that out). 07 ASU Beat OSU. In 08-10 OSU won. Making Riley 3-1, if you throw out Idaho. What is a good sample size for you? Four years isn’t enough? Really? Becaue I also stated that over that time period 07-10 OSU also won more games.
And yes Erickson had ONE great year at OSU. He followed that up with a 5-6 year. In 99 he went 7-5 and in 03 went 8-5. With two embarrassing bowl losses.
I went to school at OSU from 99-01. Dennis was great and is great coach. And that 2000 team was fun to watch. However at the same time if you actually compare records of Dennis and Riley (especially since the scholorship rule change) neither on really seperates one from the other. I don’t see Dennis today has same guy he was at Miami. Do you?
Now, would Riley have lead that 99 team to a winning season? Yes, no doubt. Would he have lead the 2000 team to the Fiesta Bowl? I can’t honestly say yes, in fact I lean torward saying no.
I honestly think you answered your own questions here. The reason I/you/anyone wants Erickson is because the lows are the same (as Riley’s) yet the highs are higher.
(For the record: I’ve never said to rehire Erickson. That ship has sailed. Point here is that a different coach can excel with Riley’s recruits, so fans need not fear asking for change. I know this is true because it happened).
Angry- I love your site and Im definitely glad you take the time to keep it up. That said, Im dissapointed and angered by this post. You yourself admit that you weren’t a follower of beaver football until 03. That was after Erickson left us all high and dry after saying he would stay as long as we would all have him. (Which would have been forever.) Two out of the four years he was here the beavers underachieved, going 5 and 6 in 2001 then losing the insight.com bowl to pitt in 2002. Like Riley, Erickson teams lost games they shouldnt have, such as a 13 to 9 game to ASU in 02. They also killed themselves in penalties. I guess my point is that you take away 2000, a year in which there were both Riley and Erickson recruits on the squad (and possibly still some of Pettibones guys), then he didn’t accomplish a thing that Riley hasn’t. Granted, he has at other schools, but that’s completely irrelevant. Usually i thoroghly enjoy reading your content, but pointing out that Dennis Erickson (someone who you yourself admit you didn’t follow closely the way you do Riley) is both unimportant and needlessly negative. Its also important to point out that head to head, Riley’s beaten him three years in a row. (Let’s hope he can make it 4 saturday).
That’s fine, Slamadam.
Correct, I didn’t follow OSU football until 2003. But, I have gone back and watched many of the Erickson games, which air on the classic sports channels and fsn. The entire Pac-10 was different back then. Just watching the games you can see the league wasn’t as good overall, to be perfectly honest, so there’s a bit of the dead ball era/modern era (ala classic baseball argument) conundrum here. The league has improved as recruiting/internet/promotion/television improved.
Again, I would take Erickson because he won bigger with Riley’s recruits (good gauge), and won bigger throughout his career. Erickson’s highs > Riley’s. Their lows are about the same. I don’t hate Riley. In fact, if he died tomorrow I’d be very upset. Great guy. But, he is shot. And he has a ceiling due to his flaws (lack of detail, stubborn with personnel, etc). The truth hurts. I’d love for the guy to be a bigger winner, but he isn’t.
Another Mike Leach fan. I posted Leach and Riley’s records a while back.
Leach = Riley. 7,8,9 win seasons. No BCS Bowls, no conference championships. And that was recruiting in Texas. Not Oregon.
Ted Miller’s other point is that since USC had interest in Riley, he must be a great coach. Uh, USC was facing sanctions and wanted damage control to save face. Jeez, Ted. See through that.
USC hired Lane Kiffin, who is barely over .500 while running two historical juggernauts. They hired a coach (Pete) who resulted in sanctions and a stripped title. It’s not like they know what they’re doing and/or make good decisions.
Riley was ASU’s first choice as well over Erickson. Just FYI…
USC also tried to hire Erickson away from us before they offered Carroll.
JackBeav had a great comment that might get lost in the other thread, so I’m reposting here since it’s relevant.
When some dildo like Ted Miller tells us that we can’t get anyone great to coach here, we don’t need half the fan base to say, “See! Dildo says we’re a loser just like I do!” Characterizations of OSU just like dildo’s should be considered nothing less than fightin’ words.
Weather, location, facilities… all excuses for being a loser. Money? I can get down with the argument that we couldn’t previously afford a top flight coach. But we will soon enough. Earmarks be damned! More excuses.
I officially hate Ted Miller, by the way. Forums are lighting up with fans saying, “See, we can’t get anyone better!”
That ass clown and his ESPN cronies did us a great disservice.
Too bad Ted doesn’t realize what we ALSO can do better than is…..HIM
Regarding the Pettibone era, one of the ghastly memories I can’t shake is being foolishly excited for the 95 season and then seeing us lose to Pacific and N. Texas. (And throwing up in my mouth multiple times).
Sort of a familiar feeling lately…
That ’95 Pettibone team played lights out on defense and despite the 1-10 record there were some very close P-10 games. Too bad the “flexbone” was awful. The ’96 team fell apart defensively and that spelled the end of Jerry.
I say that what has happened is that Riley has lost interest. Something has happened, maybe beyond is own control. I remember him or his staff, making good adjustments at halftime, and coming out and dominating 3rd quarters. No more
As to the location of Corvallis being against getting a good coach, go back and look at some that have been at Corvallis, like Andros and Prothro. Or Ralph Miller in basketball. Erickson and the younger Riley were good.
What was great about Erickson was the way (good or bad) he let guys play and make a lot of their own decisions, which I think helped them develop a swagger and confidence. In the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame, the OSU players, according to one prognosticator were all guys Notre Dame wouldnt even have tried to recruit….yet they beat the stuffing out of ND.
In pac 12 locations, I cant see how Pullman, Washington is a location you could recruit anyone to play at, yet they have gone to Rose Bowls in recent times, so location isnt the critical factor.
I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with the premise of who’s a better coach in this post. But pointing out that Riley took over for a different style coach while Erickson took over for a similar style coach is more illogical than the premise that any coach is better than any other in different programs.
For example, who did Riley take over for after the 2009 season?
Maybe the point should be that coaches bring a new energy during their first years in a program. They fight for respect every inch of the way. Good ones make it better. Great ones keep it better. To be a great coach, a losing season is fine every now and then. But we’re talking maybe two in a decade, and they can’t be worse than 5-7 with today’s patsie scheduling. And that coach absolutely has to win a conference championship than he has losing seasons to be great.
So I would not say Erickson is a great coach now. He once was, and he was probably on the tail end of his greatness when he was here.
And Mike Riley has only ever been good. I think he can still be great. But I’m now convinced that his friendships with his employees will hold him back as long as they are his employees.
http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/26951643-41/beavers-osu-season-freshman-start.html.csp
What a load of crap. Here’s the money: “So, again, what happened to the Beavers to put them in their current plight?
It would appear to be a combination of being too young, not as talented as they were in recent seasons and certainly unlucky with health issues”
That’s all bogus. Our receivers and linebackers are better, our secondary is just as talented(although playing horribly) Katz was okay last year, just like Mannion so far. We lost Quizz and Paea, that’s it.
Can’t possibly blame the coaches for their continual inability to gameplan or call plays. Can’t be done. Blame the players for not being “talented” enough.
Would all the $$$ games BDC keeps scheduling such as Wisconson, Louisville, Cinncinati, LSU, Penn St, TCU, plus at a strong Boise St., Utah, Fresno St. be the patsie scheduling you refer. I wish we did schedule 2 home patsies and 1 game at a good recruiting spot a year such as Houston, San Diego St., San Jose St, SMU or Hawaii. I think in the long run we would be better off.
OSU has been the exception to the rule. You can bet a new coach would rather build his program first, then go off and play marquee programs in the non-con. When your job depends on it, you want all the wins you can get.
Another thing people forget when comparing Early Riley/Erickson to present day Riley, look at the athletic director. Mitch Barnhardt was a far superior AD to Bobby D. Look at his bio:
http://www.uky.edu/PR/News/Archives/2002/July2002/barnhart222.htm
He was really the reason Oregon State Athletics started turning around in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. It was a big loss when he went to Kansas. When they talk about the tone at the top, Barnhart set an enthusiastic tone at OSU, while Bob D has set a “meh” tone. Now that he has health problems too, I don’t see that tone changing anytime soon, unless he steps aside and lets somebody else like Pat Casey take control.
Barnhart went t Kentucky, not Kansas.
to*
right, got my wires crossed. he was rumored recently as a candidate for the Kansas job but didn’t every move there.
ever*
Article published today in the Oregonian about Langsdorf’s play-calling and whether Langsdorf (and perhaps Banker) should be replaced: http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2011/09/oregon_state_insider_the_line.html
The article says that: “OSU coach Mike Riley is aware there is a cadre of angry fans who want Langsdorf fired.” That’s good.
The article also quotes the following response from MR: “Danny’s had a great knack for calling the plays,” said Riley. “He knows our offense well, knows the capability of the players and knows the situation. … it’s like I said, everybody loved the play calling when we were winning games and when we were beating USC. It doesn’t look so good when you’re not playing so well. It’s natural.” That’s not good at all.
But even worse is this quote from MR: “…we’re all in this together and we have to support each other,” he said. “One thing about [Riley, Langsdorf, and Banker], we’ve been through the highs and lows of it, so nothing surprises us. But it still hurts. And I think those guys are bothered by it. But they also know nobody’s going to point the finger at them. We’re all going to be supportive. Nobody’s going to go crazy on the staff.’
I respect MR as a person (as noted many times before), but statements like this confirm that MR is problematic as Head Coach (aka CEO) of the OSU football program. The CEO needs to hold subordinates responsible for bad results and screw-ups. Chronic under-performers need to be replaced, not “supported”. If MR doesn’t believe or understand this, he can’t be effective as Head Coach. And that may be exactly what’s going on here….
He calls out the RT and TE for missing a block on Ward’s 4th and 1 run, then says Mannion cost them the Sac State game. Then he sticks up for his coaches. That’s a good way to lose your players.
I completely agree.
Most head coaches don’t keep talking about previous losses with such specifics. Shame on Riley he knows these losses are on the staff on a macro level.
I don’t know. Maybe we can argue about what RIley should or should not be saying to the public about each loss, but in terms of motivating his players to keep working and improving week in and week out (in the face of such a god awful start), I like the approach of picking on specific flaws in execution. This isn’t to say there aren’t coaching problems, but clearly this is not a veteran group of bad asses that would be destroying the competition but-for blundering fools on the coaching staff. These guys need to keep working and keep improving, not just for this season, but for next season. You can’t send the message that the team is simply not talented enough to win these games, but at the same time you can’t just have the coaches suck up all the blame–neither incentivizes these players to keep working, improving technique, etc. What you can do is show these players how a handful of poorly executed plays can determine the outcome of a game, then roll your sleeves up and get to work making specific changes on the practice field. These are the kinds of changes within the players’ control.
So Quizz calling out his offensive line last year was totally valid?
I think you have to do it constructively and it has to come from the right place. There is certainly a difference between a coach picking on specific execution flaws and working to correct them and another player telling the media that the O-line sucks, or doesn’t have enough heart (I admit, I can’t recall exactly what he said, and I don’t know which comments you are referring to). My point was a general one, and I think there is room to argue about how exactly things should be handled with the press.
Yeah, it was just a general feeling. But what about Riley saying that the o-line sucks because our center sucks at block calls (albeit in more diplomatic terms) is better than just saying it?
Btw… that’s a lot of seniors and juniors who are apparently the “youth on the team” making those mistakes. There are actual young ones making mistakes, but they call themselves out and make plays the next time up. They learn within a game and get better as the game wears on. You can’t say that of a lot of our upperclassmen, who get the bulk of the playing time. Hell, you can’t even say that in terms of a season… or their careers in some cases.
Dude – you have been saying for weeks that one of Riley’s main flaws in coaching is his lack of attention to detail. He obviously pays attention to detail but he has a lot of youth on the team who are going to make mistakes, and those mistakes can cost you a game. Running it up the middle on 4th and 1 is not a bad call. If Mannion had tried a QB sneak and got stuffed – which I bet he would – people would be questioning that call and wonder why he didn’t just hand it off and run it. I see no problem at all with calling out the positions that had an assignment and missed it. The individual players know they made a mistake and if they are not head strong enough to recognize it, then they should not be on the team.
Personally, I like it when Riley talks about the details of the game like he does. Quit being irrational and stop diagnosing Mike Riley. You have no clue what you’re talking about.
It’s pretty simple why we’re losing these games. We have a lot of young guys that have a lot of talent but they’re not there yet in terms of execution.
I can’t argue in favor of Banker, though. He needs to change how we defend the pass. I am sick of all the Pass Interference calls because the other teams’ QB underthrows the ball and our guys run into them.
An irritating article on several fronts, starting with the straw man in the headline that fans think they can call a better game than DL. We are comparing DL to every other o-coordinator, not every other man on the street.
“…it’s like I said, everybody loved the play calling when we were winning games and when we were beating USC. It doesn’t look so good when you’re not playing so well. It’s natural.”
Just because we win games doesn’t mean the playcalling is good. Just because plays work doesn’t mean the playcalling is good. If we had successfully run Ward up the middle for a yard on 4th and 1, it’s still a TERRIBLE PLAYCALL, with a low chance of success.
Fans may not scream about it if the result is good (winning), but it’s still just as bad. You’re still playing way under your potential. Even the games we’ve won handily, the playcalling is shockingly predictable. The games we’ve won handily, EVERYTHING has worked, more or less (USC, 2008). We were certainly not responding to situations or creating mismatches.
Dept of !*?@# that Buker says…
Buker just posted the following 4-part tweet on Twitter:
“Message board poster on O-Live who goes by rileysafraud claiming there was meeting between Sean, Sean’s dad, and Riley whereby the Mannions demanded Sean play THIS YEAR or he transfers. Total b.s., said John Mannion, the Silverton HS coach. “Not in a million years “would I ever do that,” said John Mannion. “It’s one of the furthest things on the face of the earth I would even think of doing” Don’t usually single out comments to refute them, but this one was particularly off-the-wall. I believe coach Mannion. …
Buker may be a washed-up hack as a journalist, but he’s not a complete idiot. Buker knows exactly what he is doing by reposting a scurrilous rumor initially posted on an Oregonian message board. This rumor was destined to be ignored and to disappear as just another post on another local message board. Buker has (intentionally and deliberately) now put this rumor into wide circulation — and given it credibility — by posting it on his Twitter account (an account that has about 2500 followers, and growing).
Buker has gone way over the line by doing this. It seems a fair assumption that Buker is trying to mess with Mannion’s head, and also to stir up dissension on the Beavers. If I were Mike Riley, I’d be very upset about this. But I’d be much more upset if I were John Mannion (Sean Mannion’s dad). For those of you who have kids, imagine Buker spreading a scandalous rumor like this on Twitter about you and your own son. How would you feel?
If Buker wants to be controversial and gain followers for that reason alone, he should just ask the coaches difficult questions (e.g. “Why do the CBs still refuse to turn? It clearly doesn’t work, why don’t you change?”, etc). He’d have a huge following. To be fair, he probably does the best job of that. Cliff is useless and becoming more of a brainwashed automaton by the day. Mamma Machado cares only about membership figures. Eggers is Riley’s best friend…etc.
At least Buker is trying somewhat.
(I think he secretly likes this site, too, and wants to fit in with the cool kids). :)
I hope Buker reads this site. I hope Buker’s editors do, too.
Buker’s editors would never allow Buker to publish this sort of slanderous trash in an Oregonian article, and Buker knows it.
Buker did an end run around his editors by publishing this trash on Twitter instead. If I were Buker’s boss at the Oregonian, the least I’d do is make Buker stop tweeting for the rest of this season. I’d also make Buker apologize, in person, to John and Sean Mannion. And if John Mannion wanted to punch Buker in the nose, I wouldn’t stop him…..
I love that caption that says he called a run on 4th and 1, and fans wanted a pass.
No, fans just didn’t want Terron Ward back in for that play, when Stevenson had been successful that half and Ward was awful. Shockingly, Buker gets it right there, calling that a bad play when it was.
Riley throwing his young guys under the bus is insane though; what is he thinking? That’s just horrid.
We will discover who the better coach is on Saturday night. I think ASU will come out hungry and ready to play. OSU will come out flat and will get run out of the stadium. I will even wager that our offense will not score a touchdown on Sat. night. The sad fact is that this is a terrible team with a mediocre head coach. Riley has never even taken this team to the second place bowl. Hell, Chip Kelly did more at Oregon in one season than Riley has ever done and that should cause concern for all of us.
Pepsi is way better than olive oil and Direct TV is better than getting your tonsils out. I figured I would get into the comparisons that don’t compare. You are saying that the game on Saturday will tell us who the better coach is? Are they both going to be coaching the same team for a half each? Chip Kelly took over a bad team and took them to a BCS bowl in one year? Sorry, this is truly a ridiculous post. I’m not even saying that your conclusions are all wrong, but your logic is swiss cheese.
Nope my logic is right on. Watch how ASU will come out fired up. They will beat us on attitude alone. Our team will come out flat and after the first ASU score our spirits will be deflated and the blood letting will begin. Last year these teams were pretty much on the same level. Now ASU is in the driver’s seat for the Pac-12 title game and we will likely lose the rest of our games. And Sadly, with two consecutive conference titles and two consecutive BCS appearances, Chip has done more in Eugene than Riley has ever done here. That is tough to swallow, but it is true.
I thought I was the only one who enjoys a little olive oil in my carbonated beverages!
I know you guys disagree with my thoughts and ignore my comments, but I’m going to post my thoughts anyways.
What I really feel the problem with Riley’s team isn’t with just the head coach. Just like in a team, the QB doesn’t win games by himself and the defense needs a collective effort. So perhaps the problem(s) is with the coordinators. Banker is a ball of fire, but he doesn’t exactly know how to recruit for d-line and d-backs at the same time. The other problem I see is that Riley gave too much responsibility to Langsdorf at one time. It should have been gradual. For example, Riley should have given Langsdorf play calling in games as his sole responsibility along with seeing what adjustments need to be made at halftime for the offensive line to block better. Along with that, Riley would be responsible for the game planning and knowing what he wants to do and if that didn’t work very well, then switch the responsibilities. Don’t allow Langsdorf to have full reign of the offensive game. A head coach needs to have control of what he’s doing IMHO.
On the other side of the ball(defense), There needs to be schemes to whether a team is a pass first, run second; a run first to set up the pass; a spread offense; pistol offense; or what have you. There needs to be a set scheme for these offenses so the players know what exactly their doing against that particular offense that week. It’s good to have a base defense of a 3-4, but a pass first, run second team, it’s best to have a 3-3-5. 3 down lineman, 3 linebackers and 5 DB’s 3 corners and 2 safeties. Otherwise, a run first pass second team, keep the 3-4-4, but have more blitzes/stunts/twists because that’s what confuses the defense. I’ve been watching our D-line and all they do is bull rush on every play. That’s EXTREMELY predictable and easy to defend for an offensive lineman…I know because I was a starting center from 4th grade to my Junior year in high school. I changed roles my senior year.
There needs to be more diversity and more confusion of what OSU does. We don’t need an “identity” on defense except for SWARMING! We haven’t been swarming to the play/ball since Richard Seigler was a Linebacker! That was back in like 2002-2003ish. Technique is not being taught at OSU for swim moves, rips, and include those IN the bull rushes! So annoying seeing the players so engaged with the person in front of them, they miss the running back running right through the hole they helped create with their bull rush. Teach situational techniques of what the offense would run based on the down and distance. Bull rushes work on pass plays…not run plays. Being patient by staying in your spot and plugging up holes is what needs to start happening on run plays to make better stops on the 2nd and 3’s and less plays. that’s my 2 cents worth.
“Technique is not being taught at OSU for swim moves, rips, and include those IN the bull rushes! ”
I can report based on personal observation that OSU’s d-line coach — Joe Seumalo — does spend quite a bit of time in practice trying to teach swim moves, rips, and other similar techniques (along with various d-line stunts). More could surely be done in this area, but the techniques are being taught and practiced, repeatedly.
Then they need to be performed in the game. Sadly enough, the players may like one technique over the others(such as bull rushing alone) instead of utilizing the best technique to get themselves free of the O-Lineman’s grasp.
Brandon Sprague is tweeting that O-lineman Grant Enger injured his shoulder today.
I don’t think either coach is better than the other, they are both very different. Erickson emphasizes a pass heavy attack and has been very successful when he has a legit pro-style quarterback. He lacks discipline but can be an inspiring speaker. He can recruit the big names but he is not great at scouting recruites, just bringing in those who already have acclaim. He brought in Chad in ’00, which Riley would not have. Without Chad, would we have succeeded as much? Maybe so, maybe not. TJ and Prescott were both great WR’s but Prescott was held out the first ~4 games for beating up a grat guy.
Riley focuses on balance, sometimes too much, and thrives when he has a capable passer and a solid, run blocking offensive line. He was the only coach that recruited Ken Simonton. He started Jonathon Smith at quarterback during the second half of a game at Husky Stadium. Smith doesn’t even look like a legit kicker, let alone quarterback. Erickson wouldn’t have found Simonton nor made the switch to Smith.
I would surmise that the program would be better off if Erickson had never coached here than had Riley never coached here but they needed eachother to have the magical 2000 season. Offensively, it is clear that the team is struggling due to lack of push on the O line. When the program put more emphasis on getting skill players several years ago both O & D line recuits were reduced. The result is an offense that is suited for a run and gun passing attack but being confined to a “balanced” offense that limits it’s overall potential. This year and last year, I believe Erickson would perform better than Riley with the same teams. However, I would argue that Riley would perform better with the teams in 2006-2009 that were much more balanced. Defensively, Banker should definitely be fired. Our pass defense has never been good while our rush defense has been historically good with dropoff lately due to the lack of emphasis on recruiting the hogs. Banker was successful when we had good D lines because teams would become more one dimensional and thus predictable. The biggest issue is balance recuiting every year. It was balanced from ’03-’07 but has since become skill heavy. IMO we will improve soon if we change our offensive style or get legitemate hogs in soon. I believe we should go pass heavy as we have always had success bringing in skill players but have never been consistantly successful bringing in the fat guys. I would hope Riley would consider bringing in a new OC with a new style, but given his track record I don’t see that happening.
Didn’t Simonton have a USC offer and decided to follow Riley to OSU?
The rest is fine, but…
“He was the only coach that recruited Ken Simonton.”
Ummm… hardly. I guess you could say that he’s the only coach who recruited Simonton to both USC and OSU.
USC had interest, keep in mind that they were no where near the USC of today, but he had no PAC-10 offers according to my sources. Also, erickson had haas for two years and never gave him a schollie. In riley’s first year he got him a schollie.
Erickson would be extremely unlikely to do worse than 5-7 at OSU. Had he stayed I am confident we would have seen another BCS bowl by now. Riley has much lower lows and much lower highs.
The main issue in the comparison between Erickson and Riley is the Fiesta bowl euphoria which caused so many Angry Beaver fans to run down and verbally slam Riley from the very moment he was hired the second time. this is not a new phenomenon the last two years (with due respect to JackBeav’s comments last thread). The Fiesta bowl expectation has created a large group of fans that are always shouting their angry view at people who would otherwise be enjoying a football game on their own terms. In the process we have eaten three quarterbacks alive that have gone on to at least the practice squad in the pros (i’ve shouted down angry fans several times at games that wouldn’t stop shouting bile at our young quarterbacks, one hoped Anderson had torn a knee ligament on a play he was hurt). Moore basically gave us the finger on the way out the door and i can’t say i blame him. And the Riley bashing has been consistent through all the varied successes we have had the last 10 years: remember firemikeriely.com? that was matt moore’s first year i believe. the next year, only the sun bowl, i know, was as exciting as a football season can be, and if you don’t believe that i don’t know why you bother hanging around the sport. i guess real football teams go the the fiesta bowl. The point is until the Rodgers brothers phenomenon moved people to the exciting present the comparison to Erickson was a constant drone behind every little thing that went wrong. People blame some beaver fans of being too complacent, and it may be so, but some beaver fans need to get their pie out of the sky. football is a competition and sometimes in the best games you end up the loser.
camping this weekend and don’t expect a win, have at it Angery Beavers
Finally, someone I agree with – no one on this site seems to enjoy OSU football. Did we not just win more conference games in the last decade than any other school in the PAC-10 (when you figure in USC’s forfeits)? Sure we’re not winning now, but the fun will be in seeing the young guys develop and turning this around.
I also don’t understand why all the focus is on the coaching. On Offense, our line seems to be all walk-ons, our only legit running back is a true freshman with a bad hamstring, our qb has played ten quarters of college football and our best receiver and tight end just played in their first game of the season. As for the Defense, the Wisconsin game proved that there is no depth on the line and all three games have proven we have nothing at linebacker.
As for the secondary, I’m not sure how to judge it when there is not enough pressure on the QB, but my main point is that we have a serious talent shortage. You can have whatever scheme you want, but if you don’t have the talent to run it – it isn’t going to work. Erickson, Meyer and Carroll didn’t win because they were better football coaches than Riley, they won because they had an ungodly amount of talent surrounding their campuses. And a lot of times, that talent made up for a lack of attention to detail that some people on this site seem to think only the Beavers possess.
If you want to blame Riley for anything, of course blame him for the lack of talent. I don’t know what happened with recruiting three or four years ago. Maybe the staff got lazy, outrecruited or just picked the wrong guys. But Riley’s not an idiot. He’s playing 17 freshmen so obviously he knows what the problem is and now the test is to see if he can fix it. It won’t be easy though – try getting five decent basketball players to come to Corvallis let alone 85 football players. But I hope Riley succeeds. He is a class act and he has earned the right to try and turn this around.
As for Riley’s percieved lack of passion, someone (his wife?) does need to dress him and tell him to stand up straight on the sidelines. At the same time, I am OK with his “Aw Shucks/Golly Gee” after games. Like he said in his press conference, he’s got a young team and he’s trying to keep them positive – which is the right call for the situation. As for the on-field passion, that’s on the players. If you’re relying on your coach to get you up to play PAC 12 football, you’re in the wrong sport. I think the primary cause of this though is our non-existant senior class and their lack of leadership.
One final thought and I’ll shut up. If anyone is thinking it’s a simple as replacing Riley with some hot shot assistant or up-and-comer be careful what you wish for. Craig Fertig, Joe Avezzano, Dave (Big Butt) Kragthorpe and Jerry Pettibone were all up-and-comers who would probably tell you that we are pretty lucky to have Riley and winning in Corvallis is not as easy as some of you make it out to be.
PS Totally agree that Riley struggled the first couple of years fitting Pettibone’s wishbone talent into his offense. There were no recievers, the line only knew how to run block and the qb at Corvallis High could throw better than any OSU qb – and that last part is not a joke.
So OSU has a talent shortage, but it’s going to be fun to watch them grow?
Ok.
PS. Winning in Corvallis in the 70s and 80s wasn’t easy. We’re now in 2011 with revenue and facilities.
Your glee in writing about mediocrity tell me you lived through the streak.
PSS. The focus is on coaching because the Beavers aren’t prepared for these games. If they were losing good games for legit reasons we’d be talking more about the players.
Tim Alexander became a pretty damn good receiver if I remember correctly. Everyone focuses on the Wishbone transiton which was difficult by nature, but Pettibone had some decent defensive players.
Those fans you speak of aren’t angry. They’re irrational. Every fandom has some. Some more than others. Are those vocal minority the ones we very loudly hear booing on TV? They sound very much like a majority of the fans in the stands, and not the irrational, vocal punks you describe.
And there is no issue of comparison between Riley and Erickson. It just comes up because people want better from Riley, and we’ve seen better from Erickson. I highly doubt it would be the same now with Erickson. But I know it would be better with another quality coach who might take over for Riley. When you think to yourself that anyone can win in a program built by Riley, that anyone would want come here, then you are respecting what Mike Riley has done. If you think it will just fall apart if he were to leave or that NOBODY wants to come here, then you are shitting on Mike Riley and what he’s done at OSU. You are saying that what Mike wants is so much less than what a good or great coach wants, and you are setting that expectation for yourself.
Well those attitudes can go to hell. Sport is a mental and emotional investment by fans as well as players who are physically invested to be good enough to play. When any of those components is missing or deficient, any one of the actors mentioned has a right to speak about it. Being defensive because I might be deficient in any of these characteristics is irrational. Owning those deficiencies and improving on them is what sport is all about.
I don’t agree with a lot of the 12 step method, but what it does correctly note is that the first thing that needs to be done is to admit that there is a problem. If you can’t see it, or if you deny what’s obvious, then you are a part of the problem.
If this was a talent issue, then THAT would be on the coaches who put that talent on the field. And at times due to weird personnel decisions that is the case, which makes it more the coaches’ faults. But even poor talent can show grit and determination and unity, things a coach who has real talent deficiencies can instill in a team. That is not the case in our program, and it has not been that way for almost a full season.
Erickson was atleast in a high majority of games. How many times has Riley been blown out? How many of the big games do we spend big chunks down 3 TDs? That didn’t happen with Erickson nearly as much.
I most want a confident head coach. Kyle Whittingham talks about what he expects so much better than Riley and sets the winning expectation which the players then reach. I would rather have Riley try that even if he comes up short. Beats the hell out of saying “We are going to keep working on rrying to get better and doing the things it will take to eventually win.” That kind of crap makes it sound like it is okay if it still took 3 or 4 more weeks to win. That would be Week 6 or Week 7 and yet that is how Riley is coming off. It reeks of no confidence and is unnacceptable for the ‘Joe Pa of the West’.
You can’t play reactive on defense and expect to win. Until we turn our defense loose to make plays and look for the ball when it has been a few seconds or more on defense we will keep getting burned. Poor balls that should be interceptions are turning into PI calls when they should be easy to interrupt, knockdown or intercept. The defense needs more pride in getting off the field and the offense needs to understand how crucial sustained drives are so we can keep our shoddy defense off the field for as long as possible. We also need to finish in the red zone much better. Field goals won’t cut it with our D.
I know this post became about comparing Riley to Erickson, but my original point was to highlight how big of a caveman ignoramus Ted Miller has become. To act as if OSU can’t do better than Riley. It’s a disservice and not accurate.
The reason I brought up Erickson was to show that OSU has in fact done better, and could do so again.
I’m not calling for Riley’s head with this post. Just needed to clarify.
Miller is a condescending jerk wad for that attitude alone. Utah football was a backwater wasteland until Ron McBride got it to roughly the same level that Riley has reached. Now two other coaches took Ute football to unprecedented levels. Are fans not supposed to want and except better?
That’s a subtlety and distinction the mainstream sports media are too lazy to make. They decide what the story is – “Fans want instant gratification and want Riley’s head” and couch it in simple, assembly line-journalism language. While they do this, the cherry pick more thoughtful commentary that’s provided here, specifically by Angry, without acknowledging the source or being appreciate of the greater context and depth that they themselves should apply in their writing.
What we are asking for is continued progress, not a national championship this year or next. We’re fully prepared to acknowledge Riley for taking the program to an improved status, thank him for that, and seek new coaching or coordinators to build on that progress. Riley has had plenty of time to show what he can do, and we’re not being impatient or unfair, we’re just being portrayed that way.
The progressiveness of BSU, Utah, or even Oregon (Brooks>Belloti>Kelly) are never used in a productive comparative sense of what we’re hoping for OSU.
Obj, you are so spot on with your comments. I mean it may not be possible to reach the levels of the programs you mention, but why does the media get to decide fan expectations and how the debate is framed? I think it goes to Riley’s accessibility and niceness. Being a good person does go a long ways in life!
There are countless examples of changes that gave programs a kick in the ass that are never used by the “experts” and there are some examples of moves not paying off or just kind of a neutral proposition that they could use to defend their positions, but they are too lazy to bother. I said before, I would almost like to see an 0-12 season just to see what happens. It would be a hell of a lot more interesting than 2-10. It seems like the Huskies recovered and found a decent coach, so it would probably not be the end of the world. We are seeing right now if Wazzu can recover.
Succinct.
If the Beavs looked good while losing I’d be fine. Loses happen. But they’re losing for reasons that start/end at the top. What makes the frustration compound is that many of the problems (e.g. right personnel on the field, using challenges, proper use of time outs, lining the ball up for a game winning FG, etc) are easily fixable with just a little common sense and effort.
The comparisons of Erickson and Riley are largely a distraction from the task at hand. Erickson was never going to stay at OS. His time in Corvallis was largely like his time at Idaho, a stop gap
job on his way to another gig.He is a very good college coach but not particularly honest nor a very good role model. I would not want him to lead or teach my sons….even if he were to go 14 and 0. Riley on the other hand is a decent guy and loyal. But he has succumbed to the latest American executive disease of delegating everything but the credit. It is really a fallback position to the aristocracy of 17th century Europe, sort of a modern day Marie Antoinette syndrome. It is the fans job to guide him back to the principles of sweat, toil and creativity. If he doesn’t learn to buckle down or strap it on, he too will have to go.
I’m not ready to suggest a new hire, especially considering who we may hire. I’m not terribly confident that BC will pick the best candidate. I do think that Riley could benefit from better assistant coaches and almost hope for the worst this year to put some pressure on making a change. We desperately need a change of style on both sides of the ball. Our team is best suited for 4 and 5 WR sets spreading the field, opening running lanes, and playing to our strength. If I’m not planning a trip to a bowl game after Xmas next year then I’ll be ready to gamble on change.
OS fans, rather than drool over Petersen or Leach,(they are never going to come for very different reasons), should look for a model to follow rather than a savior to worship. Two reasonable models come to mind. Utah. Kansas State. Utah has for a long part of its history been the ugly duckling to BYU’s swan. But they are not complacent nor afraid of change and they do recruit intelligently mixing jc kids with high schoolers. Their offensive and defensive schemes change to fit the team and to keep opponents guessing. Kansas State has similarities to OS in terms of history. They have a tough time getting the top recruits but do a great job of filling their needs. Interestingly, it is the stability and hard work of Bill Snyder (not the hottest or sexiest new gunslinger) that has brought them a bountiful harvest. Quit trying to steal someone else because OS will not be able to purchase long term success by merely cutting off heads and hiring new mercenaries. This isn’t the Circus Maximus and it isn’t how Pat Casey became a success and a great role model.
I agree that poaching and head-hunting aren’t the only means to a better coaching staff. I think its the tendency of us as fans to look around at who is obviously successful and could potentially see the Pac-12 as a new and greater challenge and a bigger stage, and therefore potentially come to OSU.
Alternatively, Bob D would have to direct a search and recruitment process that scanned the college football landscape for bright, effective, motivated coaches. I agree that there are options besides Peterson and Leach. I don’t go with the party line that we can’t do better than Riley.
Yeah, searching for talent in the coaching ranks is necessary. But delegating this to a head hunting firm is not necessary. It often is juist lazy or fuszzy thinking. and encourages coaches to be delegaters.
If OS uses a so called “pro offense”, does this mean that the Patriot ” no hudlle offense” is “non pro offense”. And teams that have incorporated the wildcat, are these not pro? How come OS doesn’t use a “pro defense” where blitzing and deception are incorporated. I think that when people say that MR teaches a”pro offense” they mean that he is teaching Latin…a dead or static offense that requires an aggresive defense to set up easy opportunities. The college game requires a course in evolution in order to be successful.
No. First, KSU is a poor model. Snyder lowers the bar for academic acceptance so much, that if OSU were to try to do that we would be kicked out of the Pac. Nikegon is about as low as you can go for admissions standards for football players. And even that’s much higher than KSU under Snyder. Ksu also does not sustain success. They simply hire the weakest teams they can in their 4 non-con games, and they accept the the two guaranteed losses every year with an expectation of a couple more in-league. Once in a blue moon they will have the stars align to win those guaranteed losses. But not all of them.
Utah was damn good over the last decade, and when they had time to prepare for an opponent, their coaches had them prepared to stomp on whoever they played. I really thought that Utah team that pummeled (I mean obliterated) Pitt in that BCS game was by far the best team in the nation. The one that beat Bama was fine, but they were nothing compared to the other.
As for “pro offenses”… no huddle is just no huddle. That has nothing to do with sets. The wildcat is gone. It took two years, but defenses know how to kill it. The spread option wouldn’t work in the NFL because there are no weaknesses to exploit which that offense could exploit. A running QB would just get killed on that level out of that set, and RB’s would get stuffed by never slow, never small d-linemen and LB’s. The reason it did work for a while was because it was unscouted and unfamiliar. That is no longer the case. And notice that it was always run with a RB, not a QB. Pro coaches know what’s what.
Good points on Kansas State but the real point I was trying to make is that they appeared to have a plan to get out of their decades long funk and were able to execute the plan until Snyder originally retired. Alabama schedules cupcakes as well as KS. So what.? Any team that has only 2 guaranteed losses is doing pretty good. The point is that Kansas State often makes the most of their meager resources and under Shyder they almost always compete. How can OS make the most of modest resources without having only modest objectives?
The post about “pro offense” was tongue in cheek. The MR “pro offense” is really a copy from 5-10 years back of a NFL offense. Pro teams are slow to innovate for a lot of good reasons but many have evolved today beyond what OS is using. High school and college are normally the incubators for football evolution….at least for offense. So if MR takes the keys back from Langsdorf without adding some innovation learned from his college brothers, he will just be using pro concepts that are somewhat outdated today in the NFL. The OS offensive system today is quite similar to the offense my college ran in the mid 70’s.
Your assertion about Kansas State education is simply untrue. KS has a slightly higher graduation rate than OS. Also the number of grayshirts at OS due to grades, the number of nonqualifiers and the number of non eligilbe guys on the OS team is significant over the last few years There is some truth to academics in Pac 12 but it’s mostly an old wives tale about Pac 12 superiority and standards. Ask Vontaze Burfict, Chuck Muncie or Hugh McElheney about admission standards or university salary standards for that matter.
Off topic, but geez Beaver football can’t win lately. I was watching the Houston/UTEP barn burner tonight that was being played at the Sun Bowl (UH won 49-42) and one of the CBS College Sports announcers referenced the OSU/Pitt game out of the blue as one of the most boring to ever be played at that location by comparison. I laughed out loud.
Also, Riley is going to be on the Tim Brando radio show tomorrow, maybe it can be accessed on the internet?
I personally loved that Sun Bowl. Our offensive woes were on display (foreshadowing?) without either Rodgers or our starting QB. But that d-line played lights out against a really good Pitt offense. Just like a 1-0 baseball game, I love a game where one play can make a difference either way.
The only side which was ineffective in that game was our offense. And that was expected. But they never were so pathetic that they made a mistake which cost the game.
And neither did Hekker for that matter. One shank from him, and we lose that game.
Great edge of my seat stuff IMO.
I spent part of yesterday surrounded by annoying, smug Duck fans. One was wearing a shirt from the Ducks Fiesta Bowl, and which another, non-UO grad pointed out that the Fiesta Bowl was a great game for OSU. A Duck fan asked; “The Beavers went to the Fiesta Bowl? Who’d they beat?” Its been a long time since a good bowl game… I was tempted to point out that all of the recent victories and conference championships might disappear in three years or less, but didn’t perceive it would be productive.
On another note: Post your predictions, over/under on the Beavs being ranked 120th out of 120 FBS teams in pass defense come Sunday…..
Since, you brought up the Ducks, there was an interesting article in the Oregonian today by Ken Goe (probably on Oregon Live by now) about how Chip Kelly has really cut off access to himself and the coaching staff to the local media and run of the mill fans and boosters. It has become pretty obvious that Kelly believes the Oregon program is bigger than the state of Oregon and he doesn’t need the local media anymore to spread the national message.
How it relates to Oregon State football is I think that Kelly’s attitude helps buy Mike Riley continued good grace. The media likes dealing with nice people and they are going to cut them as much slack as they can. Which is some cases is not a great thing when we want the “accountability heat” turned up a few notches on MR personally.
On the other hand, I think Kelly’s awkwardness and shortsighedness could backfire. He attitude will not play well unless the team makes it to championship games year after year. 12-1 you can get away with being an asshole, 10-3 year after year, not so much. And if this Willie Lyles things does explode, I think the local media comes hard and fast.
I hate the “Head to head, Riley has a better record than Erickson” argument.
It should be clear why that metric is flawed. Think of the bad luck the Beavs have had in scheduling BSU, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Penn State, et al in years when they had great teams.
Unless the coaches both have equally strong teams, head-to-head is pretty meaningless. It’s why I find it more compelling to see what Erickson did with Riley’s recruits, and he took them to a BCS game.
Does Bobby D. do the scheduling for the most part? He has an amazing knack for catching teams on the upswing. I will throw up the white flag if the Golden Gophers are a Big 10 power by the time the Beavs play them!
For those of you without season tickets…
“Dear OSU Season Ticket Holder,
I hope that you are enjoying the start of the inaugural Pac-12 college football season! As Conference play has begun, I wanted to take this opportunity to communicate important information regarding the inaugural Pac-12 Football Championship Game to all Pac-12 season ticket holders.
Should OSU win the North Division and finish with a better Conference record than the South Division Champion, the Game will be played at Reser Stadium. The 2011 Pac-12 Football Championship Game will be played on December 2, 2011 and will be broadcast on FOX. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 P.M. PST. For more information about the 2011 Pac-12 Football Championship Game, please visit Pac-12.org/fcg and be sure to follow the conversation on Twitter (#pac12fcg).
Should the Beavers be in a position to host the Game, the OSU ticket office will provide you with additional ticket information in mid-October. The Pac-12 Football Championship Game is a Conference event and, while tickets will be issued to season ticket holders on a priority basis, we cannot guarantee access to your season-long seat location for the Game.
I hope that you share my excitement for the inaugural Championship Game. A Friday night, nationally televised game with an opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl or even the BCS National Championship Game on the line is sure to create an electric atmosphere. The Game will undoubtedly provide a memorable experience for student-athletes and fans alike!
Larry Scott
Pac-12 Commissioner”
I know every school in the Pac-12 got this email… but seriously? Larry had to chuckle as he had his staff send this one to OSU fans. Like we’ve got a shot at hosting the game.
I was just about done with this site due to the same people slinging the same s&*%, but this thread has been a great improvement, lots of thoughts and new and different people really adding to it. I think we can win this week and hopefully it will calm some of you down.