From Cliff:
Coach Mike Riley said Sunday if he was laughing on the sidelines that it was because something ironic or ridiculously odd was happening.
“There was nothing funny going on in that game,” Riley said.
While our coaches may be unable to recognize a DII QB and subsequently load the box, it's reassuring to know they appreciate the irony of retaining their jobs. My guess is the conversation went something like this:
"Mark, can you believe we still have jobs?"
"Nope. I don't even know what a Bear defense is."
"Me neither. I'll just blame the kids."
"Sounds good. And if anyone catches on I'll donate a kidney."
*Laughter abounds*
*Shit eating grins galore*
Something ironic or ridiculously odd, indeed.
Thats the way I see it. Riley has shown in the past that he can coach a game if he wants to. This past game was so easy to coach, it was a slam dunk. Cal had given the template. No mystery at all…..not like going against an undefeated team that no one had figured out.
Its clear to me that Riley no longer cares — no competitive urge. What good is a coach with no competitive urge? He should be mad as hell … instead he smiles. The joke has to be on us.
Yup.
“Mike, how much longer do we get to milk this?”
“Gosh Mark, I think I have 6 years left. We make one Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in that time, make it 7!”
“Fan-fucking-tastic! Maybe by that time, the game will come back around to our schemes!”
“Sure it will Mark, sure it will!”
“Hey Mark! Stop me if you’ve heard this. What’s brown and sticky?”
“Ummm… huh?”
“A stick!”
“What?”
“What’s wrong Mark? You seem preoccupied.”
“Oh… nothing’s wrong. I was just looking in our fan section, and they look like a bunch of grumpety spoilsports. It’s as if they don’t appreciate the hard work we do down here on the field.”
“Just picture them in their underwear. That always works for me.”
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
“A stick, Mark.”
*both laugh*
I don’t get it! Am I missing something here Jack?
I was just posing a hypothetical in which I tried to make the conversation as pathetic (or maddening?) as it looked on TV.
Ok. I thought you were making a joke.
I think the “brown and sticky” jokes are about as funny as I can make this situation.
I think the problem is not Riley, the problem is his unwillingness to let go of shitty staff.
While that may be fair, anyone is going to underperform if they are not held accountable for their actions. Low expectations will always lead to low performance. New blood might be fired up when they get here, but 5 years down the road it’ll be the same story.
Much as I like Riley, this truly does come back to the head coach.
And speaking of crappy staff, recall Nick Alliotti. “Allow-a-lot-ti” was loathed for years by every Duck fan under the sun. Everyone ranted about Bellotti’s friendship getting in the way of him getting canned. Enter Chip Kelly. Everyone thought Alliotti wouldn’t make it one day in the new regime. But voila! overnight, the Duck defense became very effective.
Same guy, wildly different expectations. I’d imagine the conversation went something like:
Chip: “Last chance: Your defense will meet X, Y, and Z metrics, or else you are gone.”
Alliotti: “OK.”
So much as we love to hate on Banker, it’s not impossible that there’s a decent coordinator in there just waiting to be really pushed. That is step 1, and I doubt we’ve ever made it there.
The only change I see is that the ducks are scoring enough to win. Their defense is still bend don’t break. Was there another change I am not seeing?
Their D is underrated because they’re worked so hard. They’re on the field, after all, about 90% of any given game.
I don’t know if the philosophy changed but the results definitely did. I don’t think they are still “bend and don’t break” because if nothing else, their CB’s make plays on the ball all the time. They generate TOs this way but sometimes give up bigger plays.
I think their offense scoring all those points makes undisciplined teams throw much more than typical. This leads to the scheming ability which may lead to great play. But it won’t work against teams like Stanford, LSU, etc. Their D, is ok, but by no means can be considered good.
I dont see Oregon’s defense as a great one. Folks score on them all the time. In fact, the difference I see between Bellotti and Kelley is the offense, where Kelley’s doesnt get shut down. It gets slowed down some against great teams, like Auburn or LSU, but even against Stanford last year, they rolled. Stanford probably would have beat Bellotti (with no Kelley), given the same players?
Oregon’s greatness is their offense always scoring a lot of points. Even OSU scores enough on them to beat them if their offense doesnt go off us. You slow them down on offense and they are beatable. Yes, even by us.
I never thought Allioti was a good D Coord…wasn’t he at UCLA when they had horrific Defenses in the Cade McNown era?
Is the corpse of George Peppard taking over as HC or not, I’m confused. Damn, Angry added a new topic fast!
A corpse for a coach? Now that’s thinking outside the box.
A dead Peppard may have more passion than a…..nevermind.
If we did have a corpse for a coach, then the polyannas would still be all over us for constantly saying our coach was stinking up the sidelines.
Having a corpse for a HC seems to work out ok most seasons for Penn St…..sorry couldn’t resist!
Seriously. Penn State may be headed to the freaking Rose Bowl!
They can apparently win 10 games with a corpse and from what I can tell in watching them on TV, no OC either! BDC should take note and save some payroll in the athletic department.
….but it wouldnt smile…..would it?? We need the audio — if Riley is mumbling…”brains….brains….” its VERY suspicious…
I think OSU has to start understanding and playing the percentages. When we run for 100 yards we have a high winning perentage in this system which relies on play action and balance to work. Every time we are short and not very close it has been a guaranteed loss. So quit slinging it 2/3 of the time and think we have any chance that way.
Make it goal #1 every week to get those 100 rushing yards since the numbers prove that greatly increases our odds of winning. If you fail in getting there while still running as often as passing or atleast 45% of the time then atleast you know it is because the line wasn’t tough enough. But that has been the trademark of Riley’s system working and that isn’t changing. We need to understand that and if we lose understand it is because we put everything we had into getting 100 rushing yards and just couldn’t.
If Langsdorf just played the numbers and understood this fact I think we would have a much better result and not have Remmers getting so many false starts where he thinks it is okay cause Mannion can just try a 20 yard throw that may be picked off. Instead we may have more 3rd and 3 situations and Remmers with the most options and that could be a run and hopefully Remmers will get if they want to potentially get it with a run we can’t have any false starts.
Understand???? Are you kidding? A coach who doesnt realize he wins when his rushing game is working? Gotta be a corpse….
Bad last sentence. Remmers needs to be benched if he goes over 1 false start though. He is killing us. Our % of throwing vs running on third down is like 93% throwing. If we were in more 3rd and 2’s it would be far lower. The numbers have always shown Riley needs 100 yards rushing or damn close to be likely to win. Much short of that and it is a high probability of losing. Throwing more never has changed this. Only way to win in just about all our wins is to have reasonable running production or better. Otherwise we have seen repeatedly we can chalk up the ‘L.’ 1st down production is also a key stat in winning. If you can get around 5 yards every first down you are in good shape. Keeps you from playing catchup and avoiding situations where you might force it.
I read somewhere that without the sack yardage loss OSU had 93 yards rushing vs Utah.
Eggers put a decent set of questions to Riley in the Portland Tribune. Here’s one:
• Whose fault was the poor first half? Players? Coaches?
“It’s all our responsibility to be ready. It’s one of those intangible things. They made the plays and we didn’t.”
IT’S NOT INTANGIBLE. Its very tangible in fact…8 men in the box…you could see them, touch them if they were there, hell ball carriers might encounter them on the way down the field.
Yes, it was very complex and “intangible” that Utah ran the ball left, right and then…wait for it…up the middle. But you know there were missed tackles, so it didn’t look good.
Replay is on, the defense did miss some arm tackles, but the linebackers, especially Wilson were often times getting dominated and providing huge holes for White, or picking the wrong hole to fill. Wilson has proved he isn’t pac12 caliber. THe outside linebackers crash in but they don’t crash hard enough to make the play so they get past by the running back. So frustrating to watching, the staff just didn’t have them prepared.
Something needs to be changed on this staff, Riley isn’t going anywhere, but both sides of the ball are showing undiscipline and poor technique and an overall unprepared schemes for the games and those fall on the coaching staff. It is the smae thing every week too, we have been battling the false starts, the holds, and the out of positioning all year.
Do you think the defensive personnel in the press box aren’t doing a good job relaying timely information down to the field? I know lots of DC’s like to be on the field, but I would imagine it requires really good personnel in the box as well. Does anyone know the situation?
When Wison was replaced by R. Robinson at MLB, the defense held. Robinson played the whole second half in the middle. Robinson had 7 tackles and only played in the second half. Wilson got the start at MLB over RR
RR did not play solely in the second half, unless Brandin Cooks was the MLB on the Utah drive with White running for LARGE chunks down the middle… some 90 yards on two or three runs.
Meat Whistle, are you the guy who has been blowing the Meat Whistle of RR all year? I know someone has but I forget who…
@ osbeavs – Hey ass fuck, RR is my nephew you fuck. Don’t get personal you fucking turd. If you wanna get personal, we can do that in person. I have not disrespected ANYBODY on this board even with all the bullshit that is said of my nephew. I have no problem with Angry and Jackbeavs, I disagree with them, but they don’t talk childish shit.
@ jackbeav – That was Wilson in the middle first half.
I agree that he was there for the majority of the first half. And he was taking the wrong A gaps on seemingly every play to start the game. But he settled down a bit.
But that series where White got tired from successive long runs? That was #13 standing there hugging the blocker as White ran by both times.
And i don’t even blame RR in this game. It was the coach’s fault for not plugging both A gaps with personnel. The MLB and the SS should have both been up on the line covering either gap.
I figured we would be having this discussion, so I watched for RR. And other than him getting run over ten yards downfield on Utah’s last scoring drive, I don’t remember him taking any tackles as the primary defender. In fact, there was one outstanding tackle by Crichton late in the 3rd quarter where he brought White down for a minimal gain, and RR was blocked into the space in time to be standing over the tackle. He reached down after the play was complete to touch white and Crichton as they were lying on the ground. And I thought to myself that he was going to get credit for that as an assist. So I marked the time on the clock: about 3:40 left in the 3rd.
Sure enough, when I went to look at it, there it was in the final stats.
I didn’t even read the first part of your comment. Yikes!
Yeah, there’s no reason to be personal about players. Who they are on the field does not define them. And I would suggest that any talent in our LB crew is being wasted by a coach who teaches them all to be indecisive. RR might have all the talent in the world (well, not the greatest speed), but Banker is proving to be a talent sink.
And I was a Banker supporter as late as halfway through last season. I bought into the “lesser talent not being able to play his scheme” line of BS.
My mistake.
Color me reformed. I think even lesser talent can play better defense than is played by the Beavs. I’m so beyond reformed that I’m starting to think many of the players I’ve been ragging on for this and that might be better than their actual performances to date.
@ JackBeav: Crap bro, I can’t argue with you. RR gets two tackles inside the 10 yard line and you say he got ran over. It’s a no win with you bro.
We have such different views, I can’t imagine having a conversation about it will change anything. Like I said, your entitled to your opinion.
Here’s to hoping we come up with the biggest upset in football this season. Cheers!
Well, when you consider the first within the 10 was a play begun at the 15, and he ended up falling backwards to the 7 on the hit that started on the 11, then I don’t know how to characterize that any other way.
The assist on the goal line was good, but does it stop there if the DT wasn’t there?
I am starting to think that I have been unfair to RR though. His indecision is in games is in stark contrast to what coaches say about him in practices. And I’m not saying Wilson is any better. I’m saying these kids are being taught to play one way in practice, and they probably do it well.
But when it comes to game time, the opposing coaches know precisely where they’re going to be, without fail. These kids are being put in position to fail time and again, and I was blaming them. Now I’m blaming the coach who refuses to change it up and just let the kids play.
@ Meat Whistle – You don’t want to fight me in person at least if you are really in the same genetic line at RR. He lacks a physical presence.
All trash talking aside, at least you finally gave full disclosure for your bias. Many people have tried to ask if you were related to him as you regularly stuck up for poor play. I agree RR has played better the past two games compared to the rest of his career. It is also possible that his play is hindered by Bankers fucking awful scheme. That said, I believe that he is regularly slow/hesitant in his reads and often fills the wrong gap allowing long runs to be busted. He is also often found to be either engaged with a blocker way too long or jumping on a pile last after a run has already gone for 6/7 yards. With Feti out he may be our best option but it doesn’t make him a passable linebacker.
“@ Meat Whistle – You don’t want to fight me in person at least if you are really in the same genetic line at RR. He lacks a physical presence.”
okay, keyboard bully… fuck off. I won’t my time with you. I have no need to fight….. tuff guy. I know your type. Even if your some 145 pd punk (which I suspect you are) I wouldn’t put what I have at risk to make you look like the fool you are. Assuming you can kick some guys ass is plain stupid. I give a shit about your opinion.
Naaa, not being a keyboard bully just responding to your curse ladden violant rant towards me. My original comment while I will admit was insensitive was intended to be funny. Instead of responding in jest you flipped out. So I returned the douche baggery. Ultimately this is not about a physical altercation nor the possibility of it. That would be beyond moronic (considering this is just a dumb football discussion). What bothers me is that you have failed until now to claim your bias and act irrationally when anyone criticizes RR without providing justification. Prove me wrong please, I want to see one strong piece of evidence that this kid can play.
Compare Wittingham to Riley
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/utes/52775867-89/half-coaches-utes-whittingham.html.csp
I want to hire Jonathan Smith as our OC/QB coach for next year. He’s currently with the University of Montana. I have watched a few of their games on t.v. and I think Jonathan will be our best choice since he knows Riley’s offense, knows how to scheme, knows what it’s like to play for a BCS game, and has that instinct to win! That’s where we need to get back to!
I would support that, if he can recruit?
Oregon State is giving up 155.1 rushing yards per game and now faces a Stanford team that has rushed for 215.2 yards per game. Luck and Stanford call just as many runs as passes. Goes to show how critical the run truly is for an offense and keeping the defense guessing. To have a chance Agnew needs to hit the holes fast with consisentent gains just like freshman Quizz against USC in 2008. Mannion has to realize an interception is just as bad as a fumble. Any turnover quickly makes it much harder to win. More than one against Stanford and it is over.
The problem with Agnew is that he fumbles and his health. I am still wondreing why we didn’t go with a bigger back, like McCants, in that short yardage package. Agnew’s has now fumbled twice in the red zone this year. Agnew wasn’t in the second half until we got down to the goaline and they put him back in and he promptly fumbled on first down. I am guessing its because only Agnew gets the work in practice for the goaline package? It just would seem like McCants could add more to the team a “Big” formation for short yardage, and would keep him engaged in the offense, but for whatever reason they don’t have that in their scheme. Maybe they have tried him there and he hasn’t worked in practice, but we have not seen it on gameday.
McCants has never done anything to suggest that he can play in a “big”/jumbo package. His running style is one of a juke, his size is an ironic joke because he fails to use it. My grandma is tougher (no bullshit either).
Does she have any eligibility left?
Dunno but she called someone out in a restaurant the other day for looking at her the wrong way so I believe that she is still OG. Does home economics college start a D1 clock?
What you guys are forgetting is that two recruits came on board last week. The coaches sacrificed some of the preparation and planning time to make the offers, and publicize the success. I read somewhere that each coach designates a player he likes and then the staff reviews and votes on whether to offer. The offers happened last week. This is not a good excuse but a probable explanation for what happened on top of coaching decisions related to player shuffling to cover injuries. They have not put in enough time over months for proper recruiting and preparation and now play catch up week to week game planning.
The most frustrating insight comes from a quote or observation by Coach Riley about the two point conversion time out. If Coach Langsdorf is calling plays, then it is the job of the head coach to plot and communicate strategy. Rather than plan ahead for the score and two pointer, he waited until after the Beavers scored. Then he had a roundtable discussion with the assistants before deciding on the two pointer. Too late. Coaching is not a democracy and the head coach must be a leader rather than a mentor, consultant and/or enabler for his assistants. Coach Riley is using a management strategy based on collaboration, where the head guy gets to coast., and acts like a facilitator. I hear this crap all the time in business from highly paid consultants and it doesn’t work very well in business nor on the football field in most cases.
Excellent points, it seems that once they learned Barfaro was going to committ to Oregon, they went to their backup plan and offer the LB from WA.
Clock management has not been a strength on this staff and the 2 point conversion is another example of being unprepared for the situation. I would think you would have a small number of plays that you practice all the time (or week for that week’s game) and you become very good at, just for those situations so you are on the same page.
They do have those plays. But while Langsdorf is calling the plays to score the td, Riley has to make the decision himself about the two pointer and determine the two point play himself from the menu of key plays before the td is scored. He also has to alert the kicking team coordinator of the expected outcome and protocol before the td materializes. This sequence cannot be communicated effectively when you are trying to collaborate and empower the decision making of the assistants (letting them do the heavy lifting and strategic thinking). You must cut the collaboration, give clear instructions and have the assistants organizing personnel groupings and executing the protocol.
The coaches are smarter than the credit or lack of credit we give them. They are led by a guy who does not often challenge them to overcome the existing limitations of money and location. Malcolm Gladwell talks about the minimum investment of time needed for success. I think OSU coaches are inflexibly caught up in a scheme that has been figured out by years of opponents study. They, the staff, are not challenged to invest enough r&d on current football technology, and they, the staff ,have a management structure that requires too much collaboration and consultation in real time game situations. Finally there is not enough accountability for the results.
…so you are saying, they dont really care, using business-speak. I agree.
Remember when alabama and then usc wanted riley? or when banker was becoming a hot commodity for teams looking for an up and coming coach? or when cavanaugh was a great diamond in the rough who we were lucky to find? me neither. ….beat stanford(?)
on a happier note- sabby piscatelli lookin pretty good on monday night football
and brandon hughes
Go to page 18 on this link. Jonathan Smith’s Bio from his QB coaching stints at University of Idaho! How could he not be picked up by a D-I school!!!????? He was a graduate assistant for Dennis Erickson AND MR!!!! For crying out loud!!! He should have been elevated to OC at that time!!!! UGH!!! I hope we can get him as an OC/QB coach and then set him in place for the future Head Football Coach! look what he did at Idaho for crying out loud!!! IDAHO!!!
http://filemanager.montanagrizzlies.com/mtgriz3/custom_pages/files/mediaguides/football/2010/coaches.pdf
I get waaaay too excited about this blog sometimes…my bad
Look at Aric Williams! UGH! Seems like Montana got 2 former players from the 2000 season to be coaches! That’s what we need to do!!!
Chad Johnson might be available after the season is over!!!!!
Inoke Breckterfield anyone?! Ya, he was also a graduate assistant at OSU after playing for OSU! That’s 3 former players who got coaching jobs of OC/QB, D-Line, and Cornerback coaches at UM!!!
Inoke? MR ain’t taking no Pettibone recruit back. Pettibonehead might though.
Breckterfield is coaching at UCLA. Trent Bray is ASU’s LB coach (father is DC).
You might want to wait for the UM/MSU – Grizzly Bobcat game – before concluding that Jonathan Smith is the guy. I’m not going to look up the Bobcat coaching staff but their quarterback (from Texas) is mobile and smooth and with some strong runners and receivers, they mix it up wonderfully. I predict the Bobcats offense will outshine that of UM.
I concur.
Jonathan Smith is a popular name and fan favorite, but he hasn’t done anything that proves he’s better than Langsdork. I don’t want another project OC. I want a guy who is well established and churns out yards.
Jim Harbaugh came to Stanford from University of San Diego. Though he had pedegree, he was the equivilent of zero stars since he had no big time college experience anmd limited overall coaching experience. Many fans whined about his lack of experience in big time college football . (see Chip Kelly story) Check history. One must look deeper at a candidate than the superficial stars or “he is only good at Montana”, or he does not have a sexy name. One must ask, is the candidate up to speed with what is happening on his side of the ball in terms of theory and practice? Can this candidate analyze in real time game situations? Can the candidate inspire? Can the candidate recruit?
I agree. But tell me how Jonathan Smith is a huge upgrade over Langsdork? Which of the things you mention above does he do great? To me they’re probably equal. I don’t see Jonathan Smith doing anything cutting edge.
Devil’s advocate…
Cutting edge no. I think the thing about Smith as an OC would be that he is willing to take chances within the scheme and that he is familiar with it already. He’s a known quantity in that we know he will go for the kill given half a chance. And putting him in charge of Mannion might give him a way to do that vicariously.
And Smith has been weened from Riley’s teat, which means he would bring a different perspective to the game.
Would you be excited about Smith?
I just see it as more nepotism—exactly what I think Riley should be forced to avoid.
That’s why the devil spoke.
I don’t know who would be a great get who would really excite me personally. I guess if there was a way to steal Josh Heupel, that would excite me. I think Robert Anae would be an excellent OC only (not co-OC plus line coach). In fact, I think I could really get behind Anae as OC because he’s no-nonsense, loves to run, and he wouldn’t put up with any o-line bullshit.
I believe that the current coach’s name is Langsdorf. I may not agree with him but refuse to put him down by altering his name and making the critic look childish. I probably know as much about Smith as you do which is not enough. But ask the critical questions about Smith and others will be able to fill in the blanks before putting him down or giving the thumbs up. It just appears that you and others want a big name, a Chocolate Easter Bunny so to speak. You want a package gift wrapped, sweet and sugary on the outside with fancy stats but hollow on the inside.
Well, you start with a good point about not being childish, about weighing the pros and cons. Then you liken any human who would be a new OC to a hollow piece of candy?
Riley is above reproach…he is a helluva coach. He got us to the Sun Bowl…and stuff.
It’s just his coordinators that are terrible. Has nothing to do with him. No sir! Riley has a master plan in place to turn things around next season. We were THAT close to Rose Bowl glory…any coach would need that after dredging us up after Hwurricane Dennis nearly destroyed our program with those horrible, undisciplined players won that one important game once.
…. N stuff.
I think you meant to say “…..and some other neat stuff” I believe in the MR lexicon neat must always preceed the word stuff.
Yup, it’s that kind of a deal….
UM lost to Sac St 28-42. They put up the same amount of points on Sac St. the beavs did…so J Smith can’t be as bad as Langsdork in comparrison.
http://www.montanagrizzlies.com/schedules/?s=170&g=100&m=37
Also, they lost to Tennessee 16-42. In that level of play, an OC can call a great game, but it only works as well as the talent level you’re working with. Their record right now is 7-2 right now! If they beat MSU and go onto the Championship game or close to it, then you’ll have to admit that we should try and get Jonathan Smith for our OC! He’d make a GREAT candidate and he was a great player and he was a great mentor at OSU when he was a graduate assistant! I do not think at all, that he would be a “project” OC because he’s been a 4 year starter at QB and knows the game inside and out!
I’m not going to waste the time getting my angst all in a ball for something that will never happen.
My main point with this is that I’m wanting someone who’s been a winner on the field and is having success at a FCS school that isn’t known for having great success. They are ranked No. 11 right now in FCS. bet you didn’t know that…did ya?!
Montana? Other than Villanova and Appalachian State, nobody has had more success at that level over the last couple decades. Throw Delaware, Georgia Southern, EKU and Youngstown State in there for historical references. But now that NDSU has moved up from D2 ball, you can expect them to remain on top for quite a while.
I did my undergrad at Oregon State and my masters at the University of Montana. Montana seemed to be a much more well run program on the whole, and the fans were much more involved and just generally better than anything we see at our proud FBS school. If I were Smith, I wouldn’t consider leaving the awesomeness that is Missoula unless the paycheck were gigantic.
Agree with Jackbeav, Montana is an elite FCS program. Plugard and Smith will actually be under some pressure to maintain. PSU almost got them this year! The Montana HC job is usually a stepping stone to the FBS level.
Maybe, but Joe Glenn missed the stepping stone at Wyoming and Bobbie Hauck is stumbling around on it at UNLV.
I didn’t say it was a successful stepping stone.
Point well-taken!
“that isn’t known for having great success” Huh? Wikipedia and the UM football page is a couple of clicks away. The Griz had great success under Don Read, former Portland State coach. They’ve had #1 rankings many a season, so #11 (not sure that’s correct – I think they might be higher this week) isn’t such a big deal. UM recruits well in-state. A defensive end, Caleb Kidder, turned down Boise State and some Ivy League Schools for UM.
However, this year MSU has a much better team IMO.
You can watch the Western Oregon vs. UM game online here on Saturday at 1pm if you get too upset at watching OSU lose on ABC.
http://b2tv.com/upcoming_events.asp?q=v&value=bigsky
It seems to me that the media needs to corner BDC at some point and get some expectation type questions answered about the football program, right? I read somewhere that Beaver fans DO expect bowl games every season at this point. That’s asking for a minimum benchmark of a 6-6 season. I think that should be Riley’s “Mendoza Line” as an experienced head coach.
BDC is ultimately the one that decides if a 10 loss football season is acceptable from the coaching staff. Unfortunately, I don’t think he really has to address anything with any sense of urgency with the P-12 money coming in now. Revenue covers up a lot of sins.
Do OSU beat writers feel like they are stealing from their employers? I could write these article without interviewing anyone.
Generic Recycled Soundbites from Mike Riley used every week:
“The team is looking forward to getting back to work and improving.”
“I feel good about practice. We showed great enthusiasm.”
“They (insert generic opponent) are great and we have our work cut out for us.”
“He (insert generic coach) is one of the best in the Pac-12.”
“I’m really excited by the challenge this game presents.”
“We have to work on our intangibles.”
I can’t read this stuff anymore. What’s the point in analyzing a shitty team anyway. Let me save you the work and skip to the conclusion “Team X is going to beat OSU.”
Question regarding the NCAA investigation going on down south. How long does the NCAA typically take to issue a Notice of Allegation after the Notice of Inquiry has already happened?
The NOI was issues on September 17th. They are currently in week 7 since the NOI. From what I’ve read, it typically takes 6-8 weeks after a Notice of Allegation before the NCAA rules on any sanctions. Long story short, I don’t think anything is going to happen to Oregon during the current season.
The NOI stipulates how much time the NCAA plans to spend within the notice itself. Typically it gives a six month window for the investigation, and it states that within that six months there will come a time to assess the findings and:
1. Drop the investigation altogether.
2. Continue the investigation with a renewed time frame.
3. Continue the investigation of newly discovered violations (a common occurrence).
4. Report findings of the investigation as complete and provide a Notice of Allegations.
Remember that the Reggie Bush investigation began in April of 2006. It was two years later that the OJ Mayo violations were combined with the first investigation. And it was a year and a half later before the investigation was complete (without Carroll’s cooperation because he ran away to destroy the Seahawks). And it took another year of appeals to resolve the final rulings.
With all the major and minor violations the NCAA has to sift through at Nikegon, this investigation could take a similar three or four years. The investigation is still plugging along. You can find info on UO Matters if you can sift through the wealth of info on that site. He has a pdf link showing the attorney’s invoices, and I think the latest had Glazer in Waco last week.
which site has the pdf link?
It’s somewhere on here.
http://www.uomatters.com/
I would suggest searching for the term “the cleaner” and see where that takes you.
What became of the NCAA investigation of the UO basketball program? That was a year ago.
That one’s going to take a while. Dunigan left early because of the pay for play allegations, and he’s not talking. The NCAA has no power to force him to talk, so as long as everyone involved is satisfied that they were treated properly (i.e. all promised debts were paid, unlike Lloyd Lake) then nobody will likely come forward (at least willingly) in that case. “The Family” and several people surrounding that program have probably been interviewed at length since the cleaner has been in Detroit more than once.
It’s likely a bigger deal to the NCAA than anything else because they know there’s something there. But they can’t get any one solid break on the investigation (that anyone knows of). That kind of burr in the NCAA’s saddle makes them keep investigations open forever. All they do is set the trap and wait… and wait… and wait.
That case almost feels like they have all the pieces to the puzzle, except for a void shaped like a smoking gun.
For those of you looking forward to the CAL game as our last possible chance to get a W this season, Tedford is looking to shake things up. There’s a good chance Maynard WON’T be starting when we play CAL. bummer…
http://www.contracostatimes.com/cal-bears/ci_19235293
I posted this on OrangeExpress also but figured I’d share it here since that site is getting much traffic yet:
Has anybody been looking at the basketball schedule and questioned the ratio of home to road games? I’m surprised by the number of non-conference home games we have this year. The only road games I see are the final games of the Texas tournament (which are technically neutral anyway) Towson and Chicago State. How did we get away with only scheduling 2 road games compared to 8 home?
Many teams do that. But, I think playing in the Legend’s Classic and not having a potential game in the Pac-10-Big 12 hardwood challenge is the main reason for so few amount of road games. To replace them the Beavers found some mid-majors to play at Gill. I’m glad Portland State is back on the schedule, wish the Pilots were on the schedule and the Beavers could play them at the Rose Garden. That would be a fun game.
A Rose Garden would do well because of the sheer amount of alumni in the Portland area. Not to mention the lockout. Wish someone in the AD’s office had thought of that.
it’s tough to schedule games at the Rose Garden this time of the year because of all the Blaz…..er……nevermind…..
Wish the would resurrect the Far West Classic. Those were fun days…
I think they should bring back that tournament as well. You play it at the Rose Garden over a 3 day span, 8 teams. I think the Beavers could draw some good teams to come play in the tournament. It would be fun and I would definitely would try to see all the games there.
Here, I broke down a few key categories that give us information about both the offensive and defensive production of OSU football. I went to this site to gather all of the data:
http://www.cfbstats.com/2011/team/528/index.html
OSU’s record: 2007 (9-4), 2008 (9-4), 2009 (8-5), 2010 (5-7), 2011 (2-6 so far)
OSU Pac-10 Rankings since 2007:
Total Defense: Scoring Defense:
2007 2nd (306.2 yds per game) 2007 4th (22.6 points per game)
2008 2nd (312.2 yds per game) 2008 5th (23.1 points per game)
2009 6th (349.5 yds per game) 2009 6th (25.0 points per game)
2010 8th (407.7 yds per game) 2010 7th (26.8 points per game)
2011 5th (377.4 yds per game) 2011 7th (29.9 points per game)
Total Offense: Scoring Offense:
2007 8th (371.6 yds per game) 2007 7th (27.8 points per game)
2008 3rd (407.1 yds per game) 2008 5th (30.5 points per game)
2009 3rd (410.6 yds per game) 2009 3rd (31.5 points per game)
2010 9th (326.5 yds per game) 2010 7th (24.4 points per game)
2011 9th (391.0 yds per game) 2011 11th (23.0 points per game)
OSU Red Zone %
2007 7th (77.59%) (33 TD’s/12 FG’s)
2008 8th (81.97%) (37 TD’s/13 FG’s)
2009 1st (96.43%) (41 TD’s/13 FG’s)
2010 3rd (85.00%) (27 TD’s/7 FG’s)
2011 9th (75.00%) (14 TD’s/10 FG’s)
Opponent Red Zone %
2007 2nd (74.29%) (17 TD’s/9 FG’s)
2008 7th (89.19%) (19 TD’s/14 FG’s)
2009 7th (84.44%) (33 TD’s/5 FG’s)
2010 4th (79.07%) (27 TD’s/7 FG’s)
2011 8th (87.50%) (26 TD’s/2 FG’s)
1) It is extremely difficult to win football games when your offense doesn’t score as many points as your opponent.
2) It is extremely difficult to win football games when your defense allows more points scored, than your oppenent’s defense allows.
I apologize if the format doesn’t work. I thought these statistics would be beneficial.
Thanks….that stuff is always interesting to me.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Putting all of those stats together took some time. I posted the above to help better enlighten all of the diehard Beaver fans. I was hoping for a better response. Maybe all of the night owls haven’t read it yet?
What I found remarkable was that since 2007 the highest points per game average was 31.5 points per game in 2009! Along with the lowest points allowed was 22.6 in 2007!
In the Pac-12, to be a top 3 (in the Pac-12) you must score at least 40 points per game! (Both Stanford and oregon are above 40 points per game average) Or, you must have a shut down defense. Since nobody in the Pac-12 has a shut down defense, the best defense must be, a great offense. If OSU is to ever win a Pac-12 Championship, in this conference, they must score more points! Averaging > 30 points per game, is average in the Pac-12. In 2011 OSU is averaging barely 23 points per game, Stanford 49.5 points per game!
For defense, in 2011 Stanford is allowing 17 points per game, OSU 29.9 points per game. Not a good combination.
What this tells me is that OSU has always had a bad defense. At least in the secondary because we had such a stout run defense in the past that we forced teams to try and beat us through the air(except for mobile an’s of course). My curiosity would be to see what defensive avg. Yards allowed is before we played the ducks each of those seasons because it seems that they always got 350+ yards on us.
Another interesting thing about these stats is that OSU had a chance in 2008 and 2009 to be Pac-10 champs, but our offense couldn’t outscored our opponents because te defense gave up too many points in those games.
I think that’s the last time I’ll respond using my smartphone….they can do a lot, but the virtual keyboard + the auto correct makes it even worse!
What’s interesting is that the ppg and ypg (against) have increased every year for the last five years. We’ll see on the ypg this year. It would take some horrendous D from here out to up the average another 30 ypg. But I’m pretty sure it would be higher if opponents weren’t getting so many shorter fields this year.
We only reached the red zone 40 times last year? It’s interesting that opponents had the same gross numbers of red zone scores yet scored about 30 points more than us from outside the zone.
It pretty much confirms regression, right? Either the Beavs are getting worse, competition is better or a combination of both.
Another sad point…
We’ve played against the #’s 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10 scoring offenses in our conference. Our last four games are against #’s 1, 8, 4 and 2.
The Far West Classic was nice. That was a great tournament and helped give OSU cred for top Portland area athletes. I think it is a big mistake to end it. I wish Robinson would tell De Carolis he wanted to bring it back. Athletes enjoy playing in prefessional venues.
Rivals is reporting that Garrett Weinreich is going to be taking his visit this weekend against Stanford. Great. I did notice they bumped him down from a 4 star to a 3 star though. Guess they weren’t impressed with who had offered him up to this point.
I don’t care if Weinreich is rated minus 47 stars by the pay sites. I would take that kid in a heartbeat. I still think he goes to UCLA if they ever PTHOOTA. But I wouldn’t mind him coming to OSU with a chip on his shoulder to boot.
I like what I see. Guy blocks with authority and he doesn’t give up on the play. How many times this year have I seen an O lineman have a defender blow by him and he just gives up, rather than blocking the next wave a defenders?
Nice new “Pride of the PAC” video re James Rodgers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g01fP8hwbVA&feature=youtu.be
At the end, James says that, if he doesn’t make it in the NFL, his preference would be to come back to OSU to join the Beaver coaching staff.
Few people have the character, toughness, and work ethic of James Rodgers. He’d be a solid addition to the OSU coaching staff, or so it seems to me.
BTW, I think James Rodgers would also be a very effective recruiter for the Beavs, in Texas and elsewhere…..
“Mike’s said he wants to be the Joe Paterno of Oregon State,” DeCarolis told the Oregonian. “So we’ll put something together to make [his contract] a lifetime deal.”
Then he goes out and follows a disappointing 2010 year with 2-10 or 3-9 at best this year. Very soon to be the all-time losingest coach in OSU history.
Chip?
If Riley is going to be here that long I guess we will never get to the Rose bowl. Heck we will never get to the Alamo bowl. He is a great person and an average coach. I used to be a Riley fan and really thought he was the guy to take us to a high level of national respect but I was wrong. OSU has only finished the season ranked in the top 20 once in the last 40 years and Erickson coached that team!. This season has taught me that the best we can hope for under Riley is a mid-level Pac-12 team. And the worst we can expect is hopefully this season. I see nothing that tells me this team will improve next year and honestly think the time for him to leave is soon. This is especially sad considering Oregon’s success, the gap between our programs has never been wider and when I see the talent they are putting on the field and how easily they seem to beat other teams, it makes me sad. I hope better days are coming, but am not optimistic that they are coming soon. This weekend will be ugly, I am not sure I can watch.
Hey, what you’ve all lost sight of in the loss to Utah is that OSU gained 10 ypc on fly sweeps and reverses (paraphrased Riley quote)…..
Regarding the gap with Oregon, that’s fine as long as it becomes an instrument of change. There’s little/no chance OSU ever catches Oregon in terms of marketing share or being in the consciousness of viewers, fans, pollsters.
On the field, there’s not debating who’s the better program- UO has more wins, more CW wins, more bowl games, and better bowls. Recent on-the-field successes may be invalidated in a few years, but OSU is a long way from ever catching UO on the field.
But, OSU could restore itself to competitiveness and relevance if it decides that the widening gap is unacceptable, and that progress is needed.
I think Bellotti (who I really couldn’t stand) decided that the CW rubber match – 10 years of alternating home team victories in the series, broken by 2 straight OSU victories, was unacceptable. For a stretch of 3-4 seasons there after Harrington left, UO would start hot, have mid-season lapses or collapses (WSU 55, UO 10 anyone?) and OSU was gaining on them. Belloti changed his offensive coordinator which ended up changing the dynamics in the series. And although Kelly lost to OSU as offensive coordinator, as a head coach, he’s clearly put OSU in the rear view mirror. Now he’s aided further by Riley’s complacency. The rival is stepping on the gas, Riley has stomped on the clutch.
The increasing distance should be an issue with Bob D. Not out of spite, not out of jealousy, but rather pride and competitiveness. It may take a second straight losing season and a fourth(!) straight CW loss for that to sink in. Hopefully, it doesn’t take more.
I worry less and less about the disparity between the two programs as it grows larger. It becomes an apples and oranges argument at that point. If we were constantly ranked in the 10-20 range, then I would would worry about Nikegon and their success and how to be more like them in terms of that success.
But when everyone is doing better than us, I couldn’t care less about their success, because they’re just a part of “everyone.”
This is a little hard to explain I guess. My point is that when ten programs are better than us, and one of those ten is Nikegon, then it magnifies the issue more than if they were just one of 100 programs.
Agreed, that’s why I mentioned the competitiveness and relevance, which are not OSU attributes in the college football landscape right now.
My issue is that I work with a lot of Duck fans (they are actually really cool people). These guys know that OSU means so much to me and I am tired of them consoling me each week. I really just wish when we talked football that I could interject about how proud of my team I am and how I cant wait for Sat. I am tired of having to be consoled by my friends after each painful loss while they are discussing BCS possibilites.
But my point is that any fan of any successful (or moderately successful) program can console you. Your circumstance isn’t unique. It’s just one of several fan concentrations around the country. If you lived and worked in Denver or Minneapolis, you could commiserate I guess. But for the most part you’re just going to be consoled.
And Duck fans will need to be consoled in the near future anyway… if half of them aren’t Beavs fans by the time sanctions roll around.
Good point Jack. I am just a bit down because I really want OSU to have a special team and enjoy some of the success that my friends are getting from their team. A few years ago when we were so close to the Rose Bowl, I thought we were on the verge of something special. Now it seems like the possibilty of a bowl game seems so far out of reach. I am not sure where we went wrong or what the solution is, I just know that it is really painful. Especially for older fans like me that went to games in the 80s and 90s. I am just really afraid of returning to those dark times. I guess that suffering just comes with being a long time Beav.
What we as fans need to understand is this, we cannot in any way, shape, or form be able to buy-out Riley’s contract of 16+ Million over the next umpteen years. That’s more of a mistake than actually letting go of “old” friends and parting ways and saying, “It’s been a great run with you (insert coordinator name(s) here), but it is time for you to go. No hard feelings?”
We’ve already seen Riley fire Newhouse last year in hopes things would be different on the defensive side, but that didn’t happen. We brought in a new RB coach in hopes to get better recruiting and coaching, but we’ve only seen players not be able to hold onto the ball at the goal line on their first and only play in the second half of a football game. We brought in a new WR’s coach in hopes that he would fire up the receiving team, but we’ve only seen them drop catches they should make, but catch the ones they shouldn’t make. e.g. Wheaton dropping a sure TD pass.
My point is that head coaching jobs are not always the problem and if we fired Riley, what assistants would they bring in? Their buddies?! That’s the risk you’d take? I say cut the cord on the current assistants and go from there. If there isn’t significant changes after that, then I’d agree to fire MR.
I’m okay with giving Riley another year but that’s it. After the season I would like to see Heyward and Banker fired, they have to go. I would like to see Langsdorf lose his play calling privileges.
I agree that it’s unrealistic to fire Riley. I also wish he would take back the offensive play calling too. As far as defensive coordinator goes, I think the best idea is one that I remember somebody else on this site bringing up. We should try to go after a position coach from one of the elite teams in the country and offer him our defensive coordinator job (such as the Texas linebackers coach or the Alabama defensive line coach, etc.). Realistically we’re probably not going to get an established defensive mastermind to come to our rescue and the type of coach that I just mentioned might bring a real winning attitude to our program (something our coaching staff pathetically lacks). It would also charge up the fan base again.
Like Louisville did with Florida’s Defensive coach? They hired him as the head coach….and look where they are right now….not much better than the beavs in a lesser conference…
So what’s your answer then? Promote from within the program? Obviously not every single assistant-turned-coordinator is going to turn into some hall of fame coach, but how do you think Urban Meyer got his start? Mack Brown? Bob Stoops? I don’t really see what other option we have except for sticking with Banker or promoting one of his assistants.