Home Football Oregon State @ Utah (Game Thread)

Oregon State @ Utah (Game Thread)

396

Any game that has Mark Banker against an option offense makes for an interesting and volatile evening. I expect a lot of “told you so” tonight, either from those of us who feel Banker can’t stop this type of offense or those who feel he’s still learning how to stop it and one day everything is going to click (lol).

Beaverblitz is rallying the troops with a “Road Warrior” slogan, mentioning wins last year versus UCLA, Arizona and BYU. Those opponents did incorporate some pistol/read formations so maybe there is hope, but the Beavs won two of those games buy one score and gave up 1400 yards combined. Road Warriors might be a stretch.

The Beavs should lose this game, but I feel like everyone is piling in that bandwagon, and the majority is never right. Still, I expect a loss and to envision the injury excuse being played tonight.

396 COMMENTS

  1. One FirstRow feed is telling me I need to install Full HD player. Another First Row feed is telling me that a Media Player update is required.

    I’m not wild about installing either one of them. Anyone have any comments about these two downloads?

    And there’s another called FLV Player that First Row is trying to get me to install.

    And Go Beavs!

        • Good thing you were concerned. The worse has fooled me before on that site and caused major problems. just wait for the 30 second timer to finish and click on “close” when it pops up.

  2. Utah is going run roughshod on us…all with one player.
    Injuries will be the theme of the year, but will it matter? no…lifetime contracts make it hard to care about this program.

    I’m going to enjoy not watching another Beaver game.

    • concur. would happy to be wrong but just don’t see anything but a loss in the cards. if so,
      this will loom as a very important game as a loss makes it impossible to project a winning season. That would make three losing seasons out of four. Next year Riley has to win because 4 out of 5 would be untenable, especially with what’s going on in Eugene. The only reason Riley has been able to hang on is the perception that he stands athwart another long run of losing seasons. Thus,
      mediocrity looks like a favorable choice. But if the Beavs are losing anway, the “keep Riley at all costs” logic model loses its foundation. A lot of assumptions here, I know, but that’s my assessment.

  3. I hope Mark Banker is watching Alabama v. Texas A&M and taking notes on how to make in-game adjustments to stop the spread. Nick Saban and co. putting on a clinic now.

    • or, like the Duck offense giving up those dives into the center of the Tennessee line after the two first possessions, not returning to those play calls until the 4th quarter when the Duck offensive strategy is, in fact, intended to gain little yardage so as to burn clock. Sorta like how E WA punked us in the opener.

  4. What happens when a 200-205 lb linebacker recently converted from safety runs into a 6’6″ 240 lb qb?

    I hope Alexander can be effective and provide a lift and some leadership, and that Nelson gets more time and is good for an INT.

    Once upon a time Remmers played out of his mind (never to return) and Quizz had his breakout against USC; this would be a good time for a makeshift line to pull off a similar performance.

    I could see OSU having a shot and Riley/Banker screwing it away again. Beavs lose.

  5. Ok…..its conference time….which Riley says is what really counts. We are about to find out what our season will be……can we compete in conference?

  6. I think tonight will be the start of something positive. By losing and starting 1-2 when many said OSU had the schedule where they should probably start 6-0 or 7-0, Riley and Banker will be getting on a shorter and shorter limb in the media and fans’ minds. Personally I will be without doubt convinced it is time to get serious about going after someone like Justin Wilcox before we miss out on him to another school. Riley has had too may chances and been around for far too long to throw away what should have been a golden season by Week 3. Without winning tonight no bowl is likely. Not even a piece of shit New Mexico Bowl. Ranker blows could easily be the theme of the night and deservedly so with yet another loss and a dud start despite the easiest opening schedule in a decade or longer.

  7. OT but the other day the Seattle Times, in preparation for this weekends Seattle/SF matchup, had an article on Seattle’s most hated sports figures. The story lead in was about Seattle’s detest for Harbaugh, and listed other figures as well. One of the top ones was:

    “Phil Knight, Owner, Oregon Ducks.”

    This was the Times, not the UW. It briefly mentioned the millions he’s poured into UO and said that the players really didn’t even like to wear Nike gear because of their hatred for UO.

    Anyhoo, I thought it amusing that a major paper called him the “owner” in print. Back to our regularly scheduled beaver fest…

    • nod to Bob Toledo there. in the late 90’s when asked how Oregon got so good suddenly, he averred: “simple, they got the best owner in the conference.” truer words were never spoken.

  8. Uh oh. Utah is seeking their first ever Pac opening win. Riley likes to be people’s “first.” BTW, Sac State’s victory over OSU was it’s first over an AQ/BCS team (according to error-free wikipedia). That makes OSU the first PAC victory for BSU, Sac State, and EWU…

    So the motivation for conference play goes both ways:

    “”You always play as hard as you can, but this is a conference game, so it does feel like it counts more,” defensive end Trevor Reilly said.”

    It will be interesting to see how Isaac does out on the edge. I actually think OSU will handle the DE’s ok, but the tackles?

  9. Anyone know of a way to watch this game on a phone? Ill be in the car for an hour so during the middle of the game. Or at least a radio stream that would work on a phone?

    • and, for what it’s worth, Toledo is ahead of E WA 16-14 at the half, and should have scored another touchdown before missing a field goal.

  10. Only way the Beavs win this one is with a plus 2 turnover margin. Can’t see that happening. Off to Octoberfest and look forward to reading all the game comments tomorrow.

    • I think you’re right, steve. Seems critical that Wynn/Crichton get back to their old ways and cause/recover a fumble or two; still waiting for the Beavs “strong” DB’s to get a couple picks in a single game.

      OT: Dykes thought about going “Riley” at the end of the first half in Berkeley but goes in with only 2 unused TO’s.

  11. Oregon killed Tennessee. I thought there would be a letup.
    People will say Tennessee is horrible yada yada (we’ll find out next week when they play Florida). They’re still an SEC school, and I can’t see the Beavs lying 60 on an SEC school and beating one by 45 points.

    Oregon is becoming a historic/legendary program and rapidly.

    • Oregon plays with an attitude that every play is important. Its impressive how focused amd cohesive they play together. Everybody has a job on every play and they all know their role. I respect how the team plays, even if their fans are douch nozzels.

      • Yeah, they’ve attracted a TON of white trash fans. east of the cascades, lots of punks etc .who never went to UO. and UO or “O” stickers are everywhere on beat up, run down 4X4s etc. The worst I saw though was a Mecerdes CL500(?) with a huge O sticker that nearly took up the entire rear window. Ruined an otherwise tastefully designed car.

        • you can criticize the sociological spin-offs OC, and I don’t disagree with them; but what’s happening on the field in amazing. I’m reminded of Hugh Millen’s famous statement (former UW QB and now a commentator on sports radio in Seattle). He can’t resist watching UO play. Says he: “it’s like looking at a woman’s cleavage; you know you shouldn’t but you just can take your eyes off it.”

    • Well, Nicholls State is from the SE, and OSU dropped 77 on them, more than the Ducks….

      Agreed. What UO is doing is remarkable. It’s also more tolerable (for me) now that Cheatin’ Chip and the Punks (Masoli, Harris) are gone. Not that they didn’t play an obviously critical role in the progression, but that team is so far beyond the Beavers I don’t even catch shit from UO co-workers after the CW anymore; it’s like we both know there in the same conference but different leagues and don’t need to even talk about it. I don’t even expect OSU to be legitimately competitive (e.g. annually, with regular victories) until there’s some regime change or major sanctions. With the talent, speed, facilities, UO is just on another level.

      UO should have played Alamaba last year, and K State and ND should have played each other.

      BUT, “in the last 10 years,” or “in Riley era II” the Beavs are #3 in the Pac in league victories after UO, USC….that’s what keeps Riley/Banker around.

      • what keeps Riley around is the premise that he’s the bulwark against a long string of losing seasons’ viz 28 in a row.

        That’s what made the mediocrity so oft criticized here regnant in the world of pollyanas.
        If the losing seasons pile up under Riley they will change AD’s and coaches. Here’s the kicker, ironically, Oregon’s greatness will make the contrast so stark that the larger milieu of life in Oregon will mandate it. Canzano’s recent barrages are the first inkling of this.

        On the other hand, If Riley keeps pulling in 6-7-8 win seasons, he’ll retire in the job.

    • I think you are right Angry. The previous framework of analysis (say, circa 2009-12) was that Oregon had “separated” from OSU. That phraseology does not BEGIN to describe what’s happening. We’re talking about the emergence of a national power down in Eugene.

    • I know everyone talks about the offense. Granted it IS very good. The defense though is a lot better than people give credit for. They flat out shut down the Tennessee offense that racked up 97 points in their first two games … I believe it was 5 or 6 straight punts and the result was a TD.

      Good luck tonight Beavs.

    • Tennessee was picked to finish 2nd to last in SEC this year. Not exactly a shining example of SEC football. I still think Oregon can beat any team in the nation right now, but UGA, A&M, Bama, South Carolina would all at least make it interesting to watch. Whatever happened to that UGA/UO home/home that was scheduled a few years back?

  12. Utah seeing some increased interests from recruits according to Scout:

    “BF.C: How is Utah recruiting going at this stage?

    Jackson: Utah has seen its best three classes since joining the Pac-12 conference – and it’s not even close.

    At Pac-12 Media Day, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said that up to three-fourths of the Utes’ 2013 class were recruits that they wouldn’t have been able to attract before. And with Dennis Erickson on board, the Utes are also venturing into some new territories – Utah has five players coming out on official visits this week from the state of Florida.”

  13. Not that the current state of the game isn’t a pleasant surprise, but it’d be productive I think if OSU went no huddle/hurry up here on their next drive to try and keep Utah on their heels, mentally/emotionally as well as points.

    Apparently the Banker pre-game pizza party went well; maybe thin crust? they look fast.

    • The kid is garbage, how they (the coaches) do not recognize his utter lack of ability to cover ANYONE is beyond me. This reminds me of when I was in high school and my baseball coach was committed to playing “seniors” as opposed to better talent. With that being said, Deshon Hunt HAS to be bettter than Martin, shouldnt he?

  14. Let’s not forget this third and short fade to Cooks way downfield when certain folks start bleating about conservative playcalling.

    On the road, no less.

    Joe Avezzano is just sayin’.

    • This is the only game I won’t attend in person, so a rare opportunity to offer some half time thoughts.

      Wilson is NO Vernon Adams. D has a shot to contain him.

      What a waste the Boom project was. Goodness. Mullaney can play.

      Bury the fly sweep. It’s the ONE play every team prepares for at length. Maybe late in the 4th q
      with a three possession lead; otherwise, sit on it.

      False starts/substitution penalties: what Angry calls low IQ football.

      Sean Martin: nuff said.

  15. Why can’t OSU pick up the tempo?

    Harrington (who I can’t stand) demonstrates a modicum of restraint when talking about Wilson’s running ability…he could have referenced Mariotta.

  16. Utah will win this game. It’s pretty much over. Oregon State is lifeless on both sides of the ball and Banker has no idea how to stop Utah’s offense.

  17. If there is one thing Riley does well, it’s plan ahead and manage timeouts. Shouldn’t you as a coach have plays pre planned for 4th and inches?

    • desperation, maybe, but i can’t say i expected a conservative like riley to go that way. and the play by play guy calling riley ‘the ol’ college gambler’ was laughable.

  18. That 4th down play was amazing. There are lots of things to criticize Riley over, but his play calling on offense(when it’s him, not Langsdouche) is always excellent and aggressive.

    Now, can the defense get one stop?

  19. The gods are being kind with the PI. C’mon Richie, you gotta catch that ball!

    Storm down? He’s struggled today. Too much juking imho. Let Ward play.

  20. Wow our defense is bad and we have no coaching that can make adjustments. Good thing is we let them score with time for us to drive the field and win it.

  21. unlike last week, at least Biley left enough time on the clock to take it back down the field…but can he? does he manage the clock? We all know the answer to that dont we?

    • Do you want him to recruit them to play defense? Our offense was outstanding this game. Mannion was close to perfect. The defense was awful for three quarters. Did you even watch or listen to the game?

      You have such Duck envy. All you talk about is uniforms, end zone paint, and a Duck style offense. There is plenty to complain about with Riley, but the offense is the least of them, at least when he is calling the plays.

  22. Typical Ranker! They are going to lose this game. Just Wow. Riley can’t finish. No defense. Give me Justin Wilcox. Same issues plague the Beavs.

  23. Dear lord, Mannion doesn’t let us lose games without a crazy scoring effort. And amazing, amazing play by Cooks.

    Can we get ONE mlb spy? just one?

  24. are these announcers observing a science lab?!!! I understand Wilson being reserved but c’mon Parker act like you’re invested in each play!!

  25. Five receivers, NOBODY ON THE FUCKING QB AGAIN, runs it in for the TD, the most obvious fucking touchdown in history.

    Also, 32 takes a horrible angle AND FALLS OVER! Wow. Them linebackers.

  26. We knew Mullaney would be good after Washington last year, I didn’t expect it to manifest this early in the season.

    That defense, man it is crushing to watch sometimes.

  27. Just think, so many expected Beavs to win ALL of the first 6 games and they end up barely wining one of the games which was in the W column since July!

        • The bitching in the badger section about almost every single devil pass completion about pushing off was very entertaining.
          It was actually very cool to sit with a fanbase to watch their game in which I really didn’t care who won (except maybe to pull for the pac12 just a little).
          Tempe was so fun that I’m now considering making the trip for the beaver game. That town knows how to treat visitors, we had outstanding service everywhere despite huge crowds.
          My biggest complaint is actually getting around the sun devil stadium complex, they seriously need to re-engineer pedestrian flow. I digress.
          What I saw the devil’s doing very effectively was rolling out and hitting their receivers on the edge. Without several dropped balls right in their hands this game would’ve been won by 14 easy. The badger corners where usually in pretty good position too but where just continually beat by a well placed ball and high jumping receiver, something that does not bode well for the beavers.
          But I think the Beavs can still beat asu in a shootout style game that I think we need to get used to seeing this year.

    • Actually, that would be a hypothesis. But, what is your point? You couldn’t be gloating after that performance. I’m a Pollyanna on this site and I can’t find much more than to say our defense is not good. I’m not a purist, so I do take some solace in this team is fun to watch play offense. But, seriously, what are you trying to say? I will agree with Go Beavs!

  28. Wagered, watched and won…then read all 260 posts in a row. Suicide watch for 80% of AB posters~~~team fucking won a road game, they were not favored, etc.

    A win is a win is a win…OSU could have packed it in after Woods went down.

    Go Beavs!

  29. Go BEAVS!! I enjoy this site but its full of a bunch of people just bitching just to complain. I’m a fan. Won’t jump off the ffing wagon like way too many here. Support your team and GO FFING BEAVERS!!!

    • Be careful. Posts that indicate you are anything other than on suicide watch invite snarks that maybe you should just frequent other sites where some people occasionally make mildly positive comments about Beaver football.

      Tough, gritty road win albeit with significant defensive shortcomings and clearly the usual Eeyores on this forum can’t bear to debase themselves enough to admit to any joy in that outcome. They’d rather be mad, which amuses Joe Avezzano greatly.

      • Spot on, Joe. “Tough, gritty road win…”
        To see these guys go all out for 60+ minutes makes coaching shortcomings that much more galling. Still, got to recognize that the ’11 team (and others) would have folded well before OT. The passion and effort were there tonight as were the teachable moments. Hat tip to all the players who wouldn’t give up!

        • 60+ minutes?

          Did our offense have the ball for the whole game?

          Are we saying our defense was gritty like the stuff caught by a sieve? Because that’s what our defense looked like.

    • Ridiculous polyanna post.

      There is clearly something very wrong with the D coaching and play

      It IS SUPPORTING the team to want a decent D coach. Anyone who is satisfied with the situation because we barely get a win over a lower tier Pac 12 team, isnt much of a fan of Beaver athletics.

  30. Two games against mobile QB’s …..we score 51 in one and 46 in the other, and lose one…..and only win the other by 3….

    …time for Canzano to chime it!!

    Seriously, ….our defense is SOOOOOOO bad….. Anyone for firing Ranker? LOL…

  31. Whittingham is going to get some big time shit for that sequence of play calling in OT. Utes had a sweet ride in the Mountain West so being P-12 also rans is not playing well with the fan base.

    • not if opposing teams score 56 per game

      the defense HAS to get better. it’s not entirely on the players. they looked fine to start the game. there were some key ints. but the beavs had three turnovers and still barely beat the utes. mostly because DE kicked MBs ass in making adjustments.

  32. This team reminds me a lot of the Derek Andersen team that went 7-5 and beat Notre Dame in the bowl game. With this defense a minor bowl game is all I expect, but it will be fun and interesting to see what Mannion and the receivers can do. Mannion really looked in control tonight.

  33. Exactly whatever. Angry sets the tone at the top. I love this site but damn its full of negative bitching. Who’s a fan and who wants to complain? These kids aren’t done. Crappy lose to start out but watch them grow. Stressful game to watch at the end but go BEAVS!!

  34. Would be awesome if Riley had a post game comment along the lines of

    “I cant believe they didn’t let their QB keep the ball in OT. They stopped using the same offensive sets they’ve used all year”

  35. Fire Banksdorf.

    How’s that one, Angry?!

    Actually, our QB is doing all right this year. But I can just imagine the vitriol puked out here if that trick play would have went south, when we should have just sneaked it in for a 1st down.

    Riley put it on the line on the road precisely because of the defense we have.

  36. Mannion has 1257 yards through 3 games. I don’t know that full stats have been tallied for all games yet this week, but it looks like he’ll be in 2nd place behind Cal’s Jared Goff who’s just over 1300.
    Mannion also has 12 TD to 1 INT. He’s been very impressive so far, although he hasn’t face a tough pass defense yet.

  37. The one thing I like about this site is that most of the posters are consistent. Nice to win by the skin of our teeth but does that make the staff suddenly better? You know the answer. Man, the culture of the Pollyanna site is one of the reasons why we’re mediocre and lose to FCS schools. There are folks doing 180’s on Biley after Hawaii and Utah… Two distinct camps.

    • Yeah- I think that criticism rocks the boat and a few wins can heal all wounds. Everyone here anticipated a great first 5-6 games assuming we had a defense or at least that’s the sense I got but suddenly this place has been labeled too negative for understandable angst about losing to a vastly inferior opponent. Right now we are the twelve year old who got his ass beat by a six year old, but then went up to an eight year old, flipped his wheelchair over and then got in a lucky sucker punch in a nine year old. Even though the kid has won two fights he still got his ass beat by a six year old and he hasn’t really won a real fight yet.

    • We all expected 6-0. Then the first loss. After that, I said Ranker would blow out Hawaii b/c his seat was heating up. Now Ranker won a game we expected him to lose (though, I did say everyone piling in that bandwagon was likely a sign he’d win) and the seat is cold. This cycle will repeat for a decade. In the end you’ll get somewhere between 6 and 8 wins as always and a Civil War blowout.

  38. Made some homebrew today….didn’t watch the game (horrendous helmets on the gamecast) and good to see the good guys won, albeit if we would of lossed by three….something tells me Ranker’s hot seat would be heating up a lot faster….looks to me like he had a helluva defensive gameplan to start the game, but then he couldn’t coach and adapt during the game and ol’ Erickson not afraid to mix things up….Sean Martin cancels out 50 yard mistake with pick 6 (can the guy ever not be a liability?)….good to see the secondary getting Ints, and winning the turnover battle….but makes you wonder should Mannion had a bad pass or deflection….

    Solid road win….reminds me of the Arizona win last year.

  39. It’s awesome to see some labeling themselves the Kings of OSU fandom after this game, pulling out the soap box and preaching against all those awful bitchers out there. We get it- you are so great and we are non fans.

    I’m happy to say I only took enough interest to check the score as the game went on- kept my heart rate down, especially when I could have seen such things as the QB making up for throwing errors by destroying us on the ground, and we had to execute nearly perfect on offense to get the victory. My heart rate is the better for it and I chose to make a statement by not purchasing tickets because I have the right to not like Mark Banker’s schemes. To go out of ones way to claim they are some super fan and belittle what were reasonable concerns, though now labeled as “bitching” despite coming true, reeks of hubris. You’re a dickhead and Mark Banker still can’t adjust at the half.

    I’m guessing the super fans squawking about this game will become eerily silent when we go up against teams with a mobile QB with speed and a strong,strong secondary. The stats suggest we are one dimensional on offense and still have no answer for any play designed to have a QB running. But please, do share your insights and brilliance after the Civil War. Or after Stanford. Or after Washington.

    I’m perfectly happy with a win, always am, but I’m not going to thump on my chest. We still lost to a fucking BCS team and the symptoms for that loss are still apparent. So I’ll elect to continue my avoidance of watching as much Beaver football for the sake of my sanity and enjoy being able to freely express my opinion, “bitching” or otherwise. I also think this site is as advertised. It’s critical but I feel balanced and I prefer the long time commenters that have kept it balanced.

    But in the end a Beaver fan is cool with me. I might have thrown out the term dickhead, but at least you’re not a Duck. Have a great Sunday, all.

    • You missed an exciting game. Appreciate that your remarks about who the real fans are ring hollow when you (happily, even proudly?) chose to not even watch the game.

      • ….like watching a car wreck, some slow down to watch, and some keep driving (some even offer to help, some don’t want to get involved) — I’ve been to and seen enough Beav games over the last 20 years (good or bad) that things have started to repeat…..and at some point you get frustrated over what seems to be the obvious — does the program dare to improve itself? I’ll admit that some of us are a little spoiled, considering the 30 years of futility, and winning is expected. I’ve chosen to take a step back (like many on this site) and try not get caught up in getting emotionally wound-up over a bunch of college kids, dwelling on the negative — it is supposed to be entertainment for crying out loud. Call it sacrilegious, but I’m choosing to drive on, take it for what it is opt to enjoy my day instead of hours yelling at the screen (the dogs don’t like it and neither does my wife)…..so there you go.

    • Haha! Continued “principled” self-flagellation by so-called Beaver fans makes Joe chortle. Dude, staying away from the tv may not be enough. Joe suggests sweatpants and sandals, close proximity to belts and shoelaces might end in tragedy.

      Do you really think all your spilled ink about upcoming doom means a damn thing? Hilarious. Very Ayn Rand. Who is John Galt to tell you what to think?

      Nyuk.

      • If criticism doesnt mean a thing, why do you care enough about it to read this site and comment?

        Change doesnt come if everyone is satisfied.

        The Polyannas are the kind of “fans” that, during the 28 yr losing season string, celebrated any win, and never complained. You dont get change by being satisfied. Our D coaching is clearly ….very poor. Any thinking person should complain.

      • Though I appreciate your reference to one of the worst novels ever written, Joe was never a Beaver fan. He liked booze and losing… and getting the OSU AD fired… so that an even worse AD could take over and run OSU sports into the ground.

        • Joe feels the term “booze” is uncultured. Joe prefers that the record reflect he was simply self-medicating with the assistance of the cheer squad, snatch. Er, natch.

          Let’s be clear, those who don’t want to run in traffic about the OSU football team’s shortcomings are not satisfied with the status quo. However, coming up with “clever” nicknames for the coaching staff and AD is boring. Some of the posters here act like children, or more specifically like Beavis and Butthead except without the intelligence or wit.

          Joe appreciates discussions about specific aspects of the team and improvements needed…the other stuff is rather pathetic.

  40. The pollyanish fans seem to be pumping up Utah as this juggernaut. It was a nice win against another very average P-12. Tell me how the front seven improves against mobile quarterbacks and how Ranker puts the team in position to compete consistently and long term for division titles?

  41. Does anyone have a link to where you can get defensive stats? Sure would like to see the tackle stats- going to be a lot for the secondary.
    Things I saw defensively- the beavs obviously started off aggressive with a game plan to stuff the dive with the DE’s crashing inside hard and blowing up the play. Wilson had zero yards rushing in the first half. 142 in the second. Where were the DE’s and the OLB’s in the 2nd half? Utah made adjustments at half time and the beavs did not. If the DE’s are crashing hard on the dive then the OLB’s need to take the QB- and just was not happening as they kept getting caught up inside on the dive- coaches fault or blown assignments? I think both- players out of position and coaches not hammering home the need to contain the edge.
    I am no D-1 coach but I see no other way to play the spread option short of occasionally bringing up a safety in a nickel package which could work and I imagine was tried but was not happening last night. As it stands now any argument that Banker’s schemes are solid against the spread is b.s. It can’t just be blown assignments every time- Utah adjusted and the Beavs did not- that equals mediocre coaching and 260 yds. of rushing @ 6.6 ypc. Wilson at times was untouched for 10 yards after he got to the edge. Mariota will run for 250 himself against this group.

  42. Wow. Another Pepcid performance by the Beavs. Great to get out with the win, but look at some #’s.
    For the season: Rushing 70 yards per game, 117th nationally
    Scoring D 37 points per game, 110th nationally
    Totally one dimensional on offense, 438 yards per game, 1st nationally. Sean has been fantastic. If it was really that hard to pick a starter in camp, Vaz must have done some good things. Thanks to the Utes for being stupid and not running the QB in overtime.

    PS Fadgers lose! Gary Anderson pulls a Glen Mason.

    • Somebody said it above, this team is like the 2003-2004 teams, a passing offense and not much else. 2004 I remember Dwight Wright only had 700-800 yards or so for the season.

      Luckily San Diego State, Colorado, WSU, and Cal are up next. Beavs could outscore all of them even with the probs on D.

      If Banker can somehow get his shit together in the next month and a half (not counting on it, but they did in 2004), the last few weeks of the season could be big big.

      • The perception that OSU has a good running attack has been going on for a decade. Since, Jaquizz’s freshmen year and Bernard in ’06 the Beavs have not had a running back put up good numbers.

        • The defense still sucks but I do see SOME improvements, none have to do with stopping a mobile QB.

          The running game and if it is good or bad, “I believe” has a lot to do with the OL. If they aren’t opening holes then you aren’t getting yards. There was only a couple times they opened holes last night and when they did, decent gains. Now I know we have a beat-up moved around OL right now but Langsdork, our other premier assistant coach, needs to learn how to teach run blocking. We are good at pass protection… just can’t run block well.

          Storm and Ward both have good speed but the kid needs a whole.

    • Some highlight plays last night against Utah by guys like Steven Nelson (two interceptions) and Richard Mullaney are getting lots of attention, and rightfully so. But I think OSU’s patchwork O-line deserves a game ball for what they did all night.

      Utah’s front seven was touted as the team’s strongest unit, and had recorded a lot of sacks in their first two games (including 7 sacks the week before — admittedly against an FCS opponent, but still…).

      Last night, there were a few hurries and hits on Mannion, but only one sack, out of 44 passing plays. With Utah’s front seven teeing off, employing various stunts and blitzes in front of a loud and hostile home crowd, the O-line was able to protect Mannion in the pocket play after passing play, despite everyone in the stadium knowing what Mannion would be doing (since Mannion is zero threat to run the ball himself, and none of OSU’s other running plays — including the fly sweep — were effective all night).

      I don’t think this was a case of Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham failing to make adjustments to stop a predictable and limited opponent (ala Mark Banker). I think KW tried everything he could to get to Mannion, but the OSU O-line just did a great job all night protecting Mannion on pass plays.

      Credit to those guys — and to Coach Cav — for stepping up and etting it done despite so many guys being hurt or unavailable.

      • they did perform admirably.

        yet, they were unable to open holes for the run game and mannion was throwing off his back foot seemingly all night. the offense looks pretty one dimensional. that will come back to bite this teams against better talent/coaching.

        if/when the line gets back healthy (what that timeline is i don’t know) the offense may be unstoppable.

          • I agree the TE blocking has not improved on the run plays, Smith did have a key block on the TD passffrom Mannion to Hallett, but on rush plays most are beaten badly. Beaten so often I believe they should scrap the multi-TE sets and try to run plays with 3 or 4 wr’s to see if they could get much more success?

      • I agree they did a good job protecting Mannion, but this year’s line is under-performing. I know there are injuries, and new assignments, but these guys seem to prefer pass blocking and need to get more aggressive. That’s a theme Cav has raised for the last few years, but it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere with the line.

        The Woods/Ward goal of “2G” is now laughable.

        As much as we complain about Banker, I think Cav is overrated and gets a pass annually. I’d like to see new D and O coordinators AND a new O-line coach.

        • it was laughable to begin with. How many years now have we heard “we have to be committed the running the ball more” only to see the same thing over and over and over and over and over

  43. TO: angrybeav readers and posters (aka dorks)

    FROM: Clark Tanker (aka Mark Banker) OSU Defensive? Coordinator

    Scoreboard be… atcches!!!! By now even you idiots may have devised the brilliance of my master plan defensive strategy. By allowing the opposition to score at least 48 points every week they are rendered physically exhausted and out of plays by overtime. Utah fell right into my ingenious trap. Just missed versus EWU.

    Strap in, as we will be running this all year. Place your bets now we roll the Ducks 74-71.

  44. Watched highlights on Pac 12 site. Like Nelson, but he missed an open field tackle on one QB TD run, and was taken out of a second and gave what appeared to be lame effort at the end of the play, the QB running by him for another score. In the Pac 12, with its offenses, he’s going to have to finish those kinds of plays.

    • Joe likewise saw those horrible individual defensive efforts and the INTs do not make up for them.

      I note the refs couldn’t reach their flags for any of the obvious holds (muggings) by UT, references to which by Joey Five Picks were the only intelligent references that the erstwhile idiot uttered all night.

  45. Beaver Byte Sports Illustrated Fansided Network Top 25 Ballot:

    1. Oregon
    2. Alabama
    3. Clemson
    4. Stanford
    5. UCLA
    6. Ohio State
    7. Louisville
    8. Florida State
    9. LSU
    10. Georgia
    11. Texas A&M
    12. South Carolina
    13. Oklahoma State
    14. Washington
    15. Arizona State
    16. Oklahoma
    17. Miami
    18. Florida
    19. Arizona
    20. Northwestern
    21. Ole Miss
    22. Baylor
    23. Wisconsin
    24. Notre Dame
    25. Michigan

  46. Anyone else see the overhead shot of Cal’s stadium yesterday? It was almost a complete sea of red except 2 narrow bands of yellow along the 50 yard line. I’ve never seen a visiting fanbase accomplish that much domination, especially halfway across the country.

    • Ha, I was thinking the exact same thing.

      That was basically a home crowd for Ohio State…in fact you couldn’t even see that much Blue/Gold in the stadium.

      In Cal’s defense, the academics are excellent and quite challening, so everyone was out studying.

      For tOSU fans, coming out to the BayArea during this time of year, would be a great trip for anyone in Ohio.

      OT: Not that it matters, but we were high fiving Tennessee fans all throughout Portland this weekend. They were confused until we mentioned Oregon State. Go Beavs!

    • Check out pics on a Nebraska site. ND changed their ticket policy after a game when Davie was coaching there.. Looked like a Husker home game.

  47. Had a couple thoughts about Vanderveen:

    1) He was likely the perfect scout qb for Utah prep. Tall,similar running ability, speed as Wilson, maybe faster. Unless OSU can’t run or mimic the option in practice, the D had no reason to be ill prepared for wilson. Obviously they did well in the first half, and Banker didn’t respond well to Utah’s adjustments in the second half.

    2) Riley claims Vanderveen is making major strides this fall (no pun intended). IF OSU gets any blowout games, or if a bowl game is out of the question, I hope he gets game reps to further his development. Hate to see him come in “cold” in ’15(?) and go through the typically painful OSU qb development.

    3) Finally, with Vanderveen, and a mobile qb or two committed, will we finally see Riley exploit the advantages a mobile qb provides? If he needs any encouragement, he can ask his good buddy Banker.

  48. An important opening road win for OSU’s Pac-12 season but the offense can’t keep having to be almost perfect to claw out wins after the defense gives up too many long scoring scores, overpursues and gets beat on screens and scrambling by mobile QBs.

    Beavers Grind Out Hard Fought Victory:
    http://beaverbyte.com

    #OffensiveHeroics #DefenseNeedsWork

  49. Grades for the game after a day of contemplation

    QB: B+ Mannion was a bit less accurate than the past few games, and threw off his back foot or almost hopping a few times, but he was clearly the second best player on the field and again carried the offense with big throws. Also has nearly mastered the old Canfield art of dumping the ball off instead of eating the sack.
    RBs: D+ Neither Storm nor Terron gained any yards rushing, although they had a few decent catches, and made the throw on that insane flea flicker pass. But they haven’t been able to either outrun or run through anybody since last year. Anderson has one nice run as well, as usual.
    TEs: B+ The TEs were huge(metaphorically and literally) with only one drop I saw tarnishing their performance. Smith and Hamlett both had big catches, and are just impossible to stop in the endzone.
    WRs: A+ Insane catches all day from Cooks and Mullaney, and a few nice ones from Cummings too. Cooks and Mullaney made huge plays adjusting to the ball in the air, including three TDs where the pass was either tipped or not seen or thrown away from them. Amazing day.
    OLine: C A balance between excellent pass blocking and horrible run blocking. They kept Mannin upright all day, a very impressive feat. However, they opened very few holes for the RBs to hit, a big reason we have no running game currently. To be fair they’re dealing with a lot of injuries and players in different positions, but still overall the performance was just around average.
    DLine: C Same grade as the OLine for a completely different reason. In the first half the DLine was awesome, sacking the QB, causing a fumble, and shutting down the running game. Then, as has happened for years, the second half came and the DLine disappeared, causing no pressure and over pursuing. Great first half, very bad second half, they were really the most impactful unit in the game given their effect and then lack of effect.
    LBs: D Honestly I barely even noticed the LBs, which has been a frequent occurrence since our LB heyday(Barnett, Seigler, Doggett, even Roberson). Skotte is incredibly slow but at least tackles well in the box. Alexander is better than Doctor but still neither of them make a huge, consistent impact, and if the QB runs for 150 yards, that’s mostly their fault.
    DBs: B- The big stat is the 3 INTs, which we desperately needed to stop from choking away our lead in the second half. Nelson had two and even Martin grabbed one that was thrown right at his chest. But receivers were also open a bit too often, and the corners did not make many tackles which is expected when a QB takes off. The safeties were mostly silent again, which, like LBs, against a running QB is a death sentence.
    Kickers: B Nothing special. Nobody blew a kick, nobody did anything spectacular(Lettuce did hit a 49 yarder I believe, pretty good) and his PATs were right down the center. Kostol didn’t botch anything(Sup Hekker!). Just a nice solid day, all you want from your kickers.
    Coaching: C- Like the OLine, half was awesome and half was basically the worst. Riley called an awesome offensive game, and that 4th and inches flea flicker call was pure guts. On the other side, everyone and their mom wants Banker fired, except the only people who’s opinions matter, but giving up another 40+ is just absurd, and a continued inability to contain a running QB or handle a read option(stand and wait for him to hand it off or keep it, then make the play) is migraine-inducing.

    The eye test showed an amazing offensive performance and a very uneven defensive one. Really, we would have lost that game without 3 second-half INTs, but the corners blew as many TDs as they potentially took away, while the DLine played an awesome half and then disappeared and the LBs never really showed up at all. But with a passing game like this, you can stay in almost any game, so I fully expect more insane, 4th quarter shootout/comebacks in the coming weeks.

    • Overall, id agree with most of your grades.

      Disagreement would be:
      Te-hamlett was good, despite easy drop, but how many penalties did caleb smith have in what seemed like one series? 3? 4? Definitely not helpful. Grade c
      Rb-the oline has no road graders, the rb lack of productivity had more to do with having nowhere to run, than anything they didn’t do. Grade c

    • If the opposing defenses were entirely made up of hot, white naked bitches that needed to be impregnated by “mah dick” Stevenson would be all world

  50. Not much to add since I only watched the 4th Q. But what critical thinking fan would be happy with this win, satisfied or relieved might be a better description. I love the passing game but before the season started Woods/ Ward proclaimed their goal was to both be 1,000 yard rushers. At this rate Woods might get to 700 and Ward…. Without a running game the offense is going to stumble a series or two during the game and unfortunately we can’t count on the defense to stop anybody at anytime.

    The defense just makes the games unwatchable live. I’ll watch on TiVo or Pac12 in 60. The D gives up over 500 yards again and even though the first 3 times the utes had the ball they had to punt, after that they either scored or Wilson threw an INT. If Wilson had started the game looking to run this game would’ve gone the other way.

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