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Anyone feel like discussing the Cal game?

Interesting to hear Sitake talk about the lack of toughness on defense. No wonder GA says they’ll sign a class of 25; have to think a lot of these guys will not have scholarships renewed. Seeing a lot of defensive players being recruited, too.

Also interesting to hear Sitake talk about the Cal WRs routes and run after catch. I think a lot of that goes back to Cal’s QB play (suddenly Dykes looked like a good coach once he got Goff), and suddenly their WRs run “the best routes in the Nation”. Really? Or is the QB just hitting them right in stride.

Anyway, I’m jealous of that.

Back to the game, Beavs are going to have a hard time stopping that passing attack with all the banged up guys who have defeatist attitudes.

Discuss this game if you’re still into football. I’m looking forward to basketball. If the team were improving I’d be into it despite the loses, but the lack of improvement makes it un-watcheable. Between week 1 and now, has there been any improvement? I’d can’t name a single player who has significantly improved. Maybe Pritchard and Nall? But they didn’t play early on so who knows. Every player seems the same or worse. I can’t comprehend how, as a player, you can practice that much and still be the same. Just don’t get it…I guess they are maxed out, talent wise, and the Beavs just simply have a [lack of] talent problem. On top of that, weak minds. Thanks, Riley.

195 COMMENTS

  1. You say they’re still the same after all this practice, but that’s not quite right… It’s not like they’re practicing in vacuum. Every other team is simultaneously practicing and improving as well. All you can really say is the gap isn’t closing. To see improvements, our guys would need to be getting better at a quicker rate than their opponents are throughout the season, but that’s are hard feat when you have both an exceedingly young team and a new coaching staff to boot.

    • That’s sort of true. But, you can judge things like angles the players take, finishing plays when in position (i.e. Nolan Lewis still whiffing on sacks), technique like tackling, etc and say they’re not improving. Those things don’t really depend on the opponent. But you’re right about some types of plays.

  2. Rather than ponder what you do not have, use the tools that you do have to create small successes. Toughness comments show intellectual limitations. The Patriots rarely win because of toughness.

    • They are mentally tough thou. You don’t play in the NFL without metal toughness. Just ask Vince Young. And the physical part goes hand in hand with the mental.

      • no shit. A team that’s been to 6 super bowls and won 4 since 2002 isn’t tough at all. They just cheat. Despite the fact they have skirted the rules on more than one occasion, the fact they’ve played in 6 of the last 14 shows they’re certainly tough and doing more things right than wrong. Anyone that disagrees is either blind or a butthurt shehawks fan.

      • I do not think you guys understand the difference between toughness and discipline. There are plenty of tough and not tough teams in the NFL. But back to the Pats for the moment. The Pats have very high turnover from year to year with very few constants other than Bellicheck and Brady. They certainly do not go out of their way to recruit guys with a toughness reputation, in the traditional or GA definition. Neither mental or physical toughness distinguishes the Pats from anyone else. They are more prepared, more analytical , more precise, more disciplined, more flexible and adaptable than any other team in football. They are able to pass 50 times a game or 2 times a game and still win. Maybe that can be called toughness. I believe that to be a sloppy and imprecise use of English. I sense that GA and some here mainly want more macho tough guys. This might work but may not quite match OSU lunch bucket imagery.

  3. I look at some of the comparative scores in the P-12 and I think that they should not be playing this poorly. UCLA is not a defensive juggernaut, yet they completely dominated. I guess it’s QB play, but then the defense gives up over 600 plus yards after showing some nice progress the previous weeks. It’s a transitional cluster fuck right now. Nothing to do, but wait and see what this coaching staff can do over time.

      • defense isn’t forcing any either. zero turnovers for the opponent in the last 3 games. Beavs probably have one of the worst turnover ratios in the nation. Too lazy to look it up

    • Once the third possession started, they had our #. They figured out the secondary pretty fast, and how to pick it a part. They were well prepared for our limitations.

    • The defense giving up so many yards is more from the offense’s inability to move without turning over the ball. If the offense could have had even three or four long drives, UCLA would’ve scored a lot less.

  4. I didn’t really follow that whole Guyton dismissal bit. But I understand he was getting on Issacc for not blocking? Usually when someone is that upset, they heavily believe in their point. And a lot of personal disputes have gray areas where there is some validity to both sides. So my question is, was Issacc around as a Freshman when Quizz was playing? Because Quizz was apparently pissed at some poor blocking back then… Interesting.

  5. “I didn’t really follow that whole Guyton dismissal bit. But I understand he was getting on Issacc for not blocking?”

    Careful there hoss. The Blitz Nazi’s lurking just might jump your shit since it’s allegedly a rumor. They’re hanging around to attempt to make everything right and set us straight in this little piss ant world!

    Seig heil!

  6. The injury report says Ryan Nall is out for this game (only SB-W is listed on the 3 deep). I know he left the UCLA game in the second half but I haven’t heard why. Anybody here know?

  7. I know nothing has been inked, but we’re one 3 star recruit away from catapulting into the rivals top 30.

    Hopefully the guys are content with the Corvallis, the coaching staff, and the opportunity for early PT and stay with us.

  8. Back on Dec 28, 2004, I was at Bagram Airfield and what to my surprise the Oregon State Beavers were playing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Insight Bowl. I’d just gotten off watch and the game was still on sure it was at so unremembered time in the morning due to the time differences I do know it was before dawn. So you have to understand one can’t just sit and watch a game over in the stand (Afghanistan) like we can at home.

    It was a great game and it reminded me of the 1999 season at the time due to the Beavers playing the Irish. I’d missed most of the season due to training so I was not following the team much. But just watching the game or any game for that matter brought me a little closer to home.

    Sure the game was on AFN (Armed Forces Network) so the commercials were all army made. To understand this you have to look at this way; it was like public access but with an Army budget. But that is not all one had to look forward to after a long day.

    You see their is no real beer, sure you can get the harder stuff…not that I’d know anything about that… cough…Supply Sergeant. What they did have is O’Doul’s (non-alcoholic beer) over there along with many different Fanta products and if you were lucky some Sprite. After being with out beer for some time O’Doul’s becomes drinkable; just a tip make sure to drink it really cold. Thought, O’Doul’s is not the worst thing to drink.

    The best part was the care packages you’d get. There would be all sort of crazy stuff form schools and different organizations. Heck, they sent over these mint cigars they were not half bad if you were low on smokes. The best thing to send is baby wipes. Now some guys would just rat thought the boxes but you know I took time to read the cards. The cards did mean something the words from folks back in the states and they were from all over the country. So those folks could be Wildcats, or Razorbacks heck, even got one from Beavers or they could have been Duck fans.

    I guess what I’m getting at is thanks to all of those that are serving, those who have served and their families. What you do or did is for all of us.

    Happy Veteran’s Day

  9. Thanks justin, afghan, and the rest.
    Speaking of beer, nothing like Carling Black Label…warm. Course, one time we had a little ice to add to it! Good times??………….RVN 68-69

  10. It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, day off helps. Anyway….
    Has anyone else seen the latest with Victory Through Valley?

    https://www.ourbeavernation.com/capital-projects/victory-through-valley/

    I’m curious to know what everyone else thinks about the current renderings, they have significantly changed since the first time it was revealed. Is it better or worse? Does the current version allow OSU to be competitive in th Pac 12, or does it lack the flavor and sizzle of the likes of Arizona’s, Wazzu’s, Colorado’s, Utah’s? I hope OSU goes all out with it, and doesn’t go half assed, go cheap and cut corners. Otherwise why even bother doing anything at all?

    • The whole idea is to expand the space because they are running out of it. I would hope they expand it beyond their current needs to account for any future needs so they don’t have to renovate again for a while.

      What would be really fun is if they put a beer garden on the open concourse. If those seats are still family, then probably not.

    • those endzone suites and that party deck are going to be VERY popular; sort of like that space at Safeco Field in Seattle. UW tried that concept with their remodel but the fun zone, or whatever they call it, is OUTSIDE the stadium close up against the lake. That space never empties after half time, which is why Husky stadium is not nearly as intimidating as it used to be because 10% of the crowd has “left the building.”

      • I’m okay with a “party zone” being outside the stadium. I don’t go to games to drink and feel uncomfortable in large crowds when even tipsy. Then there’s the increased need for being near a bathroom, being irresponsible if with kids, etc. If they want to close off the area near the practice fields or the fields themselves (or even Truax) and add closed circuit tvs and a beer garden out there (along with return access to the game), I think that would be better than a pile of drinkers spilling cheap beer all over one area within the stadium itself.

          • Yeah, but people who bring in flasks usually keep it tame… just augment a coffee or hot chocolate or such. I don’t have a problem with that either.

            But there are people who can’t go without for whatever reason, and they hang around the taps if they are there. There really are no spaces within the stadium where those people can be free to actually have space away from fans who don’t need to have them blurting weird things at them or falling all over themselves. If that’s their priority, then let them have ample room in a segregated space to go buy one beer for what it would cost to pick up a good six-pack on the way home.

    • I think it is very underwhelming. The fun police will make sure that the plaza area doesn’t contain anything interesting. They had a grat opportunity to add some character to the stadium and this doesn’t add anything.

    • I like the open landing too, but think the entrance frontage is a mistake. I think they should have taken an approach more similar to the brick columns of the “new side,” to keep the theme constant, and hopefully have it blend well with a new west side someday that repeats the east side architecture. To me, such an approach would imply more permanence, and more conviction regarding the positive, long-term future of the program. The entrance, as is, looks rather cheap and like it just might all be scrapped and replaced in 10 years.

      And Angry nailed it when he said the “interior looks like a casino floor,” although it appears they’ve tamed that down quite a bit.

      Its an improvement obviously, but this Athletic Department still never looks confident and polished about how it wants to represent the school visually.

      I’ll be happy to stand on the open deck, hopefully enjoy a good IPA, and watch Andersen-Era-Year-3, competent, well-played football.

    • I like it much less than the original all glass front entrance. That design had some Wow factor but this has little. This is it for 15-20 years so we ought to make it count. Doesn’t say much beside just happy to be here in the Pac-12. The first drawings you looked through the glass and they potentially could do all kinds of things with 21st century marquee lighting to welcome players and the public to Beaver Nation. Now it may as well be the entrance to chemical engineering. Stansbury needs to veto this front redesign and make it more innovative or it will quickly be forgotten.

  11. Here are the building blocks for the OSU football team from the ground up: If they accomplish one of these tasks this year, the season won’t be viewed as a total loss.

    1) – Win the games you are supposed to win. (This has been done: Weber State/San Jose State).
    2) – Beat Oregon
    3) – Win the Northwest Championship
    4) – Win the Pac-12 North Division
    5) – Win the Pac-12
    6) – Compete in the National Championship or the Rose Bowl

    Each one of these steps can not be accomplished without completing the previous one. They have completed one. They can complete another. ;-)

    • If we can accomplish task 2 with regularity, I would be satisfied. While competing for the higher level tasks every once in a while is also nice, mediocrity within the program only became an issue with the fan base after Oregon started kicking our asses every year. At this point, getting the rivalry we had in the late 90s through the 2000s back would be a good goal in the next couple of years. Then, we can start worrying about Rose Bowls!

  12. All 3 men’s hoops recruits(4* CG Jaquori McLaughlin, 3* PF Ben Kone, and 3* SF Keondre Dew have signed their National LOI! Great day to be a Beav. Our future got a lot brighter today with these 3

    • I’m not sold on McLaughlin as a 4 star. I’ve watched plenty of his highlights. He’s has a good handle and is a good passer but his offense may not translate for a year or two. Very few times in his highlights does he make a difficult shot or make a shot with a hand in his face. If he wants to get playing time early, he’ll have to show he can run the offense and not turn the ball over.

      • A true point guard doesn’t need to be a shot maker. Just keep the offense moving and make sure the shot makers are getting the ball in the right spots then make the shots your given (TJ McConnell for UA, Tyler Ennis for SU, Peyton Siva for UL just some examples). McLaughlin can do all that already and he’s much more physically ready for this level than Derrick Bruce.

  13. Watched The Drive.

    What bothers me is that we’re getting snapshotted as a pathetic losing team, while Utah is getting snapshotted as some world-beating program. In reality, we’re just having an unusually bad year, and they’re having an unusually great one.

    20/20 hindsight, but I think doing this season was a bad idea, interesting as it is as a Beaver fan. Weekly behind-the-scenes showings of us sucking and having a tough time, while one of our main recruiting rivals is all smiles and celebrations can’t be helpful.

    Luck o the beavs?

    • Most people expected the Beavers to be having a down year, so I’m not concerned about people thinking we’re a bunch of losers. As long as the cameras don’t catch Andersen killing a player or anything on that line of thinking, it’s good to get the university’s name out there in a country where half the people can’t even pronounce the state’s name right, let alone know OSU exists.

  14. Thoughts on those of you living in Corvallis on having the basketball game a few hours before the football game?

    It seems stupid to me. Basketball game tomorrow night would have made more sense.

    • Who cares? If anyone wants to go to a football game, that’s their deal.

      I think the TV time-out guy would make a good target for a blow gun, my short one, and only the beads… not the pointy stuff. I bet I can peg that dude while I fall asleep.

      • And hoops ends within a couple hours. It’s not like football and cricket… never ending boredom due to lapses in action… which lead to indefinite time frames.

        Add one minute per point to an already insufferable narcissism… I mean football.

    • Doesn’t really matter. I mean, the basketball game will be over by halftime, and the final buzzer will be around 6:30. That’s enough time to head home and watch the game if I was so inclined.

    • I don’t live in Corvallis but see no problem in having two events on the same day, especially if you can see all or most of both. Those who have a distance to drive get a two-fer that way.

      In the past it has been fun to take in a baseball game and WBB on the same trip. Never worked out to see all of both, but enough to be enjoyable.

      • Iowa is having a wrestling match in their football stadium before we play em for the Pig Saturday.
        Grapple on the Gridiron: Iowa wrestling, football to double feature in hyped Saturday at Kinnick Stadium
        campusrush.com – 22 hours ago

        • I can’t believe the Whioux dropped one to Wiscy at home. But UND could do the same with hockey and probably get a full house.

          So embarrassing… losing to a B1G team at home. So embarrassing….

  15. Some links at P-T:

    “”Legend of the Giant Killers” premiered Friday night to a full house at the Academy Theater in Southeast Portland, the result of two years of work by two men who weren’t even alive when Bill Enyart, Jess Lewis, Steve Preece and company were doing their thing.

    Producer Alex Crawford, 24, and director Riley Hayes, 26, crafted a 67-minute documentary chronicling the ’67 Beaver squad coached by Dee “The Great Pumpkin” Andros…”

    http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/281139-154377-when-giant-killers-roamed

    Eggers picking the Bears, 42-10:

    http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/280935-156593-kerry-says-cal-bears-will-be-motivated-against-oregon-state

    This season – and this upcoming off-season – literally seems all about addition by subtraction for the Beavers. I hope they keep the recruits they have, create more space, and maintain their recruiting momentum….

    • It has to be about his confidence. I think we need to go back to the conversation about hiring a good sports psychologist. It really seems like our football team could spend some time watering the bamboo.

      • And it occurs to me… so much has been said about the talent left behind being insufficient and players buying in and being tough and blah blah blah.

        Should GA be recruiting the players on the roster with the same verve he does PSAs? By that I don’t mean he shouldn’t be saying and doing all he is already. I mean to ask, should he be throwing little public attaboys out there like the twitter edits the PSAs get?

        I think this could help with team unity while also speaking to them as a whole about who they should be.

        • It wouldn’t hurt, but also wouldn’t help much either. At this stage, that means it’s a wash and not worth the energy.

          Currently, GA is doing all the right things with this team that can be seen on the field and in the media. Cupboards bare or not, implementing a new scheme with players not attuned to it will have drawbacks. Youth will have drawbacks. Finally CREATING an identity as a team will take time.

          From a sport psychology perspective, GA is cultivating. Way more than we could ever say for MR. All Beaver fans inherently know it, but patience is a virtue that our instant gratification society lacks. The only thing that could really benefit this team going into the off season is individual work with a SP. That way specific needs could be tailored to better fit the demands put on athletes when they return next fall (i.e., focus, confidence, motivation, mindset, imagery, energy management, etc.).

          Winning is an attitude. Strength and skills can be enhance. MR could get his ‘chip on their shoulder’ players up for one game a season, but could never sustain over the long ebb and flow gauntlet which is NCAA football.

          GA is doing the right thing, the right way. Psychologically, those who are bought in will compete for him. They will bleed black and orange. They will know why they do it as well. He still needs those kids with the right skills and that ‘can-do’ mentality, but I myself look forward to the day when the players are singing our fight song back to the fans after the wins start piling up.

          • Hard to have confidence, when you don’t get to EVER prepare to be the starter and get thrown in down 30+points. He has moved the ball when he has gotten in, and doesn’t turn the ball over every 5-6 touches.

          • It’s not just about MM. And I understand what ML is saying. But in this day and age, I think social media is an ego stroke worth something. I subscribe to “praise in public, punish in private.” I think we’re not seeing enough of the praise in public part.

            When I see the edits done for PSAs, I start to think what will happen once they become SAs. Why does that have to stop? It’s not like they won’t deserve it once they get here. Then I start to think our current roster deserves that same treatment. Some teams put little stickers on helmets for good plays. But this is a new world. put those stickers on an edit in social media for all to see. Make those doing good known to all for doing good. Make it truly a social effort. Our coaches and team are not alone in this, as much as Pollyanna wants it to be that way. We are with them, and they are with us.

            I think it’s right to implement a social praise for our players. It would be simple and unprecedented. And it would be consistent with and continue the recruiting effort. SAs can know they will not just be PSAs until they get here.

            With that, I would like to throw out that Adam Soesman played a pretty decent game last week.

          • GA has said that the staff awards, on a weekly basis, a “winner” and a “champion” designation. Not sure if I have the terms exactly correct and pretty sure not all weeks merit one or both. He has most recently publicly praised Josh Mitchell and Kyle Peko.

            So, he is throwing out some “public attaboys”; and, of course, the staff is continually evaluating SA’s performance. Point is, much of the groundwork for Jack’s suggestion is already being done and it wouldn’t take a lot to pass it along to Zak Bigelow, or whomever, to move it into the social media area. Seems like a low cost/high benefit move. What am I missing?

            And, yes, Soesman made good use of his playing time. But I do miss the early season version of Justin Strong.

      • The ducks forward thinking drives me absolutely insane as well: http://jobs.uoregon.edu/unclassified.php?id=5368

        There’s only one job in the world I refuse to apply for and this is it. I was doing practically the same thing at Cal before they hacked their (eventually returned) programs right as the PAC10 was expanding to 12. It’s so very much what I wish I were doing with my alma mater!

        Get your shit together Beavs and start hiring!!
        Now if only I actually knew people with connections inside the athletic department..

        • Those required qualifications are open-ended enough to make me think they already have a crony.

          But you’re correct. A qualified sports psychologist (or multiples) would help any AD… given true privacy… which Nikegon does not do… and was sued for… and is being sued for. If I’m a Nikegon athlete, I don’t talk to anyone. Smart is as smart does.

          • Many people still believes that sport psychology practitioners are some form of “therapist”. While we do have strong counseling backgrounds and skills for the applied nature of the work, everything we do is skill-based.

            That means, I observe you and ask about what’s going on with ________. From there, I give you empirically-based techniques proven to help with, and correct the reason why ________ occurred. At no point will I ever ask or care about how it made you “feel”. The only thing I want to know is, were you productive/effective in the moment.

            So hopefully as the atmosphere changes, all coaches and athletic departments will start utilizing such resources without fear of some sort of stigma or repercussion.

          • Yes. I am not speaking to the stereotype… if there is a coherent one. We’ve had this discussion before. And we’ve gone through it with the baseball team in terms of real world applications. We’ve also not seen or heard of it used for the rest of the athletic department one whit.

            It’s a tool. When it’s looked at that way, it can be a valuable one.

          • I just don’t trust Nikegon to use it as anything other than something to benefit the bottom line. They’ve shown that anything and everything is about money, not welfare. It would be a dark day on the sun before I spoke to any professional in any capacity on that campus and expected privacy.

  16. The new Valley Football Center looks like OSU is just building a new facility to check it off the list, rather than making it nicest in the conference. It looks plain and ordinary, lacking that “wow” factor. That’s just my thoughts. OSU needs a home run here, not just an at bat.

      • Ha ha! I was thinking more windows and replace the existing roof at least. Look at Arizona’s, Washington State’s, and Utah’s new upgrades. Hell, look at Nikegon’s… OSU can’t compete financially with them, but they could make it worth the effort. I think OSU is selling themselves short with the new Valley football center. It doesn’t have to be the biggest or the most expensive, but it can be the nicest.

        • ” It doesn’t have to be the biggest or the most expensive, but it can be the nicest.”
          Well said! Size, in many instances, is oversold.

        • I think you overstate esthetics. Look at the Nikegon black box. That thing is so out of place (and completely ugly as a result), but it’s luxury inside. Football is not about luxury. But it’s also not about depriving people who go out and play in traffic simple luxuries.

          The soaker. Dedicated film rooms. Separate coaching spaces with ample room. An uncrowded locker space. Storage capacity which doesn’t overflow or get lost in some back closet. A space for leisure.

          These things are necessary. All else is blah.

          • Agree. IMO the building should look nice, but kind of blend in with what we have going on already.

            Don’t need a bunch of old brick and cinder block buildings, and then all of a sudden the Fashion Show Mall pops out of nowhere

    • In the grand scheme of things, really how much money should be put into athletics? Unless that Turkish dude suddenly becomes a major OSU sports fan we’ll never be able to outdo the Green and Yellow polka dotted prancing Phil Knights. Just make an nice place for the kids to get some r&r, proper training, meals, etc… No need for diamond encrusted PS4 remotes, hyperbolic chambers, and golden showers (leave those to the U of O basketball team, ZING!)

    • Seems to me the general consensus of the original design were very positive overall, thinking OSU showed it could take a step beyond its comfort zone. Most fans I talked to thought it looked sharp and probably would have graded it a solid 8 out of 10.

      I don’t get that same sense with the redesign. I hear many more people saying they like it less and that it has too much brick and isn’t open enough. A few fellow fans and alumni I have asked that attend football and basketball games here and there say they like the more prominent glass design and score the new design between 3 and 4 out of 10.

      Stansbury would be wise to go back to the drawing board one last time and open it up some. Changing the 90’s roof is also needed. Looks like what you see on barns.

    • I’m guessing Bibby Jr. goes ASU, even as a walk-on. I think he has a Memphis offer. But he’s tied to ASU emotionally. I don’t think we offered him, so I don’t know why that’s out there.

      Fraser will be good. Jaquori filled that spot for us. The late period will have us looking for two bigs most likely. But Tinks will not pass on a talented G. There are a couple Aussies kind of in play at the moment. Thank you to Larry Brown for being Larry Brown. Might be a long shot, but I think a visit would help us a lot.

      • Man, hoops is going to be so good for the foreseeable future barring injuries or Victor Robbins type issues.

        I do hope we get just one year with all 3 major sports at a high level. i.e. hope Casey doesn’t retire before GA rights this ship.

        • “I do hope we get just one year with all 3 major sports at a high level.”

          That would be great not just from a fan perspective, but could be recruiting catalyst as well….

  17. My lookin on the bright side hope for the Cal game:

    -Cal is looking past us and to next weeks “Big Game”
    -Cal’s secondary and defense plays poorly
    -Damien Haskins puts some people in the hospital
    -Biblical rains wash Berkeley into the bay

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