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Post WSU General Discussion

216

Sorry, guys. I've been extremely busy with personal stuff, and not much time to blog or follow the Beavs right now.

Anyway, the last comment area had 400 posts, so it's time for a new post. Use this for anything you'd like. Hopefully in the next couple days I'll have more time to write down some concrete thoughts and reason through them.

Off the top of my head:

  • Utah gives the Beavs a great opportunity to take two steps forward. Want to at least go into the Stanford game feeling good.
  • The Beavs can still, technically, win the North (ha ha) and make a bowl game (ha ha).
  • Stanford and Oregon are most likely the fans bowl games this year.
  • The defensive ends contained Tuel…that was nice to see. They played with passion.
  • Anthony Watkins needs to be called out. The guy is a terrible safety.  I'd like to see more Murphy. Reynolds has also been poor, but he has potential and made a nice INT.
  • I'm tired of the PI rules…watching the NCAA and NFL this past weekend, a DB can't breath on a WR. On that same note but slightly off topic, what is with the NFL kickoffs? That rule has destroyed the most exciting play in the game and turned pro ball into the Arena League.
  • Sean Mannion has "it"…I think "it" is poise, or courage under pressure. He'd make a great Ernest Hemingway character ala Robert Jordan. The literary folks out there might get the reference.
  • I haven't read any post game notes or listened to Riley's interviews, so I can't praise or criticize. I do know that the play calling was fantastic, and since I criticize when it is horrible, it would be unfair not to acknowledge that. Did the media ever ask if Riley was involved in play calling? That did not have the hallmarks of a Langsdork game…I think he received an assist.

Have at it. I'll try to scout Utah and get something written up, but like I noted above, life has gotten in the way of football for now.

216 COMMENTS

  1. Something to discuss:
    Listed sizes:
    Dylan Wynn (6’2”/240)
    Scott Crichton (6’3”/258)
    Taylor Henry (6’2”/258)

    My question is, should Wynn be playing MLB? I think this might have came up here once before? My background is a DB, but I see the motor Wynn has and seems like a better fit for a LB. Henry seems serviceable to me. We have seen Wynn lined up all over the line. Would it make more sense to stand him up? Am I wrong? Wouldn’t this be the most likely position for him in the NFL? Thoughts?

    • Wynn is a classic 5-tech. He has great size for the position 20 years ago (ala Lawrence Taylor). But now he would have to put on about 15 pounds to be “ideal” as an NFL prospect (ala Brian Orakpo, who he reminds me of a lot).

      If a 3-4 system like KC saw fifth round value in Miller last year, then Wynn is headed for a first round pick.

      Crichton will be the same, but he actually plays the 4-3 DE position. He will put on another 15-20 pounds naturally and be an outstanding NFL prospect.

      All of this barring injury, of course.

    • Ever watch “Blood Diamond” with Leo DeCaprio? The scene of his impending death near the end reminded me so much of Robert Jordan.

      Mannion’s touch on passes is good to see. A bit like Canfield in that he can apply touchy, but with more arm strength when needed as well.

      Utah’s QB situation is absolutely atrocious. I see OSU’s D-ends really taking advantage of that, and generating some INT’s to boot.

      Nice opportunity for progressive confidence for the Beavs. While Stanford and Oregon don’t seem winnable, I’d like to at least see a sound victory over UW, even if it were competitive and not a blowout. It would be nice to see Agnew/Ward go off for a ton of yards against UW. I still think the UW game is a toss-up.

      • Who knows with UW? That’s going to be a gameday game, in that the team who decides to show up for gameday will win.

        Stanford and Nikegon are games our staff usually scheme well. With limited scout time on Mannion, our offense will be the key to either game. i don’t expect much, but add the scheme to “showing up,” and we might have a chance in either.

        Mannion looks SOOOO relaxed out there, it’s a little scary. When he winds up for those cross-field sideline passes, I’m always thinking that no defense can be so slow as to not pick six him. But he let’s fly, and they usually hit the mark. That pass is just an amazing slo-mo play in my mind.

        I wholly expect a win at Utah. Given the different teams we’ve fielded this year, I wouldn’t be surprised at a loss. But I would still be disappointed. It seems that as more of the seniors and juniors are hurt, more of the sophs and frosh are stepping up and making plays.

        • He’s probably the closest OSU will ever get to a Kellen Moore…in terms of both ability and poise. Obviously not there yet, but he has both those traits.

          • I think in terms of ability his ceiling is higher then Moore’s. In terms of poise and leadership intangibles it is tough to predict how that stuff will play out.

      • I’m surprised with Kyle Whittingham and the QB situation. He really went “all in” with Jordan Wynn who was coming off of an injury last season and got burned. Hays is a D-2 product, Devonte Christopher is injured.

        I just don’t know what to make of the Pitt game on the road, they absolutely shut down one of the better backs in the country in Graham. I thought the Beavs would handle BYU and they didn’t, so I don’t know. Looks like it should be a win, but Whittingham’s defenses play hard. Comparative scores just end up driving me crazy. Just win the damn game Beavs!

      • Utah QB situation is more like OSU after Wisconsin. At one point Mannion was 5 tds and 9 interceptions. He looked great last week and projects out to be a great sophmore, junior and senior qb. But, the WSU interception was more his fault than Wheaton. Bad location for qb and ideal location for a trailing cb playing catch up to wide receiver where wr could not use body to shield db. Cal qb looked terrible for several weeks but was more comfrotable and accurate last week against Utah, mostly because (like Mannion) he faced little rush pressure. The conclusion, we need to let things play out rather than to pass judgement after one or two good or bad performances. Remember, Utah beat BYU and Pitt. Cal played a very strong half at Oregon and kicked Utah’s butt.

        • From what I’ve seen and I’ve watched every Utes game except the last one is that Hays is not a D-1 talent and I’m not sure he can develop into one. Jon White is a D-1 talent at running back If they can run the ball and Hays can manage the game like many back up NFL QB’s try to do after starters inevitably get injured they could have success against the Beavs.

    • Interesting idea. Moving him around like that would not only get him more impact plays, but it’d guys like Fernando and Henry would enjoy the benefits too. Something that creative might be a bit much to ask for this coaching staff: “He’s a defensive end. Our defensive ends play this way.”

      On another interesting position change note, I have been advocating for over a year for Poyer to get snaps at the Wildcat. Apparently, he’s been lobbing Riley for it, and Riley says not this year, maybe they’ll put in some packages for him next spring camp. I’d love to see that, he’s smart, a decent running threat, and a better threat to throw than Quizz was.

      • I’m with you on getting Poyer some PT in the Wild Beaver, particularly in the red zone. A previous poster pinpointed the advantage of playing 12 vs 11 with the addition of a mobile QB. Poyer would be that advantage. Check out this video of him scoring 5 TD’s at QB in a HS semifinal victory.

        http://youtu.be/8ZxVgYOTjSw

        • Peter Ashton would be better. You should study his video. Poyer is a great talent but is already spread too thin. Beavs need him as a shutdown corner not a mediocre-good multipurpose guy.

      • I would be for that if I trusted our back-up CB’s. Maybe if Marable and The Commissioner can have an impact next year (or if a couple other guys step up). But right now there is no one really pushing Poyer and Reynolds for time. I’d rather Poyer not risk injury or fatigue any more then he already does.

      • I liked that they have begun to move him around. I especially like it when they have back at LB then allow him to “find” the hole he wants to blitz through. First off, it gets one of the other DEs on the field, then it causes problems for the OL. It isn’t that Dylan necessarily makes the play, rather he picks up a double team freeing someone else… I didn’t understand when replace Castro in short yardage against Arizona…but hey, it worked!

          • I read a lot about all of the Beav injuries, but hardly any mention of Glover anymore. I think he was poised for a great season and would have added further depth to the D-Line. Does anyone know, did he flunk out of school? I remember at first everyone was confident he would be back in a week.

          • yeah he is ineligible and I think he could possibly come back next year if he gets his degree. I am not sure how good he is though… he has never played DT at this level before (if ever). The media likes to play up the injury/imeligibility angle but we really don’t know how much of an impact he would have.

    • I agree, he could go either way. So why not use him that way? I’d like to see the coaches put his hand down and stand him up depending on down & distance. A DE who can get to the QB is more valuable than a LB, though, so if they’re going to use him at one position I’d prefer DE. I think he needs to add 10lbs (and gain a little more experience) to dominate. This is nitpicking, though…the guy is a pretty great player as is.

    • About a month ago, I suggested that Dylan Wynn might be best suited to MLB, and that he reminds me of Ray Nitschke, Dick Butkus, and Ray Lewis — a hellacious hitter with a non-stop motor. I still feel that way about DW. It’s amazing what DW can do a down-lineman, given that he is undersized for the position. Put DW at MLB (after gaining some size and strength in the off-season) and he would be our version of Vontaze Burfict (but smarter, without the stupid, dirty plays). I also think DW would pick up the whole defense another notch by taking over at MLB, and becoming the de facto QB of the front seven….

      • Wynn projects as an OLB at the next level like Butler, Norris, and Miller were all drafted as. Right now though, I don’t think he has the lateral speed to play LB and I think he would struggle in coverage. It’s one thing to have a good motor, which he has, but it’s another to be matched up on a slot receiver and have to break to the sideline to stop the quick out. I think his best college position is DE and he’ll get stronger and faster over the next 3 and a half years.

  2. OT…

    For the record, I’ve never liked Cliff Harris as a “this level” CB, let alone a “next level” prospect. Yes, he has all the physical tools. But he has really sucked as a CB when given the time. The Ducks have many more really good CB’s actually playing the position well.

  3. PI’s do seem to be poorly officiated, at all levels around the country. Especially when the timing of them is poor. My HS alma mater lost because of a PI late in the game, my Chargers lost because of a PI late in the game, Seattle vs. Pittsburgh…that Husker/Texas B12 Championship game where UT got 1 second put back on the clock when McCoy brain farted and fired a lot out of bounds almost running the clock out…many PI’s, most bad, one in the end zone Turned a sure attempt FG into the lone touchdown of the game.

    I don’t like them unless it’s blatent. And in the NFL, it’s a huge penalty. Needs work at all levels.

  4. Anthony Watkins is a bad safety. I’ve never liked his game. He is bad in pass coverage, especially the deep ball. Reynolds is not a great corner yet, but he is young and he’s been serviceable. I don’t really recall him being beat deep very often. Thinking back to how bad Lewis and Hughes were as first year starters, and after suffering through Tuimanei and Harden in pass coverage, its hard to complain about Reynolds (i.e., it could be a lot worse). What’s scary is the lack of depth at corner. We have none.

    Murphy’s been playing quite a bit but it seems like he comes on to spell Mitchell because Mitchell is playing hurt and cannot play even close to every down. Murphy seems to have a big upside but he hasn’t looked that great yet. The one exception being the ball he batted down against WSU- I think it was on 3rd or 4th down and it was a big play in the game. In any event, its unfortunate that Mitchell has been hurt this year because he’s a really good player that has been hampered by injuries. It looks like Murphy is being groomed to take Mitchell’s place next year and we are stuck with Watkins until somebody else steps up or he graduates.

    • That sounds about right. You’re forgetting Zimmerman, though. Him and Murphy could be the safeties by next season. Watkin’s days are numbered…

  5. thoughts on watkins/reynolds. watkins is by far the most disappointing of anybody who i expected to be good this year exepct maybe hamlett, but that probably isn’t fair to a freshman. the frustrating them about watkins to me, as opposed to reynolds, is that the long passes that he gives up are because of mental mistakes, either biting on a fake or seemingly forgetting what he is supposed to be doing and letting a receiver run right by him, whereas reynolds just plain gets beat to the ball. remember that 3rd and 6 in the byu game? i too am ready for more ryan murphy, but the thing is that mitchell has been ineffective this year as well (apparently because of injury.) so id imagine well be seeing more of watkins/murphy on the field at the same time.

    • also- watkins from what ive seen is the better tackler than reynolds or murphy, who just seem to dive at ballcarriers legs rather than nutting up and getting in front of them and wrapping up.

    • Watkins watches the ball but doesn’t play it…it’s as if he’s frozen. Really bizarre. He’ll be in position and just…do nothing…

      Last year he was good in limited time, so I have no idea how or why this happened to him.

    • I agree Watkins has been disappointing this year but on one play where Marquis Wilson beat him that has got to be an error on the part of the coaching staff or the CB. There is no reason a safety should be covering the other teams best receiver. Either that it was a blitz that didn’t materialize.

      • I’d agree with this. There’s no reason a S should be covering Wilson unless the CB dropped him while they were doubling him.

        That was also a bizarre facemask call. Watkins’ hand was in Wilson’s gut trying to strip the ball while he was tackling him. Watkins had every right to look flummoxed over that call.

        • yeah… I watch it in replay and his hand was kind of near the face mask. I am not sure if college is the same as the NFL but either way that was a questionable call at best.

          • i said the same thing at the time. that was a text book 5 yard face mask penalty. plays like that were supposed to become legal when they got rid of that penalty

    • Speaking of Lance Mitchell, I’m really disappointed this year. I really hope it’s his abdominal injury to blame because I expected huge things from him this year, with NFL potential. Now I’m not sure he would get drafted and might have to make it the long way around. Wondering if he should’ve medical red-shirted this year.
      Still love his character and am proud of his contributions to Beaver without Borders.

      • its gotta be the injury because hes been almost a different guy than the one we saw his sophomor/junior years. speaking of safeties anybody remember bryan payton? what ever happened to him

  6. Mannion’s field awareness is developing SO quickly. It’s so nice to see a guy not panic when the D is closing in on the pocket. I found myself not worrying about it because he consistently finds the open guy. Katz got happy feet and bailed WAY too early.

    Are the guys pass-blocking for Mannion better than for Katz?

    • They definitely are not. O-Line still sucks and blows blocking assignments but because Mannion gets it out so quickly he doesn’t take a sack. Katz had a habit of panicking and essentially running into sacks. He stopped looking downfield and was just trying to get get out of the pocket. He was never able to slide and move in the pocket to create throwing lanes, Mannion does this repeatedly.

      Coming out of high school I felt Mannion would be a big time player and he’s showing that to be true and he’s nowhere close to his potential yet. He’s only going to get better.

    • Unlike Katz, Mannion is able to (1) slide around in the pocket to buy an extra second and avoid the initial rush; (2) keep calm and make quick decisions when he’s under severe pressure; (3) find and get the ball to his checkdown receiver when there is no time for anything else. Perhaps all of this give the O-line more confidence in the QB, and helps them hold their blocks a split-second longer for Mannion than they did for Katz. But the greatly reduced number of QB sacks this season is mostly due to better QB play, not due to better O-line play, or so it seems to me….

  7. I think the Beavers handle the Utes. I don’t expect Agnew to have a real big night, something like 80 yards on the ground. Utah is solid against the run. I do however expect Mannion to have a big night. I think he throws for 280 yards and three touchdowns. I think the defense will get a couple turnovers as well. If the Beavers are stout against the run the Utes will have a hard time scoring. Early prediction right now is 34-13 Beavers

  8. A couple thoughts.

    I totally agree about the play calling…all game long. IMO, cant be the same person doing it. Too different.

    Utah — If we are going to be up and down, like so far this season, I would rather we be down for OOC games….do as well in conference as possible. But I agree the game is winnable. I dont think we need to play as well as against WSU, to do it.

    I think that game will depend on the same person doing the play calling as last game.

    I think Riley owes us all a big apology for the Sac State and UCLA games…. but I suspect we aint gettin one.

    • “I totally agree about the play calling…all game long. IMO, cant be the same person doing it. Too different.”

      I think the difference was an effective run game. It opens up a lot of the playbook. Add the fact that our offense usually improves by midseason…there’s the explanation for the shockingly strong performance vs Wazzu.

      I think we’ll beat Utah as I think our current team is much, much better than the team we had going into the UCLA game.

      • An explanation isnt necessarily the reality. A strange light in the sky can be explained as the planet Venus, but that doesnt mean it is. The play calling can be unpredictable even if your run game isnt working. No one knew if the run game was going to be working but even at first the play calling wasnt predictable. We need some insider info.

        • I though the play calling wasn’t that good vs. Sac State, and Agnew dropped 200 on them. They never stretched the field (rarely, took a whole half, and a Mannion pass to Wheaton I believe). Maybe the line wasn’t giving enough time? Maybe the coaches just didn’t call the plays to go deep..either way, we ran well, but still seemed to lack in the play calling.

  9. I think the media needs to ask Riley who’s calling plays, and I think the TV cameras need to show us both Langsdork and Riley when plays are called in…I won’t believe Saturday was Langdork’s work until I see it.

  10. Pac-12 Power Rankings, Post Week 8 Edition hot off the presses! (Reposting so it will be easier to reference). Most of you ask several times what this is based on. It’s based on the PhilSteele power rankings to begin with and teams move up and down based on their performance. For example, a team that plays at Oklahoma and loses by 7 likely will have their ranking increase. If a team like Oregon plays poorly at home and wins by 10 points vs a Colorado team, their rating will more than likely drop. I would say this is the CLOSEST thing to the line Vegas is using for everyone. This is the order each team would be favored in on a neutral field at this particular juncture, WITHOUT a home field advantage. Anything above 140 should be considered stellar.

    PAC-12 RANKINGS

    STAN 150.38
    ORE 147.62
    AZST 136.54
    USC 130.78
    UTAH 127.73
    WASH 127.47
    ARIZ 124.55
    ORST 121.75
    CAL 121.01
    WAST 120.17
    UCLA 117.03
    COL 113.84

    Other OSU Opponents
    WISC 142.48
    BYU 124.18

    Top Ten Overall:

    ALAB 151.86
    STAN 150.38
    LSU 150.11
    OKLA 148.10
    ORE 147.62
    BOST 145.13
    OKST 145.12
    WISC 142.48
    SCAR 136.65
    AZST 136.54

  11. that’s very optimistic (34-13). there must be some reason utah is a 5 point favorite. their front must be really tough, hopefully we can exploit their secondary. sounds like christopher is expected back this week for the utes, so they’ll have their top playmaker. hope we can hit the qb early as we did last week.

    • They have horrible QB play. Secondary isn’t too good. They have a good D-Line, running on them is tough but you can definitely pass on them. Zach Maynard completed 66% of his passes for 255 yards on their defense. The highest completion % he had before that was 60% against Presbyterian. You have to really try to allow to him to complete 60% of his passes. Was an awful performance from Utah.

      Getting Christopher back won’t help them too much when their QB struggles to get him the ball. I think Crichton and Wynn will have a big day and there will be Utah turnovers.

      To show how bad Utah was against the Bears, they had 50, yes 50 yards against the Cal defense heading into the 4th quarter. This is a game that should be big for the Beavers defense. They’ll make a lot of plays.

    • The reason they’re a 5 point favorite is obvious: it’s Utah at home, and both teams are struggling. I believe in this case the home team would have been favored in either way. If the game was at Corvallis the Beavers would have been the favorite. Although according to Phil, we are very good as conference underdogs. Hopefully that trend continues this week!

  12. Hi BN.. It’s me again the old and pending future head coach.

    Baring some indecision from BDC I will be announced 11-26 at about 9:00 PM. We have worked out some contract details. Here is a sneak peek for you, my great BN supporters.

    1.) I will not play September games as NFL pre-season non-counters.
    2.) I will determine and train a starting quarterback prior to the second half of the first game.
    3.) I will determine that walk-ons can in-fact walk.
    4.) I will win at least six games per season. BDC to assist with scheduling.
    5.) I will guarantee at least a crappy, yet affordable bowl experience that BN can easily drive to in their campers. Boise, San Francisco or Boise, here we come.

    In Seattle departing fans were nearly trampled in the post win rush to re-board the Beaver bandwagon. BN left behind a Titanic like debris field of walkers, Nikes and Bud Light cans as they rushed back on-board.

    The bandwagon was last seen careening giddily to New Orleans with a brief stop on Saturday in Utah. Let’s hope it passes through Provo quietly. BYE fans still don’t take the Beavers seriously.

    I would advise BN to to proceed with caution. This sort of upset win can cause on artificial sense of “turning the corner.’ I turned so many corners in my six years that I ended up one game ahead of where I started.

    So its on to Utah for the big game of the weak.

    PS: JackBeav (official team tool) has reluctantly accepted the advice of fellow Angry Beavs associates to end his futile pursuit of “dog.’ After two weeks of embarrassing Wiley Coyote type mishaps at the hands of the aforementioned dog, and for the sake of his reputation as a ubiquitous online know-it-all they urged “no-mas”.

    As scorched, flattened, anvil hammered, bandaged be-crutched yet still oddly defiant JackBeav declared.. “I drew the stalker in… as long he was occupied with me, he couldn’t be bothering others.” (1) He had fallen into my diabolically clever trap. (2) I had him right where I wanted him. (3)

    The final straw, according to his fellow AngryBeavs associates, was when the dog suddenly morphed into a chicken. His futile headlong pursuit was deemed futile, as all chickens are well aware that they would be vigorously choked in his hands.

    1. JackBeav quote on AngryBeavs 10-22-11
    2. Being a Tool for Dummies pg 23
    3. Get Smart 1966

  13. Regarding playcalling: people say the run opened up the offense, but the threat of the deep ball opened up the run. Mannion hit that first pass to Wheaton, and because of that and his continued attempts downfield, WSU had to spread out more, which opened the second level up.

    Mannion’s deep throws are crucial to our offensive success; Katz couldn’t complete them, Canfield rarely attempted them, and Lyle only threw them on PA post routes. Mannion peppers them all over, and it makes everything else work.

    Agnew looked fast and strong, very exciting. And during a video interview with him, he said that he was carrying the ball with one arm the first few games, because he could get away with it in high school, but not anymore, and realizes that. That is a huge deal.

    Wynn at OLB with Rusty and Michael Crichton at DE is very, very scary, but we’d need a 3rd DE for the rotation.

    All our young CBs look atrocious their first year or two, Poyer being an exception. Reynolds could turn into Browner or Dockery in a few.

    Our safeties are murdering us though. We used to have ballhawks like Sabby, but now we have guys that misjudge and mistime everything. Murphy and Zimmerman getting PT there would be huge. Last year, our defensive line not getting pressure on the QB made our corners look bad. This year, our safeties not being able to help makes them look bad.

    Finally, the offensive line. It has been bad at pass blocking, but I think it’s actually pretty good at run blocking. Agnew seems to have holes to run through, at least up the middle. And while it has been against two bad lines(SacSt and WSU) it’s better than no evidence at all. But Mannion makes them look better with his quick decisions.

    Overall, the youth on this team is super exciting, and we have a lot of potential. Cal, Utah, and WashSt are all winnable, which puts us at 5 wins, meaning we need to beat Stanford or UO to become bowl-eligible. UO at Autzen is probably a pipe dream, but we could make Stanford at Reiser our new USC and become giant killers yet again. A smart QB and pressure from the DLine gives us a shot, at least.

    • Think you mean Scott Crichton, not Michael. I thought Taylor Henry played pretty well against the Cougars. Not sure if anyone else agrees but he looked solid to me at DE. I think Mitchell’s injury has really slowed him down and not allowed him to play like he wants to. I think Murphy should be starting over Watkins. Watkins last year seemed solid in spot duty. Seems like he’s better when he’s not the full time guy. Have him come in for Mitchell at times.

      As far as the Cardinal go, I think beating them is a pipedream. Andrew Luck is the best QB the Beavers will see all year by far, think about how poor the safeties have played, now picture them having to cover some of those great tight ends of the Cardinal? That will be a monster mismatch. The Cardinal have a huge offensive line and a damn good running game. Stanford has a big advantage in size up front. Stanford also has an underrated defense. I really am hoping the Beavers come out on top cause that would be a huge win, but if I’m being realistic, I see the Beavers having major issues trying to stop Stanford.

    • hes on most of the special teams. i dont blame you for not remembering him im not sure if hes made a play of any kind yet this year. hes number 8 though.

      • oh thanks… bummer to hear he is not getting a redshirt. If he is playing safety he could us a little bit of bulk. I am not a big fan of wasting a guys redshirt for ST duties.

        • While it could seem like a waste, for some players ST duties is conducive to their gradual progression of getting their feet wet and then ultimately becoming stars. Think: Sabby and Feti Unga

  14. Phil Steele has weighed in with this week’s forecast, which qualifies as one of his THREE STAR SELECTIONS (Four being the strongest):

    These 2 met in 2007 and 2008 with the home team coming out victorious in both and Oregon State covering each. In their last meeting (also here) Utah trailed 28-20 with 2:18 left but pulled out the win 31-28 (-11’) to keep their unbeaten season alive. Utah is off a pair of away games including last week’s dismal outing at California in which they had just 57 total yards throuh 3 Quarters (177 for game). Oregon State on the other hand earned a much needed victory over Washington State, a game in which QB Mannion tossed a career best 376 yards (4-1 ratio). The Utes were 11-5-1 ATS as a Mountain West Conference Home Favorite but didn’t fare well in their 1st Pac-12 Home Favorite role as Washington smacked them as a 10 point dog (Utah -4 turnovers). Despite traveling for a 2nd straight week and dealing with the altitude, it’s tough to go vs Oregon State as a conference dog as they’re 11-1 ATS in that role.
    FORECAST: Oregon St 20 UTAH 17

    • DB prospect. Diamond Ranch media guide blurbs that his fave players are Polumalo and Ed Reed.

      At first though, I had to do the double-take on the name.

      Seriously?

      Chris Miller?

      From Pomona?

      Too funny.

    • As a rule, the Beavs should not recruit any players who have the same names as past Duck superstars, expecially when they have zero stars.

    • Why would you offer this kid when there is plenty of spots left to fill? More than likely he is going to be there at the end of the recruiting cycle and you can offer him then. It is pretty clear that not all “diamonds in the rough” work out.

    • Why offer the kid now when he has no other offers. This lack of strategic thinking kills me. If you want him, fine, but offer at the end if your other offers aren’t excepted.

      Now that the offensive recruiting class is shaping up, it be great to see OSU pull off some major commitments down the middle of the Defense -DT, MLB, Safety. Wouldn’t it be great to see some legitimate *** or **** talent there? Seems like the outside of the D is pretty solid, time to address the middle.

      • Define “legitimate.” If you go look at the *** talent on the pay sites, you’d be hard-pressed to find better S tape than this kid. If he had another gear, then he could be rated higher. But he doesn’t. And he compensates by taking better angles, reading the QB better and sticking with the fundamentals.

        Don’t mistake the pay sites for legitimate scouting. Mistake them for an ego-boosting money grab.

        • Agreed. Legitimate is a squishy term, by which I mean not “a 3*** on-a-pay-site-because-he-was offered-by-a-major-program-or-they’re-trying-to-attract-subscribers.”

          In this case, I mean someone who takes good angles, reads the QB, sticks with fundamentals, AND has another gear.

          Now obviously, everyone wants to have those kinds of players, but with the early strength of this class, I think OSU is better positioned to go after those players at the safety and MLB positions, and they can sell it: “You’re highly ranked. Come join our other highly ranked recruits. We have one of the top offensive line classes in the country, a promising RS sophomore qb who was the only FR to start in BCS college football, an arsenal of great receivers, fast, young outside linebackers, and feral animals at DE. You’ll be the remaining pieces of the puzzle and we’ll go bowling. In January.” (I prefer to set the sites higher).

          • The pay sites have never paid attention to the Inland Empire. You would think the world ends at 605.

            Donnell Welch? He was a no star kid with no offers. Yes, he was getting looked at by everyone, and grades held him back. But he’s a legitimate **** talent, maybe more. If USC would have pulled the trigger on him, he would have been an instant **** player, grades or no grades.

  15. Hi,

    My first comment here. Angry sorry to burst your bubble but Langsdorf called the plays like he always does. Riley may suggest a few plays here and there throughout the game, but it’s DL’s show 98% of the time.

    You guys are pretty spot on with your assessments of this team and their play (Mannion, Offensive Line woes, etc) so I’ll go back into lurk mode and chime in every once in a while to give a clearer picture of what’s going on. :)

    • Interesting.

      DL’s play-calling last Saturday against WSU was obviously more aggressive than usual. The results were very positive. So was the reaction — post-game — from Riley, from the media, and from fans. That positive reinforcement should lead DL to keep up with the aggressive play-calling. Looking forward to the game against Utah this Saturday to see if that happens….

      • For now, I like to keep in mind that the Beavers also executed much better on offense and that this was not a good defense they were facing, those factors can tend to make OC’s look a lot better. The 4th down pass play was an aggressive call, but it didn’t really fool Wazzu, Mannion threw a perfect pass. If it would have been Katz at QB and the ball was behind James then we would all be screaming “how do you not give the ball to Agnew”? I look forward to seeing what happens against better defenses.

        • Still took the Beavs about a half to throw deep on Sac State…rediculous when you have strong armed QB’s, and the speed of Wheaton and Cooks. I think the play calling changed. Maybe they thought “protect our young players until they learn the ropes”, when it seems they should have ‘opened things up so they didn’t have to think as much…let our athletes (better than usual) do their thing!”. ?

    • honestly the play calling didn’t seem a ton different to me. In fact I thought we took some unnecessary risks down the stretch when we should have just pounded out the clock. I just seemed to me like the vertical passing game opened everything else up.

    • Thanks for the insight, FOTP, I like that kind of stuff. But if DL did the play calling, seems to me he assumed a different personna. I dont care, as long as it continues. Maybe Riley lit a fire under him between games?

  16. I’m guessing/hoping with this now being a Pac 12 match up, with Pac 12 refs, that the reffing is a little less pathetic as it has been in past games at Utah. Nothing to gain by helping out the Utes in this game.

  17. anyone at practice this week? is andrews working back in with the first team? i don’t know much about oline, but would think enger or andrews could swap with out too much difficulty to get ellis out of there – easier than tackle at least. enger has certainly played well, but andrews, in my opinion, was definitely our best guy on the line when he was in there.

      • it does seem like Enger is best suited for OT but that is a whole different game being out on the end there. It will be interesting to see what next years lineup looks like on the O-line… there are so many ways you could go.

        • I’m going to assume that it will be Kelly, Enger, Garner, Andrews and Philipp… With Jackson, Beaton, Addie, Sapolu and the three walk-ons in reserve. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Enger bounced outside to OT reserve if any incoming frosh prove their mettle on the interior.

          • yeah that seems as likely as a lineup as any. Garner just looks soft to me… maybe he is decent I don’t know, that is more speculation then anything. It is too bad Andrews couldn’t make consistent shotgun snaps I think having Andrews at Center would allow us to get more talent on the line.

          • like I said it is not really based on much other then photos and seeing him on the sideline. He looks like he is chubby is all. Johnson actually looks fairly trim. That is what I mean by soft not so much style of play which I have no clue how Garner actually plays in a game.

          • maybe I will rewatch that. I only caught the end of the game live because of obligations and watched the first 3 quarters on replay. I don’t recall much of the 4th. I hope Garner is the real deal for sure.

          • and for what it is worth we don’t really do much with our center in terms of pulling and what not so maybe athleticism isn’t as big as of deal at that spot as strength on intelligence.

          • Yes, but I would like a C who doesn’t get pushed back or knocked to his knees on run plays… pulls and doesn’t look like he’s running around with his eyes closed… actually hits someone… etc., etc., etc….

  18. According to Riley on O-Live, he is very nervous about Utah. He also says don’t expect any great play calling as the Utes defense is so tough. Riley seems to me to be penciling in the loss already. I just hope he is more confident with the players. What would be the harm of being over confident. Go out and say, ” I think we have a good team and I feel confident we will win”. So what if he’s wrong. He is being paid to coach, not by the percentage of correct game forecasting.

    • Maybe the Beavs should forfeit the remainder of their games. His players here this shit and like it or not, some of it sinks in. “Our coaches don’t think we can score on these guys, and don’t think we can compete with their defense. I hope I don’t fumble. I hope I don’t throw a pick. I hope they don’t break my face off and wipe their asses it!”.

      We need a ‘fearless leader’.

      • Literally every coach goes out of their way to excessively heap praise on the opponent, at least to the media. I’ll agree that Riley doesn’t always appear to be as confident we’d all like, but I think it’s a stretch to think that a couple comments to the media have a big effect on performance. I’d assume and hope that he portrays more confidence in private.

      • Oh c’mon…you can’t be serious in not knowing how this works. A coach’s job is to pump out the ol’ “golly gee willickers, these guys play great football and we’ll have to be hitting on all cylinders blah blah blah.”

        It’s the locker room prior to the game where the red meat is thrown out.

  19. I think you guys give a little too much weight to Riley’s words. Just because he expects their defense to be tough does not mean out guys are going to play flat or with fear.

    Chris Miller looks solid. A sure tackler, but lacking a bit in athleticism, which our training and conditioning staff can help quite a bit with.

  20. Saw the spread is up to 7 in favor of Utah. Hard to believe. Feel like I am missing something. If we play like the WSU game, it won’t be close – Utah will not be able to keep pace. I’m just hoping for no turnovers and long drives – and no Romaine. So tired of not having a consistent threat at K. Really hope we get a win, walking out of there after the last game sucked – Utah fans are annoying.

    • I think what some people are missing is that the Utah defense is a hell of a lot better than Arizona’s or WSU’s and they are playing at home.

      • If I were a prognosticator, I wouldnt go just by the last game performance, and then you would be factoring in the dufus capability — the business of blowing it thru shanked punts, fumbles, stupid penalties, missed assignments on defense, etc….

        So maybe we should be underdogs in the rest of our games…

  21. I agree that you don’t want to give footage to the other team to use in the locker room. And in the past Riley has certainly done this tactfully. But his recent Utah footage, he looks really nervous. He also can’t understand how Cal and UW beat them. Also he must be reading the blogs, because he is warning to not expect the same creative play calling. I just hope the Mike Riley of this years WSU game shows up in SLC and not the Riley from last years game. I do believe he is the heart of the team and his moods or motivations are reflected in the team as a whole.

  22. I agree about the coach talking as if he is getting his excuses lined up for a loss, but given the way he and his staff have coached so far, and the dufus plays the team has come up with in many games, maybe he needs to get the excuses ready.

    But when I was a kid, if someone told me such-and=such COULDNT BE DONE,….I was always determined to show em wrong. Lucky for me no said I couldnt go play on the freeway in rush hour.

    Thats one of the reasons you dont want to brag about how you are going to beat another team…you just get them fired up to show you are wrong.

    I know Riley is mild mannered and soft spoken, but he needs to say that we are ready for the next team, and can beat them if we execute. Thats the case here, surely — we dont commit the dufus penalties, shanked punts, greasy fingered fumbles, missed pass coverage, etc, etc….we can win.

    • I guess a good case in point was how Blount rattled of his “ass whooping”. Would have worked had they actually beat Boise State. I just hope they get more player leadership and don’t “feed” off of Rileys varied moods.

  23. I for one am enjoying the “head north” running style of Agnew. Sometimes he hits the hole ( or “hole”) so hard that though he gets tripped up his momentum has him stumbling forward for another 3 or 4 yards.

    If I squint he reminds me quite a bit of another very successful #35 for the Beavs.

  24. Agnew has looked great, especially given that he’s a true freshman. He seems to be pretty quick, too, but I haven’t been able to tell whether he has take-it-to-the-house speed.

    Has anybody seen him bust off long runs in practice? Most of our RBs (Quizz included) seem to be the durable, grinder type backs. It would be nice if we could come up with even one change of pace guy with elite speed. Oregon has about 10 of those guys….

    • Quizz was able to his last year; he got faster and faster between seasons. Agnew seems comparable, but not quite there yet.

      Also, UO’s running backs fall down when a fly lands on them. Speed isn’t everything, or else Justin Gatlin would have been a stud for the Bucs.

        • LMJ does break a lot of tackles. But a lot of them are in space… the way their offense is geared to utilize him. He does have great balance, so you can’t just knock him over with an arm tackle. But you can knock him over if you hit him solidly.

          There’s the rub. Due to the offense, we’re back in space now, and LMJ does excel in space.

          I honestly don’t know how his skills will translate to the NFL because those defenses are populated by very large, very fast people with a penchant for not being embarrassed by small people, no matter how fast they are. If I had to guess, I’d say he will be Chris Johnson light.

    • @beavskis: “Agnew has looked great, especially given that he’s a true freshman. He seems to be pretty quick, too, but I haven’t been able to tell whether he has take-it-to-the-house speed.”

      An OSU press release says that Agnew was timed at 4.41 in the 40 yard dash, and that Agnew in high school was “a sprinter in track where he is among the fastest in Missouri in the 100 and 200 meters”. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbeaversbeat/2011/02/oregon_state_signing_day_runni.html

      Quizz ran a 4.74 at the NFL combine. Quizz got that down to 4.47 during a later pro-day workout. Okay, but that’s not as good as Agnew’s 4.41 in high school. Sounds like Agnew would probably beat Quizz in a footrace today. And with proper training and development, Agnew probably will get at least a bit faster over the next few years.

      In short, it sounds like Agnew does have “take-it-to-the-house” speed. Equally important, Agnew seems to come out of his cuts at high speed, rather than needing added time to accelerate.

  25. new commit: QB – Caleb Saulo. I think he’s a bit of a late bloomer, but he was named MVP of the Washington 5 Star football camp this past summer and we were/are his biggest offer so far.

    WashingtonPreps says this: The 6’2″, and 218 pounder from Kentlake impresses us everywhere he goes. As a linebacker he is a perfect combination of size and speed.

    Add to that agressiveness and a mean streak and you have the makings for one explosive athlete.

    Caleb did not disappoint and was solid in many reps he competed in during the 1-1 phase of the camp. He also faired very well in pass coverage in the 7 on 7.

    He holds offers from Army, Airforce, and Portland State and is closing in on others.

    Some of these schools want caleb as a QB where he looks good but it is hard to resist seeing him on defense as a star linebacker.

    A great camp for him at the 5 Star Event.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en-6TffjtEo

    • Let’s hope he’s a better LB.

      It’s disappointing to see such a great start to the class now fading into the typical 0-star/0 offer C list recruits. I guess that’s what losing does.

      • If you watched that tape of Chris Miller and you think he’s a legit zero star kid, I have no way to express how absolutely wrong I think you are. It doesn’t matter how many stars he’s been awarded by some dumb-asses who haven’t even seen him play, it matters how good he is. Not the first one, which is clearly not the same kid, but this one: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/428069/chris-miller

        That’s a D1 player. Doesn’t matter how many offers he has, and I guarantee somebody tries to poach that kid. And I can hear your eye-rolling already, but our starting true freshman running back was a 2 star 1 offer guy as well. (2 if you count Colorado State, which I don’t.)

        As for Saulo, I think he looks pretty solid on defense in that tape. He’s got a strong motor for sure. Worse case scenario, he’s a special teams contributor for his entire career.

      • Couldn’t OSU let these kids be “preferred walkons” or encourage them to walk on instead of using the scholarships?

        I imagine there’s some limit on that, e.g. “don’t stockpile scholarships,” but OSU should not necessarily be using scholarships on kids for whom there is no competition regarding their commitment.

        At least have them be walk-ons, and if they pan out, give them one down the road. Avoid the “Kreb’s Syndrome.”

        And I acknowledge that a kid could be a good player, a DI contributor, and not get ranked by scouting services. But, with the “diamonds in the rough,” polish them a bit, see if they are diamonds, THEN give them a scholarship. Otherwise walk on brother….

  26. Put 20 pounds on him and you may have a solid OLB prospect. I like how he bangs when he has the ball- not afraid of contact.
    For beavfan4- Army and Air Force do not offer the Jeramiah masoli’s of the world- LOL. Other than that, like the Miller kid, I’m not sure we offered so early- lots of time left.

    • We need to earn respect first. There are not a lot of analysts out there who actually know all of which they write about. Some are in it for the paycheck and the press passes to their favorite games.

      Nobody loved VCU as a play-in participant in the Tourney last year. In fact, most “experts” thought they would and should have been second round NIT washouts. They were an abomination to the sacrosanct Tourney, and they were destined to prove that crap bubble teams had no business playing with the big boys… and ruining the overall experience of Madness.

  27. OLB Brett Bafaro of Hillsboro is supposed to announce his commitment tomorrow. Beavs have an offer out to him. Anybody know much about him? Rivals appears to have an article talking about his top schools but I don’t have a subscription. I’m guessing Oregon has the inside track since his teammate Lyerla went there already.

    • Also, he was not a teammate of Lyerla. Bafaro attends Liberty.

      It’s funny how a no star kid gets two stars after spring combines, a third star after OSU and Boise offer, and a fourth star after Nikegon offers. He didn’t play a down during all that analysis, and his skills didn’t increase markedly.

      Cognitive dissonance anyone?

    • I played on his baseball team. He is very fast and very strong and has great work ethic, he is also kind of an asshole so I can see him going to UO. He goes to Liberty High School and Lyerla went to hillsboro high school, so they were not teammates.

  28. Two things.

    1. Phil Steele has us picked as his upset of the week for the second week in a row. Not saying it means anything, but I like the vote of confidence.

    2. I heard a rumor while tailgating before the last home game (BYU) that Jovan Stevenson knocked up Riley’s daughter. I did not believe the rumor when I heard it, especially given the source. This week a co-worker of mine check with a source he knows that works in the athletic department. This source confirmed the rumor and said that she gave birth to the baby about two weeks ago. Has anyone else heard this rumor? Confirmed it?

    • #2 – Meh…

      Sounds personal to me. She’s an adult with a college degree, so I really couldn’t care less about any scuttlebutt about someone I don’t know other than to wish all involved the best.

    • They really do have a family atmosphere! Like any good running back, he hit the hole hard.
      Could be like the situation at CU back in the day if true.

  29. Brent Brennan on recruiting:

    “It has been great,” Brennan said. “This is an unbelievable situation to recruit to. We have an outstanding head coach with a foundation in place. We have awesome coaches. The response from the kids I talk to has been tremendous. I’ve gotten into doors I haven’t been able to get into before. Every kid I talk to is interested at some level.”

    Refreshing… no hint of “nobody can recruit to Corvallis” in that. And he’s been solid so far.

    • Agreed. I’ve always hated that excuse so much. I’ve always thought that if you have a program worth coming to then recruits are going to come regardless of the location. All you need to do is look at how many of the “elite” programs in the country are in complete no-name towns. It’s great to see we’re finally enjoying some decent recruiting the last couple of years and hopefully we can keep up the great start to this years class.

  30. University of Houston is on pace to score nearly 100 pts tonight vs Rice. 66 pts with 3 mins left in 3rd qtr. Their qb Keenum has 8 td passes so far and has broken the alltime NCAA career touchdown record tonight.

  31. I have an idea for a fun project we should try during a slow week:

    Compile an All-Time OSU Football team.

    The best players from OSU’s history, compiled onto one team. People could propose players at each position, make arguments, then possibly a vote to choose who wins at each position.

    This sounds like a blast to me, and I’ve been tempted to create such a thing in NCAA Football several times, but am not familiar enough with OSU’s older players.

  32. Houston over Rice 73-34- lordy. Keenum throws 9 TD passes! # 8 comes with just over 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and # 9 with just over 10 minutes in the 4th. Think maybe they were playing for a little movement up the BCS ladder? What goes around comes around and I hope someone just spanks Houston in the near future- winning big is one thing but I think this is out of line.

  33. Hopefully the Presidents of these schools will get together and demand a playoff so teams don’t have to humiliate the others, and we can get back to some sportsmanship. The pundits were even talking about schools like Oklahoma and…Boise St? And how they need to make their wins look good to get a shot. Something is wrong with that. And until some of the schools on the losing end of these humiliating blow outs will lead the charge, and those that are left out of the NC game (a la Auburn in ’04-’05 season…and add Boise St. and Utah in there if you want, also undefeated). The guys who don’t care? The handful of schools who know that if they win their conference, and go undefeated, are in it. Why chance an upset in the playoffs when I can just get ushered in?

  34. I am thinking 3 TDs for Mannion and 1 for Agnew in this game. Wouldn’t be shocked if Agnew had 2 but then Mannion would likely just get 2 based on my prediction. I think a key to a Beaver win is Agnew getting 90 or more yards rushing which will require OSU staying patient with the run game and giving Agnew plenty of looks. We have to avoid turnovers and balance in the offense will greatly help and lead to a more efficient passing game.

    OSU 31, Utah 27

    OSU @ Utah Preview:
    http://beaverbyte.com

    • Our O-line will be overmatched physically to run it straight up. Need to take some shots down the field to open things up, like the first play last week to MW. Can Remmers go another game without a penalty?

  35. Barf-allow to the Ducks. Need some big wins to get the top kids to go to OSU. Need to win a CW in the worst way. MR should drudge up every gadget play he has ever seen and pull out all the stops this year. We have nothing to lose. Go Beavs!

  36. OT… but this is bizarre.

    As we know, Jahii Carson took an online course from Adams State College. I guess he was directed there because he could gain admissions and take one course for the summer through their distance learning program. The rumor has him not doing well on his SAT. And matched with his core GPA, he fails to meet NCAA eligibility requirements on their sliding scale. So this course would replace another he did poorly on, and his core GPA would rise enough to correspond to eligibility according to his SAT score.

    But the reports were (and still are) that Adams State refuses to release his transcript. But why would they do that? Not paying tuition or fees is all I an think of. But other rumors have have surfaced, as they tend to do in a vacuum.

    The first is that he failed the class or did not score well enough to raise his core GPA. So those who follow this rumor believe he is attempting to better his SAT score by taking it again. Once he does so, he will meet all requirements for eligibility.

    The second is the more bizarre. This one says that Adams State is in the process of investigating an issue with this one student. Remember that they are an NCAA D2 school, and they have liability issues when it comes to sport and regulations. So the rumor goes like this.

    Carson enrolled in an online class and was the student of record. But parts of the work done is being questioned by Adams State. Those parts include:
    A. Work was submitted by the student of record during a certain time period.
    B. During this same time period, Carson was playing for Team USA in Europe at the FIBA U19 World Championships.
    C. The IP address used by the student of record was an Arizona IP address which was not registered to a proxy service.

    You either have to hand it to UA fans for trolling a brilliant rumor, or you just have to shake your head at what might be real.

    • Hmm.

      Did we pull his offer or did he de-commit on his own?

      I think he’s one of the last 2 of the top 100 recruits who hasn’t been cleared. I’m sensing a Roberto Nelson repeat. “He should be cleared any day now.”

      • I’d be surprised to find out Coach Rob pulled the offer. He was so patient with Nelson’s situation that he likely had a road map for anything similar. Besides, all this weirdness didn’t happen until the summer.

        I can’t remember who the other kid is. He’s a foreign national who spent one (?) year stateside for school, and that schoolwork is under question. He’s a Charleston recruit I believe.

  37. I don’t think we will see a ton of points in this game.

    I call an odd ball score. The Beavs score three TD’s, one from Wheaton and a field goal. We miss an extra point. 23

    Yoots score 1 TD on a short field after an int/fumble. They kick three field goals. One of the filed goals after a long pass completion into the red zone. The Beavs stop in the redzone. 16

    We turn the ball over two times. Utah once.

    OSU 23, Utah 16

  38. Got a few recruiting questions:

    Aziz Shittu- Heard his name a couple months ago. Anybody hearing anything about what schools he’s interested in since he decommitted from Stanford? Saw his Twitter page and on multiple occasions he writes “Lose Please I Hate The Ducks” or something else anti-duck. Sounds like our kind of guy.

    Visesio Salt- Any feedback after his visit a few weeks ago?

    Ioane Gauta- Anything?

    Kenny Orjioke

    Gerald Bowman-

    Leroy Dobbins- Heard his name in reports a few weeks back, but it almost looks like that was Paul Buker being an idiot and mistaking Oklahoma State for Oregon State. Has he ever mentioned Oregon State as a potential landing place?

    • Dobbins really isn’t a viable big time recruit. His tape doesn’t scream 4.4 speed like all the sites say he has.

      It’s nearly impossible to get JUCO info. Gauta is a spring transfer, so he may just be later news. Salt, Leota and Hasiak were good in that they were here, and everyone will know when they visit elsewhere.

      Shittu I expect to end up at Cal. I don’t think we were ever on his radar. And I think Bowman is the same, but looking eastward.

    • Oh… and I haven’t heard much on Orjioke since he moved out east. Are we still in contact with the kid? He seemed like one of those Mike Riley sleepers nobody would know about until he committed to us out of the blue.

      • Ok… i just looked up Orjioke, and he’s killing it in Georgia? He’s at ASU this weekend and Ole Miss in three weeks. I don’t see us in the conversation other than he was talked about last year as someone who could get an academic scholarship to OSU if he wanted… and he only played the first two games his junior year before injury took him down.

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