Home Football Washington State @ Oregon State (Game Thread)

Washington State @ Oregon State (Game Thread)

331

Anyone else tuning out and not watching this meaningless game?

This will be the first one I (willfully) miss in years. Good job, Bob D, Ranker, and the rest of the crew. Bad football team = bullish for getting out and living live to the fullest, at least.

331 COMMENTS

  1. I’m with you angry. I’ve only actually watched a few games this year. It’s been all I could stomach. I log onto here, read a few comments then congratulate myself on my time and interest allocation decision.

  2. Its the morbid curiosity that keeps me coming back and checking scores and reactions; how bad will it have to be before BDC admits there’s a problem with Riley/Banker’s coaching?

  3. Things to watch:

    1. Special teams – shanked punts and 18 yard kick-off returns over/under?
    2. Who gets touches? – specifically, will Chris Brown or Hunter Har-mon (?) get two touches and score on one of them… each?
    3. Throwing short of the sticks on 3rd (or 4th) and whatever, no matter how short it is.
    4. Dumb penalties (especially at home) over/under?
    5. Will Wazzu have a 100 yard rusher?
    6. Is Falk the next QB who gets future Heisman-potential talk because of his break-out performance against us?
    7. How often will the announcers beat on dumb coaching decisions before the obligatory, “Mike Riley is an excellent coach,” blurb rolls off their lips?
    8. The flip-side of #7 – how quickly will they bring up fans being discontent and automatically dismiss it with excuses? Which excuses will they use to not answer any real questions they might bring up?
    9. How quickly after a win will the Pollyannas try to roll in with their “I told you so” comments?

    I’m laid up in bed today, so I’m in the mood for some high comedy.

  4. It’s like watching a train wreck, I just can’t look away although today I’ll probably only catch a few min here and there as I have much more important things to do such as washing the car and grocery shopping.

  5. Wow, 4 plays and we’ve seen better play calling than all of last game. Deep ball, fly sweep and a roll out by Mannion who throws back to Hamlett for the TD

  6. What is there to rave about Doctor? Is he big? No…..Is he fast? No…..Is he a sure tackler? No. I guess that answers it….

  7. Riley up to his same old again. Put a fork in this bum. Get him away from Oregon State. He is a lousy coach. Wake up. Decline getting worse and worse. Who is accountable?

  8. Just saw a couple plays, probably all i see today. But i didnt like how the dv who just got beat for a td, throws his hands up as the cstch is being made in front of him. Id rather him get a penalty for a late hit and try to knock the ball loose, all be it late, than to just throw hands in the air and beg for no penalty– a penalty or not , they are scoring in you douche

  9. Is Falk seriously lighting it up? My satellite internet is SO slow right now, i can’t check the game or or even a site that is running a box score or game tracker without having to wait forever for page loading.

    Must be a sign! DON”T BOTHER.

    Meanwhile, Goe links a few writers who again say OSU can’t do better than Riley, and Canzano writes “you think you know Riley?” but I didn’t read that. Likely another fluff piece about how competitive he is and how losing tears him up, or what a loving grandp he is….

    • What the gosh darn?!? How rude of them? Don’t they know 2-minute offenses aren’t run in Reser? One has to line up slowly, allowing the opponent to align their defense. Cads!

      Riley’s like an old British general from the 1700’s taking on North Viet Namese or Afghanis…

  10. I’m done. 29 sec left and the clock running the whole crowd is yelling for the TO and instead they run 12 sec off the clock and Mannion is sacked.

  11. Riley you are crapping away another one against one of the very worst Pac-12 teams at home. You no longer have anything left worth shit. Pathetic loss after loss after loss against anyone Top 75. Please retire so OSU can actually want to win without being stuck til 2025. Your time has come and gone. You keep doing all the same boneheaded mistakes over and over. Move On!!!

    • Not that Mannion is having a bad game, just that he’s being out played by a freshman in his first start. Could be the coaching though.

  12. Bad clock management AGAIN….!

    Riley has to be …. what? Disinterested? A moron?

    How can anyone call him a good coach? Ridiculous…

        • My take is that if those touches went to Brown, that Brown doesn’t get those yards after contact, which leads to pass plays rather than runs. I’d say this resolves the ‘why doesn’t Brown get carries’ debate.

          • He does?

            Have we been watching the same player?

            This is the kid who ran over a Wazzu DB instead of going out of bounds. I guess that was an easy tackle since he went down?

          • Yes… your hypothetical situation does resolve this debate in favor of how you set it up.

            Funny how that works.

            The run game works when you run more than once. We did that. We probably won’t do it again. Do please note Ward only broke one tackle on that drive. We’ve seen Brown get the same yard after contact in this very game. His five carries for 24 yards when we just did not do anything serious with the run were better than Ward’s 3 carries for minus yardage.

            But you just go ahead and ignore that.

          • Hypothetical? Brown goes down way more easily than Ward. That’s just the eye test and it’s what happens on the field. I think Brown is good, but he needs room and space to be good. I think the praise for Brown in here is due to the type of thinking best described as the alternative or opposite of what we see on the field must be better.

          • You can point to one play this game which proves your point, no more. All the others defy your “take” on his play.

            Meanwhile, Ward has gone down by being tackled by the first guy who touches him on all but one play. Both players are able to get about two or three more after contact except for Ward’s three carries in the first half and the one run by Brown for negative yardage.

            A look at Brown’s two TD runs also makes your take look silly. On both he ran through at least four would be tackles and still ended up on his feet in the endzone.

          • I’m not sure I have a whole lot invested in Brown being the starter. I guess if Brown has 20 carries per game for 3 games, then we’d have a larger sample size. What’s at the base assumption is that when we see a nice run by Brown, that it’s somehow better than what Ward would’ve done. That’s probably where our viewpoints diverge. I just don’t see a run by Brown being better than what Ward could’ve pulled off.

          • I’m not saying he should be the starter. But he should get at least 10+ touches per game. And Ward and Woods should get a little more due to experience. Unfortunately, we’re never going to see 40+ runs in this offense.

          • Maybe that’s where we differ. I’m thinking that the offense needs to be predicated on the run so much that three backs can get double-digit touches plus some screens. Each of them is different. But the scheme is no different, and getting in a rhythm isn’t really a problem for any one of them. In fact, they are different enough that they can throw the D off their game.

            And then next year we do the same with Woods and Brown getting the important carries while sprinkling in some Haskins where Brown should be getting touches now.

  13. Only Mike Riley wouldn’t get that non backward pass reversed. Being so passive and showing no fire and no being upset = easy to let it stand against weak ass coach. Fire this fool or force him to retire.

  14. That was a nasty smack.

    The really lousy review was weird. But why did that ref blow the whistle and spot the ball at the five with the ball carrier right in front of him?

    And now they’re spotting it at the 10 when the ball was at the five when the whistle blew?

    I guess none of it mattered anyway. Even with the refs’ help we can’t get the Cougs to Coug it?

    • Take a fucking delay of game….timeouts are precious gold right now. If you can’t get 8 yards in 4 plays you don’t deserve to win anyway. I’m sorry, Riley coaches stupid, the players play stupid.

    • Jim Wilson called it “gross mismanagement”. Hey, its the best OSU coaches can do…trying a comeback and cant even line up right for a kickoff….

      I wonder if opposing coaches feel bad about playing against an obviously mentally challenged head coach…

  15. Hey, we are in sole possession of last place in the north.

    Someone bring back the national 10 worst teams ranking…we might get some notice.

  16. 47 called pass plays. Four sacks, a QB scramble and the poor (even for Pac refs) review “confirmed” lateral were six of them.

    18 called runs including two fly sweeps… netting 4.78 yards per carry.

    Yup… uh huh.

  17. So within the last 24 hours losses to Western Oregon and Washington State in the supposedly major sports. O…S….You got to be shittin me!! Wave arms like a spaz, no don’t waste the energy. Tinkle gets a pass, but still embarrassing.

    I know it doesn’t make any difference but 1st down on the goal line and while they are trying to get a play in the band does that stupid… three note duh…duh….duh…thing and the crowd goes..”whoosh” People…on offense you remain quite! Really ignorant game day management and fans.

    I will come out of retirement and coach the last three games for a Starbucks gift card. JB

    • Understanding that this is not Tinkle’s fault, this has to be the nadir of major men’s sport at OSU in the past 10 years, maybe more…..because when football was atrocious before at least we had hoops.

      • Tinkle gets a pass up front for year one because he has absolutely NOTHING to work with. Four conference wins would be an amazing job. Success this season won’t be judged by wins or losses, but quality of play and execution… Something that isn’t going on in Reser Stadium.

  18. Skipped the game today to spend time with the family on the sunny Oregon coast. (t-shirt weather in November? Who woulda thought?)
    Anyway, did I miss anything? I’m guessing the Beavs blew them out and everybody stopped watching by the 3rd quarter because it was getting out of hand? Eat it Aunt Patty!

    • Yeah that’s pretty much it.

      Here’s all you need to know:

      Redshirt Freshman QB in his first career start:

      471 yards, 5 touchdowns.

      Fifth year senior:

      419 yards, 1 touchdown.

    • No. We need to replace BDC and Riley and let a new team come in and show just how incompetent this current leadership is. The job will have plenty of interested parties. There aren’t any other current Pac-12 openings so after this season is over is the time to do it. Let next year be a rebuild with a new coach. McElwain, Wells, Wilcox, Chad Morris, Leipold whoever. All would listen as will others. Get a guy who can go on an upswing in their career and is ready to build their program. Beats the hell out of countless Riley dumps against all but the worst competition over and over again.

      • Can only recruit Big West talent, don’t have the facilities, don’t have donors, and don’t have a big city. We should move to Mtn West, and be near the top, rather than the bottom of this conference.
        It’s going to get a lot worse in the future. Hoops lost to Western Oregon.

        • I think so, too. People have suggested the Big Sky but I think Mountain West is tougher. Craig Bohls is now coaching Wyoming – look for them to be good. Also, there’s a pattern (sortof) – Colorado and Utah in Pac-12. Utah State and Colorado State in the Mountain West.

          But . . how does that affect baseball, wrestling, gymnastics?

    • Credit to the duck player gor realizing it was a live ball and returning it for the td. Beav players would have handed it back to Utah player and still let him score

      • A Beavers player would have picked it up and then brought it back the other way only to fumble it before the goal line out of the back of the end zone for a touchback

      • That should have been ruled Utah’s ball at the two.

        Stay with me here…

        Clay did make the boneheaded play of the year on that. But if you watch the conclusion of his run you will see that Dargan (#4) trailed him into the end zone… and then out of bounds through the end zone. He then comes back to the ball and is the first person to touch it AFTER coming back from being out of bounds.

        That is an illegal touch, and a flag should have been thrown immediately. Since he touched it in the end zone, the penalty would be assessed at the two yard line.

        • Does anyone remember that Chad Johnson did the same thing in the Fiesta Bowl, but the ref signaled TD and of course there was no review back then. Same stupid “stylin” shit. Run through the end zone like you mean it.

          • speaking of chad johnson, I watched an artie lange standup on comedy central and he said he meet Chad Ochocinco and he was a giant asshole. Not that artie lange’s coke or heroin fueled mind probably remembers much.

        • Any chance you can point to a section in the rule book to support this, or is this just speculation on your part? Interesting idea, if nothing else.

          • As much as I hate the Ducks, I think the play was legit.

            A defensive player may go out of bounds and then come back in bounds and make a tackle or recover a fumble. An offensive player may not go out of bounds voluntarily and then catch a pass. The only other rule about going out of bounds in the college rulebook is that a member of the kicking team may not go out of bounds voluntarily and then come back onto the field to make a play.

    • Be careful here.. any reference to pertaining, including by reference either living or dead by incorporation, here to fore, in totem spiritus santi the term “bonehead” or “boneheaded” or anything close is a copyright violation. You Sir, have been warned!

      Pettibonehead Low-performance Labs Incs. est 1993 pat pending..VII All riights reserved.

    • Was just gonna post that. Nice looking freshman 5 next year. Does this mean he got Chai Baker’s spot and baker is not coming back next year?

        • What’s your take on Gligorije, Jack? I remember his namd popped up as a potential Beav a few months back, but I didnt see his video. Hard to find much info on him on the recruiting sites. Is this because he’s a foreigner or because he shouldnt be ranked very highly?

          • He is the prototypical 5/4 in a Monty-type system. He was unrated because all analysis comes from multiple summer circuits, not real games. He just completed his one and only circuit. A fair grade makes him probably a high 3* PSA.

    • No pressure on Falk from beginning to end. The lack of adjustments on D, along with the usual time management fiascos and the expected blunder by the very special teams (and their very special coach) could not be overcome by Riley’s attempt to call an aggressive O (in the first couple possessions).

      Pre-game, Parker wondered what the “wily” veteran D coach, Banker, would come up with to rattle Falk in his first start. Parker really slurps the Riley (non-alcoholic)Kool-Aid.

      Another observation, Cougs played with the kind of heart you’d expect from a team which was bowl eligible even though that horse is already out. Beavs played with the lack of heart you’d expect from a team which is convinced they can’t make a bowl even though the math says otherwise.

      Angry, I doubt you’ll learn anything new by watching a replay. More productive to go practice with your scattergun.

        • I didnt watch the game but listened to a minute or 2 just before halftime. Beavs were driving into Coug territory trailing and with about 35 seconds to play the got a 1st down. Still had 3 timeouts, yet they watched the clock tick away a good 15 seconds before running a play whic the playera werent even ready for, resulting in a sack. Jim Wilson was being rally critical of Riley for not calling time and setting up a play. Beavs ended up settling for a long field goal when they had plenty of time to finish the drive if they used the timeouts. Wilson kept saying, “You cant get time back!” basically saying its pointless to not call time and set up the play rather than waste 15 confused seconds with play calling. I turned the game back off

  19. By the way, I got a call from Oregon State the other day. I told the student who called that I had suspended donations to OSU as of September 2013 after watching the SDSU game that we pulled out only because the opposing QB stepped on his dick with that interception to Nelson for a TD. I told him that I would resume funding the school when there were “major changes’ in the football program, and specifically cited dismissals of Banker and Read. I think OSU can win with Riley, but Read and especially Banker need to go. Although my decision may not sound “fair,” tough shit. It isn’t a hell of a lot, about $3000 a year, but if enough people tell these callers the same thing something might come of it. I told him to pass along my sentiments to the athletic department.

    • I told them the same thing before the season but stipulated Riley had to be gone before I would return. I saw this horse manure season coming since before last season ended. Riley is still the coach and that brings numerous issues including general incompetence and being at the point in his career where continued decline is highly probable.

      Good news is once BDC and Riley are gone there will be immediate noticeable improvement in the health of the program. The solution is what UCLA, ASU, UA, Cal and others did. Find and bring in a quality coach and turn a new leaf to a brighter future.

  20. Replay Colorado today and I don’t think we win it. This team is deteriorating and now is the worst team in the league. Sean Mannion is the Erik Wilhelm of his generation, glossy stats on a pitiful team. We’re back!

  21. Sat in a Loge box for the game. That is an impressive experience, catered buffet before the game, free food and non-alcoholic drinks served during.

  22. So OSU makes another backup look special. Apparently Falk set an OSU opponent record for completions at Reser.

    Leach said Banker threw all kinds of stuff at Falk and they played a “lot of defense.” Perhaps overly complicated again?

    How about this for a headline: “Cougars Falk Beavers in Reser.”

    • By “stuff” does Leach mean that the Beav secondary gave up a 7 yard cushion on almost every play, so a Freshmen QB could comfortably get in a rhythm?

      Really, enough is enough…Banker needs to go at the end of the season to show the fan base that Riley is serious about what has happened. He has a senior-laden defense that has regressed to the point where they can’t defend the run or the pass. 31 and 32 points used to be plenty to defeat the likes of Wazzu and Cal.

  23. Watching Falk take advantage of an OSU D that can’t line up is hilarious; Banker getting schooled.

    Mannion would likely never, even as a 5th year senior, pull that off.

    Do Riley and Banker not experience shame?

  24. Sup y’all dat was a tough one to live wit. How da HELL we gonna let a chump walk on throw for 5 TDs in his 1st game?? OH hell naw!!!!

    Did team needs to get back to doin what they do. Still don’t get why we don’t run more and why Mannion has to throw so much. Our WR and TE is da weakest link. Dat line play gotta get better too.

    OK y’all I’ll stop. I know dat rant a bit raw but needs to be said. Call it how you see it!

  25. I bet Riley and staff are starting to tell the players “Don’t doubt yourselves. Don’t doubt your scheme or your technique.” etc. etc.

    I have to think the kids are having trouble trusting much the coaches are giving them.

    Would be interesting to see if somebody could get to practice and see what is going on this week.

    If the team is playing this poorly at home, how will they do in Seattle, where UW will want to feast on a PAC victory in front of 60K+ fans?

  26. Riley has a pretty solid reputation as a stand up guy, but we have seen him blame the team on several occasions. I just watched a true class act. The guy from Utah with the play of the year. Wittingham said it was his fault. He said “as coaches we are responsible to teach them to hand the ball off to an official, so this is my fault”. for not doing a better job. That was refreshing compared to what we get.

      • I know, which is why I’m wondering why someone would think this is refreshing. It’s still bs coach speak, I guess in an attempt to try and take heat off a player. The only way the coach had any responsibility in this would be if Wittingham encouraged players to hot dog, which is unlikely.

        • Bend, you generally have a more moderate viewpoint than most here- but it’s an informed opinion.

          What do you think about the state of OSU football right now? What would you like to see moving forward- and how good are the odds that it happens that way?

          • Didn’t phrase that right. Anyone would agree that OSU football sucks right now.

            What do you think about our coaching situation? Who we have, how responsibility is delegated, etc.

          • If you’re talking about post game interviews, coaches in general will speak broadly and usually say little of value. Fans often have drawn their conclusion about why a game was lost, and then want the coach to respond the reasons they lost and what they’re going to do about it. Whether a coach blames himself or the players, it doesn’t really matter to me, since almost everything on the field is some combination of coach and player responsibility. This is also where fans perception of what a leader is comes into play. They feel the leader should take the blame when something goes wrong. What’s done in practice and meetings is where the actual responsibility happens. The Beavs do help give us some insight into that with open practices, although I don’t see many practice reports once the season starts. It’s hard to say how responsibility is delegated in practice. In games, certainly Riley seems hands off of what’s going on, maybe more so this season. The miscues during games are a result of who should be doing what not being defined.

            One thing that’s common amongst fans of a team is that if their team isn’t doing well, they look at teams that are doing well and pick from that winning team characteristics their losing team doesn’t have, and conclude that their team needs those things to win. This is why I think Riley aw-shucks nice guy personality gets picked out as an issue. It’s such an unusual personality to have as a head coach in a major conference, therefore people point to it as a reason why the Beavs lose. People also conclude that the Beavs have to go to a up-tempo read option offense to win. Really, what I think the Beavs need to win is higher ranked recruits. This is probably the one variable that has greatest likelihood of changing (or possibility of changing) in the next few years. I don’t see a significant coaching change happening, or a change in offenses system. If we had better recruiting classes. Nothing crazy, just classes ranked in the 20-30 range each year, we’d have receivers that can get separation, and greater depth at the OL and DL to better handle the injuries that happened. I don’t hope for coaches to get fired, because that’s just frustrating when it doesn’t happen, and also the replacement aren’t always better.

          • Broad broad strokes…

            I don’t care about post game pressers other than our coach seems to break the simple rule of responsibility when it comes to blame. Better players would help, no doubt. But having all the pieces play as a team would be better. It’s as if we have several different groups on the field who don’t know there are other groups on the field. They even run into each other and fall down pre-snap… or stand looking at the sideline with shrugged shoulders.

            I honestly have not seen any other football team do the weird kind of things I see our Beavs do… on any level… ever. It is something that keeps me watching just to see what’s next. It’s simply a “just when you thought you’d seen it all” situation.

        • You never ever throw a teammate under the bus. If you’re a coach, multiply the never evers by 100. What is obvious to all needs not be rehashed/confirmed/validated by a coach. If a coach doesn’t have one player’s back, s/he has no player’s back.

          Maybe it’s just a silly dance to you. That’s probably because many coaches are just lug nuts who can only wonder what inelegant means when I call them that. But it is a necessary check by the media. Once a coach starts throwing players under the bus, they’re either not his anymore or he doesn’t care for them.

          • I understand that why Wittingham took the blame, but everyone knows it’s not the truth. No one on the team is going to blame the coach, and the coaches know it’s the players fault. The media knows it’s the players fault, too. I guess they all have to go through the game of the press conference, though, where they ask questions and not really get answers. Like you said, the only value in it is showing the players that the coach has their back to the media.

          • Dont buy that at all. If a coach is neutral to the players about how they will behave, then he accepts some responsibility when they misbehave (like drop a td before crossing the line). And if he encourages them to play nuts, then all is on him.

            In that old Fiesta Bowl game with ND, Chad Johnson drop the ball the same way. The refs dont notice. One announcer was a Udub alum, exfootball player, and talks about how his coach beat it into them to always had the ball to a ref after scoring, to show they had possession of the ball. It IS a coaching element. So in fact it WAS Wittinghams fault.

  27. Which staff members are most likely to leave at the end of the season?

    We know none of the coordinators are likely to go, and Perry, Seumalo, Cav would likely stay as well. Some of those three still have kids getting a reduced rate education, don’t they?

    Leaves Brennan, Brasfield, and Bray.

  28. What are everyone’s thoughts on this? From Mizell’s article:

    Riley had an interesting response to a question Ken asked about “the future” of the program. Ken meant the immediate future, as in the next three games. But here’s what Riley said initially:

    “I don’t want to talk too much yet, Ken, about the future as to next year’s future.”

    Ken interjected, saying he meant next week rather than next year, and Riley replied with, “Yes, next week. That’s what I want to talk about. Maybe Riley simply misunderstood the question and was trying to squash any beyond-2014 talk. Maybe Ken could have framed the question better. But it was still an interesting initial response.

    • First, got to give credit to Gina. Not only for highlighting that exchange, but she has not hesitated to point out several coaching blunders by simply reporting them without editorial comment. She seems to be a professional.

      Second, hard to figure out Riley’s remark with any certainty, but he may only be thinking about the scheme changes rumored recently….some no huddle and some portion of a spread approach. OTOH he could already know some staff is planning to leave, couldn’t blame the younger guys. Or, maybe he is gonna announce a health related change to his own status. How’s that for wide ranging speculation? Take yer pick, it’s all worth exactly what you paid!

  29. If Riley won’t step down or retire on his own, someone in the athletic department needs to force his hand to shake up the staff. Read, Banker and Cavanaugh all need to exit stage left

    • You realize how much money he’s making vs losing by giving up? Roughly 1.5mil/year through 2021. 10mil plus? Thats serious money to the Riley family. Nope he wont be walking out on that lotto anytime soon. Guess we just wait for BDC to degenerate to the point he cant cash his winning lotto ticket either. Ed Ray lost his wife this year, he’s not throwing out any friends. So its all about BDC and his ADA complaint workable years remaining. Sad to see these guys take down our program like this.

      • I know. We’ve talked in the past about Riley’s only motivation is to get 6 wins, but do we really think a 60+ year old coach wants to coach past the 7 remaining years on his deal, into his 70’s? There is zero motivation for him to tack on extra years, and thus zero motivation do get any wins.

  30. I have 2 club level tickets to the ASU game I need to unload. I’m entertaining all offers. Normally theyre $139 per ticket(+fees) through the box office Any takers?

  31. at the end of the season someone needs to make a beaver lowlight video with the yakity sax music playing in the background. and distribute on social media

  32. Beaver sports are Beaver sports……women’s hoops beat Western Oregon 98-38. I’m looking forward to watching this team when I can. Scott Rueck needs to be cloned!

  33. Ducks basketball beat western Oregon by 50 tonight, and the ducks arent supposed to be very good this year. can we fast forward to next basketball season?

      • He inherited enough. But sometimes we have to take these games for what they are. This one is just a glorified practice. The team was tight and over-thinking the game for the first 28 minutes. Then they started to play.

        Consider also that three of our bigs didn’t really play. Gomis and Stangel were out, and Cheikh took a finger to his eye (that required stitches) very early.

        Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting your sea legs. But it certainly sets us up for zero expectations and teams taking us lightly.

        • All valid points. Just quite the shocker though to see the 50 point swing in the other direction. I agree though; I think if you replay WOU-OSU again you’d get a different result as well.

  34. For what it’s worth I’ll throw out an apology for pre-season prognostications and disagreements with you Angry. I feel like I’ve had a pretty good pulse on the PAC 12 the last few years but was waaayyy off this year. You were right on with ASU being good-great and Udub being middling/mediocre. I really didn’t think Graham would rebuild the D that quickly. Really impressed with him as a coach. Great hire ASU.

    And I was almost 100% confident this was a 9-10 win Beaver team. So far off. Such a disappointment. I’d be fine if they were playing clean football and competing game in and game out but being out-gunned. That’s not the case. We have good players, but something (aside from shitty coaching/bad personnel choices) is off/missing. Not sure if it’s a chemistry thing or what, but the team has totally regressed. Season has been an embarrassment. At a minimum: Banker and Read need to go at the end of this year. If not, I’m not sure I’ll renew. I’d like to throw Cav out there as well, but I think he really has been recruiting well adding 6-7 guys the last few classes and the line will turn around.

    • One positive note about sucking: you remember it’s just a stupid game and become lest invested i.e. wasting less time reading/researching articles focusing more energy on work and family. Our coach is so nice he’s sacrificing his reputation and coaching his team into the ground so we can re-evaluate and re-prioritize our lives.

      • yeah that’s a really neat deal. I care so much I watched about half of the 4th quarter Saturday and that was all. I won’t be watching any of the last 3 games as I already know the outcome of all 3.

        • I know the next 3 outcomes, too, but I’m watching anyway.

          I’ve been a Beaver fan since 1958 and I’m not throwing them under the bus now. Not after the experience we’ve been through in the past with the football program. That was way worse than now.

          I think everyone, and I’m guilty as well, is still trying to re-live the glory of the 2000 season and the Riley 9 & 10 win years.

          • Are you kidding me? “Glory” of “THE” 9 & 10 win seasons??? 2000 Fiesta Bowl was SOOOO long ago, nobody that matters to the success of our program (recruits) has any idea that game was ever played, nor would they care.

            Damn it man! You’re part of the problem!!!

          • most of the players being recruited now were 3 and 4 years old that year OSU won the fiesta bowl. Beaver football has not been and is not relevant.

          • Maybe it’s you…9 or 10 wins is a whole lot better than what is happening now.

            All I’m saying is, because of those years I suspect “we” have higher expectations now.

          • I find myself WANTING to watch now, and it seems to be wanting to see what bizarre coaching screwups come next. When it comes down to the end of the half, for instance, my attention peaks, as it is almost certain Riley will do something strange. And I dont expect us to win, so its not a comedown. I guess to me its like we are back in the 28 yr streak…

          • Agreed. Someone on O-live had a comment that was perfect… tragicomedy.

            It would be tragedy if I cared. It would be comedy if my conscience allowed.

            It’s tragicomedy.

            Thank you unknown O-live poster.

    • Thanks. I honestly can’t remember what my preseason prediction was, but i do remember feeling strongly that Utah was their last realistic chance at a win. It looks like that will be the case.

        • I wouldn’t mind. I’m loving Ortiz this season.

          He’s my Rathman/Johnston FB type. I want more.

          But that would take a dedication to the run game.

          Oh well.

          • Alstott was a talent. And he could have been Rathman or Johnston if he was used that way. But the other two were used with that FB flat pass to the death… to perfection.

            We’ve started using that play as a check down this year. But I want to see it in the red zone as a primary target like the West Coast offense used it. And I want to see more FB leads in a more pronounced running formation where defenses can see it coming but can’t do anything about it.

  35. Eggers: No sugar coating OSU loss, ample salt for the wounds though, including calling out the poor time mangement:

    http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/240056-105901-no-sugar-coating-latest-osu-defeat

    The previous loss to ASU was a heartbreaker and mindbender for Riley; he couldn’t even function at the post-game press conference. This year it could be worse. Perhaps the presence of OSU students and their fathers, bonding with the glue of alcohol, will deaden the pain. The fans will be too loaded and distracted to get very upset, and they’ll be hitting the exits in the 3rd.

    • It’s not really the # of runs or passes that matters. Many NFL teams pass more and still dominate games; Oregon tends to run more and they dominate games, etc. It’s more about keeping the other team off balance. OSU’s biggest problem is that I can predict the play call 90% of the time from my couch. Their formations and the coach’s tendencies almost always telegraph what is coming.

        • It’s actually easier when you’re sitting in the stands.

          The last game I attended I annoyed those around me by calling out every play for about 15 plays in a row just before the snap. But that was just the Beavs. I called the opponent’s plays at about a 60% rate.

          And I’m not talking about run or pass or even left or right. I’m talking specific play calls going to specific players in specific directions. I’ve seen the formations and actions before. And I’m not paid millions upon millions as some specialist of some stupid sport. I’ve just seen it for umpteen years on end. And there’s tape of every single friggin’ year I’ve seen.

          I just wonder what those millionaires think of such patterns if they can see them.

  36. So this year, Hyundai and the Sun Bowl have been holding a weekly contest to win a trip to the sun bowl, plus one of the weekly winners gets picked to go to the National Championship game.

    All you need to do is pick the winner in 10 different pre-selected games each week. So far this year, I’ve had 2 different weeks where I went 9 for 10, and would have won (based on tie breaker) if I had only picked that last win correctly. Guess which team hasscrewed me over twice this year??? That’s right, the good ‘ole Beavs.

    The WSU loss cost me a free trip this week.

    • why in the fuck would you want to go to the sun bowl? I’ve been to El Paso. There’s a reason that shit hole is called Hell Paso.

      • To win the grand prize (trip to the National Championship game at Jerryland) you need to be a weekly winner. Yeah, sun bowl sucks and I don’t have a desire to go there, but I’ll still take a free trip.

      • Sorry. El Paso is the best town in the armpit otherwise known as Texas. It’s what Tucson would be if Tucson wasn’t fogey-ville with absolutely zero culture… and pathetic scenery… and I guess the annual fall bus ticket give-away to the street people just to get them out of town so the fogeys will think they live in their own little special fogey-ville.

        I don’t get what people hate about El Paso other than they like to pile on as if they were ignorant anii. Except for the me who could stay out until dark-thirty partying in Austin, El Paso is the only town I would visit in that [your imaginary sky deity here]-forsaken state.

        And if you want to pile on it for being next to Jaurez, then I know you know nothing about either town.

        The geography is spectacular for Texas. Actually, that’s an understatement. The culture is genuine. It’s the one border town that doesn’t think of itself as the bastion of American jingoism. And those others that do so are the antithesis of what they preach more so than is El Paso. So maybe that’s why we’re not beating on shit holes like Tucson or Laredo or Brownsville. If you’ve ever had the distinct pleasure of being in such aptly named places like Progreso you would understand what I’m saying here (Brownsville is too easy here).

        Next time you go, just sit down at L&J and enjoy the people for a bit. The place might actually turn out to be more than a stereo-type.

        Btw… there is one town in Zony I’ll revisit. It’s called Sierra Vista.

        • and there’s only one town that I would go back to visit if I ever returned to Texas. And it ain’t Dallas, Austin or Hell Paso. Did I ever mention of much my peers made fun of the way I talked when we moved up here. Brutal……………

  37. Just got around to reading news(?) and comments about the WSU game. Here’s one from from angryoldbeav on Olive. “Riley is as stubborn as a soured mule.”

    Somewhere in one of Gina’s write-ups, she noted time-management – again. (I think it was at the end of the first half) – the defense was looking for a sign from Banker. How would anyone know what all those gyrations mean? Perhaps that’s what is meant by the complicated defense. And, I’m sure I don’t understand all this properly, but why couldn’t the defense do their own reads and adjust accordingly? They don’t seem to line up well when they do look to Banker.

    • I’m no expert so feel free to correct me, but this is what I’ve surmised.

      I’d assume there’s no player on the defense that can really be trusted to do this. In the NFL it’s kind of like the “QB of the defense” to make those reads based off what the offense is doing. I’d assume that it’s in general too much to ask a college player to have studied up on the opposing teams offense to be able to really make those decisions week to week.

      Even in most college offenses the QB is not making pre snap reads anymore. That’s what those giant signs on the sideline are for. The coaches make the pre-snap read and signal them in to the offense. The QB makes that one read and that’s about it.

      Part of what makes OSU different on offense than the spread teams is that Mannion makes a lot more decisions on his own, for better or worse…

      In general I’m not sure why there were communication problems (seems to happen with both offense and defense though). It could be the Riley/Banker’s systems are just too complicated for the players to really fully get a handle on.

      • You started off well… then landed in a pile of poo.

        Mannion gets to make one of two decisions. The first is the original play call. The second is an audible.

        I do agree to a part about how overrated the read option has become. I ranted about Chip Kelly and how the read otion was shit a couple years ago. But in that rant I told all that his version of the no-huddle (what I called the speed game) was truly revolutionary.

        But I’m not paid millions… or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of my own tax money to see this sort of stuff. Maybe those who do make that money because they do so understand the so so complex game of football. I know I’m being very complicated here, not knowing better than anyone who has ever seen the game which nobody who knows anything about except for millionaires on the public dime know better than….

        …wait…

        Oh… that doesn’t make sense. Football is an immensely complicated system of who’sits and what’sits and all that sort of stuff. After all, IBM Blue will never win the Natty.

        Then again, never will the _____.

        Hahaha!

  38. Unsurprisingly, Falk PAC-12 POW:

    http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2014/11/washington_states_luke_falk_ea.html

    “I’d like to thank Mark Banker for making this possible….next I’d like to thank my offensive line and receivers, and our great WSU coaching staff…”

    AND, beavs again moved back to late night game:

    http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2014/11/oregon_state_beavers_dealt_ano.html

    If you have to televise them, might as well do it while no one is watching.

    http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2014/11/oregon_state_beavers_dealt_ano.html

    How is THAT going to play out over the next couple of years? Predominance of night games and a 2/3 full Reser?

  39. Something I have been thinking about, so gonna toss it out here.

    What if Mike Riley is suffering a slow developing health problem … so in recent years he has been unable to put in the time and energy he used to. I expect he loves the game and his position as OSU coach, and is/has been hoping he can succeed even with his health declining. If so, he will eventually, sadly, realize it isnt working …. and will step down.

    Cant help but wonder about this. What do y’all think?

    • Been thinking the same thing. I did notice just before a game a few weeks back that the TV showed him requesting water from one of the training staff and using it to help swallow some sort of pill.

      However, I don’t think lack of energy or time would cause the complete lack of engagement on the sidelines which we have seen. That is just part of his demeanor. And lack of energy/time on the part of the HC doesn’t excuse the kinds of disorganized blunders which are now becoming the hallmark of this team (I’m looking at Bruce, in particular). So, yeah, he may be sick and may step down, but it will take more staff changes to turn things around.

    • In the last couple of years, I have been forced to sit through countless hours of consultant presentations related to project management, organizational coaching and blah blah blah. Almost all of the experts now days preach hands off leadership and delegation of everything but the credit. If it is related to university culture, multiply by 10. Riley may be losing some gray matter. However, I think that his “deal” is more closely related to tenure.

      • Next they’ll return to active leadership and vision provision. Most orgs seem to cycle between centralization and decentralization, citing things like tech as enabling.

        RE: Riley’s style, I can’t believe that HE expects poor decision behavior will no longer tolerable: he’s made it programmatic. Plus, there’s only 3 losses left.

        Oh that sweet Hawaii Bowl victory seems so long ago…

      • Oh good GOD!

        Is that what the fuck is happening to post-secondary schooling??????????????

        I kid.

        I already know the administrative-type fuckers found the perennial pie and chose to just weasel their way into it instead of thinking it might be there for the public good.

        Never mind that there are some things that should never never ever be sold as business when they are just there for the public good.

        Just let your mind wander over those options.

        Anyway… school… admin-heavy for no reason… oh, oh ,oh… YOU FUCKERS WHO GOT FREE EDUCATIONS WAY BACK WHEN THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO KEEP “YOUR” MONEY WHEN IT CAME TO TAXES, AND YOU FUCKING KILLED THIS COUNTRY IN THE PROCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        ….or something like that.

        • Just for S’s and G’s, I took some of the text from Wikipedia on Gollum and did a replace function on some of the words. For purposes of this reading, I’ve swapped:

          Gollum = Biley
          J. R. R. Tolkien = Oregon State football
          Hobbit = OSU football coach
          Smeagol = Coach Riley
          Gladden Fields = Alamo
          Ring = Rose Bowl
          Middle-earth = Corvallis
          Bilbo Baggins = Chip Kelly

          Enjoy……

          “Biley is a fictional character from Oregon State football’s legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 children’s fantasy novel The OSU Football Coach, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rose Bowls. Biley was a Stoor OSU football coach[1] of the River-folk, who lived near the Alamo.[2] Originally known as Coach Riley, he was corrupted by the One Rose Bowl and later named Biley after his habit of making “a horrible swallowing noise in his throat”.[3]

          In the Appendix F to The Lord of the Rose Bowls, the name Coach Riley is said to be a “translation” of the actual Corvallis name Trahald (having to do with the idea of “burrowing”, and rendered with a name based on Old English smygel of similar meaning).[4]

          The Rose Bowl, which Biley referred to as “my precious” or “precious”, extended his life far beyond natural limits. Under centuries of the Rose Bowl’s influence, Biley had “come to love and despise the Rose Bowl, just as he loved and hated himself.” Throughout the story, Biley was torn between his lust for the Rose Bowl and his desire to be free of it. Chip Kelly found the Rose Bowl and took it for his own, and Biley afterwards pursued it for the rest of his life.”

          http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollum

          Ok, now I’m convinced. The story is interchangeable and the pictures are further proof. Biley = Gollum. Case closed.

          • Oh… I think I get it.

            Compared to other ring-bearers, he was underrated and got the most out of the ring… and, in the end, died protecting it. He was that loyal.

            I mean… who do the forces who seek not to be under the perpetual vice of Sauron’s rule think they can get to bear the ring with their lack of orcs and giant spiders and trolls and such?

  40. Hearing him interviewed this week. I really think he is done, and will retire after this season. I think he has been hanging on because he wants his coaches to keep their jobs as long as possible. But after he returns to his home in San Antonio he will call it quits. A month before signing day which will screw the incoming coach, who won’t be named until after signing day.

  41. In basketball news, the Bruce kid really seems like he’s going to be a good one. He’s got a real mean, spiteful streak to him, like one of those guys that will remember who slighted him just so he can get back at em. Very good trait in a point guard because he’ll make you pay every time down the court.

    Handler/AAU coach talking about how he’s a five star type guy…iono bout all that, but can’t wait to see him in action. Plus that Western Oregon quote was pretty funny to me. The kid from Montenegro also seems like he’s a high ceiling type of guy with a strong frame and was a pretty good player in California.

    • I had to giggle at PO yesterday with the GR commit. They’re sitting there watching a tape that is two years old and calling him a project… at best. And then they’re saying that we at such a low level of talent that such a low level had never ever been attained before in their lifetimes or whatever.

      Mother-fucking stupid and disingenuous shits you are.

      Yeah… I went Yoda on you.

      Yeah… I know you’re reading this too.

      Yeah… get over yourselves.

      I have to wonder what the hell you’re watching when our Beavs are on the field/court/floor/mat. Because it sure ain’t sport.

      • They were straight up calling a commit a loser.

        I can never call PO a site which even pretends to support OSU.

        They fucking joked about a kid who committed to our beloved school like he was just piece of shit.

        Think of how Pankey’s mother might have felt about that.

    • Also a funny thing to me: so on the promotional materials with the schedule for the team, the women’s team has 5 ladies on there: Deven Hunter, Ali Gibson, Jamie Weisner, Ruth Hamblin, and Sydney Wiese. On the men’s poster? A stock picture of Wayne Tinkle. Funny because they said eff the current team, not because there’s still some decent players (you coulda went GPII, Duvivier, and LMW).

  42. O good gracious!

    Et tu bartoo?
    https://twitter.com/iropp/status/532202950962466817

    What the hell does it take for people to wake up? Now we have some ass-hat telling us that just being Beavs is not palatable?

    Who the hell is this nutjob?

    How dare you tell me how I feel when I am right here and will freely tell you how I feel if you weren’t some pretentious moron from idiotville. Where do you have to come from to be so blind to reality and what real people say and think on a daily basis?

    I know this name as some radio personality in Portland. And now he has just insulted the integrity of any free-thinking OSU alum… including the pollyannas. Tar and feathers are too good for this king.

    And let’s be honest… I’d rather be a Duck than a Jayhawk ass who insults his public self by lying about what he sees.

    And I will never ever think about becoming a Duck.

    • It seems the third-rate media is about two weeks behind the apologists. Even Eggers and Goe stopped making excuses this week.

      But neither of them went out of their way to insult an entire fan base like this Ropp fucker did.

      Simply tired of being Oregon State? What does that even mean, you obnoxious little pissant? We are OSU. We have always been OSU. We will always be OSU. We don’t suffer morons like you without knowing who we once were, are now and will be. But morons like you will continue to ignorantly beat the dumb drum of low expectations.

      Maybe it just makes your job easier when you just make up shit like this. So maybe I’m wrong in thinking you’re just some stupid little puss bag of a mind. Maybe you’re just a lazy fucker instead.

    • A bad, poorly coached team won’t get better by changing coaches. Interesting theory there. Also, why is a coach treating OSU like a stepping stone such a bad thing? That usually means they had a significant amount of success(Lane Kiffin being the exception here). Another common theme is this is “Just one bad year”, Riley is 28-33 since heading into the Civil War in 2009. 1-2 in bowl games, 18-25 in conference play. Clearly it’s not one bad year, it’s the norm now. Pretty sure Oregon State could do better than that

      • It’s even better when we consider that bowl invitations are given out like participation trophies in kids’ soccer nowadays.

        For the record. I could not care less about the coaching of the football team or if it needs a change. I’m well beyond that. What royally pisses me off is the attitude half our fans/boosters/alums take when evryone who is completely ignorant about Corvallis and OSU start chiming in about how podunk and pathetic they are.

        Get a friggin’ spine people!

        They are saying your school is shit, and you should just accept that. All you do is sit there and nod your stupid little heads in agreement.

      • I’m not sure I care one way or another on Riley because I don’t think he’s going to be fired, but I do resent all of the “experts” that assume a new coach can’t do any better and as you point out 28-33 is nothing to write home about.

        I’m just tired of the St.Riley bullshit, the guy left after two years with an 8-14 record the first time, so why the hand wringing now from the media and pollyannas? He’s 60 years old, not 35….this is going to end sooner than later anyway. I guess according to his “protectors” when Riley goes that’s the end of OSU football forever? Give me a break.

    • Nicely said. And, should OSU get a dynamite, successful coach the mantra will be – “and to think he made it in Corvallis of all places.” I was listening to a wbb game last year against Washington. The female announcer – OSU was killing Washington – proclaimed it “surgical” and followed with “and do you know how hard it is to recruit to Corvallis? Actually, she didn’t just say it, she drew it out in long, mournful tones – I found her twitter account and protested. (fwiw)

      • I don’t understand why Corvallis is different from the 100 or more other college towns around the country. I think those living in P-12 country get a distorted view with programs in Los Angeles, Seattle, Bay Area, etc.

  43. I’ve mentioned it here and on O live.. I was born and raised in LA.hailing from the most diverse suburb in the nation specifically and I loved Corvallis ALMOST from Day 1. All of my friends and random girls that came up to visit also loved it.. This was in the early 2000’s. When main stream was the thing.

    Now Corvallis is even more of a draw… Hipster Kids like Hiking and the outdoors a lot more now that they did then,, People who were into that back then were kind of outliers. Now its trendy. Corvallis’s weird and quaint town vibe is now cool… its hip.

    If we can find a coach who can play this up along with some juxtaposition to UO’S glamour and pop culture style its lights out. My cousin ended up going to ASU mostly for the chicks and while OSU or U of O never made him an offer but when UO reached out they were selling Eugune to him as a “hipster” town. They are likely pushing this to all the kids.

    Corvallis >> Eugene

    • Are there many “hipster” kids who also play football? Serious question. I’m not so sure the hipster hiker thing would go over quite as well with many of the top athletes out there. Guys like DJ Alexander come to mind as the rare breed of solid athlete who also enjoys the great outdoors/quirky small town vibe. But I think he’s still the exception more than the norm.

        • DJ is from the I.E plus he is now what 23 year old?? They are a way less trendy out there..

          I’m talking about the kids (ATHLETES included) in LA and OC. They are full blown hipsters..

        • But I do not disagree about the selling points on Corvallis and OSU. You can end up in a shit hole like Eugene (which isn’t that big a shit hole except nobody wants to make it otherwise… which is leading me toward Springfield). Or you can go to the pretty little college town I was in yesterday and didn’t want to leave. I wish I could afford to live in Corvallis and travel for work. I’m close. I will be there one day.

          And then I, as a taxpayer, will complain that he football team is lame whenever they score. I will demand fireworks and some kind of cannon sound.

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