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Wisconsin Post Game

262

Defense was the huge surprise today.

Is the defense really that good (I thought they'd be weak up the middle and have no depth), Wisconsin bad, or a combination of both (likely). Loved the swagger and intensity of the D. I credit Bray for that, since he's been preaching playing fast, intense, etc. Rod Perry's coaching was apparent–saw the DBs (and Welch on his bogus-PI call) looking back for the ball perfectly.

Offense should have scored 24 points, but Mannion didn't convert critical third downs. The passing game became too horizontal late in the game, and they should drop the trips/bunch formation because it never works, but overall the play calling was good (especially the first half) compared to the last few years. I liked the two back approach–both guys look like they can do things.

Welch was the defensive MVP, Mannion the offensive. Isaac S. got great push–the improved o-line is going to make life easier for all. Riley finally gets a big September win (even a blind squirrel finds an acorn!)

Beavs should be ranked 25ish come Monday. Wisconsin doesn't look like a dynamic team and will likely struggle all year, so the Beav's ranking is tenuous, especially with a bye next week.

262 COMMENTS

  1. I was expecting improvement on defense. But holding Wisconsin to less than 100? Wasn’t expecting that. The defense came out ready to play, tackled well and had many players around the ball. A lot of dropped passes. I liked getting are playmakers at receiver the ball in space. Still a lot of work. If we can get that same of intensity on defense an get improvement on offense, we should win a few games.

    Also there are some playmakers and depth on the d-line. Who would have thought?

  2. Beavs on the front page of espn:
    I like this line: It took 41 years for a Big Ten team to visit Corvallis after Iowa was handed a 33-19 loss in 1971. With this kind of reception from the Beavers, it might be 41 more.

    Also: With Wisconsin’s loss at Oregon State, Big Ten schools are 5-26-1 at Pac-12 schools since 1993 (the year Penn State joined the Big Ten). It could get worse (or better) later tonight, as No. 16 Nebraska travels to UCLA and Illinois plays at Arizona State.

  3. I really like the win and it’s great for some much needed program exposure, but I’m suspicious of Wisconsin, especially after their performance against Northern Iowa. My gut tells me this is not your mother’s Whisky by any stretch of the imagination.. O’Brien is no Wilson, receivers and O-Line were slow. But all in all, it’s a hell of a lot better than a loss to Sacremento State, we can ask Colorado about that now!

    • You could see fear in O’Brien’s eyes halfway through the 4th qtr.
      Also, earlier he seemed to get down on his teammates as they approached the huddle, although I could be wrong on that.

      Hard to evaluate the effect all the new (Badgers) coaches had on the Badgers…..but it wasn’t a big positive!

      • Seems like they miss Paul Chryst a lot. Have you noticed the poor start Pitt has gotten off to? I wonder if Chryst knew the cupboard was so bare at Pitt? Maybe he can come back to the Beavs after he gets canned? Pitt administration is not known for their patience.

    • Agreed, Beavs likely lose this game if Wilson was the Badger QB. And if the Beavs still had Remmers and Grant Johnson starting they’d likely get killed today. So, like I wrote, a little of a both (beavs better/wisconsin worse).

      I’m interested in what Bray is doing with the LBs–that group showed the biggest improvement, and their intensity was fantastic. Beavs better hire that guy before they lose him.

  4. Man welch was just flying around the field, linebacker justs played great even Ruben Robinson made a fee nice plays. It’s been a while since Oregon state had any type of winning record, it’s a great day to be a beaver!

  5. Oops posted on the old thread:

    I’m pretty optimistic after this game for the rest of the season. The only gripe I have is that it looks (I didn’t see the first three quarters) like the Beavs could have put up a lot more points and didn’t finish on a lot of their drives. The North looks pretty vulnerable and I don’t see a single team on the schedule (besides the stupid Ducks of course) that looks like a “no chance” type of game anymore. Let’s go Beavs keep it up!

    • It’s the first game of the season, so I’ll give a little slack to the O. But, for future games the offense within the 30 has to improve.

  6. Hey, Riley was calling the plays, right? The announcers went on and on about Langsdorf’s play calling there for a couple of minutes. Talk about not doing your research.

    Also, I don’t know if Wisconsin fans will be bitching about the onside kick reversal, but that pass interference call on DJ Welch was complete bullshit. I thought it was interesting that the refs were from the Big 10.

    • And the 7 points Wisc got was because of that crappy PI call. Boys, Wisc has some tonnage on their offensive line and defense kicked their asses. Our offensive line held their own but I wish there was a little more wholes opened up in the middle.

      • Wisconsin is the type of team (think BYU and Stanford) that just gashed us running the ball last year. Cal too come to think of it. The run D was not only superior to last year’s effort, you might have to go back half a decade to find that kind of performance. LB’s and DB’s were always in place. Coaching seems to be a big difference there.

  7. The defense was awesome, haven’t seen that kind of performance in a while. All three levels played great. Wynn and Crichton really set the edges and forced Ball into the middle of the field where it was surprisingly congested . There was absolutely no room for him to run. The linebackers were swarming and it was nice to see some sure tackling. Welch looks like an all-conference player. That hit by the former Feti Unga really sent a message and knocked their best receiver out of the game which really hampered the UW passing game. Reynolds and Poyer locked the outside of the field down, I hope they stay healthy with all the good receivers in the conference. All those young guys making plays is really encouraging for the future. It remains to be seen how the defense holds up against spread offenses but with the speed we had out their today I feel a little more encouraged than I did before this game.

    The offense controlled the ball for the first three quarters but some more scoring would have been nice. It got hairy there at the end. Need to establish the running game a little more but unlike last year I think that can happen. Seumalo was great in his first start, he’ll anchor this line for the next few years. Cooks and Wheaton are solid.

    It’s only one game but it’s obvious that this team is completely different from last years version. The speed, energy, and confidence that was nonexistent last year was in abundance during this game. Here’s hoping all these good things continue throughout the year and we leave the last couple years in the dust.

  8. I always intended to wait till after UCLA to come to a conclusion on Riley’s focus and passion this year but now there is no need to wait. Lots can still go wrong this season (poor depth and possible off field issues come to mind) but I’m not concerned that Riley will look like he doesn’t care as he has during the last two seasons.

    As for Banker, maybe he really was constrained by the ability of young/walk on players. He came up with some schemes today. Impact of Bray and Perry was obvious. Now we need to see the D against some spread teams. GO BEAVS….one at a time!

    PS: The combo of Beavs time of possession and getting so many guys involved seemed to keep the D fairly fresh. They didn’t look gassed in the second half as has been the norm for a couple years.

  9. There were at least 3 awful calls/nocalls from my vantage point:

    1: Nocall PI on Wheaton which would have gone for a TD. The corner straight-up TACKLED Wheaton before the ball reached him. Was not even remotely looking for the ball. That was 3rd down so we then punted.

    2: Jake Welch phantom PI- perfectly defensed pass
    3: Nocall offensive pass interference on Reynolds in the end zone. This is right before the Wiscky TD. Was blatant.

    Any other big ones? Wasn’t a game changer but a UW receiver caught a ball out of bounds that counted for a 9 yd gain

  10. The tackling was what stood out to me, best I’ve seen from a beaver team in years. Very few missed tackles or flailing arm tackles. Welch of course, and Zimmerman stood out in that department.

    Offensively, it looked like Mannion was looking deep several times and checked down. I’d be curious to know if he was hesitant to pull the trigger, or if the receivers were just blanketed. The offense wasn’t pretty, but no int’s or fumbles (punter aside) was huge.

    • Cooks and Wheaton had several one on ones that Mannion passed on, for whatever reason. He had plenty of time on most downs, it almost seemed like his internal clock wasn’t set to having time in the pocket. Hopefully he sees on filmand learns that he missed some opportunities downfield.

      • Jim Wilson commented on that, as well; said there were at least a couple of times Mannion still had lots of protection but it was almost like he couldn’t believe it.

  11. Today gave the Beavers a win. I was impressed with our defense and how they were fired up the whole game….thanks to Bray’s attitude about winning. Play calling was improved for sure but the Beavs have to get more points on the board especially against a much weakened team like the Badgers. Riley did his same old thing towards the end of the game. The final series he played conservative, running most plays on the ground and up the middle to run down clock. That’s OK when there is only a minute or so on the clock and with a larger lead, but not with 4 – 5 minutes and score so close. I would have liked to seen Riley call aggressive plays all the way to the end of the game, get first downs and score more points. If the on side kick had been successful for the Badgers, the game could have been tied and game lost.

    Again I want to emphasize that I cheer for the Beavs each and every game. At my home were two ex Beaver football players and about 20 other fans enjoying the game. Like others, I’m just being realistic about the game today. It has nothing to do with being negative or whatever. There are many Beaver fans on this forum and elsewhere who’s standards for the team are higher than those who settle for mediocre. The group of fans I associate myself with want to see a Beaver team in contention for Pac12 championship and pouncing of the ducks. Nothing wrong with that than I can see.

    • I felt the same way at the end about Riley taking his foot off the gas. But looking back it would have been disaster to throw an interception on that end of the field. So I get it.

    • with a ten point lead and 4-5 minutes left you run the football. you’re complaint should not be with riley for calling running plays, but rather that the players were unable to move the chains on the ground in such a situation.

      • That’s true, but do you have to go vanilla/up the gut/didn’t work the last time so we’ll try it again run play? The playbook’s chock full of run plays,run one that’s got a chance of moving the sticks.

      • I was surprised that I never saw a fake fly sweep. I think that is a great way to soften up the middle for the running game.

        I was impressed by the play calling because we had an obvious advantage on the outside with our speed receivers and we just kept going with it for 5-8 yards a play.

    • You may be a trolling duck, or may be what you claim. But you seem intent on cheapening a HUGE win for OSU, so I am going with DUCK.

      As to contending for the conference title, I call it a weak excuse to bash the Beavers, even when they show a HUGE turnaround from last year. In turning around two losing seasons, the last a 3-9, you cant suddenly go to contending. So your justification for beaver bashing is bullshit, imo.

  12. OT…but man what a roller coaster today. I found out that one of my friends and his girlfriend’s son were overdue from a halibut trip in Sitka since yesterday afternoon. First reports were that they located boat debris in the ocean but signs of survivors. Then they spotted my buddy who had made it to shore but was in a spot they couldn’t get to. Finally got him airlifted out. Just after the game ended, got news that they spotted the kid clinging to a tote out in the ocean…apparently he spent the night clinging on for life. Rescue swimmers got to him and they landed back in Sitka a little bit ago.

    Kind of put the game into perspective for me.

    • Great to hear about the rescue. Cold water up there for sure. I think both your buddy and girlfriends son are very lucky. Glad they are OK. Do you know what happened to their boat?

      • Haven’t gotten the debrief. He owns a fishing lodge (I used to guide for him). I think they were fishing off the Cape when the weather came up and they headed north with a following sea – reports were that the weather was flat nasty with winds out of the SE. Chances are, they took a good one on the quarter stern and rolled, but that’s just speculation. I think he was using his landing craft which isn’t a agile as his regular sport fishing boat. I’m waiting to call until tomorrow. I’m spent just from getting the updates…can’t imagine what they are going through, especiall since they were stranded over night.

  13. Man these are some nice photos – check out photo 6 – that’s not holding is it?

    http://photos.oregonlive.com/photo-essay/2012/09/beavers_upset_the_wisconsin_ba.html#incart_river

    Also, Rudolf Fifita looks pretty big now. I guess these guys did get a little bigger and stronger this off-season.

    The D line did well today, though they were showing signs of tiring against that big O-line in the fourth.

    It made me wonder how it could have been with big Fred Thompson in there – they could have stayed dominant in the fourth I think.

    While its a great win, let’s not forget Fred Thompson.

  14. Great game! Good crowd just few empty seats. First impression Wisconsin is a shell of what they were last yr. Having said that, what great performance by the D. What hasn’t been mentionef were how the corners played. The only passes they allowed were flat passes, and they both tackled well. Murphy had a great game, and Christian had a huge breakup. The LB’s especially Welch looked great, I had my doubts on him but he pushed those away for me. I thought Wynn and were average, but that fifita and braun, and other backups very effective.
    That should’ve been a shutout.

    Offense, needs some work, Mannion looked uncomfortable at times. He had wide open receivers that he just didn’t even look at. Some good teaching moments on film. The line was better but still a work in progress. Issac had some poor snaps, and failed to get out quick enough on some pulls. Thought the tackles were good. Too many delay of games and not getting the play in on time. Agnew looked a little better than Woods, but still really need to run better between tackles.

    Special teams yikes. Need a new punter. The wind was stiff, but some of those kicks were weak. Their punter nailed it every time and we only had one return, which had 2 penalties on it.

      • Speaking of arm pumping, the most action the Badgers got from their players was energetic arm pointing when they thought (hoped) they were on a loose ball. And they were always wrong. About the third time they broke out in mass celebration only to be told “Beaver ball” it was clear that their game plan was to hope for turnovers and everything else…not so much.

  15. Also – as against USC, OSU has shown an ability to stop productive offenses if they get a few turnovers and – as pointed out in the game thread and chat – the QB is not mobile.

    What does OSU do next against mobile QBs? With a 3-4 alignment and the speed and mobility of someone like Welch, can OSU start “spying” mobile QBs and start to make some progress?

  16. BEAVERGOPHER is happy!
    Beavs were great today. D played like the good old days. Welch is a stud and Reynolds was great.
    Wheaton needs to quit dropping balls. Several drops turned a comfortable win into a cardiac finish
    Wish I could have been there to see the skunks slink out of Reser.

    Lettuce Boy is going to cost us a game or two.

    Badger boards are in nuclear meltdown mode. Haha. Iowa loses. Gophs win. perfect.
    My Retro Benny flag should get me a few beers next week at TCF.

    Go Beavs!

      • Lmao at this comment.
        I kept hearing a phrase called “minnesota nice”. Finally had to ask, said it was from the gophers always being such gracious hosts that they even allow the Dakota schools to win.

        • Don’t rain on my parade you bastards LOL! Sac State anyone?
          NDSU is actually a very good team. Beat CSU, who beat CU last week. Previous Div 2 power that has culture of winning. Still no excuse for a B1G team to lose to them.

          The shirts given to the students say “No more Minnesota Nice.” Much improved team and I think we have the right coach finally and a new AD who gets it.

          Hopefully you will get to experience MN nice in a few years, but the rumor around town is that the series is going to be cancelled. That would really suck.

          • Sorry, I couldn’t resist the Dakota schools dig, but hey your AD was smart enough to get them off of the schedule. North Dakota just pounded my Portland State Vikings yesterday. I hate the damn Dakotas. Why did the Gophers fire Mason anyway?

          • UND is a great place for a hockey game. You will not find better. And I have my FCS National Champions shirt for NDSU from last year. I used to sit in the stands at NDSU and watch some really good DII football. They always just find a way to win at that school.

  17. Riley: “We’re a top 25 team.” Damn, I can’t believe HE said that.

    The bye week will allow the Beavs to work on the running game, and hopefully some more vertical passing that works off of improved running.

    Players swear they are playing hard for Fred Thompson, it will be challenging to keep actualizing that and not make it typical sports rhetoric. If they keep playing with the intensity they did today, UCLA should be concerned. OSU beats #13 Badgers, UCLA beats #16 Huskers. OSU @ UCLA could be a match-up of two 25-ish teams….

    Barkley had an OK day today (6 tds) – man I wish OSU had them at Corvallis this year. That kind of USC team is a great match-up for this kind of OSU team at home.

    Oregon O had a silent third quarter – backups?

    UW off to reconstructive surgery, Bow Down nowhere to be found….

    • Oregon had their starters in for the whole game and generally looked like shit after fresno made some adjustments.

      They also had 2 olinemen, Boyett and Huff go down with injuries.

      If Barner gets hurt they are fucked.

  18. Back from the game, what a blast! Popped inside Truax before the game for a couple brews. That is one big ass practice facility (shitty beer though). Seems larger then the Seahawks. Reser noise was pretty good. Defense was great. Welch is an absolute beast. Laid a lotta hat. Special teams was bad, need to try out the Aussie. Kostols ball looks like a dead duck. Mannion is used to getting hit too quickly, was speeding through his progressions and dumping the ball off instead to letting the routes develope. Cooks had his man beat with no safety help all game long, but they didn’t give it a single shot. I expect these will be fixed as he grows to trust his line. Refs only got 1 call right all game, but good thing they did. Could be a fun year to be a beav.

    • Except for Kostol dropping the one snap (thanks for the D bailout on that one, just like the old days), I thought he did pretty well. He averaged 40.8 yrds, which is about the exact average of all college punters. To kick average his first game is actually above average. I think some of his punts are supposed to look like dead ducks because he was trying to stop them within the 10 yard line.

      I think if the offense converts better on third down, they should beat UCLA.

  19. Arizona State looking good on both sides of the ball. All kinds of energy on the side lines and with their players. Another Pac team that could give the ducks a loss. Arizona seems to be hanging in their game. Pac12 teams showing national prominence. Bye should give team plenty of time to get prepared for UCLA which also looked good.

  20. Nice win for the beavs! Very impressed by the D. Offense needs a little work but perhaps some of that is first game stuff that can be worked out. O line looked solid and the running backs looked unspectacular but did a good job. A lot to be happy about today. Can’t wait for the next game but sucks its 2 weeks away. I might have to make a trip from the bay area to LA for that one. UCLA looks tough. I’d like to see if the Beavs new D can slow down the UCLA offense.

    Also, Angry I don’t see any possibility of the beavs being ranked come Monday. Maybe if they were borderline coming into the game, but OSU wasn’t even on anyone’s radar which you know. They’ll get votes but my guess is voters will be looking for a “prove it” game. If we beat UCLA in 2 weeks we will definitely be ranked. As well as UCLA has been playing, they could be ranked when we play them.

  21. Finally everyone must feel, “it is a great day to be a Beaver”. Spent the last 3 hours in a Salem backyard after the game just feeling the glow! The best part is, our offense can play better. If the defense holds, then we should be playing the CW for the North championship. Bring on USC.

  22. Mannion looked to rush things. I think he is still learning to trust the line. If he waits for things to develop and can move a bit in the pocket the offense will start to click. Running game still needs some work, but I think UW was tackling pretty well. A couple of runs about broke through. Ducks did not look invincible today either… their second half was pretty awful. Big test is UCLA which looks pretty good. Exciting times in Beaverville.

    • i noticed the same thing about mannion. i feel like it was the game plan for him to get rid of it quick though in his defense. the pass protection was really good though, so hopefully against UCLA he stands in the pocket with the football and surveys a little bit longer before resorting to his checkdown guy.

  23. Plus the officiating was pretty bad…lots of no calls/blown calls. Stadium atmosphere seemed as good as it has been in a couple of year. I think Riley might have gotten his Mojo back.

  24. Wisconsin reminded me off those overweight, over confident Big-10 teams that used to waddle into the Rose Bowl every year and lose to a fast, determined PAC-8 or 10 team. They are no where near what they were last year, but that doesn’t detract from the win.

    League is shaping up as a roller coaster ride. JB

    • Yep it is. Ucla looks tough as was said earlier. Arizona’s QB has wheels and can air it out. Zona State looks good too. Love the Pac-12!

      I sooooooo tired of the bad calls and how many yards we give away in penalties. Mannion also needs to slow down his shorts throws from 3000 mph to 2000 mph so people can catch them without loosing limbs.

      UCLA will be part 2 of the test for the Beavs. If they do well against UCLA we got a good chance of a winning season.

  25. What a difference a day makes. Now the PAC is looking tough. Just not the teams everyone was expecting. Starting to look like there were some nice coaching hires.

  26. As mentioned above:

    But make no mistake, Saturday sent a message. Asked point blank after the game if OSU is worth of being ranked, Riley didn’t hesitate.

    “Yeah,” he said. “We’re a top 25 team.”

  27. Holey crap!! Had to work today, but listened to the game…..

    The D is clearly come alive and nothing like last year. Punting needs work. Mannion sounded nervious and not really on his game — missing with passes.

    But this is HUGE!!! A win over a 13th ranked team…in SEPTEMBER?!?! Man, Riley has come alive…..dude is born again.

    This season could be FUN! WAY TO GO, COACHES AND PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  28. I’m sick of hearing and seeing that onside kick. There was a plethora of shit calls gifting the score that set up that kick. Why not expose that?

  29. Regarding chat: we don’t have to do it.
    Some people like to read the comments after the game. I personally like having the archived comments here. There’s no way to archive the chat.

    I think the chat is best for non-Beav Pac-12 games.

  30. I still got that ever present tap on the back at the game yesterday. It was 3rd down on defense, dude says it’s obvious Wisc will go for it on 4th down so please sit down this play. He wasn’t even old, like 45 maybe.

  31. Not sure if anyone already mentioned him, but the player I was most surprised with was Castro. He played amazing against that great UW offensive line. At one point the announcer even referred to him as the reason for Montee Ball being held in check all game. Hopefully he can keep it up!

  32. The key to improved offense will be a better running game. The key to improved running game will be a fullback that can lead block and/or more physical tight end/h back blocking. I would like to see two or three OS tight ends on the field at the same time. Anderson is a good combo back but is not big enough or strong enough at this point . OS certainly has enough big tight ends. This would open up the passing game.

  33. Another possible benefit of the game is that Langsdorf got the credit for the offense. Maybe some sucker team will be so impressed that they hire him away from us

  34. Mannion missed guys that were open down the field several times. There were a couple bad connections between Isaac and Mannion on the snap and also Isaac had several penalties… hopefully this is a first game jitters thing… I don’t see how we can not play the kid.

    Banker’s D seems to work well with speed on the edges and lock down corners…. too bad that only happens once every 4 years.

  35. Couple other observations on performance fom the game.

    Poitive: Zimmerman – he was everywhere during the game. I counted 4 or 5 tackles in the first half. He a definite upgrade over Watkins. Glad Watkins is out so the senior can’t play over the new guy.

    Negative that will turn positive: watching a tape of he game this morning it’s obvious that seumalo is a freshman. Don’t get me wrong, obvious improvement over last year and he’s going to be good BUT yesterday was a below avg performance. Missed blocks, holding call, (clip on the punt return…?). Not worried though, he’ll improve.

  36. Must give props to Mike Riley. The team was ready to go for once and he called a pretty good game.
    Too bad we did not have a tune up game to get the run blocking practiced. Bad time for a bye week.
    Plenty of mistakes to correct, but win is a win. Too bad the Razorbacks stole our headlines.

  37. The thing that stood out to me about the defense is the number of play-makers out there. Both DE’s, Poyer, and now Murphy and Welch all have the ability to change the momentum of a game on one play. The supporting cast looks capable as well. My main concern is depth, especially at safety. When Murphy went down with a cramp, I let out a few expletives.

    On offense, Mannion needs to improve his accuracy on down-field throws. As people mentioned, he missed a few wide-open receivers. The running game was pretty much what I expected, I’m sure it will improve as the line continues to gel. Agnew looks like the more explosive runner, although he had a near fumble early in the game.

    • Regarding Mannion, it looked like he didn’t yet trust his line to protect him. The play calling also tended to favor plays where he could quickly dump the ball.

      I think every needs to adjust to the new paradigm of a line that can pass protect.

    • I can see how you would think Zimmerman touched that ball from those angles (i wish he would play his last shot out farther to get an idea of whether it bounced off of zimmerman or the kicker). But the spirit of his argument is wrong – to say that the badgers were robbed because of one call that went against them in a game where they were dominated statistically is a joke. And then there’s the obvious if you want to criticize the refs: what about the no-calls on holding and PI that wisconsin was able to get away with while we get nailed with a phantom defensive PI? U’d say the pac-12 replay booth was getting one back for all the b.s. they had to watch during the game from the big-10 crew.

        • The Beavs were very fortunate to get that call reversed, but it’s about time something fell their way given all of the bizarre calls from Stricherz and team over the last ten years. Also, I thought Wisonsin looked very close to being offsides on the kick, I remeber that being called on the Beavers in the past!

          There were some very favorable calls going to Wisc. through out the game. Beavs got a key one at the end, deal with it Wisky!

          • I was talking to a high school ref after the game yesterday and he said the NCAA had another rule change. The rule is state as follows;

            g. No Team A player may block an opponent until Team A is eligible to touch
            a free-kicked ball [S19].

            This rule is found on page 61 of the official NCAA rule book for 2012. Since the Wisconsin player hit Zimmerman before the ball traveled 10 yards it was a penalty. Wisky can bitch all they want either way the reversal was the right call. Go Beavs!

  38. I realize this is a football thread, but the volleyball team beat Penn State. Huge for them.
    Context would be the football team beating Alabama. Great job!

  39. Has anyone mentioned that Riley set a new game record of the most “go for it on 4 down” in a single game…….. ever. He reminded me of Chip

    • “Fortune favors the bold!” I think Riley even read some Sun Tzu during camp.

      We need to beat UCLA and we have an excellent chance to get a Vegas Bowl or better. Even sweeter, OSU will be ranked and getting more national attention.

        • I’m saying at 2-0 our odds to get Vegas or better are very good. We’d be in a pretty good position to make another Sun Bowl run and could realistically be shooting hard for the Holiday Bowl as a goal that is within reach.

          I also think Oregon State’s primarily two back attack is our best bet this year, but it needs to be more productive. We don’t know a lot about our kicking game yet but it does need to get better.
          I was impressed with Arizona out slinging Okie St. by a pretty wide margin. Our next two games will be tough competition and OSU will need to continue to bring its best and play lights out on defense, while the offense works on scoring more TDs.

          Canzano originally had OSU at 6-6 and a New Mexico Bowl. Now he thinks 7-5 as long as we play Nicholls St. at the end of the year. He probably also now believes they have a good shot at Vegas and possibly better. I personally would be very disappointed with anything less than Vegas now and think we have a good opportunity for Sun. That won’t mean a ton to me (The Sun is the last average bowl before the more premium tier IMO) so I really hope Riley and the team put together a very meaningful year by somehow getting in the mix for the Holiday and then getting picked because we never have been to it before. San Diego in December would be awesome.

  40. As I watch the game on tivo I see something that is interesting. 3-5 of Mannion’s imcompletions were intentional throw aways. The tv angles make them look like he misses but from my angle at the stadium these obviously intentional because the receiver wasn’t open.
    I remember commenting at the time how refreshing it was to have a qb take the incompletion instead of forcing ala Katz.

    • Even Mannion last year tried forcing passes. He did a great job yesterday taking what the defense gave him. Those 2-3 yard passes to Wheaton and cooks who pick up 5 after the catch, easy money.

      • You mention taking what they gave Mannion, it was interesting to watch in the first half, plus the long drive to open the second half from up in the nose bleeds, but the Wisconsin cornerbacks would line up 5 yards off Cooks and Wheaton, then a couple seconds before the ball was snapped, they would back peddle so that they were 10 yards off of them when the ball was snapped. They either respected or feared our WR speed. Good job on the Beavers for exploiting.

  41. Interesting side note:

    Talked to a guy who was at Autzen when they announced the OSU/Wisc final score. He said the place blew up like the Ducks just scored a touchdown. Kinda surprised me.

  42. Rumor out of Madison is that they are firing their O line coach. Major whining about the onside kick call. Didn’t we get Barney Rubble fired in Tucson last year?

    • Rumor also has it Wisconsin was shut out till 1:35 left in the game. that onside kick bad call wasnt the reason they lost. Quit yer bitchen and start planning for next week.

    • Shut the fuck up about your onside call. Bias big10 refs fucked up our drive and gifted their drive. It never should of been so I really don’t give a flying fuck. And I hope every Beav has this response to whining about that call.

      • Another reason the onsides griping is b.s: wisconsin players are slamming into zimmerman before the ball has gone 10 yda. Should have been a penalty

  43. Watching the seumalo holding call in the 4th quarter, it flat out did not happen. I’ve tivoed it back and forth watching each o and d line player just to see if the ref got the number wrong… nope. Not even questionable. They never showed a replay so people just gloss over it and chalk it up to.a freshman mistake, but it was a big 10 official subtly trying to help his team in crunch time.

    • Man! Those UW OTs were getting beat big time by Wynn and Crichton on the edge, and they were grabbing them across the necks like it was a WWF clothesline move. But they just never called the hold.

      What was up with that?

      • The first penalty against Wisconsin was not called until halfway through the 3rd quarter. There is absolutely no way possible that up until that point they had not committed at least one hold.

      • It seems like every replay or still shot featured an OSU DL with his arms akimbo being strangled, to little effect re: the refs.

        Of course, I’m still traumatized by witnessing the phantom fumble by Yvenson Bernard against UW so I figure the Beavs need to overcome at least three totally blown calls by the zebras to win ANY game.

  44. Well I waited till I calmed down to post a review of the game and got a chance to see some of the plays on TV. I was lucky enough to attend and it was an electric atmosphere.

    QB: B
    Mannion managed the game well. Very few poor reads. His arm strength has definitely improved. NFL velocity on a few. Looked confident. Tended to stare down receivers though.

    RB: B
    Steady improvement throughout the game. Held onto the ball, kept the legs going on every play.

    OLINE – B+
    Pass blocking was steady throughout the game. Few breakdowns. Isaac’s shotgun snaps are something to work on. They were very slow coming out. Seemed like Wisconsin’s D line had 2 steps before the ball reached Mannion.

    DLine – A
    Kept Ball contained all day. Let the LBs come up and make plays. It appeared the coaches rotated the Dlineman a lot more. Good sign of depth.

    LBs – A
    Welch and Unga(not gonna spell his new name) played lights out. Hit hard and flew to the ball.

    CBs – A
    Reynolds and Poyer are becoming shutdown corners. Shades of Lewis and Hughes tandem.

    S – B+
    Made the plays they needed to. Great read on the INT by Murphy.

    Coaching – A+.
    Results speak for themselves.

    All in all, the defense came ready to play and saved the game for a slowly developing offense. Lots of stuff to work on if they want to survive the next two road games. Still need to establish the run game. The coaches need to be very critical of the players to let them know they still need to improve in all facets.

    I feel it’s a good thing for the players to get a bye here. They’ll come down from their high and not have a immediate letdown. They know UCLA will likely be ranked when they head down to the Rose Bowl. And it’s a good thing OSU is not ranked. Need to keep the underdog mentality going all year.

    • I guess I’m still too excited because I forgot WRs and special teams.

      WRs/TEs – A
      Made plays all day. Blocking was crucial.

      Special Teams – F
      Romaine is clearly having some kind of mental issues. Kostol seemed jumpy and it showed when he just dropped the ball.

      • Can’t give the WRs an A, dropped passes. An F for special teams seems harsh, Lettuce did get his PAT and 1-2 FGA. Kostol had a 40 yd avg although they all looked ugly and a to have a ball bounce off your facemask, I’d give them a D-.

        • Yep … agree. Kicking needs to get WAY better, and the WR’s need to make a BIG play once in a while, as well as not drop decent passes. If you can get your hands on it, you should have it.

    • You know that very first “O-S-U” stadium wide chant during a TV timeout? Ya, I started that with the group around me by me yelling O…then they would yell S…then I would quickly yell the U and then the O even louder to get the chant going in our area and it slowly picked up! It was awesome!!! I loved that!

      The new “implementations of cheerleaders and band” I guess will have to wait until the students are back for the Wazzu game on October 6th.

      I really wish our band members would be as faithful to the University by having a “band camp” held close(r) to the home opener and then come to every home game starting with the game prior to school starting up. Nebraska’s marching band has to be one of the largest bands in the nation and also the most organized. I think the stadium will be near sold out for the remainder of the season when we beat UCLA and Arizona! 3-0? I don’t see why not!

      I watched the first series of the UCLA/Nebraska game and marked notes on it. They threw 8 times and ran only 3 times…only to get a field goal. They were also held to a 3rd down at least twice in their first series. If the Beavs remain a 3rd down team, then we will have better chance of beating UCLA than Nebraska.

      I agree with giving coaching an A+ because the game plan was dam near perfect(pun inteded)! I’m curious to see the UCLA vs. Houston game and get another game to watch what UCLA is all about.

    • They need to somehow hold this victory in their brain simultaneously with last year’s record. Need confidence moving forward, but can’t forget how terrible they performed not so long ago. Keep grinding, stay hungry, and whatever other cliches you can muster.

    • Only one win, if we win against UCLA, I’d say an easy Top-20 ranking. I’m not at all surprised we aren’t ranked, just can’t base a team on one game.

    • Some perspective on Bielema deciding to dump the OL coach after just two games:
      http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/169131096.html

      IMHO you cannot, in one fell swoop, change 5 or 6 coaches (including a coordinator) on a staff and not experience some growing pains at best and some serious screw ups at worst.

      The Beavs victory isn’t going to look as impressive if the Badgers don’t improve their team chemistry and find a way to win, lots.

      No matter, the Beavs can only control their own approach and execution against UCLA. A performance against the Bruins which equals that of last Saturday will put the Beavs on everyones radar. GO BEAVS, one at a time!

      • One coach fired every season? Not sure to whom you are referring. My point was that wholesale staff changes aren’t likely to come without an effect on team chemistry and communication. Especially true when a successful coordinator leaves.

        Coaching changes lately at OS(U) have involved GA’s and, over two seasons, WR-RB-DB coaches, only firing was, I believe, the LB coach. No coordinator involved.

        Good or Bad?? At this point I say more good than bad. While there may be recruiting weaknesses, a season of performances like last Saturday will mitigate them. Hip hip hooray, especially for Bray and Perry!

    • If I had to guess, I would say it’s probably not a knee-jerk firing. It’s likely someone got in someone’s face out of frustration, and someone decided he wasn’t going to take that kind of shit talk from anyone, let alone someone.

  45. UCLA can score, like most of the Pac now. Their QB is athletic and will be mobile… lets hope Banker has made changes in that area too.

    They have a great RB as well, but if the defense played like it did yesterday I have no worries.

    • The key for us to win UCLA is for our D to show up and be just as good as they were Saturday, and our offense to improve past the jitters. UCLA has a good offense but a not so good defense. If we are good on both sides of the ball we win.

  46. Looking towards our next two AWAY games with UCLA and Arizona, both I believe are better teams than Wisconsin, our team and coaches have to do the following to get wins:

    Offensive play calling showing more big plays, pass plays going down field for big yardage. More passing on 1st downs to surprise defenses.

    Most of our plays during game with Wisconsin as the announcer put it were “dinky”, short yardage plays. Play calling needs to be more aggressive and try to gain more yardage on downs. Another words get first downs in two plays instead of depending on converting long yardage 3rd downs.

    Unless the Beavs are 30 or more points ahead, be as aggressive on offense as we were on defense and keep going for points using more imaginative pass and ground plays. If we use a narrow play book, opponent will surly adjust and shut predictable plays down.

    Our defense looked nothing less than awesome in game against Badgers, but key with UCLA and Arizona is the ability to make necessary defensive adjustments at half time to counter.

    Bottome line, keep scoring and don’t get conservative and attempt to let our defense win the game. We have to be aggressive on both sides of the ball throughout the whole game.

    • Wisconsin was playing 3 deep most of the game, negating much of a deep passing game. The play calling took what the defense gave, which was the short passes to the flats. Mannion forced very few passes. Much of the misses were just bad throws by Mannion.

      It’s going to take at least 30 points in each of the next two games to have a shot at winning. That will mean taking a few chances downfield. Cooks is looking much faster and comfortable this year. We should see a lot of deep shots to him this year.

    • We didnt get conservative on offense. We had no lead to get conservative about I suspect the play calling was as inventive as it could be, for a Beaver first game of the season.

      Wisconsin looked inept on offense but that might be due to our big defensive effort. But they made plays on defense.

      UCLA didnt look hot on defense, and with just the same play calling, we might well score more.

      Our offense needs to get more productive, but just MAKING plays can do that, even given the same plays. Blocking, not dropping passes …

      I suspect Mannion was out of synch, given that it was the first game of the year for us, against a team he got shut out by, last year. He had no idea what to expect from his O line.

      The lack of points production was obvious, and it will surely be addressed. We have two weeks and Riley makes good use of bye weeks. I would expect us to have a good shot at UCLA, but more trouble the next week with Arizona.

  47. Keep in mind, part of Riley’s play-calling philosophy is to get the ball to a playmaker in space and let them create. That means lots of short passes and screens.

    Sure, when we had DA and Hass/Straughter we threw the ball deep a bit, but Riley loves his short passes(Former NFL coach and all). And considering that is where the NFL has gone in the past few years, I wouldn’t expect many changes. 3-4 more deep-ish throws would be nice, but it’s runs and short throws all day.

    • I agree, it just seemed we had a problem when we got to the RED zone and long pass plays going for the inzone would eliminate red zone stop. I believe with Arizona and UCLA we need to get the 7 points rather than settling for a field goal.

  48. I reviewed the onside kick call 10 times on DVR and there is clear and indisputable video evidence that OSU’s #8 (Zimmerman) was blocked illegally before the ball had travelled 10 yards. Thus, any possible contact by him after that hit is null and void and the kicker’s touch remains illegal as well.

    OSU Onside Kick Call Was 100% Correct:
    http://beaverbyte.com

    • Yeah… I looked this up in the official rules last night and was talking to a couple friends about it this morning. But you kinda make it hard to understand. The rules are 6.1.2.g (page 61), 6.3.a.2 (page 62) and 6.4.a (page 62).

      Essentially, what they say are that the kicking team can’t touch the ball until it crosses the 10 yard plane and remains there or touches the ground or is touched by the receiving team… unless (the only exception) the player from the receiving team who touches the ball is blocked into the ball. The ball may have broken the 10 yard plane, but it didn’t touch the ground. And Zimmerman was blocked into the ball which constitutes a forced touch… which is a “disregarded touch” when the replay booth looks at it.

  49. Is there any chance that Angry might shut this site down? Now that all the problems in the football program have been remedied and we are headed to a major bowl…. it would seem that the site is now superfluous. Maybe he should change the name to “Formerlyangrybeavs” JB

  50. Man, I have been having so much fun with the whining Wisky fans on other sites. Oh, and put on my Beavers shirt for work today so the Badger boss can see it (smile). If they don’t win the rest of the season today has been worth it.

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