This isn’t based on Saturday. It’s based off his entire career. He’s Derek Anderson.

But for those who like numbers, he doesn’t have any signature wins in 4 years (unless you give him 10-7 over Wisconsin in 2012) and wilts in the spotlight (4INTs vs Washington in 2012 when the Beavs were looking to go to 7-0, 4INTs in Civil War. He is now 0-7 vs Oregon, USC, and Stanford, which are the most meaningful games the Beavs play in any given year. Another big game vs Texas was a loss. So he is 0-8 in “big games”. If you want to call Wisconsin a big game, then he is 1-9 (because you have to include Wisconsin 2011, which he lost 35-0).

Yet because he sets passing records, which has a lot to do with him starting as a freshman and Riley becoming pass happy(e.g. over 600 pass attempts last year), people believe he’s a great QB. Stats mean little from a QB, and the ones that do matter are things like 3rd down conversions and wins. Mannion beats up on inferior opponents, but he cannot perform once the competition falls between good to elite. He is the prototypical “tweener” who will get drafted high due to height, pedigree, and other measurables. There are always dumb, bottom-feeding owners like Al Davis who eats up a guy’s look and his passing records, but he will be out of the NFL within 2 years.

What is worse, Mike Riley has decided to make Sean Mannion the team’s identity. Usually he says “the team has to find their identity”…well what we have had under Mannion is Riley forcing what he thinks the identity should be—as passing team. This is a big problem since Mannion is just average.

But that is the topic of another thread. The big picture here is that Sean Mannion, much like Mike Riley, is not clutch. He’s a tweener, a deer-in-headlights wannabe gunslinger who can only sling it versus mid-tier and lower opponents. A great quarterback single-handedly wins games, and they also make the players around them better. Forget the passing yards and how he looks.

Some great comments tonight that sum things up.

1. Riley needs to go Last Samurai and fire himself in shame.

2. This was a fucking disgrace about which nothing will be done.

3. So obviously this game will be defined by the hail mary that shouldn’t have been. I’ve been following this thread and lurking on this site for a while now but that ONE PLAY made me want to spam every OSU message boards with “Fire Riley!” posts than any other in recent memory. With that ONE PLAY, I think (HOPE!) we have reached the tipping point in Riley’s career at Oregon State. There is no way people watching this game see that unfold and maintain their support. If they do, then our fan base is truly as broken as our coaching staff.

4. Wonder how many times we get told tomorrow how lucky OSU fans are to have Riley as a coach. 500 times is the minimum

5. And this one I wrote on Twitter @Riley: Earth moves around the sun; we call this time. You can figuratively stop it by saying “time out” or making a T with your hands.

 

By the way, when I try to follow Riley on Twitter I get this message: “You have been blocked from following this account at the request of the user.” Nice to see coach is open to criticism and suggestions. I guess when you have everything figured out, as he clearly does, you don’t need the input.

The thing about this game is the Beavers could have won it. The score makes it look like a blowout, but it really wasn’t. The defense played okay and they should have been in it ’til the end. The usual suspects cost them chance at victory (again).

Go Beavs

Inquiring minds want to know.

As you can see here, the show has been in SEC country 64 times.

By comparison:

Big 12: 22

Pac-12: 30

ACC: 32

Big 10: 50

Cheers to your terrible product, Disney. Let the propaganda machine roll on.