Brent Vanaderveen should get the mopup time, rather than Cody Vaz.

Vaz will be gone in a few months. Vanderveen, we are told, is the future QB. Mannion might leave early. So what is the logic in putting Vaz in blowouts? He has experience already, so they don’t need to groom a backup, they need to groom a future starter. Now that the schedule becomes difficult, the opportunity to get Vanderveen time has passed. Riley overlooking another (logical) opportunity. Watch how this hurts down the line.

Also, regarding the improved defense: I think a lot of it has to do with putting the right personnel on the field. Once Mageo took over for Skotte things got better. Nelson and Martin were splitting time early on, and once that ended things picked up. Martin and Skotte stinking were mentioned here the day they signed. Yet it took Riley years to evaluate the talent. Also, they didn’t scrimmage in Fall camp. I think this killed them game 1 and was so obvious. But yeah, the more games/hits the better they get. This is just logical. So the better personnel along with more hits is why I think the D has gotten better, and I expect even more improvement. I’m not saying these guys are the ’85 Bears, just that they’re about where I expected now (bad D1 rather than HS level). They still won’t stop the mobile QBs or fast teams. There are ways to do that without talent, but Banker won’t tweak his scheme. He’s convinced it works versus every opponent. Just like Riley was convinced Skotte was the answer. These guys are mules.

Bob D: if you read this site, I’m officially making myself available as a consultant and/or talent evaluator.

I remember playing Monopoly as a kid, and the Community Chest cards would always read, “such and such error” in the other guy’s favor. The Cougs’ botched punt felt like that, only in reverse. i.e. [bad] luck of my life, luck o’ the Beavs, etc, IN REVERSE. Pretty amazing. Anyway, I do feel like something clicked at that moment. The play calling became genius, the defense clamped down, …everything clicked. Everything. And even though we can say “well, it was just the Cougs, and they aren’t very good”, I feel like I saw something. A USC 2006 type moment. Maybe I am losing it, as some naysayers here suggested. But I expect a string of victories after that performance. The team has to be feeling great, and that’s infectious and contagious. Hell, even I have Beaver fever (puke). Yeah, there were things I didn’t like: run game, Riley smiling on the sidelines, 3 quarters of anemic football, etc. But big picture, that 4th quarter performance can propel.

Cal is one of the easier games on the schedule, so it’s just a matter of staying focused and not looking ahead to Stanford.

Speaking of which, Stanford’s most impressive win has been Washington. People are chirping that OSU will win a game we don’t expect–could be Stanford. That QB is a bit overrated, and as Harbaugh’s players leave the program…I expect Shaw gets exposed/there is more decline coming.

To me, the worst upcoming matchups are Arizona State and Oregon. Both teams are fast all over with mobile QBs who can also throw. Every other team is beatable so long as the offense stays healthy. I’m on a bit of a high from last week, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think Cal, Stanford, and USC are wins. Arizona State a loss. Washington 50/50. Oregon a loss.

Regarding Cal, the QB is promising, but I don’t worry much about pocket passers. They’re also beat up everywhere on D, so I expect OSU’s offense to overwhelm them. The only way Cal wins is if Goff dismantles the secondary, but I think that window of opportunity is quickly closing, as Reynolds and Nelson both tighten up. The secondary has been slowly improving.

The game is at Cal and a late start, both of which work against the Beavs, so I’ll keep it reasonable.

Oregon State 38, Cal 20

Entertaining game.

Riley has nine lives. At 5-1 (and likely to be ranked), Eastern Washington is officially forgotten.

Beavs’ offense just overwhelmed the Cougs. People keep talking about the run game, and I was one of them, but this is their identity.

I didn’t learn anything new from this game, but I feel Riley the play caller is an asset, while Riley the coach is a liability. Great play calling this game; maybe the best ever since I’ve been watching the Beavs. Riley will have to keep coming up with wrinkles off all the pass plays for balance since there’s little run game.

The team is building confidence and refining this lethal passing attack each week. I’d like to see what happens when an opponent gets a good pass rush. I feel this game could be a stepping stone, confidence wise, and allow for bigger things down the line.

Game thread.
I’m changing my pick to 31-30, Cougs. Just have a bad feeling about the game that isn’t going away. If they win, it will be a pleasant surprise. I’m thinking loss this week, win next week vs Cal. Then we reassess the back end of the schedule.

Before getting into the game, I was wondering if anyone has 3 Civil War tickets they can part with–if so, shoot me an email. The lady and I are thinking about coming up (have a friend in Portland who wants to come, too), as I’ve never seen a game at Autzen.

Regarding Washington State. I watched them vs Stanford but missed the Cal game. Vs Standford Halliday looked bad, but his numbers vs Cal were incredible. I wish I saw the game so I could say if that’s due to Cal sucking or Halliday having a Matt Moore ’06 moment. What I saw vs Stanford was a guy who could move around a little, but had poor accuracy and timing. The reason I am focusing on Halliday is I think Saturday’s contest comes down to Washington State’s offense. I think their D will be okay (Eastern Washington had 6 ex-Cougars on their team, and we know what they did..). Deone Buchanan is a beast, and the D played with intensity even while being pushed around by Stanford. They won’t shut down OSU, but I think they hold them around 30 points. Can the Cougs score more than that vs our bad, but [possibly] improving, defense? I’d be curious to hear from those who watched the Cal game. Is Washington State for real? I didn’t see a pushover vs Stanford. The early forecast is rain on Saturday, so that might be a factor as well.

Oregon State 30, Washington State 28