There's been a lot of recruiting news to follow, so it slipped my mind that it's already Wednesday.

I feel more confident in analyzing this game than any other this year. I've seen every Duck game that's been on TV, and I've seen 99% of the Beavers' season, minus bathroom and cocktail breaks. I'll approach this discussion in two ways:

1. What is going to happen.

2. What the Beavers must do to win the game.

Okay, I think the first one is easy. The Ducks are going to cream the Beavs. At the beginning of the year, before games were played, it was somewhat revolutionary to call out the defense. At this point, even the proverbial blind squirrel can see the problems. I won't insult your intelligence or waste your time talking about that other than to say that this is the Beavers worst possible matchup out of all 119 DI teams.

What is going to happen is this: The opening kickoff will be raucous. Duck fans will out-noise Beaver fans–it's just the nature and mentality of the fan bases. Right off the bat the Beavers home field "advantage" will be gone. Couple this with the fact that Duck fans might actually outnumber Beaver fans (due to Beavers selling their tickets to Ducks), and I'd argue the Ducks have the home field advantage in Reiser. What will compound this advantage is Gameday and their hours of Duck love prior to kickoff. Brace yourselves for the worst day of Beaver football in history.

The kickoff will occur, it will be taken beyond the 50 by Oregon. The septuagenarians (i.e. 90% of Beaver fans) will sit down and shut up. Knowing the Beavers only hope is to sell out on the run, Darren Thomas will play action to LaMichael James and go over the top for a big gain. The Beavers will then start to get off balance, a gaping hole with a gashing run right up the middle follows, and the route is on. Beavers get the following kickoff. On first down, they hand the ball off to Quizz, a dive up the middle, hoping for lightning in a bottle. The Ducks defense is too jacked up, the Beavers' line bows backwards, and it only goes for two. 2nd & 8. Langsdorff calls a dump pass to Quizz in the flat, but Paysinger sniffed that out back at the hotel, and it once again it goes for two. It's now 3rd & 6, and the Beavs decide to get wild and vertical. Katz drops back to pass and…sails the ball wildly over Wheaton's head. Punt. Cliff Harris returns it 50 yards. And…the route is on…again.

What the Beavers need to do:

1. Hope the Ducks pull a USC 2006 and kill themselves with turnovers.

2. Watch Rudy before the game and get it the "us against the world mindset"

3. X and O wise, play disciplined assignments and let instinct take over rather than over-thinking.

4. Read my article on how to stop the spread. ("Angry, you don't know more than the coaches!"). Sorry, but my idea cannot possibly be worse than the coaches results.

5. Long, sustained drives that result in touchdowns. The Beavers cannot kick a field goal this game, unless it's as time expires to win it. The only Beavers defense in this game will be a methodical offense.

6. Complete 75% of 3rd downs.

7. Keep the Ducks around 40% on 3rd downs, and 10% on 4th downs. Understand the Ducks use all 4 of their downs.

8. Don't give up back breaking 2 point conversions.

Heck, I'll stop there since I'm wasting my time and your time. Just start preparing yourself mentally right now. The Ducks are going to the Title Game on our dime. We thought the past two Civil Wars were bad, but expect to puke a little in your mouth come Saturday. I beg the septuagenarians to stand up and make noise, and to tell their fellow septuagenarians to stand up and make noise, but I know bad knees are an issue at that age so I'm not expecting it.

∞-14, Ducks

As you all know, the Beavers landed (rivals.com) 4-star recruit Brandin Cooks. Poached him from UCLA, to be more exact. Scout lists Cooks as a 3-star athlete, and based on the film I saw I tend to agree. He looks more like Kevan Walker than Markus Wheaton (who I thought should have been 4-star). He's a bit faster than Walker, though. I saw a 10.7/100m listed, which translates to a 4.28/40m. But I don't see that kind of speed on film. He looks like a 4.45 guy. Scout lists his 40 at 4.40, but scouting services rely on players, coaches, and unreliable timing methods so you just never know.

What I do know is he has a good head on his shoulders, thought the process through, and picked the best fit for him. He doesn't sound enamored with Corvallis, the town, but he does love the program and staff. He seems determined to make the NFL, and the Beavers need that work ethic and mojo. Also keep in mind Cooks and McClure are buddies, and he's also chummy with the Grant foursome. If dominoes begin to fall the Beavers could wind up with a real coup de tat.

As to where he will play, he does look more natural on offense, but the Beavers have more of a need at CB. My hunch is that Cooks is a Doe replacement right now, and ultimately projected to be a James Rodgers replacement. That's fine.

Overall, I'm excited about Cooks' commitment, but I think fans expecting him to come in next year and be DeSean Jackson will be disappointed. Think a combo of Kevan Walker and Markus Wheaton. On this prospect I think scout.com has the more accurate projection.

Here are his highlights, decide for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irZXGtzc1Fo

The mental component of football is greater than the physical. People gush over 4-star talent, but the truth of the matter is that the ideal football player is a high 3-star specimen with a 5 star mindset. And that doesn't mean the prima dona mindset of a 5-star athlete; it means a player who could go to Vietnam and excel in jungle warfare. "Angry, are you saying we need 3-star Rambos on this team?" That's exactly what I'm saying. Give me 11 Stalones over 20 Grant Johnsons or 15 Michael Phillipps or 30 Sean Mannions. Even Quizz Rodgers, dare I say it, lacks mental fortitude. He didn't when he arrived, but the culture of Corvallis has finally gotten to him.

If you bring the schedule up on your screen and go through every game, you'll realize that since James Rodgers' injury, the only time the Beavers have been able to win has been when the opponent suffered a significant injury or came out flat. In other words, when the opponent lacked fortitude. These were the Cal and USC games, and by not realizing USC was flat, it skewed our perspective as fans and once again gave us false hope. Let's learn from this in the future. Bottom line: if the opponent came out ready to play, the Beavers lost, which we know all too well from the Washington State game.

What I saw last night was not only revenge of the slow nerds, but a dismantling by the slow nerds. Kudos to the slow nerds, I think they play ideal football. And Stanford fan, while it might sounds like I'm being condescending, the truth of the matter is I envy the warrior mindset of your team, and frankly I just like saying "slow nerds"–it makes me laugh. So, don't get offended. Harbaugh is incredible–he's improved every year, he's a leader, a winner.

I digress.

Looking in the cupboard you can see it's not bare. "The sky is not falling, Angry!!" Okay, but it's a hazy shade of winter, and the future is futile unless those prospects already have or can be taught winning mindset. We saw James and Jaquizz Rodgers come into this program with Rambo mindsets, and now they laugh on the sideline in a 38-0 loss, don't fight for extra yards, and have succumbed to the culture.

My final question today is this: can Mike Riley instill a cut throat mindset in a man? Despite what dim fans might tell you, these are not boys, they are not kids…these are men, and they need to be pushed around, toughened up, and told what they're going to do to earn their free education, whether they like it or not. We've had a decade of Riley, so we have an answer. He cannot lead men. Players like him, so they play for him, but he cannot lead them or instill confidence that he does not have. I call this Herm Edwards Syndrome. Riley has hope, not expectation or confidence. That being said, he is signed to a lifetime contract, so he can't be replaced, and the players can't be fired, so it leaves one option: the ancillary staff must be broken up. Bob D gaffed in structuring Riley's contract, and he must make amends by overriding Riley and ditching the assistants. I don't care if Landsdorf gave Cav's wife a kidney or that Riley knew Ed Langsdorf for 30 years. The nepotism stops now. Who knows, maybe that gets Riley so fired up he resigns. Unless you like this product, I'd suggest not donating to BASF or renewing tickets until there is change. Write your AD to let him know if you do decide to hold out.

Anyway, moving forward. Saturday's forecast calls for the perfect storm. The cumulation of poor recruiting, mental ineptitude, loyalty to a fault, nepotism, etc, all against the backdrop of the cold, calculating Machiavellian genius of Chip Kelly. Gameday's first trip to Corvallis is for a Duck love fest. Most Beaver fans are elated the prestigious show is in lowly Corvallis, but the intelligent ones foresee the ambush.