Beavers mix ups, downs
PULLMAN – This Oregon State football season has had more ups and downs than a Tibetan golf course.
Yet when the Beavers run into Martin Stadium on Saturday to face Washington State in a Pac-10 game crucial to the Cougars’ bowl hopes, they will be on as level a plane as they’ve been all year.
Well, on further review, maybe not.
The Beavers will be without starting quarterback Sean Canfield and may be without him until a bowl game. They will be without three players, including starting cornerback Brandon Hughes, for the first half, punishment for being ejected from last week’s game against Washington.
But they will be coming off a 29-23 win over the Huskies, a win that more than likely guaranteed a bowl spot. So they have that going for them, which is nice.
Still, OSU coach Mike Riley isn’t sure about the postseason just yet.
“I’m not going to count on it, that’s for sure,” he said on this week’s Pac-10 conference call. “We have to go forward. We’re bowl eligible, but we’re not in a bowl and I don’t want to take anything for granted.”
Despite Riley protestations, the Beavers, 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the Pac-10, have a bowl berth as close to locked down as possible. The conference has six assured bowl berths, and OSU is one of five teams eligible.
Only UCLA (5-5, 4-3), which has to upset either No. 2 Oregon (8-2, 5-2) or No. 11 USC (8-2, 5-2) to get the requisite six wins; Arizona (5-6, 4-4), which must follow Thursday’s 34-24 upset of Oregon with a victory over ninth-ranked Arizona State (9-1, 6-1) to get its sixth; or WSU (4-6, 2-5), which also must win out, can join the bowl-eligible group. For OSU to miss out on a bowl, two must jump the Beavers down the stretch.
But stranger things have happened to Oregon State this season.
The Beavers started the year receiving votes in the polls. Then senior All-Pac-10 receiver Sammie Stroughter left the team for personal reasons, rejoined it, then was lost for the year with an injury. The Beavers were blown out in Cincinnati, then upset No. 2 Cal in Berkeley.
They lost running back Yvenson Bernard, who is third in the conference with 963 yards, and Canfield to shoulder injuries. Their defense, tops in the Pac-10 against the run, stymied the Huskies for three quarters last week but had three players ejected in a series of skirmishes and gave up two long scoring passes late.
Bernard returned for the UW game and ran for 149 yards, then coughed up the ball late on a play that should have been reviewed, wasn’t, and almost cost OSU the victory.
“I did not, on Thursday, believe he could play a whole game,” Riley said of Bernard’s recovery. “I wondered if he would last because the whole week he kind of held his left arm close to his side. If we threw a pass to him he caught it with one hand.
“Friday he could raise both arms up and he looked pretty comfortable … then he goes and gets (36) carries and 150 yards. And then he came out of it great.”
The ups and downs continued this week, with the Beavers down about the upcoming suspensions of Hughes, safety Bryan Payton and special-teams player James Dockery, but up when the Pac-10 didn’t extend the penalty to the entire game. They’ll sit for just the first half. They are down about injuries to Canfield and strong safety Daniel Drayton (groin, though he may play Saturday). But they reveled in the play against UW of backup quarterback Lyle Moevao, who will start against WSU.
“It was a passionate performance,” Riley said of Moevao’s first start. “He made some good throws (and) he missed a couple of big opportunities. I liked how he competed.”
The banged-up and suspended secondary is a different story.
“I certainly don’t like being without a couple of secondary guys playing against (WSU quarterback) Alex Brink and company. That’s a scary thought,” Riley said.
Still, the Beavers have a defensive front that WSU coach Bill Doba believes is the Pac-10’s best.
“Oregon State has one of the best defenses in the conference, if not the best,” Doba said. “I was talking to a pro scout who likes a lot of their defensive linemen better than the guys at USC. They’re a tough, aggressive defense that really flies around to the ball.”
Cougar notes
Tight end Jed Collins expects to play Saturday. “He told me he’s playing,” Doba said Thursday. “I’m sure that he will, but I’m sure (backups Ben) Woodard and (Devin) Frischknecht will get a lot more turns.” Doba said Collins’ playing status is a day-to-day issue, although Collins did not practice Thursday. … Doba praised the recent efforts of Matt Eichelberger in the middle. The junior defensive lineman has played in relief of A’i Ahmu at nose tackle in the 3-4 alignment. … The football team plans to have dinner tonight, then attend the first half of the men’s basketball game in Beasley against Idaho. … The worries about the students not being in attendance Saturday – the Thanksgiving break starts this afternoon and many head for home today – would be unfounded if offensive lineman Bobby Byrd could talk with everyone. “I’ve already told all my friends to go ahead and stay,” said the 6-foot-7, 307-pound Byrd. “I’ve told everybody they can wait one more day. And they definitely agreed with me on that.”