Beavers Look For Elusive Win Victory Over UW Would Be Huge Washington At Oregon State

In a way, Oct. 24, 1998, was a crossroads for the Oregon State Beavers.

Until then, the Beavers never really thought of themselves as legitimate players in Pacific-10 Conference football. At least, not in nearly 30 years.

But when the Beavers stormed back that dark, dank afternoon at Husky Stadium, everyone started to believe.

“I’ve watched the film a few times,” said Jonathan Smith, the unlikely near-hero that day.

Smith was a 5-foot-9 walk-on freshman quarterback. No Division I school offered him a scholarship. Mike Riley, then OSU’s coach, invited Smith to walk on.

So it was of little concern to the Washington Huskies when Smith came in during the second quarter with the Beavers trailing 21-7. Smith’s presence meant even less to the Huskies when Washington extended the lead to 28-7 in the third quarter.

Smith got their attention. When the game ended, Washington sweated out a 35-34 victory, but not before Smith threw for 469 yards. He hit Tim Alexander with a 33-yard scoring pass as time ran out, then threw to Roddy Tompkins in the back of the end zone for a 2-point conversion that UW’s Nigel Burton tipped away.

“I think about it a lot, and I think if I could have thrown it 2 feet higher, we win,” Smith said. “It wasn’t far off.”

Neither are the Beavers (0-1 Pac-10, 3-1 overall), who have the Huskies (1-0, 2-2) today at Reser Stadium.

Many things are different this time around. Jim Lambright is out as Washington’s coach, Rick Neuheisel is in. Riley is out, gone to the San Diego Chargers. Dennis Erickson is in after four years with the Seattle Seahawks.

But really, not much else is different. Oregon State appears to be a program on the rise. Erickson’s charisma and national championship have Corvallis giddy about Beavers football.

Observers believe this could be the year Oregon State knocks off Washington for the first time in the last 12 meetings. The Huskies have won 21 of the last 22 against the Beavers.

A victory would give OSU its first 4-1 mark since 1964. The Beavers are knocking at the door of something special. A victory against an established program - say, Washington - is a missing piece of the puzzle.

“We need to prove to the world that we’re a solid team,” OSU strong safety Terrence Carroll said. “We need to beat a quality opponent.”

Washington knows it has a target on its backside. And last season was just too close.