No. 10 Beavers Set to Travel to BYU for Saturday Tilt on ABC
Oct. 9, 2012
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THIS WEEK: No. 10 AP/No. 14 USA Today Oregon State (4-0, 3-0 in Pac-12) returns to the road this week traveling to Provo, Utah to face the BYU Cougars (4-2). The game will kickoff at approximately 12:35 p.m. PDT and air to a regional audience on ABC or via ESPN3 or ESPN Game Plan.
THE SERIES: The series dates back to 1955 and this Saturday marks the 11th overall meeting with each team having five victories. The Cougars have won the last two games, including last season's 38-28 win at Reser Stadium. BYU also snapped OSU's five-game bowl win streak by beating the Beavers in the 2009 MAACO Bowl Las Vegas 44-20. This is the first meeting in Provo since OSU's 10-7 upset win Nov. 15, 1986 in game that featured BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall as a junior starting safety for the Beavers (4 tackles).
THE RANKINGS: The Beavers appear in the Associated Press top-25 rankings for the third consecutive week. The No. 10 ranking is the highest since the Beavers opened 2001 at No. 10. OSU hasn't been No. 10 or higher in the AP ranking during the regular season since Nov. 12, 2000 when it appeared No. 8 on its way to finishing the year with a Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame and a No. 4 final AP rank - the last back-to-back weeks in the top 10. A win Saturday would keep OSU in the top 25 for four consecutive weeks for the first time since the end of 2008 when it concluded the year at No. 18.
1939: If OSU prevails Saturday it would be the first 5-0 start since 1939 when it had victories over Stanford, Idaho, Washington, Washington State and Portland. As it is, OSU's four-game win streak to open the year is the longest since 2002 when it beat Eastern Kentucky, Temple, UNLV and Fresno State.
PAC-12 3-0: The last time OSU won its first three conference games of the season was 1968, the first year of the Pac-8 Conference, opening the conference slate at 4-0.
THREE STRAIGHT ON THE ROAD: OSU looks for its third consecutive road win Saturday, a feat the Beavers haven't done since 2008 when they won at Washington, UCLA and Arizona. OSU actually strung together five straight true road victories over two seasons combining 2008 with wins at UNLV and Arizona State in 2009.
`UNGAS: OSU standout linebacker Feti Taumoepeau, formerly `Unga, is the twin brother to BYU linebacker Uani `Unga, who played linebacker at OSU in 2009-10. Their cousin Harvey Unga is the all-time leading rusher for BYU.
MORE CONNECTIONS: Numerous connections between the two programs, including as mentioned before BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall was a safety at OSU in 1986 and `87 (team captain). He then served as a defensive graduate assistant coach for the Beavers in 1989 and '90, as defensive line coach in 1995 and as defensive coordinator in `96. BYU offensive line coach Mark Weber served in the same capacity at OSU from 1987-90. Former BYU assistant coach Dave Kragthorpe was OSU's head football coach from 1985-90.
MORE THAN LAST YEAR: Oregon State has already won more games than it did all of last year when it went 3-9. A few other teams can make the same claim, but none are undefeated. The other teams (as of Oct. 8) are Maryland (2 in 2011, 3 in `12), Duke (3, 5), Minnesota (3, 4), Indiana (1, 2), New Mexico (1, 3), Ole Miss (2, 3) and Middle Tennessee (2, 3).
RILEY GETS RECORD: Beaver head coach Mike Riley became the school's all-time leader for football victories when he notched his 75th (now 76) Sept. 29 at Arizona, passing Lon Stiner (1933-48). The 12th-year head coach has 49 league victories, tied for 15th in the Pac-12 record book with current Cal head coach Jeff Tedford, Stiner and former Washington State head coach Mike Price. For more on Riley see his bio on page 4 of this week's game notes.
SHUTOUT: The Beavers have not allowed a point in the first quarter this season, joining Alabama and Penn State as the only teams with a shutout. OSU has allowed 158 yards (39.5 avg.) of total offense in the first quarters combined, eight first downs and forced eight three-and-outs.
NOT LIKELY TO BE A GROUND GAME: Saturday is unlikely to be a game where a running back on either side of the field posts big numbers. BYU enters the contest first in the nation against the run at 59.5 yards per outing, while OSU leads the Pac-12 and is fourth in the country at 67.3. In 2007, under the guidance of current defensive coordinator Mark Banker, OSU led the nation for the season for rush defense surrendering 70.6 yards per game. The Beavers run defense has been strongest in years they play multiple linemen - this year 10 have played to this point.
TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME: Oregon State enters Saturday having put together scoring drives of 74-plus yards 12 times through the first four games, including seven of 80-plus yards. All of last season, the Beavers achieved scoring drives of that length 13 times. Those long drives in combination with OSU's third down defense has allowed the Beavers to lead the nation for average time of possession at 36:32. OSU has run 65 more plays than its opponents this season or an average of 16 more per game.
THIRD DOWN IS NOT A GOOD PROPOSITION: Oregon State leads the nation for third-down percentage defense allowing just a 20.4 (10-49) success rate, but the Beaver offense should shy away from being in that predicament this week as well as BYU is sixth at 26.7 (24-90).
MANNION'S NUMBERS: Sophomore co-team captain Sean Mannion, who is out indefinitely with a left knee injury, is already among the Beaver elite quarterbacks after just 14 starts (16 games total). He is sixth for career passing with 4,686 yards. He is on pace to shatter the OSU record for career passing yards, which is currently held by Derek Anderson (2001-04) with 11,249 yards. For more on Mannion career numbers please turn to page 13.
VAZ TO START IN PLACE OF MANNION: Junior quarterback Cody Vaz will take the place of Sean Mannion Saturday as the starting quarterback. Vaz, a redshirt-junior, has played in six games in 2010 in a backup role, completing 6 of 17 passes for 48 yards. He was 24-5 as a starter at St. Mary's High School in Stockton, Calif., where he was named the Stockton Record Player of the Year following the '08 season. He was one of 10 finalists for the Cal-Hi Sports.com Mr. Football State Player of the Year. In his final two seasons as the starting quarterback Vaz completed 473 of 721 pass attempts for 7,176 yards and 64 touchdowns.
POYER GRABS NATIONAL HONORS: Senior cornerback Jordan Poyer is this week's Walter Camp Foundation Co-Player of the Week. Poyer picked off three Washington State passes last week, the most by a Beaver since 2003 when current graduate assistant coach Mitch Meeuwsen achieved that feat against WSU. Poyer also was named the College Football Performance Awards' Defensive Back of the Week.
FOUR GAMES, THREE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Three Beavers have earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors this season. Sean Mannion after a 433-yard three-touchdown effort at Arizona. Keith Kostol, in only his second career game, was the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week for Sept. 24 after punting seven times for a 43.9 yards average and pinning UCLA inside its 20-yard-line four times in the 27-20 win at the No. 19 Bruins. He also had a boot of 61 yards. Linebacker D.J. Welch earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week following the Sept. 8 win over then No. 13 Wisconsin after making seven tackles, including two-for-loss.
"THE WORLD'S LONGEST TRAINING CAMP" Oregon State began official preparations for the 2012 season., Mon., Aug. 6 in anticipation of a Sept. 1 contest against Nicholls State at Reser Stadium; Hurricane Isaac forced the game to be moved to Dec. 1 (providing OSU is not in the Pac-12 title game or NSU is not in the FCS playoffs) as NSU was unable to leave campus which meant the Beavers began the year Sept. 8 vs. Wisconsin. OSU practiced 35 times before its first game and 44 times with just one game; thus "the world's longest training camp" per Mike Riley. The Beavers are the only team in the Pac-12 that do not have a bye the remainder of the season; California plays 12 consecutive dates with the final Saturday of the regular season open and is the only team in the league that is idle on the traditional final weekend. If the game vs. Nicholls State on Dec. 1 is played, the Beavers and Alabama would be the only teams in all of the FBS that play the final three games of the schedule at home.
SINGLE DIGITS: OSU has held two of its opponents to single digits this season (Wisconsin 7; WSU 6); the last time the defense achieved that feat was 2010 (Cal 7, USC 7). The Beaver defense hasn't limited three opponents to single digit numbers in the same season since 2008 (3 times).
BALANCE IS THE KEY: OSU head coach Mike Riley continues to strive for balance on offense between the rush and the pass, and it's historically when OSU has had its best seasons under the head coach. This year the Beavers are near the 50/50 mark averaging 39 rushes per game and 43 pass attempts. Last year the average was 27 and 42 respectively and thus the Beavers ranked 118th (out of 120) for rushing offense at 86.9 yards per game, and while the improvement is modest it is still improvement to 120 yards per outing to this point in the season.
RILEY'S RIGHT-HAND GUYS: Oregon State has been fairly stable in terms of assistant coaches, particularly at the coordinator positions. Defensive coordinator Mark Banker has been on the staff since 2003 in his current role (served 1997-98 seasons as secondary coach) and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf has been in his role since 2004 (was a G.A. for TE in 1997-98). Banker was also with Riley for the 1999-2001 seasons with the Chargers (Def. Coord.) and in 1996 at USC. Langsdorf was with the Saints with Riley for the 2002 season.
IT WASN'T SUPPOSE TO WORK OUT LIKE THIS: Oregon State is known for its non-conference schedule degree of difficulty in recent years, but this is even a new level in recent history - it's the first time the Beavers opened the year playing back-to-back nationally ranked teams to begin the season. Historically, OSU has faced top 25 teams in consecutive weeks to open the year four times previous - 1950 (4 straight weeks), 1953, 1960 and 1968. The Beavers enter the week with the second-most difficult schedule per Jeff Sagarin of USA Today. The entire league stacks up - OSU 2; Cal 7; Arizona 11; Stanford 13; Utah 16; Washington 21; USC 37; ASU 40; WSU 57; UCLA 63; Colorado 91; Oregon 110.
DROPPING THE DIME: Oregon State has implemented a new wrinkle in the defense in 2012 ... the dime defense - a product of improved athleticism. With six defensive backs on the field, the Beavers have been able to better combat spread offenses with three or more receivers on the field. In addition, as Jordan Poyer showed with a sack-fumble against Wisconsin the possibilities are endless in attacking the quarterback. The depth in the defensive backfield has vastly improved with players like Steven Christian, a transfer from Hawai'i, and Brian Watkins earning playing time in the package against Wisconsin. When the Beavers upset UCLA it was Anthony Watkins, who had returned from an injury, and Sean Martin, who returned from a one game suspension, that played as the extra defensive backs.
BUSTED RANKINGS: Head coach Mike Riley's teams have made a routine of beating highly ranked teams of late. Recent victims: 2012 - at No. 19 UCLA (27-20 OSU win), vs. No. 13 Wisconsin (10-7); 2010 - at No. 9 Arizona (29-27), vs. No. 20 USC (36-7); 2009 - at No. 23 California (31-14); 2008 vs. No. 1 USC (27-21), vs. No. 24 Pittsburgh (3-0); 2007 - at No. 2 California (31-28), at No. 18 Oregon (38-31 OT); 2006 - vs. No. 3 USC (33-31), at No. 24 Hawai'i (35-32); 2005 - at No. 18 California (23-20).
H-A-N-D-S!!! Special teams coordinator Bruce Read had led his HANDS team to 2-0 on recovering onsides kicks this season, both effectively game clinchers. Wisconsin actually recovered the onsides kick with 1:31 left after narrowing the gap to 10-7, but it was ruled the Badgers had illegally touched the kick prior to the ball going the required 10 yards. Linebacker Michael Doctor recovered UCLA's kick at 1:47 after the Bruins narrowed the lead to 27-20 on a field goal.
DYNAMIC DUO: One is the crafty veteran, fourth-year senior Markus Wheaton. The other is the upstart sophomore Brandin Cooks. Together they form one of the most dangerous receiving duos in the nation. Wheaton is fifth in the nation for receptions per game at nine per outing. He ranks seventh in the country for receiving yards per game at 124.5 while Cooks is ninth at 121.5.
WHEATON STREAK: Senior wide receiver Markus Wheaton has quietly put together a 27-game streak of receptions; third in the Pac-12 behind the 30-game streaks of Keenan Allen of Cal and Marquess Wilson of WSU. Wheaton has 172 receptions, fourth for a career at OSU. He also has 2,248 yards receiving, fifth at OSU. The Civil War in November will match two of the fastest players in the country, based on results of a May 4, 2012 track meet in Eugene - in the 100 meters Wheaton placed second with a 10.58 and Thomas third at 10.65. For more on Wheaton career numbers please turn to page 13.
MAKING THE MOST OF HIS OPPORTUNTIES: Sophomore fullback Tyler Anderson has made the most of his opportunities; not only does he excel on special teams, but of his 10 offensive touches this season, seven have either accounted for touchdowns or first downs.
HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT? Oregon State's offensive line is one of the youngest in the nation with nine true freshmen on the team. It's been a unit that has had its share of bumps and bruises, among other things, in recent seasons that has led to a lack of experienced depth. Since 2007 the Beavers have lost 11 scholarship players to career ending injuries, academics or other extenuating circumstances.
THE FUTURE IS NOW, BUT... Oregon State's two-deep heading into the BYU game is full of underclassmen which bodes well for future seasons. Of the 48 possible players on offense, defense and punter/kicker, 22 are either freshmen or sophomores - this does not take into account OSU's H-Back and fullback positions - which would add another three to the equation. Specifically on offense, 12 players on the depth chart in the traditional 11 positions are underclassmen.
TEAM CAPTAINS: The 2012 team captains are quarterback Sean Mannion, defensive tackle Andrew Seumalo, wide receiver Markus Wheaton and cornerback Jordan Poyer. Mannion is the first sophomore in OSU history to be named team captain.
7-GAME HOME SCHEDULE: 2012 features seven home games, if the Sept. 1 Nicholls State game is rescheduled, for the first time since the 2006 season. The Beavers also played 7-game slates in 2002 and `03 and generally that has been a positive as OSU went 17-4 at Reser Stadium during those years.
Honoring Fred Thompson: OSU tragically lost defensive tackle Fred Thompson Dec. 7, 2011 to natural causes. The team wears "FT 92" on the helmet in honor of him.
PAC-12 THIS CENTURY: USC owns the most victories in the Pac-12 Conference this century with 122 (105 with vacated wins), followed by Oregon (116), OSU (91), Cal (84), UCLA (81), Arizona State (81), Stanford (73), Washington (66), WSU (65), Arizona (62). Utah has 106 victories this century and Colorado has 67.
NEW COACH: Rod Perry has joined the OSU coaching staff as a full-time secondary coach after 22 seasons in the NFL, most recently with the Indianapolis Colts. Perry was an assistant with Beaver head coach Mike Riley in San Diego with the Chargers. His sons Rodney and Ryan are coaching interns on the team.
WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLE, WIN THE GAME: Over the last 103 games, Oregon State is 39-8 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent, 10-29 when committing more and 10-7 when even. The Beavers struggled in 2011, losing 31 turnovers (T113th in NCAA) and finished tied for 100th in the NCAA in turnover margin.
BEAVERS WITHOUT BORDERS: A host of current and former Oregon State student-athletes have participated in the Beavers Without Borders program that has taken them to Guatemala (Spring Break 2011), Macedonia (Summer 2011) and Ethiopia (summer 2012). Current Beaver football players Rashaad Reynolds, Markus Wheaton, Brian Watkins and Josh Andrews have been on one of those trips each. On those trips the group assisted a building of a house for needy families. There were matching funds, but many of these student-athletes did their own fundraising for the trips.
67-7: That's the record of Oregon State when it leads after three quarters with Mike Riley as head coach. Since the start of the 2004 season it is 49-3.
ONE OF THREE: Second-year athletic trainer Ariko (uh-REE-ko) Iso (E-so) is one of only three female football head trainers in the FBS -- Mary Van Heiden at Central Florida and Dawn Hearn at UTEP are the other two. Iso joined the program in late spring of 2011after being the only female trainer in the NFL (Steelers).
100-PLUS USUALLY A W: When a Beaver rushes for 100-plus yards it usually equals a victory. OSU has won 25 of its last 29 games (86%) when a rusher gains 100 - the only four losses in that period - Oct. 2, 2008 at Utah (Jacquizz Rodgers 101 yds), Oct. 24, 2009 at USC (Jacquizz 113), Oct. 16, 2010 at Washington (Jacquizz 140) and Sept. 3, 2011 vs. Sacramento State (Malcolm Agnew 223).
WE'RE NUMBER 6, NOW 5! Corvallis, home to Oregon State University, ranks sixth in the nation for best college towns for 2012 by Livability.com. The American Institute of Economic Research in early October tabbed Corvallis the fifth-best city in the U.S. to have a "great college experience in its College Destinations Index." No other Pac-12 city/town ranks in the top-10 in either.
TRUE "STUDENT-ATHLETES" Oregon State is routinely among the league leaders for Pac-12 academic selections and this year should be no different. The following players will graduate in December: RB Jordan Jenkins (marketing), OL Colin Kelly (liberal studies), DL Castro Masaniai (sociology), TE Colby Prince (exercise and sport science), DL Andrew Seumalo (finance), S Anthony Watkins (exercise and sport science), CB Brian Watkins (public health). March graduates include DE Rusty Fernando (psychology) and LB Feti Taumoepeau (ethnic studies). June graduates are DL Rudolf Fifita (sociology), CB Ryan Handford (new media), LB Rueben Robinson (psychology) and WR Markus Wheaton (public health). Summer graduates CB Jordan Poyer (elementary education) and RB Clayton York (exercise and sport science).
WOODCHIPS: Mike Riley treated the entire traveling party for the UCLA and Arizona games to In-N-Out Burgers immediately following each victory - buses made detours from stadium to airports to the most centrally located restaurant - the total order for both games - 275 double-doubles and 150 order of fries ... OSU has won six straight games in Tucson ... the Beavers started a freshman running back for the second year in a row when redshirt freshman Storm Woods took the field for the season-opener against Wisconsin. In 2011, Malcolm Agnew became the first true freshman to start the season opener at running back at OSU in the modern era ... the 1962 Oregon State football team, which won the Liberty Bowl that season, was inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame, Fri., Sept. 7 ... Oregon State is celebrating the 60th birthday of its mascot - Benny Beaver ... freshmen OL David Keller and LS Harrison Linsky joined the program during the bye week. Due to NCAA regulations, both will sit out the 2012 season after transferring from Fresno State.
