2008 Oregon State Beavers Preview: Some holes to fill, but Beavers should win again
We know how good USC has been over the last several years, but who has the best record in the Pac-10 in the last two seasons behind the Trojans? Cal? Arizona State? Oregon? Nope, nope, and nope. It’s the Oregon State Beavers, who are 19-8 in the past two seasons, with a 12-6 mark in Pac-10 play.
After going 10-4 in 2006 and finishing the season ranked as high as 21st, the Beavers had to reload last season, replacing QB Matt Moore, and were without star receiver Sammie Stroughter for most of the season. However, the Beavers overcame a 2-3 start to quietly finish as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning seven of their last eight, including a 21-14 Emerald Bowl win over Maryland to end the season at 9-4 and ranked in the top 25 once again.
There are more holes to fill on this year’s team, but can the Beavers produce another winning year under Mike Riley?
Oregon State Beavers
Coach: Mike Riley (6th year at OSU, 8th overall in two stints, 39-24 in second stint, 47-38 overall)
2007 Record: 9-4, 6-3 Pac-10 (3rd), beat Maryland in Emerald Bowl
Starters Returning: 12 (9 offense, 3 defense)
Key Returnees: QB Sean Canfield, QB Lyle Moevao, WR Sammie Stroughter, SB James Rodgers, TE Howard Croom, TE Gabe Miller, LT Andy Levitre, LG Jeremy Perry, RG Adam Speer, DE Victor Butler, DE Slade Norris, CB Keenan Lewis, CB Brandon Hughes, FS Greg Laybourn, SS Al Afalava
Key Losses: RB Yvenson Bernard, WR Anthony Brown, RG Roy Schuening, C Kyle DeVan, DT Curtis Coker, DT Gerard Lee, DE Jeff Van Orsow, DE Dorian Smith, LB Derrick Doggett, LB Alan Darlin, LB Joey LaRocque, CB Gerard Lawson, SS Daniel Drayton, K/P Alexis Serna
2008 Schedule
8/30 at Stanford
9/6 at Penn State
9/13 vs. Hawaii
9/25 vs. USC
10/2 at Utah
10/11 vs. Washington State
10/18 at Washington
11/1 vs. Arizona State
11/8 at UCLA
11/15 vs. Cal
11/22 at Arizona
11/29 vs. Oregon
Key Game: 9/25 vs. USCRemember the last time the Trojans came to Corvallis? I’m sure Pete Carroll and all of the Trojans that were a part of that team remember the 33-31 loss that Matt Moore and the Beavers handed them. USC may be coming off of a big victory (or a huge loss) against Ohio State, and they’ll need to be 100% focused, or the same could happen again.
2008 Outlook
If there is one area that could trip up the Beavers this year, it’s not in a defense that returns few starters, or the loss of Bernard, it’s at quarterback.
Last season, the duo of inexperienced sophomores Canfield and Moevao combined to throw nearly twice as many interceptions (21) as touchdowns. Their predecessors, Derek Anderson and Matt Moore both had issues with consistency/accuracy/efficiency during their careers in Corvallis, and last time I checked, one of them went to the Pro Bowl last season, and the other started as a rookie after being an undrafted free agent, so…
But, even if you know you can win without stellar play under center, at least being solid there is a good idea nine times out of ten. Who’ll provide it? Canfield commanded the team for much of the season, but Moevao was at the helm for late-season wins against Washington, Washington State, and Oregon.
At this point, Moevao is set as the starter for the opener against Stanford, as Canfield is coming off of a shoulder injury. It’s up to Moevao to show that he can hold down the spot from there.
Having a reliable running game has been a luxury for many of the last several seasons, and while Bernard is gone, you can count on that being the case again. Redshirt freshman Ryan McCants is expected to have the same impact as Bernard (three straight 1,000 yard seasons), Steven Jackson (two seasons with more than 1,500 yards), and Ken Simonton (5,044 career yards) did after being one of the gems of their 2007 recruiting class.
The 6‘1, 240 pound McCants will bring the power, but he won’t be hogging all of the touches. JC transfer Jeremy Francis will see significant carries.
And then, there are the Rodgers brothers, sophomore James and true freshman Jacquizz. Last season as a freshman, James ran for 586 yards on only 50 carries and scored three touchdowns, and he caught 19 passes for 208 yards and a score. Rodgers is slated to be in that slotback role, where he’ll basically do the same thing as he did last season and terrorize more opponents along the way.
Jacquizz comes into Corvallis after a stellar prep career that saw him run for more than 8,000 yards and 136 touchdowns, and while he’ll be the #3 back behind McCants and Francis, expect him to make an impact.
Did I mention that they’re both 5’7? Size doesn’t matter, and hey, with their small stature, they can sneak past some of those giant linebackers and defensive linemen who are too busy looking straight ahead as opposed to down until they feel the breeze of one of them blowing past, much like the Oregon defense did on this game-winning run by James in double overtime.
While the running game should have no problem racking up yards upon yards, Moevao should be excited to have Stroughter back. Last year was a tough one for Stroughter, both personally and on the injury front, but after getting a medical hardship, he gets to a senior year re-do, and it should pay off big time. All it takes to see the impact that he can have when he’s in there (besides looking at his junior numbers - 74 catches, 1,293 yards, 5 TD) is looking at what he did last season, when he played in only three games before a kidney injury against Arizona State put him out for the remainder of the year. He didn’t record any catches against Cincinnati, but against Idaho State and ASU, he racked up 15 catches for 262 yards and two scores.
With him in there, Moevao has an elite playmaker who provides an extra dimension as a punt returner, where he returned three punts for scores in 2006 and averaged 15.7 yards per return.
Also returning as a starter at receiver is sophomore Darrell Catchings, who has a pretty appropriate name, and tight ends Howard Croom and Gabe Miller also return.
So, Oregon State’s defense returns three starters. On one hand, that’s not good, considering that their defense last year was pretty good, allowing only 306.2 yards per game, forcing 34 turnovers, racking up 44 sacks, and allowing a pretty respectable 22.6 points per game.
But, the Beavers should have a solid defense once again, and it’ll be one that will give quite a few quarterbacks nightmares, thanks to a front line that could put up some monster numbers.
Last season, ends Victor Butler (25 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks) and Slade Norris (16 tackles, 10 TFL, 9 sacks) were among the conference’s sack leaders - as part-timers. You’d like to think that they could put up bigger (or at least comparable) numbers in full-time roles, but we’ll find out if their big production was due to the advantage of being fresh so much and being able to present extra matchup issues to linemen who already had to deal with Jeff Van Orsow and Dorian Smith.
They may or may not get some additional help from five-star JC recruit Simi Kuli, whose status for the season is up in the air right now, due to some academic issues that haven’t been resolved as of yet. They’ll survive without him, but when it comes to the pass rush, there’s never such a thing as having too many bodies to bring it, unless you’re the one having to deal with them. If Kuli’s in there, he could be the 2008 version of Butler or Norris, racking up sacks and annoying the daylights out of some poor offensive linemen.
There are also two new starters at the tackle positions. JC transfer Stephen Paea certainly doesn’t have a problem with a good scrum in the middle, as the Tongan native has more experience playing rugby than football, but he’s caught on well, to say the least. At the other tackle position is senior Pernnell Booth, who had 11 tackles (three TFL) for loss in a reserve role last season.
The one area that sees a real reloading is in the middle, where starting linebackers Derrick Doggett, Alan Darlin, and Joey LaRocque are gone. However, each of their replacements has experience and should do just fine, with junior Keaton Kristick and sophomore Keith Pankey starting at the outside positions and senior Bryant Cornell starting in the middle.
The secondary is where all of the returning starters are. Cornerbacks Keenan Lewis (15 tackles, 3 INT) and Brandon Hughes (57 tackles, 7 TFL, 2 INT, 12 pass breakups) both have more than 30 career starts, and junior Tim Clark (32 tackles, INT, 8 pass breakups) and James Dockery (12 tackles) both provide quality depth.
The safety positions are set, somewhat. Senior and starting strong safety Al Afalava won’t be starting in the season opener against Stanford due to some legal issues, which means either Lance Mitchell or Cameron Collins, both four-star recruits in 2007, will get the starting nod against the Cardinal, with Greg Laybourn starting at free safety, a position that took a hit when experienced senior Bryan Payton left the program earlier this summer.
On special teams, the return game gets a significant boost with Stroughter’s return, but the kicking positions see some new faces, with the departure of 2005 Groza Award winner Alexis Serna. Sophomore Justin Kahut, who handled a few kickoffs and made one field goal (in his only attempt) last year, will take over placekicking duties, while junior Sean Sehnem takes over punting duties.
I may be overestimating the Beavers a little bit, but despite the new starters they have and the questions as to whether there’ll be consistency under center, but they shouldn’t have a problem making another bowl game, at the least.
The season starts with two toughies at Stanford and Penn State, and they also have a road game at Mountain West contender Utah, but they get USC, Arizona State, Cal, and Oregon at home, which makes up for having those road tests. I don’t see all four of those teams coming into Corvallis and leaving with a win, so USC and ASU need to be on upset alert, and the goalposts better be ready to come down if it happens.
Related posts on The Red Zone Report
