Laying out near the pool and catching a tan is great, but college football fans are beginning to switch their thoughts to defenders laying out opponents making a catch over the middle.

If you're reading this, you're one of us.

Former Beavers and-now NFL rookies-are plugging away trying to make a roster spot, while the teammates they've left behind at their respective Pac-10 Universities are revving up for what certainly should be a tight race in 2009.

It seems to be the same song and dance when talking pre season Pac-10 football.  Who will challenge the all-mighty Men of Troy?  Oregon, California, and possibly Oregon State as a long shot.

The usual suspects.

Arizona, Stanford, Arizona State, and UCLA round out the middle and could contend for a bowl game, and as of late, the Washington schools...well...we'll wait until something worth talking about happens.

Such broad topics of conversation only create shouting matches which turn into, "My dad could beat up your dad!!" followed by "Nuh-uhhh!"

For OSU there are three glaring issues facing the make up of their 2009 squad, new faces in the secondary, lack of depth at O-Line, and a heavy need for a pass rush.

Said three topics have been talked about ad nauseam.

There are points in the year when a season can take a turn for the better, or turn for the worse. Below are what I consider key match-ups within the match-ups.  Hopefully these will provide a little more in-depth chat about the Pac-10 season, and OSU in particular.

Week Two - @ UNLV: This will be the first road test for the perennially slow starting Beavers. OSU should be 1-0 coming off an easy win in their home opener versus Portland State.  So what's to be concerned about?

Junior quarterback Omar Clayton has recovered from a knee injury that forced him to miss the final three games of the 2008 season.  Before the injury, Clayton was more than effective for the Rebels with over 1,800 yards and an 18 touchdown to four interception ratio.

Clayton will have weapons Ryan Wolfe and Phillip Payne back at wide-out.  Wolfe now a senior and looking to improve on last years 1,000 plus yards and six touchdowns.  Payne, who who missed three games as well, is now a sophomore and also should improve on his 15 yards per catch and seven touchdown season.

This offense is wide open, fast, and mixes just enough of a run game (Summers 740 yards and eight touchdowns) to make their passing attack that much more effective.

Key To The Game - Secondary vs. Spread Passing Game: UNLV certainly is no Penn State, or even Utah for that matter, however with a wide open pass-happy offense and the green OSU secondary, this could be a dog fight for the Beavers on the road early.

Something they're far too accustomed to.

The Beavers will need to put history aside and play fundamental football.  They have the athletes and the system to be successful, it's a matter of performing early in the season, which they haven't as of late.

A great performance from the secondary in their first road test versus this style offense could go a long way in terms of player confidence and what D-Coordinator Mark Banker can do with his front seven for the remainder of the season.

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