It pains me to have to say it but, you were right. The new front seven and young running backs that were questioned going into this season did not perform as OSU fans had hoped.
A hot night in Palo Alto proved difficult to say the least for the Oregon State Beavers. A team historically centered around a tough fast defense gave up 210 yards rushing to a Stanford team that struggled all last year to run the ball.
While I still do not buy into Stanford being a legit threat in the Pac-10, they challenged the Beavers to be better, and OSU simply wasn't.
The inexperience of the linebacking crew, which so many Beaver supporters thought would pick up where the previous three left off, seemed tired and unable to finish tackles.
It doesn't do much good to be in the right place, but not make the play.
Toby Gerhart looked like an All-American with his reconstructed knee, bouncing off OSU tacklers and gaining 147 yards on 19 carries. Simple zone reads and good blocking from a veteran offensive line had the OSU defense on their heels all game.
If you ask any coach what the key to winning is, most all will include stopping the run, being able to run on offense, and limiting turnovers.
Oregon State did not stop the run, could not run the ball, and had costly turnovers inside Stanford territory.
Rather than pick apart the poor performance, I'll focus on the positives and what OSU did do right.
All questions were answered about junior quarterback Lyle Moevao. Moevao looked decisive and sharp hitting just under 63 percent of his passes for 404 yards and three touchdowns.
In his second year under center, Moevao finally looked the part. Aside from the interceptions and unforced turnovers, the game was managed well and OSU had their chances to win.
After Andy Levitre briefly went down with back, hamstring, and calf cramps OSU's offensive line consisted of underclassmen and walk-ons.
For the most part, the line held its ground giving up only two sacks. Moevao was given plenty of time to find his open receiver and looked comfortable standing in the pocket.
Whether the lack of running game was due to poor blocking or inexperienced backs, Oregon State NEEDS to try and run the ball more. OSU's play selection was 54 passes to 28 rushes.
An exciting wrinkle that had OSU fans raising an eyebrow was the two minute drill. OSU charged down the field with under two minutes left in the half and scored to even the game at 17 going into halftime.
The second half started off well with an OSU field goal that put them ahead 20-17. From there on, it was all downhill. A field goal and a safety later, Stanford went up 22-20 and never looked back.
In past years OSU has started games fast but was unable to score late in the game. After an interception that stopped an OSU drive on the Stanford eight yard-line and a pick-six by Bo McNally, Oregon State could have packed it in, but they didn't.
OSU stormed down the field with five minutes left in the game and drew within eight points after a Moevao to Stroughter TD and two point conversion.
1 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Matthew Kimel 10 months ago
Nice article...I got one too...
http://www.kwanzoo.com/social-trivia/2008-ncaa-football-season-kickoff-oregon-state-vs-stanford.shtml
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.