Andrew Luck and Stanford Must Avoid Beaver Trap

Stanford is fourth in this week’s BCS rankings after its pulsating 56-48 triple-overtime thriller over USC in a raucous L.A. Coliseum last Saturday night.

The Cardinal did not emerge unscathed from its triumph over the Trojans, as TE Zach Ertz and T Cameron Fleming left with injuries and are questionable for this Saturday’s game at Oregon State.

Speedy WR Chris Owusu should be able to play on Saturday, despite being knocked silly by yet another senseless late hit by USC DB T.J. McDonald, one that kept a critical Cardinal drive alive and earned McDonald a suspension for the first half of Troy’s game at Colorado on Friday.

But enough about USC. They are on bowl probation and, as a result (in one of those rare instances where the word “literally” is apt), are literally going nowhere this season. 

Stanford, on the other hand, takes the nation’s longest win streak to Corvallis, Ore., where they will play the downtrodden Beavers in what shapes up as a classic “trap game.” 

For the uninitiated, a trap game often refers to a road trip by a heavily favored, highly ranked team, sometimes occurring the week after a huge win, and sometimes preceding a highly anticipated matchup—and sometimes, as with Stanford at Oregon State, both. 

The Cardinal’s possible Oregon State trap game follows their biggest win of the season, a physically and mentally exhausting game at USC that began in 80 degree afternoon temperatures and ended in the cool Los Angeles night, over four hours and three overtime periods later.

On the other side of the OSU trap game awaits the November 12 showdown where Stanford hosts the exhilarating and entertaining Oregon Ducks, a game that should not only decide the Pac-12 North, but also has major BCS implications.

All of that sets up this Saturday afternoon’s contest in Corvallis as a potential Beaver trap. Under coach Mike Riley, Oregon State has been one of the Pac-12’s best home teams, sporting a 52-19 record since 2000 at Reser Stadium, a notoriously hostile environment with the home fans all but breathing down on the visiting bench.

Riley's teams have been especially good during November-December, when many visiting teams are unaccustomed to the Northwest’s early winter winds and rain.

Oh, and OSU has upset nine top 20 teams since 2005, including the historic win in Corvallis over then-No. 1 USC in 2008.

This year’s 2-6 Beavers team has underachieved. Record-setting RB Jacquizz Rodgers is now with the Atlanta Falcons, but his brother, WR James Rodgers (17 career TD receptions), leads a cast of capable playmakers featuring QB Sean Mannion (seven straight games with over 200 passing yards), H-back Joe Halahuni and WR Markus Wheaton (88 receiving yards per game).

Coach David Shaw, Andrew Luck & Co. are a prohibitive three-touchdown favorite, but Stanford can’t take OSU lightly, lest they become the latest ranked team to leave Corvallis with an unwanted L.