12 Days till Kickoff, issues loom

Source: Oregon Live

I've been checking on the Beavers pre-season camp and there seems to be a lot of injuries. Some from last year, some new ones. Many of the projected starters are banged up. 

This is not too unusual, pro teams suffer from this problem too. The issue with the Beavers is that it looks like the new generation of ballers are weak(or something).  I understand injuries due to crazy circumstance, but this fall seems like an all out bitch session. 

Injuries are a part of football. So is pain. At first glance, this year's team seems soft. The guys who are tough are injury free(sorta). There seems to be a lot of kids who are either out of shape or have low pain thresholds. This is not a good sign. The Beavers do not have depth. They have a lot of new kids on the block too. They need reps. 

Anything less than an ass-whipping against PSU is BS in IMHO. These kids need to step it up or this is going to be another lumpy long season.

Here is a link to an amazingly thorough analysis of the 2014 Beavers from SB Nation. 

1990 part deux?

Riley has lost all credibility with his team and the fans. His kids play like idiots who haven't been coached before. 

Oregon wiped up the field with Oregon St today. It wasn't a game after the first embarrassing offensive series of the game. Final score was 49-21. Oregon racked up 670 yards on offense. 

There were so many mistakes by OSU coaches and players it's hard to analyze the game. 

One thing I can say was that the game today was an example of a "system coach" versus a "player's coach".  It was a fundamental battle. The players coach looked like a tool.

A system coached based football program puts the system above the player. If a player fails they are replaced until a competent replacement is found. In a players system, there is favoritism, undisciplined actions, and waves of success- if the program gets good players they win. 

Chip Kelly has a system, the players respond to the fact that they will be replaced if they don't execute. 

This is not the case with Oregon St. Sean Mannion should have been benched repeatedly this season and wasn't because "he is the future".  Sean wasn't the only inept player, and yes OSU had a lot of young players. But coaches know this, and they should scheme to manage this. OSU's coaches did nothing. They bungled the Katz to Mannion transition miserably.

Favorites in a program suck. Especially if they are freshman. This doesn't resonate with Seniors who have to live with a noob's mistakes and a team's poor record. 

Riley is flawed, and so is the program.  Riley tried to be a "players coach" in the NFL and failed miserably. He is failing now too.

I don't think the "players coach" model works in college. The system is tied to the program. The system is more important than the individuals who participate in the program. If the player is smart they will commit themselves to the system and succeed. This typically results in the team winning too.

OSU looked like buffoons on national TV today. If Ed Ray is not paying attention- he should. 

The next question is not about the players or the coordinators that should be fired, it's about who the next major OSU donor, who will step up like Al Reser and get rid of the current incompetent coaching staff.  Cash is the only carrot that works these days. It will take a lot of $$ to get rid of Riley- I think it's necessary. He could wipe out all of the success he helped create with continued failure.

* The 1990 reference in the title had to do with Dave Kragthorpe's last year when the OSU team was hopeless. I may post stuff on that season and the similarities to this year. 

Energy

"In physics, energy (Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια energeia "activity, operation"[1]) is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems.[2][3] Since work is defined as a force acting through a distance (a length of space), energy is always equivalent to the ability to exert pulls or pushes against the basic forces of nature, along a path of a certain length."  Source: Wikipedia

If there is anyone out there who thinks the current coaching staff is energetic, let me know. As far as I can tell they are lost in space and embarrassing the university with their performance. Energetic behavior is not just about effort, efficient intelligence is also part of the program. Intuition/Quant/Qual skills are required. Boohoo. Life is tough.

I know this is harsh for some folks, but when you make $1M a year in salary the pressure is on. A 2-6 record shows a lack of energy on a monumental scale.

PS- I think the players are playing with energy- unfortunately misdirected by knucklehead coaches.

Agnew likely out for Wisconsin

Malcom Agnew, OSU's new RB star, reported that he heard a pop when he hurt his hamstring in practice yesterday. 

He has a history of hamstring problems, and in fact missed most of his senior year because of hamstring issues. 

Sorry to burst your enthusiasm Beaver Nation, this story could have an unhappy ending. I hope he is not seriously injured and can contribute for the rest of the year, the Beavers need his help. Hamstring injuries are brutal, one degree below rupturing your achilles. 

Mike Leach, really?

While I believe that Mike Riley has hit the wall with OSU, I don't think Mike Leach is the answer. This dude has issues. There a tons of Beaver Nation folks who think he is the answer, I disagree.

 Leach’s dismissal came after he was suspended by the university from coaching in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday for what it said was his mistreatment of one of his players, Adam James, a sophomore receiver who is the son of the ESPN broadcaster Craig James. Leach was accused of isolating James in an equipment garage and a media room while he was sitting out practice with a concussion. Texas Tech officials said that Leach’s actions, including not signing a letter spelling out guidelines for dealing with players, and his reaction to their investigation forced them to fire him. 

 Read More from the NYT

“He was simply fired because he mistreated a young student athlete with a concussion, and then refused to work with Tech to try to solve the situation. We’re confident that the Supreme Court will find that he doesn’t have a case factually or legally,” Grigg said. 

The latest on Leach's case and the Texas Supreme Court- Read More

During spring training in late March, Leach had demoted wide receiver Edward Britton for failure to regularly attend class and maintain good grades. Leach ordered Britton to study at a desk at midfield in 30-degree weather, albeit in a heavy coat. 

Read more from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Leach's Response:

At least our cheerleaders are hot

I am still trying to get over the Sac State game, I am starting to rationalize a brilliant OSU upset of Wisconsin. It could happen- right? Ok, I'll have another drink.

Anyway, the OSU Cheerleaders are getting MVP love in the latest OSUBFB poll. :) They deserve it! Yes, Agnew looks like the latest and greatest OSU RB MVP, but come on.

Source: Cal Bears Online

Honestly, there are not that many pics of Oregon State cheerleaders on the 'net...folks need to take more pics of them at the games and give these girls their props!

If you want pics of OSU's prior Playboy Playmates of the Year, you will have to go to another site.  

Looking for silver linings

Original Photo Source: AP

Beaver blogs are heaping praise on Malcom Agnew, who had a great statistical game Saturday. 

Fumbling the ball at a crucial time that contributed to your team's loss does not deserve admiration however.

It's great that Agnew is the nation's leading rusher. Running up 200+ against a D II team, that was 6-5 last year, is not that impressive in my opinion. 

Let's see how Agnew does against Wisconsin. Lord knows Langsdorf will have to feed him the ball. 

There is a chance that Agnew will get a bunch of yards against Wisconsin. It would be due the Beavers getting blown out and Wisconsin playing second string defensive players. 

Coach Zombie

As I stated in my prior post, Oregon State lost today because of Mike Riley(and his coaches). He had the ponies to win today and didn't. He embarrassed the university and alumni. Does he realize this? Or is he a zombie?

I am not sure. I am sure that there hasn't been a year Riley & Co has had the team prepared- hard schedule or not. Smell a trend? It's not an elephant, it's a corpse in the living room. 

To lose to a FCS school, like this, is unforgivable unless OSU goes to a BCS bowl this year. Then all is forgiven. 

Will OSU go BCS this year? Yes, as soon as I find an antidote for zombies. 

OSU's administration is going to have to do some real soul searching this off season regarding the head coach for football. My take is that Riley is not the answer. He has done a good job, but I think the run is over.

What do you think?

Katz vs Mannion

I didn't think this would even come up to be honest. Not at this point in the season.

It looks like Katz is a liability. Mannion is upside. 

Agree or disagree?

(Update- Riley has admitted to a closer competition between Mannion and Katz, but didn't want to go public and start a QB controversy. Which is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard of for dozens of reasons.) 

Ooops. The Beavers officially suck

Source: OregonLive/AP

Well my prediction was wrong. I did not expect Riley/Katz/Romaine/Coaches to suck as bad as they did in this game. Sac State just clowned Oregon State. The coaches are to blame in my opinion. Again.

Sac State was 6-5 last season. They are not even a D-1 school. Really? WTF? Agnew ran for a large number(233), which is impressive for a frosh. Other stats in the game were good, but it didn't matter. The Beavers made mental error after mental error in key situations. This means they were not prepared, a consistent theme under Mike Riley. He can't get his teams ready for a season on time- EVER. Yes, OSU's players need to make plays, but when a team makes as many self inflicted wounds as the Beavers did today, it's not the players.

 This game reminds me of 1990 against Montana. OSU just had a losing season, was supposedly rebuilding, had a cupcake opener and boom. Montana upset us. It was my first collegiate game, I had a few catches. One key first down catch I had in the 3rd quarter was called back because of a bonehead offensive lineman holding. We lost. It was so embarrassing, the team never recovered. Riley reminds me of Kragthorpe. Kragthorpe was the WORST motivator ever. His practice and pre-game speechs were horrible. They were actually de-motivating. Have you watched a Riley practice or pre-game speech on YouTube lately? It's beyond lame. What's going to happen the rest of the season for the Beavers? A lot of pain. It's going to be ugly, perhaps with some highlights sprinkled in. A losing season is damn near guaranteed.

The OSU players are not going to be able to get over this loss easily. They will be embarrassed on national TV, and the internet for losing to a FCS school for the week. Their lack of confidence is not good. Wisconsin is going to absolutely obliterate OSU unless they come out over confident and very sloppy, based on what I've seen from Wisconsin's coaching staff that is not likely. Box Score

Sac State prediction

Oregon State should win 35-7.

Reason why: better athletes

What will it take for Sac St to pull the upset? OSU's skill players choke and Sac St scores off multiple turnovers.

Odds of an upset? 1000 to 1

PS- Wisconsin looked very good against UNLV last night. OSU better put an ass whipping on Sac St to send a message and build confidence.Utah and ASU looked good too.Yes, I know that they played inferior schools, but still, they did what they were supposed to do.

Here's highlights from Wisconsin's win against UNLV:

Keys to the OSU 2011 Football season

There are lots of bloggers providing detailed analysis for each position on the Beaver Football team, here is my view on the situation......

Key #1- Katz needs to play above his so-far demonstrated abilities. If the OSU QB is average or weak- it's going to be a long season.

Key #2- OSU has to be able to run the ball. Whoever carries the rock needs to produce a team average of 4 yds or better.

Key #3- OSU's O-line needs to over achieve. Why overachieve? Because they suck based on last year's performance.

Key #4- OSU's entire defense needs to over achieve. There has been tons of blabber about different players having different skills, but if the overall team defensive stats are weak- I don't care what Cameron Collins 40 time is. Or how many tackles he had in a particular game. If OSU's defense is not Top 20- who gives a s**t?

Key #5- OSU's coaches need to make chicken salad out of chicken shit this year. They have to call excellent games week in and week out. OSU's talent level does not grant the luxury of foolish mistakes. I am not as concerned about the bodies the coaches put out on the field as much as the schemes they use and the plays they call.

Key #6- Health. The Beavers are thin across the board. A couple key injuries could make this year a catastrophy. With injuries it won't matter what the coaches do as far as play calls and schemes.

Injuries and ho hum

I have not been interested in blogging about the Beavers football team for awhile. There just doesn't seem to be anything interesting going on with OSU. Maybe I am not interested because my gut tells me this season is going to either suck or be a big surprise. Maybe Katz/Wheaton will go on fire and become unstoppable. Someone is going to have to step up big time this year.

The Beavers really don't have any stars on the squad this year and the guys they have are banged up. There doesn't seem to be any major upgrades on the o-line, which is scarry considering how bad the unit was last year. The defense is small and unproven. Specifically we have a safety/LB starting at CB who got lit up like a xmas tree last season. We have a 5'11" 225lb OLB, who is supposed to be good, but come on. I don't care how fast you are, today's game is about match ups. A 6'3" fast/athlete is going eat up a small LB. I don't care if the LB has a 40" vertical. He could match up well with small/fast RB's out of the back field, but if an opponent has a halfway decent QB he will audible to attack the weak point with 6'4" 300lb OL and 250lb TE's and 220lb FB's. 

Anyway, the DL is also a major question mark. Losing Paea is not a big deal to me, not having any producers besides him is. Everyone is a noob or historically a non-performer. There are a lot of negatives this team needs to overcome this season. 

Oh yeah, their schedule is frickin' brutal too. See the side bar of this blog. I've been complaining about this since the Beavers beat Notre Dame in a bowl(2008?)

Based on the votes for my preseason fan prediction poll- the majority of you feel less than enthused about the Beavers prospects going into this year. I can't say I blame you. 

As the first game gets closer I will post my prediction for the Beavers this season. Can you guess my prediction?

The New OSU

This year is going to be huge for Oregon State. There are a number of newcomers who have to step in and make plays right away.

If you are a new player on scholie with OSU, you better hear me now, believe me later, you are here to ball. Make plays, earn your scholarship.

See the pic above? Derrick Doggett was a BALLER for OSU. This dude made plays. Watch the highlight reel.

THIS IS THE BAR SET FOR NEWBIES TO OSU'S PROGRAM. LEARN.

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Sammie Stroughter is MIA

Uh, I don't know what to make of this but Sammie hasn't been at practice for six days....

This is not good.....

I don't know what Mike Riley is thinking letting things get to this point. OSU's athletic dept. has already taken down any ads with Sammy in them. This means that something serious is amiss. If his absence is due to "personal reasons", he needs to get his shit together and get out in the field. He is a major league moron if he thinks that pro scouts aren't going to look negatively on this situation. Nobody wants another T.O. or worse.

Message to Sammie Stroughter:

You are f**king the biggest opportunity of your life.

Message to Sean Canfield:

Dude... you are about to lose your job.

Not a Good Start to the 2007 campaign

I feel sorry for Mike Riley, he has to deal with meathead 17,18,19,20,21,22 year olds. He also has to deal with shrinking depth on his roster. The news about 5 football players being out already is not good.

The reasons are either academic(your players are knuckleheads), legal(your players don't know right from wrong), or personal (your players have more issues than National Geographic).

Who is currently out?

CB-Coye Francies Sr.
RB-Micah Strickland So.
Punter-Kyle (I've got) Loomis So.
RB-Clinton Polk, Sr.
LB-Eric Moala Liava’a Jr.

Welcome OSU's new punter:

Ocho Cinco offers MBA to Jerry Yang CEO of Yahoo

I saw this funny article in one of my favorite silicon valley blogs, it details why Chad Johnson knows how to market himself and how Jerry Yang (CEO of Yahoo) could learn a thing or two from Chad.


I know some ex- OSU Head Coaches who should read this article. Kragthorpe? Is he even still alive?

My favorite:

2. Display confidence and superlatives in spades. Whenever Johnson speaks, you'd believe he singlehandedly led his team, the Cincinnati Bengals, to win five straight Super Bowls. In fact, with Johnson on board, they only made it into the playoffs once -- and barely -- and lost. When Jerry Yang stumbled over "a Yahoo that can win" in the recent earnings call, he just revealed that he, like everyone else, doesn't actually believe it's winning. That's got to change.

Read the full post

Brains versus Trains

I know you've heard the joke about the kid who thought god said "trains" instead of "brains" and the kid didn't get his.

Well, OSU has it's share of brain handicapped players on the team who can't seem to stay on the right path.

CB-Coye Francies has been suspended indefinitely
QB-Jake Gelakoska will enroll in JC
RB-Reggie Dunn will enroll in JC

Preseason Rankings Analysis

College football is one of the greatest institutions in America, and so is preseason rankings. I was surfing around for a website that aggregates the different magazine and news organization preseason rankings and....voile. Here it is


What's my take on these rankings? They mean nothing, any given Saturday someone can lose. That's what is so great about NCAA Football. Now, if they would only implement a playoff system.....

What's my take on OSU's lack of respect? I call it a lack of respect for OSU, but it should be for the whole Pac-10. OSU is ranked fourth in the conference overall, but is only ranked 33rd nationally. USC is everyone's #1, UCLA and Cal are outside the top 10.