Posts Tagged ‘oregon state’

Oregon State was supposed to open the 2012 season by hosting Nicholls State on Sept. 1. Then Hurricane Isaac hit, trapping the Colonels in Louisiana. A rain-check was scheduled for Dec. 1, but when the Beavers got off to a 5-1 start in the Pac-12 and played themselves into contention for the Pac-12 Championship, this game appeared to be in doubt. Alas, Oregon State lost to Stanford and Oregon, and now the Beavers and Colonels will face off tomorrow. 

(On a side note, we're having trouble remembering the last time a team had 15 days between regular season games. Can anyone offer another example?)

Nicholls State last played on Nov. 16, meaning Charlie Stubbs and his staff have seen Oregon State play two full games since they last played. With 15 days between games and nothing to lose, it will be intriguing to see what tricks the Colonels can throw at Oregon State.

“They’ve had some time,” Oregon State head coach Mike Riley told The Oregonian. “It’s a little interesting. They’re approaching it like it’s a bowl game."

The game itself should be a total mismatch. Oregon State is 8-3 and ranked No. 15 in the BCS. Nicholls State is 1-9 and went 0-7 in the Southland Conference.

Riley's challenge this week has been to motivate a team that came within a whiff of the Rose Bowl, and is fresh off a Civil War loss to Oregon, to get up for a 1-9 FCS foe. 

Oregon State head coach Mike Riley appeared on the Wetzel to Forde radio show last night, and Dan Wetzel asked Riley about coaching at a school where the head coach is given time to build a program and national championship teams aren't expected to be built in a fortnight.

Riley answered explained his gratitude to Oregon State's loyalty to him, and in return, his loyalty to Oregon State.

"I'm very appreciative of all of that because when you're in this long enough you understand the business and you have to win games," Riley said. "I'm very thankful for the people at Oregon State. First of all, when we came back here and were given the opportunity to come back in 2003, my wife and I hoped we could make this our last stop so we scratched and clawed to try to keep it like that.

"I've understood how important consistency and longevity are in a program," he continued. "And then understanding you're going to have some valleys and you've got to fight hard to make those valleys not too deep. You've got to be consistent and continue to build. It's really a unique thing in our business. I've learned some hard lessons and to be able to build (a program), it's hard to come by. I'm thankful for all that and appreciative for the time."

Riley served as the head coach at Oregon State in 1997 and 1998, going 8-14 before becoming the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. He stayed in San Diego until 2001 and, after a one-year stop with the New Orleans Saints, returned as the Beavers' head coach in 2003. 

Riley led Oregon State to bowl games in six of his first seven seasons before a two-year downturn in 2010 and 2011 in which the Beavers won just eight games. Riley's team was picked to finish last in the Pac-12 North in 2012 only to start the year 6-0 and rise to No. 7 in the BCS Standings.

No matter where Oregon State finishes this season, Riley plans to coach the Beavers again in 2013.

"I've learned the lesson that if you're happy - stay happy," Riley said. "You don't have to go search for it somewhere else."

Now that Week 7 of the college football season has come and gone, which coaching staffs did a standout job of getting their teams ready to play? We highlight those stood out to us with our Coaches of the Week. 

Head Coach of the Week: Gary Patterson, TCU

One week after suffering his first loss in nearly a full season and four days after announcing that his team will play the rest of the season without its starting quarterback, Gary Patterson's team submitted its most complete performance of 2012. That is what coaches look for when they talk about responding to sudden change. After his first full week of working with co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rusty Burns as a starting quarterback, Trevone Boykin completed 22-of-30 passes for 261 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Dick Bumpas' defense forced Baylor into six turnovers while holding the Bears to its season low in total yardage and less than 40 percent of its scoring average. Patterson's team broke the game open with a 21-0 fourth quarter and posted 509 yards of total offense, its most versus FBS competition in 2012. Gary Patterson's team is now 22-6 following a loss in his tenure and has amazingly won 14 straight conference road games. 

Offensive Staff of the Week: Oregon State

Credit the work of Mike Riley, Danny Langsdorf and staff, because no one would have ever known Beavers quarterback Cody Vaz was starting his first college game on Saturday. Taking his first snaps since 2005, the Oregon State quarterback connected on 20-of-32 passes for 332 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Langsdorf's offense also ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns, nearly doubling the the total allowed by BYU's third-ranked rush defense (2.23 yards per carry allowed). Oregon State's 42 points were by far the most scored on a BYU defense that entered Saturday with just 49 points allowed for the entire season. Seamlessly replacing the nation's sixth-most productive passer allowed Oregon State to move to 5-0 for the first time since 1939.

Defensive Staff of the Week: Texas Tech

How's this for perspective of just how dominant the Texas Tech defense was versus West Virginia - coming into Saturday, the Mountaineers' offense had scored 14 or more points in 13 separate quarters this season (that's 65 percent on the year), including seven of eight quarters in Big 12 play. It took West Virginia over 57 minutes to reach that number in Lubbock. Despite not posting any turnovers or sacks, the Red Raiders defense got off the field by holding West Virginia to 9-of-21 on third down and 2-of-7 on fourth down. Art Kaufman and co. held Heisman Trophy favorite Geno Smith to nearly half of his season averages - 52.7 percent completion rate (down from 81.4 percent), 275 passing yards on five yards per attempt (down from 399 yards and nearly 10 yards per attempt) and one touchdown (two below his season average). Texas Tech also held the West Virginia ground game, which so befuddled Texas a week prior, to 133 yards on 3.7 yards per carry. With 50 percent of the schedule behind them, Art Kaufman's crew has halved their 2011 averages (486 yards per game in 2011, 243 in 2012; 6.45 yards per play in 2011, 3.89 in 2012) while jumping 110 spots in the in total defense. A group that finished last season No. 114 in the country currently stands at No. 4. 

Special Teams Unit of the Week: Iowa

Kirk Ferentz's team hardly ever does anything spectacular, instead winning with balance, execution and efficiency. Iowa's special teams were exactly that Saturday in the Hawkeyes' 19-16 win over Michigan State in double overtime. Kicker Mike Meyer nailed all four of his field goal tries, including the game-winner from 42 yards in double overtime. Iowa punted eight times, allowing only two returns - one for a yard and another for minus-2 yards. Under the direction of special teams coordinator Lester Erb, Iowa held the Spartans to an average of 17 yards on four kickoff returns while taking their lone kick return 45 yards. In fact, Jordan Cotton's 45-yard kick return in the second quarter sparked the drive that got Ferentz's team on the scoreboard after trailing 10-0. 

Call of the Week: Les Miles, Greg Studrawa and Frank Wilson, LSU

With a stable of running backs that boasts Kenny Hilliard, Michael Ford, Alfred Blue and Spencer Ware, you wouldn't think LSU would have to call on his No. 5 tailback, true freshman Jeremy Hill to pull him out of a tight spot Saturday night in Death Valley. But Hill, who entered the South Carolina game with 13 carries on the season, provided the spark that the Miles' team needed with 17 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-21 win over South Carolina. Credit for this move also must go to offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa and running backs coach Frank Wilson - first for getting such running back depth on the roster, and also for keeping all that depth ready to play. "I think that's something the coaches preach," Hill said after the game. "They do a good job of keeping everyone patient. This team has a lot of depth. They recruit well every year. Once you come here, you know you're going to have to wait your turn to play. Once you get that opportunity, you've got to take advantage of it and run with it."

Here's a look at the highlight video that the Oregon State staff showed the team before taking the field against Washington State last weekend.

The 38-35 win that is highlighted in the video was Mike Riley's 75th win at Oregon State (4-0, 3-0), making him the winningest coach in school history.

The video is very well produced and definitely had the Beavers ready to play, as the defense held Mike Leach and Washington State to just over 225 yards of total offense (including just 20 yards rushing), while they rolled up 370 yards of total offense themselves.

The Beavers will take on BYU (4-2) tomorrow at 3:30pm ET on ABC.