Beavers hope to become bowl eligible in Palo Alto
OSU travels to Stanford to take on Cardinal in final tune-up before Civil War showdown next week
Matt Boase
Issue date: 11/17/06 Section: Sports
The Stanford Cardinal struggled through its first nine games of the season.
Actually, that may be an understatement. The Cardinal (1-9 overall, 1-6 Pacific-10) wallowed through its first nine games of the season.
After nine games, the Cardinal had nine losses. There was a point where it looked as though the team was going to go through the entire season without a win.
But last week, the Cardinal traveled to Washington and knocked off a stunned Huskies team to get off the losing slide.
"Despite their record, they've always played hard," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "They go into every game competing like crazy and then it paid off for them."
This week, OSU (6-4, 4-3) has a lot on the line. A win makes the Beavers bowl eligible.
It's a similar situation to that of last season, when Stanford visited OSU in Reser Stadium and beat the Beavers 20-17. OSU went on to lose its final game to Oregon and didn't make it to a bowl.
"It was the same situation last year," OSU offensive guard Roy Scheuning said. "We had the opportunity to become bowl eligible and nobody came out and played well that night. We've got to learn from that this year and take advantage of our opportunity to become bowl eligible."
Beating Stanford appears easy on paper. The Cardinal ranks last in the Pac-10 in scoring offense (10.3 points per game), scoring defense (32.1 ppg), total offense (230.4 yards per game) and total defense (392.1 ypg).
However, in its last game, the Cardinal broke their pattern. They put up 20 points on UW while holding the Huskies to just three points.
"Obviously something clicked for them and they're playing better football now," OSU tight end Joe Newton said. "It's just another test for us."
That test has a trick question on it: What's the best way to deal with Stanford's three-four defense?
"Last year we had a few problems with it," Scheuning said. "I kind of like it because I'm free to go block a linebacker every play. But it's going to be really difficult because it's something we haven't seen for weeks."
Actually, that may be an understatement. The Cardinal (1-9 overall, 1-6 Pacific-10) wallowed through its first nine games of the season.
After nine games, the Cardinal had nine losses. There was a point where it looked as though the team was going to go through the entire season without a win.
But last week, the Cardinal traveled to Washington and knocked off a stunned Huskies team to get off the losing slide.
"Despite their record, they've always played hard," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "They go into every game competing like crazy and then it paid off for them."
This week, OSU (6-4, 4-3) has a lot on the line. A win makes the Beavers bowl eligible.
It's a similar situation to that of last season, when Stanford visited OSU in Reser Stadium and beat the Beavers 20-17. OSU went on to lose its final game to Oregon and didn't make it to a bowl.
"It was the same situation last year," OSU offensive guard Roy Scheuning said. "We had the opportunity to become bowl eligible and nobody came out and played well that night. We've got to learn from that this year and take advantage of our opportunity to become bowl eligible."
Beating Stanford appears easy on paper. The Cardinal ranks last in the Pac-10 in scoring offense (10.3 points per game), scoring defense (32.1 ppg), total offense (230.4 yards per game) and total defense (392.1 ypg).
However, in its last game, the Cardinal broke their pattern. They put up 20 points on UW while holding the Huskies to just three points.
"Obviously something clicked for them and they're playing better football now," OSU tight end Joe Newton said. "It's just another test for us."
That test has a trick question on it: What's the best way to deal with Stanford's three-four defense?
"Last year we had a few problems with it," Scheuning said. "I kind of like it because I'm free to go block a linebacker every play. But it's going to be really difficult because it's something we haven't seen for weeks."
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Be the first to comment on this story
Comments by registered users are approved by default.