Riley gets UCLA monkey off his back, now must beat Cal at Reser

by Jake Bertalotto on Nov 9, 2008 11:11 PM PST in Football Comment 15 comments

This season has been full of ups and downs for Head Coach Mike Riley and the Oregon State Beavers, but the team is in prime position to take the Pac-10 conference, and the nation by storm.

Oregon State opened the year with losses at Stanford and Penn State, and a heartbreaker to Utah on the road. Those three games represent the Beavers only three losses of the season, but OSU still has three extremely difficult games left on the schedule.

Coach Riley got the UCLA monkey off his back last week (he was 0-9 against the Bruins as a head coach and offensive coordinator), but there's not much time to celebrate that win. Jeff Tedford and the Cal Bears are in town this week, and the Beavs will have their hands full.

The Beavers have won four straight against Cal in Berkeley, but they've struggled in the last two meetings at Reser. "I wish this game was in Berkeley" was the Riley quote that Paul Buker used in today's Oregonian.

The Golden Bears are 4-2 in the Pac-10, with losses to Arizona and USC. Like the Beavers, they're also 6-3 on the season, with a road loss to Maryland in week three. Cal's sophomore running back Jahvid Best ranks fifth in the conference in rushing with just under 100 yards per game. The Bears seem to be in shambles at the quarterback position, and the Beavers will likely prepare for a combination of Kevin Riley and Nate Longshore.

With the 34-6 win over UCLA, the Beavers find themselves with a 6-3 record and a #23 ranking in the AP Poll. That ranking doesn't mean much right now, because frankly, the Beavers know what they need to do to stay ranked and get themselves into the desired bowl game.

The Beavers will play Cal at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC.

Note: Now that the Beavers find themselves ranked in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, you can peruse the rankings towards the bottom of the right hand sidebar. Have fun!

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Cal's QB play will really shape this game

If Riley and/or Longshore are on, it could be a really close game. If they come out wobbly, I think our defense will get the best of them and win the ballgame for us.

Woof

by Charles Barkley McLovin on Nov 10, 2008 12:02 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

You thinking low scoring or higher scoring game?

I don’t have a good feel for it right now.

-RVM

by rvm on Nov 10, 2008 11:36 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Similar to UCLA

I think this is a game that will remain close and/or low scoring until OSU’s offense finally catches fire like it did against the ’Ruins. It might take a half, but I have confidence that OSU is hitting a stride right now and the Cal game could be proof that they can get it done against a very formidable opponent.

Both QBs have pronounced weaknesses that play into OSU’s hands too. Longshore: not very mobile, can’t take much abuse and has a tendency to hold onto the ball a little too long. Riley: not very experienced (dare I say stupid?), happy feet, likes to force throws. Personally, I would rather see Riley but I think the D matches up favorably as long as they show up.

by ArbyOSU on Nov 10, 2008 2:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree about the QBs, totally what I was thinking, but was actually thinking maybe better with Longshore. But yes totally thought the same thing about the match up with our D. Should be very interesting.

I was also thinking the same thing about the stride, but just can’t quite believe 110% yet and yes this game is a huge one. Many ways can’t remember all that many games this huge.

-RVM

by rvm on Nov 10, 2008 2:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

At this point of the season the games seem to get bigger and bigger each week. Hopefully coaches and players stay focused and live in the week and not get caught peeking into the next week.

Last year I thought Cal was very lucky not to have Longshore against our D. A lot of people, namely ducks who were still sour about their own Cal game (rightly so by the way), thought we got an easy draw with Riley but pair our D last year with a gimpy, slow, bad-throw-making Longshore and you would have had a defensive feast for OSU. A Beaver Feast (ew) if you will.

This year I think Riley is easily rattled and this D loves getting to QBs. That said, I’d love to see a little of both QBs so that neither one is allowed to build any momentum or rhythm.

by ArbyOSU on Nov 10, 2008 2:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, actually re-reading my post it didn’t come across this way but I have been feeling a bit more like Longshore has been the weaker of the two and especially against the type of D OSU has been putting against QBs. Riley seems to run a bit better and that could be more of an issue for the D. But I don’t know they just seem shaky at the QB position this year so might not matter.

Again, I think this will be an interesting game, and man I’m hyped already and its only Monday (okay I was hyped already at the start of the 4th quarter of the UCLA game for this Cal game!)! So, as with you I’m hoping the team is more grounded than I am!

-RVM

by rvm on Nov 10, 2008 4:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

110 = 100

Hmm, what am I from Notre Dame or something, give 10% more for the Gipper!

-RVM

by rvm on Nov 10, 2008 4:31 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'll go High Scoring

I think it will be a high scoring game because Riley and Longshore are both very good QB’s and we have trouble stopping the pass. Also, whoever goes for us, Moevao or Canfield I think will have very good games. The only thing with Canfield is he’s got to keep his turnovers down. The UCLA game would have been over in the first half if Sean wouldn’t of missed the handoff or threw the INT.

by ConnorOSU on Nov 10, 2008 5:13 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

True

I think it might stay as close as the UCLA game during the beginning, but if they make any mistakes, they will be punished. That will be the tide-turner. Plus, the crowd should help…

Beaver believer!

by mannyfresh1 on Nov 10, 2008 1:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I am really stoked for this game!

I go to all the home games and have since the 98’ season, but these next two home games (Cal, Civil War) could be a couple of really great memories. I yelled so hard at the ASU game that I got really f ing sick and still am but you can bet I will be screaming my head off on Saturday!

by jaycb324011 on Nov 10, 2008 10:59 AM PST reply actions 0 recs