Portland State Media Roundup

by Jake Bertalotto on Sep 4, 2009 10:05 AM PDT in Oregon State Football Comment 16 comments

Are you ready for some football?

Here are some stories of interest as we head into tomorrow's game with Portland State:

One of the more interesting and heart-warming story lines is what's going on regarding the Kavanaugh family this weekend. Taylor, the senior wide receiver/holder/punt returner will suit up for the Beavers tomorrow, while brother Connor will be on the visiting sidelines as Portland State's back-up quarterback. Parents Dan and Jenifer Kavanaugh have made a spreadsheet in order to catch as many games as possible this season, but this weekend, their location is an easy one.--Saturday's game marks the first time that Taylor and Connor will play for opposing teams. Lindsay Schnell has the full story in the Oregonian:

"It would have been great to play with my brother, but the whole time he kept telling me, 'Do what's best for you,'" Connor said.

That turned out to be Portland State, where Connor backs up starting quarterback Drew Hubel.

When he signed, Connor said he never imaged matching up against Taylor. "It never really crossed my mind," Connor said. "When I first heard about us scheduling them, I can't even describe it, what it's like playing against your brother."

Taylor, who is now on scholarship at Oregon State, has published his first diary on OregonLive for the upcoming season. If you haven't read the first installment already ("Of Building Blocks and Brotherhood"), it's definitely worth the read. An excerpt:

Ask anybody on this team, and they will honestly reply that there are always opportunities to take the short cut and "come down" from our hill. But I know I speak for many when I say it has simply become the culture of this team to ignore those many distractions and continue to do great work every day. (And sometimes twice a day, but thankfully those are over!)

Carl Sommer, the Wilsonville High School graduate, also has ties to both programs. Sommer signed his letter of intent to play for Oregon State, then left the program a day before the Beavers upset USC last season after developing a poor relationship with defensive line coach Joe Seumalo. Sommer was expected to be a difference-maker on the defensive line, but as Jim Beseda notes , his NFL aspirations are still alive at Portland State, despite his potential to have played at OSU:

"When you lose a guy like that, it's always like a failure," coach Riley said. "He was a redshirt freshman at the time, and we were looking at him just like we do with all our guys' development. To me, there was no doubt he was going to find his way in this program."

With Darrell Catchings still nursing a hand injury, Damola Adeniji will start at split end for the Beavers in the opener, completing a journey from walk-on to starter. Cliff Kirkpatrick has more on Damola, as well as another player who could make a difference: Brandin Hardin.

Hardin will likely play in the secondary in Saturday's game behind cornerbacks Tim Clark and James Dockery. Clark, who is the leader of the secondary, expressed on Tuesday that he fully expects to be tested by Drew Hubel and Portland State's offense.

PSU will come right after the Beavers' secondary, Clark predicts.

"We have the most inexperienced group on the defense, so we expect to get attacked a lot,'' said Clark. "I hope we respond to that.''

Keaton Kristick, the leader of the linebackers, is nervous yet excited for Saturday's game, but also knows it will be no cakewalk:

Said Kristick, "it's football. Anything can happen on any given day.'' Kristick is nervous. Expects major butterflies Saturday as he begins his senior year and what he hopes is the launching pad to an NFL career. "Reser's gonna be rocking,'' he said.

Quotes like these from the Beaver defense were the norm at Tuesday's press conference, as the Beavers said all the right things heading into Saturday's game.

Also, take the time to check out Paul Buker's profiles on some prominent OSU players... Jacquizz Rodgers, Kevin Frahm, and James Rodgers.

Feel free to share some of your other favorite links in the thread below.

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)

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The Sommer article really surprised me. I’m surprised he felt compelled to leave. Must’ve been buried on the depth chart.

by ArbyOSU on Sep 4, 2009 10:23 AM PDT reply actions

Keaton Kristic's weekly diary entry appeared in the Sporting News Today as well,

where we learn about pregame icecream preparations.

PREGAME DANCE HELPS GET NERVES OUT

BY KEATON KRISTICK
For SN Today
You can really start to feel the excitement for our first game. We’re all talking about it in Oregon. We play Portland
State, and a whole bunch of news stations have been coming down from Portland trying to make this game
really, really big. It’s kind of exciting because it’s an in-state game to kick off the 2009 campaign. And we had a couple players on our team who play for them now. So I know a couple of guys on their team, which should make it cool.
There’s nothing to overlook about Portland State even though they are I-AA. We’ve been looking at their film
for quite some time. We know they have a potent offense—they like to air it out. But we’re going to play our game no matter what, and we’re not going to let an offense dictate what we do on defense. That’s our goal—we dictate what happens.
We haven’t even started school yet—class starts the last week of September. I think that helps us focus on football. It’s kind of like an NFL training camp—football first, and that’s really all you have to think about.
Kickoff for Portland State is 11:30 a.m. locally. The early start can be better because there’s not too much anticipation leading up to the game, waiting in the hotel for a long time.
We’ll stay in a hotel the night before a game. My favorite part is getting Cold Stone Creamery with the team—we have a Cold Stone guy that comes and helps us out, and he’s really cool. I get the same thing every single time. I go with some sweet cream, some raspberries, but this is where it gets crazy: I throw in some Gummi Bears, Kit Kats, sometimes Snickers, almond fudge—it just gets crazy.
On game day, I’m usually one of the first guys out on the field just to get the whole vibe. I sometimes have a pregame dance routine just to get the nerves out a bit—kind of goofy, but it’s always fun. No one on the team does anything too crazy to get himself pumped up for the game. We had a couple of guys do chants the past couple of years, but everyone pretty much keeps to himself. That’s the way we do it around here. That wild guy
in the corner banging his head breaking lockers and stuff might cause a scene, might get someone out of his own vibe.
But one thing’s for sure: We’re all going to be ready in our individual ways.

Andy Wooldridge
Go Beavs!

by AndyPanda on Sep 4, 2009 10:28 AM PDT reply actions

Should be a fun year!

It’s been a long wait, I’m glad it’s almost here! Heading down to Corvallis first thing in the morning for a full day of beavers. Anyone know a good spot in town to pick up breakfast? The restaurant we used to stop at went out business a couple years ago.

by fishinbeaverguy on Sep 4, 2009 10:55 AM PDT reply actions