The Cougars defeated Oregon State 44-20 on a cold, windy night in Las Vegas. Here are my thoughts on the game.
Quarterback
Sean Canfield struggled mightily in the heavy wind gusts. Sean completed 19 of his 40 passes, threw one interception, zero touchdowns, and had 168 yards. It was obvious that our offense not only needs the Rodgers Brothers, but a good Quarterback as well.
If there was a bright spot for the Quarterbacks, it could be found in backup Ryan Katz. Ryan went 2 for 6, but he found Damola Adeniji for a 31 yard Touchdown Pass. His other completion was also to Damola, that one for 15 yards.
Running Backs
Jacquizz Rodgers also had a tough day in Vegas. The younger brother recorded only 63 yards on 18 carries, and also fumbled the ball for the first time of his Oregon State career. Jacquizz did manage to find the end zone with a short one yard run midway through the fourth quarter.
Backup Jovan Stevenson got one carry for one yard in Las Vegas, and Sean Canfield scored the first touchdown of the game with a one yard QB Sneak.
Recievers
Damola Adeniji led the recievers with 8 catches for 106 yards and one touchdown. James Rodgers failed to impress in his final game as a Junior, with only 4 catches for 30 yards. His younger brother Jacquizz came out of the backfield to record 4 catches for 13 yards.
Jordan Bishop had 21 yards on 2 catches, while Casey Kjos, Markus Wheaton, Joe Halahuni, and Lance Mitchell all had one catch.
O-Line
Mike Cavanaugh's bunch chose to save the best for last, with the Offensive Line surrendering no sacks. They could of done a better job of opening up holes for Quizz, but overall I thought they did a great job against the tough BYU Defense.
Defense
Out of everything, the thing I was most dissapointed with was our Defense. Harvey Unga and Max Hall are great, but we have faced much better throughout the year. I don't know if it was Banker's fault or the players, but we need to figure out by the time we play TCU.
Special Teams
Look, I know the conditions were horrible. But the coaching staff should have been prepared for it. Johnny Hekker's punts were enexcusable. Either him or the coaching staff has to know that you can't punt the ball straight into the wind.
BYU
Despite the horrible play by the Beavers, I've got to admit that BYU play a great Football game. I under estimated the Cougars going into the game, but they proved me wrong. Both Max Hall and Harvey Unga were superb, and the whole team handled the conditions wonderfully.
The Crowd
I thought that the Las Vegas crowd of 44,020 was a very good turnout considering the awful conditions. It looked as if half of them were Oregon State fans, and you could definitely hear them on BYU 3rd Downs.
Short Pac-10 Recap
Oregon State-The Beavers couldn't handle the gusting winds and the BYU Offense in Las Vegas.
California-The Mountain West improved to 2-0 against Pac-10 teams this Bowl Season with a 37-27 Utah win.
USC-Without Joe McKnight, the Trojans still prevailed over Boston College by a score of 24-13 in the Emerald Bowl.
Pac-10 Power Rankings
1. Oregon
2. Arizona
3. USC
4. Stanford
5. Oregon State
6. Washington
7. California
8. UCLA
9. Arizona State
10. Washington State
Final Thoughts
Sometimes, it's just hard to get excited for a Football game. Riley worked his magic last year, getting the team up for the Sun Bowl against Pittsburgh. But this year, they left everything they had on Rich Brooks Field.
To me, this game wasn't as much the end of this year as it was the beginning of next year. We saw a glimpse of the future in Ryan Katz, and we also saw what happened if you aren't prepared to play a Mountain West team.
I couldn't be more excited for next season right now. Bring on TCU baby!
Today's Poll
Will the Beavers beat TCU next season?