The Dam Links 9/24/2013: Whew

Am I surprised we're 3-1 at this point in the season? No. Do I feel good about the path we took to get there? Not really. But am I glad we lost to Eastern Washington instead of Utah? Yes. Conference Wins > Out of conference wins.

I was speaking to a Duck friend of mine, who admitted just a tinge of jealousy when he admitted that Beaver games were usually more fun to watch than Duck games, which are usually over by the second quarter. Of course, when I asked him if he wanted to trade the respective teams' level of success, he quickly declined. He mentioned he wasn't sure his heart could take the strain 10 games a year; once or twice was plenty for him. My girlfriend had a similar observation about watching Beaver games, but this is a family site so I can't go into her X-rated (yet hilarious) anecdote.

Lindsey Schnell of O-Live provides a sneak peek at Colorado. Oregon State hasn't played Colorado since 1988, and hasn't beat them since 1964. It's the one Pac-12 team I haven't seen OSU beat in person; let's hope that changes this weekend.

Brandin Cooks was unhappy with his performance Saturday night. Two fumbles (only one lost) and a botched punt (also not lost) could have cost the Beavers far more than they did.

Storm Woods watched the game on TV and it sounds like he was about as agitated by the goings on as I was. While he may be back this weekend, there's a reasonable amount of speculation he'll be held out one more week, which will get him two more weeks of rest. Storm, if you feel dizzy and light-headed, just remember, football is 80 percent mental and 40 percent physical.

Michael Morovick, the Beavers' long snapper, is out for the season. The backup long snapper, according to the preseason depth chart, is some guy named Harrison Linsky, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Fresno State. I hope he long snaps better than he poses for team pictures. Curiously, he's still in SB Nation's database as playing for Fresno State.

Redshirt freshman Rommel Mageo is going to get a shot at the starting middle linebacker position, taking over for Joel Skotte, who is struggling with making tackles. Lindsey Schnell points out that one silver lining about injuries is it gives young players extra chances to play.

John Canzano's column from Sunday morning, reviewing Saturday night's Beaver game, is worth a read. Seriously.

Vegas has installed Oregon State as a 10-point favorite over the Buffs. I have no idea how to predict the outcome of this game.

Beaver coaches are still going to try to run the ball. Half of me is starting to wonder if these stories are just a smoke screen to convince other teams they're going to try when they really aren't.

The GT's Steve Gress notes that OSU took a big gamble in the late fourth quarter, not attempting the onside kick when they scored with just a handful of minutes remaining. I had forgotten that gamble until just now, and I remember questioning it at the time. They chose to trust their defense at that point in the game, and it worked; I would consider that a very good sign. Seems to have worked out OK, though. He also points out that Oregon State isn't the only team having problems on defense.

Stephen Nelson is the Pac-12 defensive player of the week for his game-changing pick six in the fourth quarter. I did not realize that Nelson is tied for the national lead with four picks. Mannion and Kostol were nominated for offensive and special teams player, respectively.

You can vote for the Manning Award by going here and "Liking" the picture you like most, provided you have some sort of Facebook login. Sean Mannion won it last week; he's up for the award again this week. Of course, this week, most of the other guys' stats are better than his (unlike last week), so I would urge you to not vote blindly. At least pretend to look at the other guys.

The Pac-12 blog's Power Rankings this week have Oregon State right where they did last week -- 8th. Seems fair. Their weekend rewind has the OSU game as the best game for the second straight week. They also really like Sean Mannion's performance, calling him out as the offensive standout for the second straight week. Their quick look ahead to this weekend's games talks about the last time OSU and Colorado played. Does the name Erik Wilhelm ring a bell? Finally, their bowl projections show Oregon State getting the ninth bowl position out of the Pac-12, putting them in the Pinstripe Bowl against some AAC team. Which is a little weird, but playing in Yankee Stadium would be a lot more interesting than playing in El Paso or Albuquerque.

The Sporting News puts Oregon State at #7 in their weekly power rankings.

Jerry Palm of CBS puts the Beavers in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against (woo hoo) Kent State.

Highlights from Saturday's game, from the San Diego State perspective. A little weird seeing a highlight video from the losing team's perspective, especially when it's not yours. But good on them for still putting out a highlight video.

Remember Kyle Loomis? All-state punter out of Roseburg, showed up at OSU as a freshman, was a good punter for a year, and then quit the team and vanished? He joined the army, figured himself out, and seven years later, is now punting for Portland State.

Mens' soccer continues to do well, beating San Jose State 1-0 on Sunday afternoon, going to 6-2 on the season. The womens' soccer team picked up a rare win as well, defeating Cal Poly 3-0, moving their record to 2-6-1.

On Friday, Taras Liskevych became OSU's career leader in volleyball wins as a head coach. Sunday, the Beavers beat Long Beach State in 5 sets to move to 9-2 on the season. This led to senior Becky Defoe being named the Pac-12 conference's defensive player of the week, granting her and Steven Nelson the same title in different sports.

After two rounds, the golf team is in second place out of fifteen teams at a tournament in Colorado.

The baseball team gets shiny new rings Saturday, presumably at half time of the football game. I'm sure it will be nice, but I enjoyed the 2006 and 2007 ring ceremonies more.

The Heinrich Tailgater has issued a new episode of the Illegal Participation podcast. This week's tailgater special: waffles.

Two short videos today for the price of one.

Sometimes, weird plays happen in college football, including things you didn't even know were legal.

And a funny animal video. Just cuz. Wish my cats did this.

As always, vote in the poll below, and if I missed some links, post em!