View full size Doug Beghtel, The Oregonian BYU linebacker Jordan Pendleton wrestles OSU freshman quarterback Sean Mannion to the ground. With only one win, the Beavers are in rebuilding mode and Mannion is a cornerstone of the effort.
Midway through the 2011 season the Beavers appear headed for the school’s worst record since the 1996 team went 2-9 and Jerry Pettibone got fired. It began with a stunning loss to lower-tier Sacramento State on Week 1. While this young, injury-riddled team showed marked improvement during a stretch when it played decently at Arizona State and then beat Arizona at home, Saturday’s 38-28 loss to BYU was a step backwards. With a bowl game now a fairy tale, OSU is reduced to playing Pac-12 spoiler the rest of the regular season. There are potential wins on the remaining schedule – Washington State, Utah, Cal – but it could get ugly vs. Stanford, Washington, and Oregon. Here's our mid-season report card for Oregon State along with a quick look into the future:
Excelling: Hey, the players have been enthusiastic. And redshirt freshman quarterback Sean Mannion has generated some excitement as a potential four-year starter. His offensive line is protecting him. But OSU hasn’t run the ball effectively – part of it was freshman tailback Malcolm Agnew’s hamstring issue – and Mannion is throwing more interceptions than TD passes. Touchdowns come with alarming infrequency in the post-Jacquizz Rodgers era and after six games, the stats are not kind: OSU is 10th in the conference in rushing, 10th in total offense, 11th in scoring offense, and dead last (94th nationally) in passing efficiency.
Needs work: Mannion has some brilliant moments but he must make better decisions. OSU has to run the ball at least occasionally. BYU was more physical up front and out-rushed the Beavers 282-59 last Saturday. If Agnew is limited again with his hamstring – a distinct possibility – somebody among the trio of Jovan Stevenson, Terron Ward, and Jordan Jenkins must step up with authority. The blocking must improve along the offensive line, but the line hasn’t been the disaster some predicted. The Beavers have playmakers – James Rodgers, Markus Wheaton, Brandin Cooks, Jordan Bishop, Joe Halahuni – but they have not had enough opportunity to make plays.
View full size Thomas Boyd, The Oregonian Markus Wheaton
MVP: Split end Markus Wheaton . He’s caught 46 passes for 548 yards (11.9 average) and he’s among the Pac-12 leaders in receptions per game and receiving yards per game. However, Wheaton’s playmaking teammates have faded in and out like a bad TV signal. James Rodgers has made a remarkable recovery from two off-season knee operations, but he’s not 100 percent back to where he was before the injury and tight end Joe Halahuni is just getting back to form after spring shoulder surgery.
Grade: D. The Beavers aren’t running or throwing well enough to win the games in which they have a chance. They aren’t performing in the red zone and they’re making too many mistakes to ruin drives. OSU knew life after Quizz might be difficult. It has been.
Excelling: “Excelling’’ might be too strong a word to describe much of what’s happening on this side of the ball, but there’s no question freshman defensive ends Scott Crichton and Dylan Wynn have played well and cornerback Jordan Poyer has simply elevated himself among the Pac-12’s elite. Crichton is tied for first in the Pac-12 in tackles for loss. Wynn – a true freshman – is a whirling dervish who hits like a truck. Poyer is making plays all over the field and leads the conference in passes defended. But as a group, the unit has been erratic, with injuries up front and at linebacker part of the story. OSU is allowing over 400 yards and 32 points per game. It seems when defensive coordinator Mark Banker gets one thing fixed – for instance, the pass defense – something else breaks down.
Needs work: Run defense. And that may not be easy with the loss of run-stuffer defensive tackle Castro Masaniai to a broken leg in the BYU game. There are holes on pass defense, too, with the Beavers’ secondary a work in progress. Again, the job is made more difficult with safeties Lance Mitchell, Anthony Watkins, and Ryan Murphy banged up. Mitchell, a senior, was expected to have a stellar season. He hasn’t performed to expectations, but he also has not been healthy.
View full size Motoya Nakamura, The Oregonian Jordan Poyer returns a kickoff for a touchdown against UCLA.
MVP: A tie between Crichton and Poyer. Crichton has eight tackles for loss and three sacks. Poyer has three interceptions – he took one of them 51 yards for a TD vs. BYU – nine pass break-ups, and 12 passes defended. It has hard to imagine where the OSU defense would be this season without either player.
Grade: C-minus. There is some exciting potential, looking ahead to next season. But in the here and now, OSU’s defense isn’t solid enough up front (too small) and the decimated linebacking crew (three linebackers were injured in the BYU game) doesn’t have the “search and destroy’’ element to its game that would prevent mobile quarterbacks from tearing the Beavers to shreds.
Excelling: Poyer is one of the top kickoff and punt returners in college football. He tore off an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown against UCLA. Punter Johnny Hekker would be having a pretty good season if it wasn’t for two unfortunate rugby punts. And OSU leads the Pac-12 in kickoff coverage. Placekicker Trevor Romaine has set a school record for touchbacks on kickoffs.
Needs work: Hekker must be more consistent. Romaine is only 9-for-14 on field goals. He missed the potential game-winner against Sacramento State and he was off-target on two makeable attempts vs. BYU. Romaine has also infuritated special teams coach Bruce Read by booting kickoffs out of bounds.
MVP: Poyer. He doesn’t have Devin Hester speed, or Cliff Harris speed, but if he gets a crease he can go a long way on punt and kickoff returns.
Grade: C-minus. Marked down because of several disasters in the punt and kicking game.
Excelling: It is doubtful OSU coach Mike Riley would pick out one person on his coaching staff who is excelling, given the team’s struggles. But offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh – who helped engineer an overhaul of the unit before spring ball - has done a good job of compensating for injuries and “coaching up’’ his players.
Needs work: Riley has taken criticism for the clumsy way OSU jettisoned returning starter Ryan Katz and went with Mannion at quarterback. Offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf’s play-calling has been a water-cooler topic all season. The coaches get points for perservering and coaxing a young group to improve week to week. But the improvement stopped in the BYU game. And it was glaringly obvious the Beavers were not ready to play on Week 1 vs. Sacramento State.
Grade: C. Any indictment of Riley and his staff must be prefaced with by the team’s injury situation. However, when a team with little margin for error consistently blows winnable games – Sacramento State, UCLA, BYU – that is not a ringing endorsement for the coaches.
OVERALL TEAM GPA: 2.00. This should probably be a C-minus, but I remember what my algebra teacher used to tell me (“You can do this, if you just apply yourself’’) and I think there is enough talent on this team to have a decent last half of the season.
Where is this team headed?: It’s possible Oregon State could return to that dank, dark place of yesteryear and compile its worst record since the 1995 team went 1-10. If the senior leaders have the influence Riley hopes they do, that won’t happen. If the players give up, they will hear about it from their fan base. It wasn’t that long ago – 2008, 2009 – that OSU was playing for the Rose Bowl. The drop-off has been dramatic.
Most important game(s): Saturday’s game at CenturyLink Field in Seattle against WSU could be a springboard to better things, or a push off the cliff. The Beavers – on paper- seem good enough to win at Utah but a Nov. 5 game at Reser against No. 7 Stanford gets filed in the Mission Impossible category.
Bowl game prediction: If there are bowl reps at OSU’s Nov. 19 home game against Washington, they won’t be there to watch the Beavers, who haven’t gone bowl-less in back-to-back seasons since 1997-1998.
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