A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
ADVERTISEMENTS
I’ve flipped back on forth on this prediction a couple of times the last few days.
There are a lot of troubling question marks for Oregon State in this game — the offensive line, new starters at each spot on the defensive front seven, true freshmen punting and long snapping and an inexperienced replacement for Al Afalava at safety.
Stanford will be better than it was a year ago, and the Cardinal are at home.
Oregon State’s offense has plenty of big-play potential with Sammie Stroughter and the Rodgers brothers, James and Jacquizz, and I expect to see a streamlined Lyle Moevao step up his game a notch at QB from a year ago. But can the patchwork O-line protect Moevao against Stanford’s gambling, blitzing defense and provide time to get the ball to the playmakers?
The Cardinal will come out to establish the run on Oregon State, and they will go at Afalava’s fill-in at safety.
It could be one of those back-and-forth, swing-of-momentum games that goes down to the final moments before one team seizes the advantage.
In the end, I think it will be the Beavers getting a hugely important season-opening victory. But just barely.
THE PICK: Oregon State 20, Stanford 16
In the past whenever OSU has had questions on the o-line or defensive line they have always had somebody take it upon themselves to step up and be a play maker. It will be no different this time around. Players WILL step up.
Another factor to consider is that a lot of this team has been around to win 19 games in the last two seasons, averaging close to 10 wins per year. They come out this year and are slammed by the press and prognosticators, saying they are rebuilding and that this year will be a let down for the Beavers. The entirety of this football team has something to prove. They want to put up W's and ask "How you like them Apples". Beavers win going away 34-17. Bring on the Little-10 and Penn State!
(email verified)
Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 11:04 AM
Browse archive
Sports columns
The Portland Tribune
Sports feed
Find a paper
Enter a street name
or a 5 digit zip code
Our Portland website design and marketing company created custom websites for these top providers of Portland pest control services, Portland cleaning services and Portland florists.
Search engine marketing, website templates, portland web design and website promotion by Webfu // 503.381.5553
New down and fleece north face jackets. The largest selection of North Face Jackets available online. Free shipping on orders over $40.00
See the latest styles of ski jackets and backpacks from The North Face.
Become a Naturopathic Doctor. Developing future leaders in health care. Named by The Princeton Review as one of the best med schools in the country. Bastyr University.
Facebook
Digg
Del.icio.us
Newsvine
Stumbleupon
Reddit
Re: KERRY SAYS: Picking OSU-Stanford winner isn't easy, but here goes ...
Can they possibly gain enough experience this week to withstand their trip to State College on the 6th? Go Beavers. What a schedule.
"Beav Fan"
(email verified)
Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 06:13 PM