OSU NOTES: Riley: It's about us getting ready to play

By Kerry Eggers

The Portland Tribune, Oct 25, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Oregon State's James Rodgers gets a hug from USC coach Pete Carroll after Saturday's Trojan victory in Los Angeles.

STEPHEN DUNN / GETTY IMAGES

UCLA is 0-4 in the Pac-10 and would seem to be an opponent Oregon State should handle when the teams collide at 1 p.m. Saturday at Reser Stadium.

Oregon State coach Mike Riley doesn’t want to hear any of it.

The Bruins (3-4 overall) are “a good team, with a really good defensive front, and we know it’s going to be tough to beat them,” Riley said Sunday night. “Really, the entire Pac-10 is unpredictable. You’d better come to play or you’re not going to win on any given day.”

The Beavers (4-3 overall, 2-2 in Pac-10) spent Sunday mulling what-could-have-beens as they watched video of their 42-36 loss at Southern Cal Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

USC or UCLA – this Saturday’s opponent doesn’t matter all that much, Riley insists.

‘It’s really not about anything but us getting ready to play, living in that vacuum and trying to play our best game of the year,” Riley said. “I challenged the kids to analyze their play (against SC), and what each of them could do better, and how important that is collectively for each guy to do that.

“That’s how we’ll approach this week. We’re getting to the stretch run of a season that forms the identity of your team, and we know we have to get better.”

• UCLA is solid defensively and excellent against the pass, ranking second in the Pac-10 in pass defense while allowing only 180.3 yards per game through the air.

Not so offensively. The Bruins managed 10 first downs and 211 yards total offense and were 2 for 15 in third-down conversions in a 27-13 loss to Arizona Saturday, a game in which the offense produced only two field goals. Second-year coach Rick Neuheisel used three quarterbacks – Kevin Craft, Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut – with not a lot of success. Had not the UCLA defense come up with five turnovers, the final score could have been ugly.

“We are not throwing and catching the ball well enough to compete in the Pac-10,” Neuheisel told reporters afterward.

UCLA’s national rankings are 90th in pass offense, 102nd in rush offense, 109th in total offense and 106th in scoring offense.

The Bruins’ best offensive weapon is freshman punter Jeff Locke, who leads the Pac-10 and is second nationally with a 46.5-yard average.

The Beavers lead the Pac-10 and are 25th nationally in pass offense, averaging 265.4 yards per game.

• Oregon State has received its ninth verbal commitment from a high school senior – Donnell Welch, a speedy 6-2, 200-pound linebacker from Palm Desert (Calif.) High.

• Riley, on Saturday’s Oregon-Southern Cal matchup: “That’s going to be very interesting. Having SC at home will be a good thing for the Ducks.”

• Oregon State’s three defeats have come against teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25 this week – Southern Cal at No. 4, Cincinnati at No. 5 and Arizona at No. 23.

• Oregon State scored four touchdowns in the second half against Southern Cal. Jacquizz Rodgers, who gained only 17 yards in the first quarter and sat out the second period with a sprained ankle, came back strong with 96 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns in the second half.

“Our offensive line did a great job,” Riley said. “When we got that balance with some running game in the second half, we were hard to stop. That was good to see.”

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