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Part Three of a Three-Part Year in Review
by Todd Mansfield
CORVALLIS, OR  -  I was trying to think of how to sum up the Fall of 2008 in Corvallis.  Pretty simple, I guess.  It was all about the magical run of football, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the great achievements by the other sports.

Cross Country improved four spots at the NCAA West Regional this year, as they grabbed a Top 10 finish, placing ninth.

Volleyball started the season strong and won six in a row at one point, including a win on the road over #13 Wisconsin in five sets. Then, however, it was time to face the Pac-10 schedule.  Early on it almost seemed unfair as Oregon State faced five of the top eight teams in the country:  #8 Stanford, #6 California,  #4 UCLA, #5 USC and #7.

The team pulled off another great upset, showing they are headed in the right direction.  5th-ranked USC couldn’t handle the pressure and the Beavers prevailed in five sets.  That win allowed Oregon State to be nationally ranked (at #24) for the first time since 1996.

The team also had a shot at making the NCAA tournament, but came up short.  Considering the fact that the NCAA wasn’t even a thought in their minds the previous year, Coach Terry Liskevych has this team poised to make a run. Look for the big jump next season.

Now to football…
The biggest story was not the running for the Roses.  Hey if you don’t make it, it’s not a story.  It was the unveiling of Jacquizz Rodgers – the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and the Freshman of the Year.  I think if OSU can keep him in town for two more seasons, look for them to be the team to knock USC out of their winning ways in the Pac-10.

While the defense didn’t have a Jacquizz, they wound up with a big bowl of Paea – Stephen Paea – and with that beast in the center of the D Line for two more years, Oregon State will be able to hold teams close no matter what they do.  As he proved all season, when Paea is healthy, nobody can run on the Beavers.

A full season of Lyle Moevao isn’t bad either.  Entering the season, nobody knew Moevao could be the man.  Could he be the man?  Heck yeah, he could!

Moevao was one of the best QBs statistically all season, and what a leader.  Lyle may not throw the best or look the best, but he is becoming a very good college quarterback.

A perfect example of the coaching that takes place every year with this team is punter Johnny Hekker.  At the start of the season, he was bad.  His kicks were inconsistent and all over the field.  However, he never really hit the boomer.  In fact, the team was within one more bad punt of replacing him.

But maybe pressure situations are when he is at his best.  Over the final four or five games, Hekker averaged over 40 yards per kick and was instrumental at helping the offense when they were without Jacquizz.  These games were about field position, and Johnny did his job.  The special teams MVP was well deserved.

Coach Mike Riley proved once again that he is a master at building chemistry on his teams.  It was nice to see that the media finally listened to all my moaning about him not being respected and gave him the Pac- 10 Coach of the Year award. 

Starting out this season, Moevao was labeled the #8 quarterback in the league, the Beavers had no running to speak of, the offensive line was splintered, the place kicker and punter were new, and Riley had lost his entire front seven on defense. 

Maybe as a graduation present, Riley can give them all t-shirts that say, It Ain’t Easy.  That was the case this year and it seems to be the mantra for the Beavers every Fall.   Now with 28 wins in his last three seasons, it may not be easy for Riley to continue on with this type of success, but  here’s to me being wrong – again.

Now that the Fall of 2008 is over, it will be sad to say goodbye to Ebony and Ivory, to Sammie, to the Big Uglies and many more.  They have been a terrific group that has made the Fall a special time of year for the past four or five seasons.

Thanks for letting me be a part of it and allowing me to watch you all become great people and great football players.

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Oregon State Athletics News & Notes
by OSR Staff
CORVALLIS, OR  -  With coaches now on the road recruiting nonstop through the February 4 signing day, it just goes to show you that college football is indeed a year-round business.  A few days after their shutout Sun Bowl win, head coach Mike Riley announced that next year’s football team just got bigger and faster.

Student-athletes Geoff Garner and Jovan Stevenson have been admitted to school and will attend classes when winter term begins next week. 

Garner, an offensive line prospect who was listed at 6-6, 280 pounds when he signed his national letter of intent in February 2006, spent two years on an LDS Mission in Panama and returned last month.  The Mesa High School graduate also played tight end, where he was an Arizona 5A Honorable Mention selection after amassing 45 receptions for 987 yards and seven touchdowns in his last two years.  He also lettered in baseball and basketball.

Stevenson (first name pronounced Joe-VON) signed last February and delayed his enrollment, essentially becoming a greyshirt.  The running back from Tucson's Sunnyside High School earned first team All-State honors as a senior from both the Tucson Citizen and the Arizona Daily Star.  He rushed for 1,470 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior, and 1,863 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior. He was also a runner on the 4x100 meter relay team, and a member of both the Student Advisory Council and the Black Heritage Committee while at Sunnyside.

Both players will have five years of eligibility to play four seasons....

If you want to quiet all this talk of slow starts, there's nothing like going 7-0 right out of the gate.  That said, here’s something interesting to think about courtesy of analyst supreme Jim Wilson, who shares a booth with OSR contributors Mike Parker, Todd Mansfield and Ron Callan on the Beavers Sports Network broadcast team.

Looking ahead to the 2009 football season on the Sun Bowl radio pre-game show, Wilson touched on the possibility of an undefeated Oregon State football team rolling into the Coliseum on October 24 for next season's contest with USC in Los Angeles.  Or did he actually go on record and predict it?  We’ll try and nail him down, but either way it’s an intriguing possibility.

Next year’s first two games game couldn’t be any more different from this year’s early matchups.  First up is a home opener with Portland State, not a conference opener on the road.  Washington State throttled the Vikings 48-9 this year, telling you pretty much everything you need to know about this one.

Game two is on the road against UNLV, not Penn State.  Somehow the Rebels managed to beat Arizona State last year, but their scoring defense was among the worst in D-1 this year and Oregon State should roll, even at the Silver Bowl.  Note, however, that this game also qualifies as the best travel opportunity for obvious reasons (even in early September).  Make your reservations for the Bellagio now, or you’ll get stuck at Circus Circus.

There is also no Utah game on the road in the first half of ’09.  There is a non-conference home date with Cincinnati, but Oregon State has shown what they can do, hobbled and short-handed, against the Big East.  Cincinnati also graduates a ton of seniors, particularly on defense.

Finally, the early games of the Pac-10 schedule are Arizona at home (first big test of the year), Arizona State at Tempe, Stanford at home (what a grudge match!) and finally the Cougars in Pullman.  Not exactly gimmes (OK, maybe one), but you can see what Jim’s talking about, can’t you?

There’s something to keep you going until spring practice starts, and there goes my New Year’s resolution to stop counting chickens before they hatch.  (Thanks a lot, Jim.)