SB Nation - Stephen Paea

Seven of 12 All-Pac-10 Beavers On First Team

AndyPanda — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:04:45 -0000

Twelve Oregon St. Beaver footballers received All Pac-10 honors, seven on the first team.

Four members of the Beavers' offense are on the first team, including Sean Canfield, quarterback, Jacquizz Rodgers, running back, James Rodgers, wide receiver, and Greg Peat, guard.

Joining the first team from the defense are Keaton Kristick, linebacker, and Stephen Paea, tackle. And Suaesi Tuimaunei was named the first team special teams player that is not a kicker or a return specialist.

The seven were more than any other team placed on the first team.

Placekicker Justin Kahut was named the second team kicker, behind All-American Kai Forbath of UCLA.

Center Alex Linnenkohl was one of four Beavers to receive honorable mention, as were three linebackers, including middle linebacker David Pa'aluhi, and outside linebackers Dwight Roberson and Keith Pankey. Roberson and Pankey are notable for this accomplishment, because neither were full time players, instead splitting time at the position.

The offensive player of the year was Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, while UCLA tackle Brian Price was named the Pat Tillman defensive player of the year.

First year coach Chip Kelly was named the Coach of the Year, after leading the Oregon Ducks to the Pac-10 title, and winning the conference by as much as two games for the first time since 1991.

The complete list is available on the Pac-10 site.

Thursday night NFL Draft watch notes

Mocking Dan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:10:29 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

2 months ago: Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield cocks his arm to throw a pass against Arizona State in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. Oregon State won 28-17. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

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Considering tonight's Oregon/Oregon State game is for a spot in the Rose Bowl, it might be good idea to tune in. And if you, you'll see a good bit of NFL talent on display.

• The best pro prospect on the field tonight could be Oregon senior T.J. Ward. Although he's only played in six games this year because of injuries, he's very effective. He has 53 tackles on the year and is equally adept against the run and pass. He plays a hybrid position for the Ducks, but projects as a strong safety at the next level.

• After Ward, the next best player is Ducks tight end Ed Dickson. The senior is a great athlete with a good vertical leap and solid speed. His production has been a little inconsistent this season, but he has 42 receptions for 551 yards and six touchdowns. He could be a second-round pick.

• Oregon junior middle linebacker Casey Matthews is the latest in the Matthews tree of football players. His brother, Clay Matthews, is having a good rookie year for the Packers. Casey isn't as great of an athlete, but he's productive and heady.

• After struggling early in his career, Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield is having a banner season. In his senior campaign, Canfield is completing 70 percent of his passes for 2,797 yards, 19 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Canfield is a traditional pocket passer and puts a great touch on his passes. He's a left-handed thrower rising up draft boards. When the rankings are re-done here again, look for Canfield to be in the heart of the top 10 seniors.

• Beavers defensive tackle Stephen Paea might be slightly undersized at 6-foot-1 and 288 pounds, but he's very stout against the run. Paea is a fundamentally sound lineman with good agility and technique.

• Senior linebacker Keaton Kristick is a player to keep an eye on tonight. He's 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds and leads the Beavers in tackles with 80. He has seven for a loss to go with two interceptions and a sack. Kristick has some flaws -- he's not especially fluid in space, he struggles to get off blocks -- but he can be coached up at the next level.

Q+A with Oregon State SBN site: Building The Dam

TwistNHook — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:22 -0000

More photos » by Greg Wahl-Stephens - AP

about 1 month ago: Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers (1) is pulled down by UCLA's Kyle Bosworth (54) and Tony Dye (6) during the first half of an NCAA college football in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday Oct. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens)

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This week, Cal takes on the Beavers of Oregon State. There are 2 SBN sites from Oregon, Addicted To Quack and Building The Dam. Many people say AtQ is the better site, but many people are wrong. While AtQ gets all the hype and is so flashy (giving all of their Masolithusiasts Playstation 3s!), BtD is the much more consistent site. Year in and year out they continue to produce stable, quality work. It is not as well known work, but every now and then they really show up Conquest Chronicles and everybody starts paying attention to them again.

We thought for the OSU game, we'd do a Q+A with them. Get their thoughts on this game, Building The Dam-style. After the jump, see what their thoughts are on the game and whether or not Chip Kelly's face should remain un-punched. And here are their answers to our questions! GO BEARS!

1. Quiz or Best, who would you take? Show your work.

Ah the great debate. Best is a more electrifying player, there is no doubt about it. But Quizz is hands down a better runner between the tackles, which is our offense. Throw in that he has a little bit more speed this year and he has broken out a few big runs, and I'll take Quizz. But don't get me wrong, I'm not comfortable playing against Jahvid Best.

2. What is the #1 strength of Canfield we gotta watch out for?

When he gets time he can wing the ball in there. He throws a nice, tight spiral. And lately he's added a very accurate deep ball that's burned quite a few corner backs. But they key to Canfield is he needs time. He can't do anything under pressure.

3. How angry does Oregon's win over USC make you guys?

I think we should all be happy that USC's reign as champion is over. But why couldn't it Stanford? Or you? Or UCLA? Or even UW?? What is most frustrating is not being able to turn on the TV or radio, pick up the newspaper, or leave anywhere outside of Corvallis without hearing about the awesomeness of UO.

4. Who should we watch out for on the Defense?

The thing about our defense this year is that nobody has stood out. There is no Victor Butler this year. Even Paea and Kristick (arguably our two best returners) have had modest years. But watch out for our linebacking core as a whole. They have started to step up the last 4 games and are helping ease pressure off the line and defensive backs.

via media.scout.com

5. Who do you want to punch in the face?

The entire Oregon football program. Chip Kelly told the NCAA and Pac10 that the Blount situation would be taken care of in house. He held a press conference stating that he would be suspended "indefinitely" but that only because they didn't want to kick him off the team and take away his scholarship. I thought that was the classiest move I've seen from a head coach. Then, as soon as the heat died down, they decide they will try and reinstate him. Oregon fans love Chip Kelly's attitude. I think he is the next Urban Meyer.

6. How've the Rodgers brothers been utilized this year that's different from last?

The WildBeav (I prefer WildQuizz) offense has been fun to watch. And Quizz threw a TD against UCLA! Other than that, its pretty much Q-ball all over again (Quizz and Quon ball),

7. Are the Beavers dead meat if one of them goes down?

Not if we play Pitt, of course. There's more depth in the receiving corps than at running back. Freshman WR Markus Wheaton is being groomed to run the fly sweep, but he's not James Rodgers yet. So if the Beavers had to take one guy, they'd take Quizz, but James is one helluva player and it's hard to even say that.

via blog.oregonlive.com

8. ESPN's Ted Miller thinks that Quizz should get invited to the Heisman ceremony. Do you agree or disagree? Do the following facts change your opinion? So far this year, Jahvid Best has a better yard per rush average than Rodgers (6.3 vs. 5.4). Jahvid Best also has a better yard per reception average than Rodgers (10.3 vs. 7.6). Jahvid Best also has a worse offensive line blocking for him. It sounds like Best might be doing more damage with less help. Does that give him a better claim to be a Heisman candidate than Rodgers?

Personally, and I know I'm going to catch shit about this, but LaMichael James from Oregon deserves more than either. In 8 games he has put up 918 yards and 11 TDs on only 131 carries. He's averaging better YPG than Best and better YPC than Quizz. But look at what Quizz does. He gets his yardage every time. Jahvid Best's biggest problem is Tedford doesn't get him the ball enough. And I don't buy the whole "worse offensive line" argument. Let's check out the star ratings of each kids and compare. And don't tell me that you have a new OLine coach either. I refuse to believe that these kids forgot everything Michalczik taught them.

9. Cal's pass defense so far this year has been...suspect. Can Oregon State take advantage? Will they?

Absolutely we can. I believe we have one of the deepest receiving cores in the conference. Again, the key is pressure of Canfield. If we can get the running game going early, it could be a long game for the Golden Bears.

Second Half Gets Serious

AndyPanda — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:08:36 -0000

In the second half, things got serious, though it was the fourth quarter before the shootout started. UCLA's Kai Forbath connected on a field goal on UCLA's first drive after the break, but Oregon St.'s Justin Kahut came up just short, due to a delay of game penalty. The Bruins' special teams kept a lot of green turf in front of the Beavers, and it was early in the fourth quarter of the quickest moving game of the season before Kahut connected again, giving Beaver fans a false sense of security with ten minutes left, and a 16 point lead.

Then came the UCLA highlight tape. Bruin quarteback found Nelson Rosario, who made a spectacular leaping one handed catch over James Dockery, and turned and romped for a 58 yard touchdown.

Prince promptly found Rosario again, and the two point conversion cut the lead in half.

After the Bruin defense forced the Beavers into a 1-2-3 punt, a penalty for having 12 players on the field on the Bruins' punt set up the tieing score. Oregon St. Coach Mike Riley attributed the second of the games' two key special teams penalties (the other came when a fake punt play didn't get underway before the play clock ran out), to having two different punt return personnel groups mistakenly on the field at the same time.

We committed one of the biggest sins in football, having too many men on the field when we had gotten the ball back (after a UCLA punt).

It took a little while, as Stephen Paea got one of four sacks of Prince, which equaled the total the Beavers had accumulated all season.

The penalty disparity, where Oregon St. was flagged 10 times, to only two on the Bruins, was partially due to Beaver mistakes, and its hard to make sinister assumptions, considering the crew chief was from Portland, and has both Rose Bowl and championship games on his resume, but perhaps the tieing score should have been more difficult.

It's easy to criticize Pac-10 officiating, but it appears there may possibly have been holding on the right side, which would have made for a longer touchdown throw to Taylor Embree, who out-jumped Tim Clark.

The Beavers still led by two points, but Prince found Jonah Franklin for the two point conversion, and it was game on!

It appears there may have been a block in the back that went undetected on the game tieing play.

Oregon St. quarterback Sean Canfield got the chance he didn't against USC though, and got the chance for a game winning drive, sparked by James Rodgers' 27 yard kickoff return.

Jacquizz Rodgers picked up 22 yards on a run,

...and Joe Halahuni had a 15 yard catch,

...setting up James Rodgers' sweep,

for the game winning touchdown that put Oregon St. up 26-19.

UCLA did drive again, putting themselves in scoring position, and the center of the secondary was targeted. This may have been an over-adjustment, considering the defensive breakdowns in some prior games, most notably at UNLV, were due to the center of the secondary being deep to guard against the big play, and opposition offenses repeatedly attacked underneath the coverage.

On the last three Bruin drives, there were several situations where the Beaver safeties were either missing, or so far up they were left with poor pursuit angles. Considering that UCLA, ranked 104th. in the nation in rushing, had not mounted a major rushing threat all day, gaining only 51 net yards, and that the only thing that could truly hurt Oregon St. were big plays deep, it was a puzzling defensive deployment.

However, the game ended with Prince unable to get the ball to his open primary receiver, due to pressure from the Beavers pass rush.

Despite a showery morning, the challenges from the Bruins, too many penalties, and the smallest crowd of the last two years (only 41,009 showed for a game they couldn't watch live on TV, much to the surprise and chagrin of Athletic Director Bob DeCarolis, who though he had all the makings for a sellout), it was still a pretty good day to be a Beaver. Que the Fight Song!

Statistical Recap: OSU/UNLV

Jake Bertalotto — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:00:39 -0000

More photos » by Daniel Gluskoter - AP

3 months ago: Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield looks to throw during an NCAA college football game against UNLV on Saturday Sept. 12, 2009, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Daniel Gluskoter)

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Oregon State snuck out of Las Vegas with a win on Saturday night, clinching the victory with a 33-yard Justin Kahut field goal after 14 unanswered UNLV points in the fourth quarter.

First, some miscellaneous game notes via Oregon State:

· Attendance for the game was 25,967.
· The 8 p.m. start is the latest currently on OSU's schedule for 2009.
· Captains for OSU at the start of the game were Lyle Moevao, Keaton Kristick, Stephen Paea and Dwight Roberson. OSU won the coin toss and elected to defer.
· The game was the 20th straight game that the Beavers had a game televised, which is a school record. It dates back to Nov. 3, 2007 at USC.
· The Beavers started the game with three safeties ... Cameron Collins got the first start of his career.
· The Beavers won their 29th game in their last 41 contests, the second-best mark in the Pac-10 behind only USC.
· The Beavers improved to 27-3 in their last 63 games when committing less than turnovers than their opponents.
· Head coach Mike Riley improved to 57-42 at Oregon State.
· Redshirt freshman Jordan Bishop made the first reception of his career on a first quarter grab.
· Sophomore safety Lance Mitchell created the first turnovers of his career ... first an interception and first forced fumble.
· Sophomore defensive end Kevin Frahm turned in the first quarterback sack of his career.
· Sophomore tailback Jacquizz Rodgers got loose twice recording career-long runs on two occasions. First he had a 45-yard run in the first half ... he then beat that on the first drive of the second half going 47 yards.
· Jacquizz Rodgers went over 100 yards rushing for the ninth time in his career and the second week in a row.

Linescore:

Final - 9.12.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Oregon St. Beavers	0	6	14	3	23
UNLV Rebels	0	0	7	14	21

Complete Coverage >

Scoring Summary:

2nd 01:04 OSU - Camp, Brady 1 yd pass from Canfield, Sean (Kahut, Justin kick failed)
13 plays, 70 yards, TOP 5:51, OSU 6 - LV 0
3rd 13:07 OSU - Rodgers, Jacquizz 2 yd run (Kahut, Justin kick)
5 plays, 60 yards, TOP 1:53, OSU 13 - LV 0
10:42 LV - ANTHONY, R. 19 yd pass from CLAYTON, Omar (WATSON, Kyle kick)
5 plays, 36 yards, TOP 2:14, OSU 13 - LV 7
07:17 OSU - Rodgers, James 4 yd pass from Canfield, Sean (Kahut, Justin kick)
7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:21, OSU 20 - LV 7
4th 10:53 LV - ANTHONY, R. 13 yd pass from CLAUSEN, Mike (WATSON, Kyle kick)
7 plays, 66 yards, TOP 2:44, OSU 20 - LV 14
04:16 LV - PAYNE, Phillip 10 yd pass from CLAUSEN, Mike (WATSON, Kyle kick)
6 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:40, OSU 20 - LV 21
00:07 OSU - Kahut, Justin 33 yd field goal
12 plays, 64 yards, TOP 4:09, OSU 23 - LV 21

Rushing:

Jacquizz Rodgers 26-166 1 TD, 6.4 ypc

Jovan Stevenson 2-28

James Rodgers 3-16

Sean Canfield 4- -26

Team: 186 yards

Passing:

Sean Canfield: 25-31, 198 yards, 2 TD

Receiving

Jacquizz Rodgers: 10-65

James Rodgers: 6-48, 1 TD

Jordan Bishop: 5-43

Casey Kjos: 1-15

Brady Camp: 1-1, 1 TD

Team: 198 yards

Drive Chart:

[Complete stats at OSUBeavers.com]

So what we have here is a good day for the Rodgers brothers, and another solid start for Sean Canfield. The coaches did open the playbook more than they did against Portland State in terms of spreading the ball around with passes to Bishop, Kjos, and Camp, but the Beavers were still Rodgers-dimensional. But why not be? A heavy dose of James and Jacquizz was obviously working, especially down the stretch in the second half. But the Beavers did show that they can rely on other players under pressure. Adeniji and Bishop both had key grabs on the final drive, and Jacquizz burrowed his way into Rebel territory on his longest reception of the game to set Kahut's field goal at 33 yards.

I mentioned this earlier today, but I felt that the Beavers were really conservative in their play-calling, especially in the passing game. You'll see that other than Jacquizz, who was mostly making short receptions and picking up tough yards after the catch, the Beavers leading receiver was James Rodgers with 48 yards. He almost had twice as many yards after the first play of the Portland State game. Canfield's longest completion was a 21-yarder to Jordan Bishop.

We can question play-calling all we want, but with 382 offensive yards and a 5.8 yard-per-play average, it's tough to complain about coaching decisions made on Saturday night.

But that's just me. What's your take?

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)

Previewing the Season: Oregon State Beavers

jtlight — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:00:13 -0000

What a great way for Mike Bellotti complete his final regular season game as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks. Photo via photos.oregonlive.com

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What a difference a year makes. This time last year was frustrating to be a Duck fan. Despite the soaring heights of 2007, it was surely grating that we had lost to the Beavers, and boy did we hear about it. There was a constant yapping from Beaver fans about how they'd beaten us two years in a row. But then, well, I think you know what happened.

What made last year's victory so special was that it was the first Civil War since 2000 where both teams had something at stake. With both teams looking to continue their momentum from last season, we could very well see a Civil War of similar magnitude in 2009.

Oregon Offense vs. Oregon State Defense:

Oregon State had a stellar defense last season. However, as good as they were through 11 games, they had no answer for an Oregon offense that simply did whatever it wanted. Oregon set the tone early by throwing the ball. OSU was simply not prepared for an offense that could both run and throw, and after Oregon established early that it could move the ball through the air as well as on the ground, OSU was off balance for the rest of the game.

While I think Mike Riley is a very good coach, if Oregon is marginally healthy coming into the game, I don't see how OSU will be able to stop the Ducks. They do not have the quality of safeties, cornerbacks, or defensive ends that they did a year ago. Though they return studs DT Stephen Paea and LB Keaton Kristick, the beauty of a spread offense is that it will isolate the defensive weaknesses. Oregon State has done an exceptional job at team defense, especially against traditional offenses. But they have not fared well against a fast, talented offense that can isolate OSU's weaknesses. As much as OSU fans talk about how great Mike Riley is at recruiting talent, and developing players, there can be no ignoring the fact that for all the very good players they develop, OSU is still made up of 3* players, who can be beaten when isolated. And there are few offenses throughout the country that can exploit those weaknesses as Oregon can.

And while OSU has some very good players on defense, none of their units as a whole will be dominant. As good as Paea is, he is no Haloti Ngata, who can carry an entire defense for stretches at a time. As a whole defense, they will be good, but they will not have one thing that they do extremely well, which will catch up with them when they face very good offenses.

Oregon should be able to move the ball in this game, and though expecting another almost 700 yard onslaught is unrealistic, 500 yards and 40 points is not.

Oregon Defense vs. Oregon State Offense

On the opposite side of the ball, it's all about the Rodgers brothers. They are two of the best players in the league. James Rodgers is one of the fastest players in the conference, while Jacquizz Rodgers just gets his yards. For any defense, stopping these two players will be the key to beating OSU. If you can hinder these two, OSU will have to rely on their QBs and an inexperienced downfield receiving corp.

I have taken from heat from Beaver fans for saying that I think that Jacquizz will regress this season. But this has nothing to do with his skills, but the fact that, unlike last year, the offense will rest entirely on his shoulders. Last year OSU had two great receivers in Sammy Stroughter and Shane Morales. They could stretch a defense and their threat led to not only very good passing stats for the Beavers, but to the running game success.

This year, every defense will be gameplanning for Jacquizz. They will force OSU to beat them through the air. And that means the Beavers must rely on either Lyle Moevao or Sean Canfield. And when the ball has been in Moevao's hands, things have not ended well. Though Canfield did well in last year's Arizona game, he has not looked well in spring practice. On top of this, I seriously doubt that either of these players will make any significant progression this season, considering Mike Riley's record for developing QBs, which has been very poor for one of the best coaches in the conference.

For teams like Oregon, whose strength should be their run defense, this bodes very well. Jacquizz will get his yards, but will have to work very hard to get there, and if the OSU passing game is not as explosive as it was last year, it will be very hard to keep up with an offense like Oregon's.

Conclusion:

All the credit in the world to OSU, who has been one of the most consistent teams in the Pac-10. This year, that should continue, as they are clearly the #4 team in the conference in my mind. However, this year, I feel that the talent gap between OSU and USC, Cal, and Oregon is quite large. I see them having a lot of problems competing with these teams, on both sides of the ball.

Oregon has the advantages in this game, and can force OSU into the type of game it wants to play. In the end, OSU can't keep up, and Oregon ends up winning by 2 TDs.

Stephen Paea on Nagurski watch list

AndyPanda — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:43:38 -0000

Oregon State team co-captain junior defensive tackle Stephen Paea has been named to 2009 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list. Th Nagurski awarded is presented to the premier defensive player in the nation by the Football Writers Association and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

Paea started 12 of 13 games last season, and was an honorable mention all-Pac-10 selection last season. He recorded 41 tackles, including 11 for a loss, and five quarterback sacks.

What the Hekker? Initial thoughts on OSU's 3-0 Sun Bowl victory

Jake Bertalotto — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 04:08:27 -0000

In what resembled a MLB game, or a bad hockey game, or a soccer game, or a 2nd grade youth basketball game, the Beavers beat Pittsburgh 3-0 in the 75th Brut Sun Bowl.

The last time Oregon State won 3-0 was against USC in 1967.

The Trojans came to town with O.J. Simpson, with everyone assuming that the Beavers would just be another featherweight in the path of USC claiming the national championship and going undefeated.

In that game, it all boiled down to a second-quarter field goal by Oregon State kicker Mike Haggard. Of his three attempts, a 30-yarder with 5:18 left before halftime was the only one he made.

In the 2008 Sun Bowl, Justin Kahut (now pronounced kay-HUT, by the way) made a field goal with 2:18 left in the first half.

The similarities between the two games are quite interesting.

"The whole game I didn't think that field goal would hold up," then-OSU coach Dee Andros said of the 1967 game in an interview with The Oregonian years later. "The conditions didn't bother O.J. a bit, and it was just a well-played defensive game by both teams."

Oregon State won the Sun Bowl due in a large part to their defense, which held LeSean McCoy to 78 yards on 24 carries in the game.

My schedule didn't allow for me to watch the game live, so I had to resort to watching the game off of my DVR several hours later. I will now spew out my thoughts stream-of-consciousness style, so I apologize in advance for poor grammar and anything that is unclear.

Offense: Coming into the game, we knew we would have to rely heavily on the passing game. Without Jacquizz being effective, the Beavers offense isn't the same. I had an inking that it could turn into a game where we throw the ball 50+ times, but after I watched Lyle throw his first pass of the game not even close to intended receiver Ryan McCants, I knew we were in for a long game.

I didn't think Lyle played particular well, but I know the wind was a large factor. There were a number of passes in which our receivers were wide open and had to make diving catches, negating yards after the catch, but Lyle has been doing that in almost every game this season.

We really needed our running backs to step up, and I thought they did fairly well. Nothing spectacular, but I don't think we expected a tremendous performance from either McCants or Francis. Like Lyle's incompletion that I was talking about above, another bad omen that came at the beginning of the game was McCants' fumble on his first carry. All in all, 99 yards between McCants and Francis isn't bad. This game was clearly a defensive battle, and Pitt's defense played well. That being said, Oregon State misfired a bunch-- twice, the Beavers took the ball inside Pitt's ten yard line and came away with no points.

Defense: The defense clearly won this game for us. Coming into the game, I thought that it would be very difficult to hold Pittsburgh to zero points. I seemed to think that Pitt would score several touchdowns even if we played great defense, and our offense would have to score to win the game. However, it worked the opposite way, and Oregon State won by keeping Pittsburgh out of the end zone.

Our defensive line was outstanding. Victor Butler, Slade Norris, and Stephen Paea all did a great job of leading the defense in dominating Pitt's offensive line all game. And when Pittsburgh did try to throw the ball, OSU's secondary stepped up. Pitt QB Bill Stull only completed (correction... 7) of 24 passes for 52 yards, and when he got hurt, backup QB Pat Bostick completed two passes for 37 yards. Both of Bostick's completions came on the final Pitt drive when the Panthers needed to get into field goal position to attempt a field goal to tie.

Thinking back on the game, I can only remember one time that Al Afalava was involved on a tackle. The box score indicates that he had one solo tackle and one assisted tackle, but I can only remember him tackling LeSean McCoy late in the game. Really, it seemed like our front seven just stuffed Pitt's rushing attack to the point that the secondary didn't have to make many tackles.

Special Teams: The game wouldn't have gone the same way it did without the performance of the defense, but our special teams were outstanding as well. For Hekker to punt the ball ten times and average 45 yards is phenomenal, especially considering where he was at the beginning of the season. And he was drilling kicks into the wind. Punting wasn't a liability today, it was an asset.

We can't end this conversation without talking about Kahut, who made the eventual game-winning kick in the second quarter. And also, kudos goes to Taylor Kavanaugh, who got the snap down after bobbling the football. Even if Kahut did kick the laces, it showed how disciplined the Perry-Kavanaugh-Kahut combination is.

Anything else I forgot? Chime in below.

GO BEAVERS!

(Sorry buthol, "What the Hekker" was too good to pass on.)

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)

Let's Skewer the Bears One Last Time

CV3000 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:00:07 -0000

Good Afternoon, my name is Sam. I'll be your All-American punt returner today. May I interest you in our 57 yard special?

Finally, I have a chance to sit down and compose some thoughts on the utter destruction of Cal. Overall, it was a great day with many high points and only a few low points. Cal was a good team, but ultimately could not rise to the challenge of going toe-to-toe with OSU's playmakers. They had Jahvid Best trying to keep up with the exploits of James, Sammie, Quizz, and whomever was to inevitably intercept Kevin Riley. It wasn't really a fair matchup.

First of all, a hearty hip-hip-hooray to our two Pac-10 Players of the Week: Ocho Loco and Stephen "Tonga Power" Paea. The Ocho had a scorching, rocket-powered kick return score as well as a sprint, then skip to a stop, then scamper again rushing touchdown on the flysweep. 2 scores, 50 receiving yards, 20 or so out of the backfield--versatility, baby! He almost scored on a pass reception as well, but that would have been overkill and James Rodgers is a man of mercy.

Ocho Loco shows mercy by coasting at the goalline. via Thomas Boyd of The Oregonian

However, Tonga Power was not so kind. Stephen was snapping heads and putting on a bull rushing clinic all afternoon. He decided that it wasn't good enough to simply dominate Cal's All-American center, Alex Mack. No, Stephen thought it would be better if he could defeat Alex Mack aided by a double-teaming guard as well. And when Stephen decides that he's going to collapse your pass protection, well that's what's going to happen. Pads were popping, offensive linemen were getting blown off the ball, bodies were flying, and Mr. Paea was making soup up in their kitchen all day long. 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and this fabulous sack...no, not that one.

Tonga Power teacups another defenseless quarterback! via Thomas Boyd of The Oregonian

It was kind of a weird game, a bit of a slugfest punctuated by huge returns by Jahvid Best of Cal, and James Rodgers, Sammie Stroughter, and Keenan Lewis of the Team That Knows What The Hell It's Doing Wearing Black.

Against the Beavers overwhelming defensive pressure the Golden Bears were essentially incapable of sustaining any kind of offensive output. There was a garbage trick wide receiver pass play that reminded us of all the crap Tedford used to pull back when he was in Eugene and forced to compensate for the ducks' lack of talent, and also a nifty outside run by Best when the team lost contain, and that was basically the whole day for Cal. No, literally--apart from those 2 plays, the Bears gained 132 yards from scrimmage. The Bears were unable to establish any kind of consistent interior running game, and their draw plays weren't enough to overcome the damage of failing to block the stifling pass rush. Under that kind of pressure, the offense simply caved. Cal was able to run only 57 offensive plays all game and they gained only 1 yard in the 4th quarter.

The teams traded punches in the first half, then Quizz was Quizz and the Beavs were advancing the ball at-will in the second while turning the screws on defense. As Ted Miller put it, "the Beavers made a 6 point lead feel like 60." And that is the beauty of being a Beavers fan. 80 yards is a long way to go against this defense.

Wait, I said grill the Bears, not Bear Grylls! -Discovery Channel

With all respect to the Cal Football Team and its cheerful, good-humored fans, Zack Follett is the biggest crybaby in the universe not named Mike Bellotti. He was whining after the game to anyone who would listen, saying that he was being held by Tavita Thompson. This doesn't even make any sense because Tavita is 6'6" and about 75 pounds heavier while having just as quick of a first step as Follett or anyone not named Orange Jesus--Tavita doesn't need to hold anyone. Zack, sorry bro, they're called rules. You're just deflecting blame away from your poor performance and multiple personal fouls. As a dime-a-dozen linebacker, you aren't going to get away with hitting an All-American out of bounds. Deal with it, little buddy. Zack Follett prepares to deliver his first personal foul. Do you see #25 on the ground there? Quizz was actually the one who blocked him to his location out of bounds--from somewhere outside of the picture!!!! via Thomas Boyd of The Oregonian

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Sammie Stroughter DEE-HEE-STROY Follett on the very next play after Zack had hit Sammie out of bounds. It was a bloodthirsty crackback applied on James Rodgers' flysweep touchdown. Follett's head whipped back and his feet were hanging in the air as his limp, lifeless body floated momentarily before crashing to the ground. I guarantee that it only felt like running through one of those big pieces of paper at a high school football game for Sammie. I further guarantee that Follett is still feeling it 3 days later. It's been fun watching Sammie get the best of every team's top defensive player this season, especially when it's a poor sport like Zack Follett.

How incredibly ROCKING was Reser on the back to back interception returns at the end of the game? Even though the first one was called back on a false start, karma proved that it was the correct result. Keenan Lewis was all business on his pick. It was textbook. He caught it, lined up a couple blockers, then shed a comical attempt at an arm tackle by Jahvid Best. He didn't even need to look away from the endzone while he was brushing him off.

Brandon Hardin had a great hit on Cal's punt returner, but he also appeared to be out of his lane on Cal's long opening kickoff return. It will be fun to see if he's a starting corner next year, if they don't switch him to defensive end first. He's huge.

Kevin Riley deserves credit for only throwing one interception. Under that much duress, it could have easily been 4-5 picks.

Lyle had a poor showing in the stat column, in some ways it was the worst start of his career, but he played effectively and converted a lot of 3rd downs. Going one turnover or less is really all we need out of our quarterback position to win just about every game. Everything else that Lyle usually does is just a bonus. He was playing sick, with a coughdrop in his mouth so that he could be heard on the field--and he's still hoarse in interviews three days later.

After a noodle-armed early interception, he resisted making very many risky throws. I think Lyle really reined it in and waited to find the relatively few holes presented on some of the crossing patterns we had to run when Cal mostly dropped 8 players into a very tightly spaced, shallow zone coverage. From where I was sitting, you had to admire the uniform spacing Cal had down the field. They were very disciplined, with good alignments and equal spacing all over--it really reminded me of all the synchronized karate guys at the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing this summer. If you didn't see that on TV, you can probably find it on youtube. That was definitely the best pass defense we've seen this season.

My one sour note for the game: "black outs" are stupid. Half-(lawyers) blackouts are really, really, really, ridiculously stupid. Did anyone see the Georgia game earlier in the year? It looked like 85,000 empty seats. It looks even worse in Reser, especially when you can't get your act together. NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN. You're making a mockery of ORANGE. We've worked a long, long time to get people to wear orange at games and we still have a LOOONG way to go until we have 100% compliance. Recruits LOVE an Orange crowd. They LOVE it. People watching Beavers games across the country respect it. They're AMAZED by Orange. When fans see it on television they literally wonder aloud, "is it really that Orange in Reser Stadium?" The best that Reser Stadium has ever looked was during the USC game this year. Why? Because of Orange. Wear Orange. Be Orange. Let us never speak of this blackout again. OVERWHELMING ORANGE FOREVER.

Now, I will leave you with the eternal brilliance of James Rodgers: