Oregon St. Beavers

Oregon St. football enters the first year of the expanded Pac-12, and the new Pac-12 North Division, looking to reverse a gradual but continual downward slide since the Beavers posted a 10 win season in 2006. After missing a bowl game in 2010 for the first time since 2005, Oregon St. plans to ride the strong right arm of Ryan Katz back to the post season in 2011.

Katz has one of the best groups of receivers ever to play for the Beavers, led by James Rodgers, who is back for his senior season, after suffering a major knee injury, but also has speedy Marcus Wheaton, Jordan Bishop, and tight end Joe “The Tank” Halahuni to choose from each time he drops back.

It’s a good thing, as it could be running back by committee this year for Oregon St., after the departure of Jacquizz Rodgers to the NFL. ‘Quizz was the one of the best in the conference for three years, and one of the keys for the Beavers in 2011 will be which of a group of 7 backs emerges as the next great back in a program that has unleashed Ken Simonton, Steven Jackson, Yvenson Bernard, and finally ‘Quizz, in recent times.

Defensively, the Beavers also have to replace two time Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year Stephen Paea, who has stepped up to the NFL’s Chicago Bears. Head Coach Mike Riley plans to do so with a dose of speed on the defensive front, backed up by a veteran secondary.

Veterans Lance Mitchell, Brandon Hardin, and Jordan Poyer, plus former safety Cameron Collins, who has stepped forward to a linebacker role, give Oregon St. a coverage group that is both experienced and one of the more physical groups in the conference.

Up front, Kevin Frahm will anchor a group that will rely on numbers rather than a few individuals to meet the challenges of a conference that will send some of the best quarterbacks and running backs in the nation against them.

The Beaves 2011 schedule will again be challenging, as Oregon St. faces three teams in Wisconsin, Stanford, and Oregon that were in BCS bowls last year, and are widely picked to contend to return to BCS bowls again this season. It’s the fourth year in a row where the Beavers face at least 3 teams that are either coming off BCS bowl appearances, or on their way to one, sometimes both, as Riley doesn’t believe in ducking tough competition.

Beaver Nation, led by the Beaver Dam student section, and the Oregon St. Marching Band, the “Spirit and Sound of OSU”, as well as the longest standing band in the conference, will be loud and Orange in their support though, keeping Reser Stadium, where the Beavers have posted a winning home record for 12 consecutive years, a very difficult place for visiting teams to venture into.