Monday, November 15, 2004
A Trip to "The Farm"
OK, stop me if you've heard this one. Beavers off to a good start, offense starts to sputter, play calling predictable, DA hitting defenders in the chest repeatedly and the Beaver defense beginning to yield as they spend all day on the field. Even after losing the turnover battle 4-1 the Beavs were able to hang on, mostly thanks to the Stanford shanker, I mean kicker who was 2-8 kicking. OK really 2-5, but 3 other times the tree was 4th and goal outside the 10 and went for it because shanks was the only other option. Of course all 3 times the Beaver D held them to 0. Final: Beavs 24 Tree 19.
Riley did pull one misdirection play out this week and guess what? It worked. A fake hand off to Love as he went in motion and a screen back the other way to Wright. 43 yards and a TD. Then nothing for the rest of the game. I'm hopeful that closed practices for CW week will mean we might actually see a little more creativity from the OSU offense this week. Mike, please tell me you have just been saving all this up to unleash on the Ducks at the most opportune moment.
Now for the civil war. Winner goes bowling, loser stays home. Can it get any better? I might not sleep for a week. Beavs are an early 4 point favorite at home with the Ducks coming off another home loss, their 3rd of the season, this time to UCLA. Both teams are 4-3 in the Pac-10 with all combined 8 wins coming against the same 4 teams (UA, Stanford, UW, WSU). The Beavs beat 3 of the teams on the road, shockingly rare for the beavs who are a combined 2-10 on the road in the Pac-10 the prior 3 seasons. The Beavs played well in a loss to SC while the quacks were a mere extra point and/or 4th down catch from beating Cal in Berkeley. Whoever comes out on the short end on Sunday will definitely be spending a great deal of time thinking about the "what-ifs" of the 2004 season. My main concern for this game is the Beavs ability or inability to contain Clemens. I remember watching him run amuck last year in Eugene and if he is able to do that again the Beavs are in trouble. If we are able to contain him and minimize turnovers we will be victorious. I think the home crowd and the Orange uni's put the beavs over the top. OSU 27 UO 20.
Some links that might be helpful in conversation with Ducks this week.
Road Trip Recap - My favorite quotes from the Roadtrip to and from Palo Alto. 7 folks, 1 car, 8 stops, 1200 miles, and an all important Beaver Win.
Riley did pull one misdirection play out this week and guess what? It worked. A fake hand off to Love as he went in motion and a screen back the other way to Wright. 43 yards and a TD. Then nothing for the rest of the game. I'm hopeful that closed practices for CW week will mean we might actually see a little more creativity from the OSU offense this week. Mike, please tell me you have just been saving all this up to unleash on the Ducks at the most opportune moment.
Now for the civil war. Winner goes bowling, loser stays home. Can it get any better? I might not sleep for a week. Beavs are an early 4 point favorite at home with the Ducks coming off another home loss, their 3rd of the season, this time to UCLA. Both teams are 4-3 in the Pac-10 with all combined 8 wins coming against the same 4 teams (UA, Stanford, UW, WSU). The Beavs beat 3 of the teams on the road, shockingly rare for the beavs who are a combined 2-10 on the road in the Pac-10 the prior 3 seasons. The Beavs played well in a loss to SC while the quacks were a mere extra point and/or 4th down catch from beating Cal in Berkeley. Whoever comes out on the short end on Sunday will definitely be spending a great deal of time thinking about the "what-ifs" of the 2004 season. My main concern for this game is the Beavs ability or inability to contain Clemens. I remember watching him run amuck last year in Eugene and if he is able to do that again the Beavs are in trouble. If we are able to contain him and minimize turnovers we will be victorious. I think the home crowd and the Orange uni's put the beavs over the top. OSU 27 UO 20.
Some links that might be helpful in conversation with Ducks this week.
Road Trip Recap - My favorite quotes from the Roadtrip to and from Palo Alto. 7 folks, 1 car, 8 stops, 1200 miles, and an all important Beaver Win.
- "I can't hear squat" - Justin as the CD player loses battery power
- "How can you serve breakfast then?" - Beverly after being denied hashbrowns for dinner by the waiter at Denny's
- "We have a few more problems with your order" - Waiter at Denny's informing us he is also out of dippers and root beer (roast beef)
- "Whoooshh" - the sound of shards of broken plate as they move past Geo's head at Olive Garden
- "What channel is the Sprague game on?" - Justin wanting to dial up the Sprague playoff game on AM radio
- "I'm never eating again" - Laurie after every meal
- "Nice hair" - Some random beaver fan to Jordan sporting his new Orange do
- "Beat the Ducks" - OSU crowd shortly after the gun in Stanford stadium
- "THAT is a lot of orange!" - Girl behind the counter and Carl's Jr. as 7 weary travelers clad in gameday attire wander in for dinner
- "I love this bar" - Some country guy on Bryon's CD. I can't get this song out of my head.
- "SNZZZZ!!!!" - Who else? All night, every night. Thanks god for ear plugs.
