Monday, August 3, 2009

Pac 10 - Oregon State

Oregon State
Skinny - Oregon State repeated history again last season. And I'm pretty positive Beaver fans have had enough of it. Oregon State again started the season very slow, getting beat by an average Stanford team than got blown to pieces in Happy Valley (giving a slight benefit of the doubt that they traveled across the country). After the 0-2 start they recovered by blowing out lowly Hawaii and than pulled the shocker of the college football season, as freshman back Jacquizz Rodgers had a breakout performance as Oregon State defeated the mighty Trojans of USC and destroying their national title hopes. They lost to a Utah team that ended up undefeated by 3 points and didn't lose again until the played in the War against Oregon in the finale, where they got beat bad. Oregon was pretty good itself at that point though and went on to beat a very good Oklahoma State team in the bowl. Oregon State won their bowl game disgracefully; however, bear in mind they were missing Rodgers that game. Oregon State has to rebuild the defense this season but the Rodgers brothers return and should only continue to blossom into stardom, while Lyle Moevao should continue to progress and if he shouldn't Sean Canfield is a capable backup.

Strength - The Rodgers
Jacquizz is the one that garners the national attention and rightfully so as he rushed for 1253 yards as a freshman back and was the most important player in the USC upset, but his brother James is a very good player at the receiver position. He'll rack up similar stats to a better known player, Dexter McCluster from Mississippi, except Rodgers will have more receptions and yardage through the air due to the graduation of Sammie Stroughter and Shane Morales. Rodgers is now the feature receiver and with an experienced quarterback he should have a very good year. Jacquizz should be a Heisman trophy candidate as a sophomore. His small stature doesn't hurt him, as he hits the hole well and hides himself real well.

Weakness - The secondary
The secondary ranked 22nd in the country last season in terms of yardage, which are very solid numbers. The problem is none of the starters from that unit return. The projected starters have had experience as backups, but gaining that cohesiveness as a unit quickly will be very important. They play Cincinnati, in a game they really need to win, in the third week of the season and their quarterback Pike is one of the better throwers in the Big East. Its not an incredibly strong year for quarterbacks in the Pac 10, so Oregon State may be in luck and the quarterbacks that are good are good because they're dual threats, not solely because their ability to pick apart a defense.

Key Game - September 26 vs. Arizona
Arizona graduated Willie Tuitama and Mike Thomas, two key offensive weapons for year for the Wildcats, but Nic Grisby returns to anchor a strong run game for Arizona. Arizona won't be a duanting opponent, but Oregon State seems to struggle in the early going. Luckily, their first Pac-10 game isn't until the fourth week, so Mike Riley should have the troops fired up to their ability by than. The three big ones in the Pac-10 are all away games for Oregon State (USC, Cal, and Oregon). If Oregon State takes care of business in the games they should and spring an upset or two on the big players in the conference, they have a darkhorse ability to at least win a share of the Pac-10 title.

Key Player - Lyle Moevao
Moevao is a very black and white player. He has his incredible spurts and his letdowns. His potential is high, but will off-season surgery delay his progress? His stats last season were respectable with over 2500 yards and 19 TD passes, but he needs to limit the picks after throwing 13 last season. He has a proven back-up in Sean Canfield and could easily be surpassed on the depth chart by an injury setback or bad play. The team did well last season in close games with Moevao at the helm and he needs to continue to show composure down the stretch as the former junior college transfer enters his senior season. He loses two good targets, Straughter and Morales, but getting Rodgers back is huge and he could catch upwards of 70 passes for Moevao this season.

Impact Freshman - Ruebon Robinson

Predicted Pac-10 finish - 4th

Top 5 players
1. RB Jacquizz Rodgers
2. WR James Rodgers
3. LB Keaton Kristick
4. DT Stephen Paea
5. QB Lyle Moevao

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