Kadeezy
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Interesting Article from Corvallis Gazette...
After missing the postseason last year, the Oregon State football team won't take any games for granted this season.
The Beavers open the 2011 season at 1 p.m. Saturday in Reser Stadium against Football Championship Subdivision foe Sacramento State.
OSU should win - and win big, with many considering this a warm-up game. The opening line in one sports book has the Beavers favored by 27½ points.
However, every winnable game must be conquered.
The Beavers let too many of those type of games slip away last year. As a result, they missed out on a bowl game for the first time since 2005.
"The harder teams are teams like Sac State," senior safety Lance Mitchell said. "You think you can take a game off, but you can't. I watched film on them and they have good athletes. If you get into that whole thing that they are a I-AA team, it will come back to hurt you. They have nothing to loose."
The Hornets are coming off a 6-5 season, but have veterans on offense and defense and are ranked 24th in the FCS preseason poll.
Sacramento State faces one of the toughest FCS schedules in the nation this year with five of its first six games on the road.
The Hornets are trying to get ready for the Big Sky Conference. Coaches and media who cover the conference picked them to finish fourth after they won a share of the title last season.
"I feel we have to show up no matter what," Mitchell said. "Whoever shows up on Saturday, we have to be ready to play them."
The Beavers are in the process of preparing for the Hornets this week, but in a way they spent the three weeks of training camp getting ready for the season opener.
The Beavers want to run their base plays so they can see them against someone other than themselves.
Coach Mike Riley hopes to find out what his players can do against another team to know where they must improve.
"All these plays we've been running in camp are what we are running," quarterback Ryan Katz said. "We won't change anything for Sac State. We've been preparing for Sac State since we opened camp."
The Hornets represent the perfect first opponent since they'll be able to test the Beavers in the right way.
OSU will feature several young players. While the Hornets don't have the size to push them around, they are fast.
The Beavers must make quick decisions, particularly Katz.
"I know they are very, very aggressive defensively, especially when they are having success," Riley said. "They come hard and their deal is to take it to you. They are not a sit-and-read defense."
And the Hornets use a tricky defense with four linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs.
Finding the weakness in the passing lanes could be difficult. However, OSU should be able to be more physical and run the ball.
That would help break in new running backs as many of them are true freshmen, such as Malcolm Agnew.
All the players and coaches will say throughout the week that the focus is on Sacramento State alone, and they won't be looking ahead to the next opponent.
No. 11 Wisconsin - that's a big-school ranking - on the road looms the following weekend, and the competition increases dramatically.
That is where winning the winnable games comes in. The margin of error is slim this season.
"It's dangerous if we look ahead," Mitchell said. "I've watched film on Wisconsin and know how good they are. Even though that is close, right now our total focus is on Sac State."
Read more: http://www.gazettetimes.com/sports/article_4e7496c6-d276-11e0-a33f-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1WXL5hUCV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After missing the postseason last year, the Oregon State football team won't take any games for granted this season.
The Beavers open the 2011 season at 1 p.m. Saturday in Reser Stadium against Football Championship Subdivision foe Sacramento State.
OSU should win - and win big, with many considering this a warm-up game. The opening line in one sports book has the Beavers favored by 27½ points.
However, every winnable game must be conquered.
The Beavers let too many of those type of games slip away last year. As a result, they missed out on a bowl game for the first time since 2005.
"The harder teams are teams like Sac State," senior safety Lance Mitchell said. "You think you can take a game off, but you can't. I watched film on them and they have good athletes. If you get into that whole thing that they are a I-AA team, it will come back to hurt you. They have nothing to loose."
The Hornets are coming off a 6-5 season, but have veterans on offense and defense and are ranked 24th in the FCS preseason poll.
Sacramento State faces one of the toughest FCS schedules in the nation this year with five of its first six games on the road.
The Hornets are trying to get ready for the Big Sky Conference. Coaches and media who cover the conference picked them to finish fourth after they won a share of the title last season.
"I feel we have to show up no matter what," Mitchell said. "Whoever shows up on Saturday, we have to be ready to play them."
The Beavers are in the process of preparing for the Hornets this week, but in a way they spent the three weeks of training camp getting ready for the season opener.
The Beavers want to run their base plays so they can see them against someone other than themselves.
Coach Mike Riley hopes to find out what his players can do against another team to know where they must improve.
"All these plays we've been running in camp are what we are running," quarterback Ryan Katz said. "We won't change anything for Sac State. We've been preparing for Sac State since we opened camp."
The Hornets represent the perfect first opponent since they'll be able to test the Beavers in the right way.
OSU will feature several young players. While the Hornets don't have the size to push them around, they are fast.
The Beavers must make quick decisions, particularly Katz.
"I know they are very, very aggressive defensively, especially when they are having success," Riley said. "They come hard and their deal is to take it to you. They are not a sit-and-read defense."
And the Hornets use a tricky defense with four linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs.
Finding the weakness in the passing lanes could be difficult. However, OSU should be able to be more physical and run the ball.
That would help break in new running backs as many of them are true freshmen, such as Malcolm Agnew.
All the players and coaches will say throughout the week that the focus is on Sacramento State alone, and they won't be looking ahead to the next opponent.
No. 11 Wisconsin - that's a big-school ranking - on the road looms the following weekend, and the competition increases dramatically.
That is where winning the winnable games comes in. The margin of error is slim this season.
"It's dangerous if we look ahead," Mitchell said. "I've watched film on Wisconsin and know how good they are. Even though that is close, right now our total focus is on Sac State."
Read more: http://www.gazettetimes.com/sports/article_4e7496c6-d276-11e0-a33f-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1WXL5hUCV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
