Oregon State, Portland State Pre-Game Notes
The 2014 season marks 50 years since the Beavers’ last trip to the Rose Bowl.
(CORVALLIS, Ore. ) — Oregon State opens the 2014 season hosting Portland State Saturday at 1:07 p.m.
The game is being televised by live on the Pac-12 Networks’ Oregon and Washington regional networks.
THE SERIES:
• Fourth meeting between the two programs.
• OSU is 3-0 with its average margin of victory 30.3 points (126-35)
• Third time PSU and OSU have opened the season (2005 – 41-14 & 2009 – 34-7).
• The first play from scrimmage in the ‘09 game was a 87-yard TD pass from Sean Canfield to James Rodgers – the 6th-longest pass play in the history of the program – none longer since – and longest in both of the Mike Riley eras.
• Former Beaver great and current Atlanta Falcon Jacquizz Rodgers scored three touchdowns (his first 3 TD game) in the ‘09 contest.
• Current OSU coaching staff members Keaton Kristick (LB) and Andrew Seumalo (DT) played in the ’09 game.
• Current Beaver linebackers coach Trent Bray had a game-high 12 tackles in the ‘05 contest.
• The 2005 game marked the opening of the new east side of Reser Stadium – a then school record crowd of 42,263 attended.
• PSU head coach Nigel Burton was on Mike Riley’s staff from 2003-07 as the secondary coach.
MUSIC TO THE EARS:
Ten years ago this week, the Beavers opened the newly renovated Reser Stadium in a 42-14 win over Portland State. Following the game country music band Montgomery Gentry played inside Reser to finish the grand re-opening of the stadium. This week, former OSU football player and rising country rocker Kurt Van Meter will play a concert outside of Reser on Parker Plaza. In a twist of fate, the two country bands both played at the Willamette Country Music Festival in nearby Brownsville, Ore. less than two weeks ago (Aug. 15).
SCHOOL RECORD COACH:
Mike Riley continues to build on his school record for victories, now with 88. He has 56 league wins, which is tied for 11th with Rich Brooks (Oregon/1977-94). Riley’s overall league record is 56-56 (14 of those losses in his first era of 1997-98) – his second tenure (2003-present) league mark is 54-42. Riley is the longest tenured coach in the Pac-12, entering his 14th year at OSU; the rest of the league entering the ‘14 season includes Kyle Whittingham, Utah (10 yrs), Steve Sarkisian, UW/USC (6), David Shaw, Stanford (4), Todd Graham, ASU (3), Mike Leach, WSU (3), Rich Rodriguez, Arizona (3), Sonny Dykes, Cal (2), Mark Helfrich, Oregon (2), Mike MacIntyre, Colorado (2) and Chris Peterson, UW (1).
THE NEW COORDINATOR:
For the first time since the 2005 season, OSU has a new coordinator in the coaching staff. Longtime offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf (2005-13) left the program in January to return to the NFL with the New York Giants as quarterbacks coach. Langsdorf replacement is John Garrett, who has had a lengthy NFL coaching career with the Cowboys (his brother Jason is the head coach), Bengals, Cardinals and Buccaneers, as well as in college at Virginia. Garrett also coaches the quarterbacks and tight ends with the contributions of graduate assistant coaches Tavita Thompson.
60 YEARS:
No other team in the Pac-12 can boast as much NFL coaching experience as the Beavers. OSU’s full-time coaches have 60 years of NFL experience, including Mike Riley as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. Here is a closer look – Mike Riley (4 years), Mark Banker (3), Bruce Read (7), Mike Cavanaugh (2), John Garrett (19), Rod Perry (23) and Chris Brasfield (2).BEAVS AT 104: USC owns the most victories in the Pac-12 Conference this century with 138 (114 with vacated wins), followed by Oregon (133), OSU (104), Arizona State (95), UCLA (95), Stanford (93), Cal (87), Washington (79), Arizona (77), WSU (72). Utah has 115 victories this century and Colorado has 71. The Beavers hit the 100-win plateau this century in the Sept. 21, 2013 win at San Diego State. The previous 100-win stretch started during the 1966 season, ending with 1999 – nearly 34 seasons (365 games). This century’s 100 victories were achieved in just over 13 seasons (168 games).
EARLY DEPARTURES:
Juniors Brandin Cooks and Scott Crichton elected to forgo their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft, becoming the fourth and fifth Beavers to do so joining Steven Jackson, Brandon Browner and Jacquizz Rodgers. Cooks, a consensus All-American and Biletnikoff Award winner, set new Pac-12 single season marks for receptions with 128 and yards with 1,730 (NCAA leader in 2013). He accounted for 226 receptions for 3,272 yards and 26 total touchdowns (24 rec, 2 rush) during his illustrious career. Overall, he compiled 3,863 all-purpose yards. Crichton made 165 career tackles for the Beavers, including 51 tackles-for-loss and 22.5 quarterback sacks. He ranks third all-time at OSU for tackles-for-loss and fourth for quarterback sacks.
CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICANS:
Oregon State has never had a consensus All-American in three consecutive seasons; that opportunity presents itself in 2014. Cornerback Jordan Poyer earned the acclaim in 2012 and receiver Brandin Cooks in 2013. The most likely candidate for 2014 is quarterback Sean Mannion, who is on the verge of smashing the Pac-12 record for career passing yards.
LUCKY 9:
OSU could start nine seniors on defense Saturday; that would be the most since modern day tracking/records for starters began in 1976.
426:
That’s the number of combined tackles for the Beavers’ three starting linebackers – Michael Doctor (185), D.J. Alexander (139) and Jabral Johnson (102). OSU’s senior trio is one of the most experienced, if not the most experienced, linebacker corps in the Pac-12. This the first opener OSU has started three senior linebackers since 2007 vs. Utah – Joey LaRocque, Derrick Doggett and Alan Darlin.
ROSE BOWL REUNION:
The 2014 season marks 50 years since the Beavers’ last trip to the Rose Bowl. The ‘64 team (’65 Rose Bowl) lost to Michigan 34-7 in that Rose Bowl. That team will be honored during the weekend of the Nov. 1 home game vs. California.
COULD HAVE; ELECTED AGAINST:
The Beavers could have played 13 regular season games as allowed by the NCAA when a team travels to Honolulu to play Hawai’i. Head coach Mike Riley elected to have a second bye for the season.
OTHER SCHEDULE NOTES:
There are several oddities to this year’s schedule for the Beavers. Here is a closer look:
• OSU and Cal are the only teams to have a streak of three consecutive home league games.
• The Beavers, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Washington are the only teams to play on the last six dates of the season.
• Oregon State is the only team that ends the season with four home games in the last five dates.
• Oregon State is the only team that begins the Pac-12 portion of the season with two road games and is the only team to play three of its first four league games away.
MANNION’S CLIFFNOTES:
The following is a quick summary of quarterback Sean Mannion’s accomplishments to date:
• First three-year team captain in school history.
• 2014 Manning Passing Academy Air-It-Out Challenge winner.
• 2014 Elite 11 QB Camp Challenge winner.
• Maxwell Award Watch List for the nation’s top player.
• Davey O’Brien Award Watch List for top QB.
• Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award candidate.
• Walter Camp Award Watch List (All-America teams).
• NCAA Senior Class Award candidate (character, community service, academics, athletics).
• Currently ranks 10th for Pac-12 career passing with 10,436 yards, needing only 1,839 to pass former USC Trojan Matt Barkley as the all-time leader.
• His 10,436 yards is second among active Division I quarterbacks.
• Tied for 13th in Pac-12 history for touchdown passes with 68.
• His .653 career completion percentage is on OSU record pace and currently ranks second among active quarterbacks with at least 1,000 attempts.
• Broke the Pac-12 record for single season passing yards last season with 4,662.
• He can join former Oregon standout Bill Musgrave as the only quarterback in league history to earn Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week accolades in four different seasons.
• Set a Pac-12 record last season for back-to-back games passing with 974 yards combined against California and Washington State.
• Has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and is working on a Master’s in interdisciplinary studies.
• “You’re a freakin’ Albatross Sean Mannion … use your reach.” -- Offensive Coordinator John Garrett in an August practice.
NO. 4 TOUGH ON NON-CONFERENCE FOES:
Sean Mannion has been on target in his last six games vs. non-conference opponents (Eastern Washington, Hawai’i, San Diego State, Boise State, Wisconsin, Nicholls State). In those six games combined his completion percentage is .734 (179-244) for 1,927 yards passing and 14 touchdowns passing with two interceptions.
PASSING GALORE:
Eight quarterbacks return to FBS schools that have set single season records, including Sean Mannion – 4,662 yds 2013, Brett Hundley (UCLA), Connor Holliday (WSU) and Jared Goff (Cal). The others are Shane Carden (E. Car.), Chuckie Nelson (Utah State) and Brandon Doughty (Western Kentucky) – note courtesy of Western Kentucky.
RESER RECORD:
Oregon State’s home record of 61-25 this century at Reser Stadium is third best in the Pac-12 Conference, trailing the home records of only Oregon (73-13) and USC (67-15).
60 YEARS AND COUNTING:
Oregon State’s own Jack Saling has volunteered in the Reser Stadium, formerly Parker Stadium, Press Box for 60 years – the longest active streak in the nation. Jack served as the play-by-play typist for decades before assuming his new role as part of the participation chart tracker. His son, Gene, is in his 47th year as a volunteer.
TURNOVERS:
Over the last three seasons OSU has forced 83 turnovers, third most in the conference and tied for ninth in the nation. Here is a closer look courtesy of ESPN: Oregon (98), Arizona State (95), Oregon State (83); Washington (79), UCLA (79), Utah (71), USC (71), Washington State (68), Stanford (68), Arizona (65), California (59), Colorado (51).
TEAM CAPTAINS:
Quarterback Sean Mannion is serving as a co-team captain for the third consecutive year – no Beaver prior has ever been a captain for three seasons. Linebacker Michael Doctor is in the co-captain role for the second straight year. Safety Ryan Murphy and center Isaac Seumalo are in their first years with the leadership honor.
Source: Oregon State Athletics
