Oregon State

Located in Corvallis, Oregon State University’s 19,236 students turn Reser Stadium into a sea of orange and black on game days.  Founded in 1868, the school boasts the team that finished the season ranked 21^st in the AP poll.  Coming off a 10-4 season, the Beavers have high hopes of continuing the growth of a program that endured 28 consecutive losing seasons that ended in 1998.  With a huge upset over USC, Oregon State finished third in the PAC-10 and beat Missouri on a last second two point conversion in the Sun Bowl. 

This season’s team returns fifteen starters including staring tailback Yvenson Bernard.  Bernard’s 2006 stats are impressive with 1,583 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns.  Also returning are senior receivers Sammie Stoughter and Brandon Powers who combined for 1,726 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns.  The big question mark however, is at quarterback where the departure of starter Matt Moore leaves sophomores Shane Canfield and Lyle Moevao battling for the starting job.  Coach Mike Riley might opt to go for a dual quarterback system due to the differences in styles of these two young QBs.     

Coach Mike Riley is in his second stint as head coach of his hometown team.  With a career record of 38-34 in six years with the Beavers, Riley is nearly single-handedly responsible for bringing the program back to respectability.  His reputation as a “players’ coach” allows him to get the maximum amount of effort from his teams.  By relying on this year’s strong defense to keep games close, the growing maturity of his young quarterbacks could allow this team to finish as well as they did last season. 

The largest hole in this Beaver team is at quarterback.  Matt Moore’s inspired play helped lead the Beavers in their stunning upset of USC.  Bernard remains the player that fans need to pay attention to.  With the team utilizing a line that returns four starters, Bernard could easily surpass his tremendous 2006 season and will be a welcome safety valve for the team’s young quarterbacks in what looks to become a ball-control offensive scheme.