Oregon State might be well away from finding the key to ending its ongoing rut. But, after last weekend’s 35-27 upset against (then) No. 6 Arizona State, it seems like the Beavers are at least trying to open the right door.
The victory concluded miserable a four-game bender, which hit its lowest point two weeks ago when the Beavers suffered an embarrassing 39-32 loss at home to Washington State. Within a span of seven days, however, the Beavers managed to rebound from losing to the most dependably terrible team in the conference to dismantle a team that was making a strong case to represent the southern division in the Pac-12 championship game.
Maybe it was magic. Maybe Mike Riley started to feel some heat after all of the naysayers started actively petitioning the program to show him the door. Or maybe the Beavers just finally hit rock bottom (don’t they say once you hit rock bottom the only direction you can go is up?)
Whatever the cause, given past precedent, the win against Arizona State actually wasn’t all that shocking. The whiplash of the sudden turnaround is nothing new for the Beavers – the most consistent part of the program is its painful inconsistency. In recent years, Oregon State has built a reputation for competing well against powerhouse teams while simultaneously falling apart against teams struggling on a weekly basis to squeeze out two or three conference wins.
Earlier this season, the Beavers narrowly lost a heartbreaker to (then) No. 20 Utah behind Sean Mannion’s 272-yard, two-touchdown evening (the Utes won 29-23 in two overtimes). In last season’s Civil War, the Beavers hung tough at Autzen against a No. 12 ranked Oregon, losing by only one point, 36-35. But this same Oregon State program tends to make complete 180-degree turns from contending with these high caliber teams to losing to bottom-of-the-pack teams like Washington State and Cal (which, while rapidly improving this season, is coming off of a 1-11 record in 2013).
Some of this back-and-forth can be blamed on Oregon State’s lack of depth –failing to keep both lines completely healthy was a trigger for this season’s early downward spiral. Some of it can be blamed on coaching – despite his title as the winningest coach in school history, Mike Riley’s career record at Oregon State barely exceeds the .500 mark at 93-78 overall, and falls just shy of it at 58-61 in conference play. And some of it can (of course) be blamed on Oregon with its recruiting monopoly, its fancy facilities, and its even fancier uniforms, 45 minutes down the road in Eugene.
But any college football program can list off reasons for its lack of success. Ultimately, these excuses need to be traded in for productivity.
The ray of hope for remedying Oregon State’s inconsistency and salvaging 2014 is this: while valiant efforts earlier in the season against teams like Utah were ultimately wasted, last week’s win against Arizona State proved that the Beavers do have the ability to close out a game against a tough opponent.
This week’s game against Washington will be a good litmus test to see if the win against the Sun Devils actually sparked the beginning of a revival of this Oregon State program (and perhaps Mike Riley’s career). The Huskies (2-5 Pac-12, 6-5 overall) have a similar pedigree to the Beavers. They’re coming off a disappointing one-point loss to No. 15 Arizona, and also seem to tow the line between being a breakout team and crumbling at the bottom of the pack. Earlier this season, the Huskies battled against teams like Stanford and UCLA, but also barely escaped a forgettable Hawaii with a one-point win in their season opener.
To get the best of the exchange with Washington, Oregon State needs to avoid a repeat of last season’s matchup (the Huskies routed the Beavers 69-27 in Corvallis) and instead treat its less-than-ideal position as an advantage. Despite an overall mediocre season, Washington is already bowl eligible, while Oregon State needs one more win to achieve the same status (and that win isn’t likely to come against Oregon in two weeks). The Beavers, more so than the Huskies, have something to play for – the latter has nearly written off the season as a rebuilding year with Chris Petersen freshly at the helm after Steve Sarkisian’s abrupt exit to USC.
Treating Saturday as a must-win situation could start revitalizing this inconsistent Beaver team. And, in turn, a win against Washington and potential subsequent postseason berth could open the door to a new era of Oregon State football.
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