112 Comments
Dec 18, 2022Liked by John Canzano

Yes, a classy move to put Gebbia in the game, and a classy back-and-forth between Gebbia and Gulbranson with the game ball. Culture wins out for sure. Great game, great result. Can't wait for next season.

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Dec 18, 2022·edited Dec 18, 2022

People at the game were asking me why Gebbia was in when Gulbranson didn't appear to be hurt. I said: "it is a classy move by Coach Smith to reward a loyal senior". Turned out to be correct

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“SEC honks are using the opt-outs as an excuse. I guess. But so what? Oregon State can’t control who shows up to play. The Beavers did exactly what they should have done to an inferior opponent — they flattened them. Give OSU’s players credit for showing up, in force, with purpose.”

🎯🎯🎯

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Props to OSU for taking down an SEC blue blood under the bright lights. Funny things happen in bowls and even a wounded, floundering SEC team is loaded with talent, and dangerous when they have nothing to lose. As a Ducks fan, Oregon State makes me nostalgic. Before millions of dollars in facilities erections and renovations, and hyped recruits brought in by foreign coaches, the Ducks won with relative continuity and a blue collar culture. Here we sit a few years into watching both strategies unfold and we will be chasing an even record with the Beavers with a difficult win in the Holiday Bowl. As a football fan, you have to have great respect for what Jonathan Smith, his staff and players have done.

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Your record is what it is. Nobody cares during the regular season if your best players are out due to injury, and nobody should care about opt outs either for bowl games. It’s actually interesting to see some teams like Oregon State leverage their culture and player loyalty, while at some other teams the player loyalty is clearly to oneself and getting to the NFL. Another reason why it’s not always the best thing to have a bunch of 4 and 5 stars unless you’re one of the truly elite teams.

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Give the Beaver defense some love for holding the Gators to under 40 yds. In rushing. They camped in Florida’s backfield all day long. Was really rooting for the shutout because they earned it the right way - as a team, getting each others’ backs. Big props to Bray and crew for turning around a D that had more holes than Swiss cheese not too many years ago.

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The Beavers OWNED Florida all game long. It wasn't as close a game as 30-3. The Beavs let up a little in the 4th quarter and the ever classy Jonathan Smith began putting in bench players to give them the experience of playing in such a great bowl game (same thing I saw at the ASU game a few weeks ago). Coach Smith gets the credit for the culture and Coach Bray gets the credit for scheming to cover his team's major weakness, the smallish D line. Recruiting appears to have solved the latter for next year.

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Why did Harrison not play? I heard only unspecified reasons.

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Don't know. He is a senior. Maybe wanted to protect himself for the NFL draft? But he is not likely to be drafted in the top 4 rounds, so not sure why his absence. If it was disciplinary, Smith's staff would not say

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Worth noting that OSU was not at full strength for the bowl game.

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I noticed that and I'm really glad that someone in the media wrote about. Gebbia deserved that game ball for everything he has done for the team and Gulbranson knew it. Classy. That shows that during the off season, meetings, practices, travel and the like, those two guys are working and getting better for the good of the team and program, not just themselves. Good on both young men!

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Nice win, classy programme. I am Ducks all the way but have much respect for Coach Smith and the team he has built.

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I get why they kicked the 3 at the end, could you imagine having to ALSO be the guy who broke the streak? But that doesn't make it less disgusting from the outside. They didn't even earn those 3 points in that game, they got flat out trampled. and realistically watching that game, beavs made plenty of mistakes. I could easily have been 40+ to 0 with one or two of those dropped ints.

Way to go beavers. Next year no one will remember who played in the game and who didn't for Florida, they will remember the beavers came to play and stomped em. Here is to smelling roses next year!!

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I agree, and who would have thought we would have EVER been complaining about giving up 3 points!

I'm glad Coach Napier kicked the 3. It flipped the narrative from ' oh we got shut out because we were down so many players' to 'Florida didn't want to get shut so they weaseled out by kicking for 3 points'

By the way, Beavers were down by several players as well and lost Martinez early in the game so I'd say it was pretty fair and we out played them in every facet of the game.

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Yep I believe the number of starters missing on both sides was pretty even. But no one admits that.

Even with those starters do they score more than another touchdown, maybe two at most? They got completely stuffed by a much better team, period.

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No Rajohn Wright for one. No Luke Musgrave (for most of the season). No Harrison. No Gould.

Martinez only played one series. Etc. The Beavers have a lot more depth than any time in my memory, including the 1960s (although, those are admittedly pretty fuzzy memories).

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Hats off to the Beavers and Coach Smith. 10-3 and oh so close to 12 and 1.

When have SEC fans ever suffered an out of conference loss with dignity?

Billy Napier has a long way to go to get this Gators team ready to open the 2023 season in Salt Lake City.

2023 conference title for the Beavs? Williams is back. Penix is back. Nix will likely engineer an improved NIL deal good enough to come back for 2023. UCLA just signed a very good transfer QB out of Kent State.

I think in 2023 the conference will finish with at least 5 teams ranked in PO Committee's final poll.

The usually reliable UF run game was rendered impotent by a fantastic effort from the Beavers D.

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10-3 sounds about right. Remember that, while the Beavs could have won the USC and UW games, they also easily could have lost the games to Stanford and Oregon.

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You left off Fresno too, but that's not the point, they won. Period. They didn't give up and by all rights both USC and wash should have lost those games as well. Washing was worse to me, they mauled washing on the field for all but the last two drives. The score, and even the end stats dont tell that story accurately. But that's the way the cookie crumbles. If you don't play well enough to remove those "what if" games, then you get to live with em.

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I was replying to the OP that said that 12-1 was "oh so close." So was 8-5...10-3 is the right result considering that you're not going to win every close game.

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Crumble Cookies are the very best. Give 'em a try!

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"Good transfer QB out of Kent State"....Kent State is barely FBS and at the bottom of their own conference the Mid-America Conference. I doubt any QB from Kent State was highly sought. So that is a little spin. Gulbranson comes back with another year of experience. A pro style, not an option QB, but with a lot of upside if he can learn to read Ds better. And no one knows what Aidan Chiles, a highly sough 4-star will bring. Plus, I am guessing after a 10-3 season with a dominant bowl win the Beavs will attract a quality QB transfer. They have already addressed their D line with two 4-star recruits. You can think OSU's season was a blip, but they will prove you wrong.

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Schee is a grad transfer who had a lot of success facing an incredibly tough series of OOC, money-bag games.

He was ranked ahead of JGU by most sources; usually ranked in the top 3 of the best QBs in the portal. NC St's Leary is a consensus one. He is predicted to go to Auburn.

What did I say about a blip? I said, or intended to say, that the conference will be deep next season with many quality players including the Heisman Trophy winner coming back.

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Thank you! That sounds much better: The Pac-12 will be deep with FBS talent. I like that. After spending 30+ years in the B1G I detest the formulaic nature of that conference with Ohio State or Michigan dominating year after year. Much more balance in the Pac-12 and that is good for college sports. We need to push back on efforts to create elitism within college sports. Don't we have enough of that in other parts of life?

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Stihl curtain showed up for sure!! 39 total yards from a supposed strong run team is awesome.

Yeah next year should be a banger too, I think Washington is the one to watch out for, but almost all the beavs are coming back and I think they carry this mojo into next year and give everyone a serious run for their money.

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Penix is the real deal. If he is back, Washington will be tough. But they are almost always good, so nothing new

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I saw that exchange between Ben and Gebbia and thought that's a TEAM right there. Smith is building a program that players will want to play for and for each other. I couldn't be a happier Beaver alumni.

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OrSt won 10 games without a superstar QB. While I agree that competition improves results,, a "superstar" QB transfer does not necessarily equate to more wins. Team chemistry gets results. I think that was obvious this year. A new player needs to "fit". Anything other than looking for a diamond in the rough willing to earn his way the the QB job, would be foolish. If it ain't-broke-don't-fix-it and OrSt is not broken.

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It is not broken but it will be the difference in winning those tight games. You could have used one against the UTES this year

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The Beavs biggest problem is that there's a team just like them but with better talent in almost all positions in Salt Lake City. Without getting a top-notch QB, it's hard to see how they challenge for the PAC-12 title. Also, next year they have to play away to Oregon, which isn't going to be a walk in the park.

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Not a walk in the park but a 40 mile drive on 99W.

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I have a feeling that the Ducks are going to be up for that game.

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LOve the back and forth but I note for the record that in 2022 OR ST was 1-0 vs Florida and Utah was 0 and 1.

But Utah has a great chance to pay the Gators back in 2023 season opener in SLC.

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Dec 18, 2022·edited Dec 18, 2022

The talk about the OSU and Oregon game is all about home field advantage. It doesn't seem to matter at all about the personnel. One of Oregon State's three wins in 2016 under the disaster of a coach, Gary Anderson, was over Oregon, 34-24. That must be considered a miracle given the circumstances. He set back OSU football 30 years.

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Dec 19, 2022·edited Dec 19, 2022

—Can’t say he set OSU back 30 years when Coach Smith brought us back in 5. 😉

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Ahhh....I see what you are doing :-) Okay, Coach Smith brought the Beavs back to the early 2000s level of competitiveness in 5 years from the shambles it was under Gary Anderson. More precise?

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Ha, yes. And Coach Smith built the Beaver dam with a solid foundation.

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Well, of course you as a "Ute" fan see it that way. "Better talent at most positions". Really? Who made that call? But the Beavers have already made improvements for next season in the recruiting window. The Beavers will have Gulbranson back plus 4-star freshman Aidan Chiles. They have just greatly improved the D with recruits. I don't get your concern for the Beavs. But I am sure you don't want them whipping your butt next year in Corvallis, which they will. So I get it.

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I LUV your enthusiasm and support of Gulbranson who will have a difficult time beating out Caleb Williams as the all Pac-12 QB.

Terrific win but it came against a middle of the pack SEC team playing its 3rd string QB and not against Georgia or Bama.

Beware of Hubris.

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Hubris??!! For a Beavs fan? That is not even possible. Check the definition. We are just happy to be in the hunt. As for "middle of the pack"...this is the SEC, right? All I hear is how the SEC is a different level league. The Majors to the Pac 12 Double A. And this is the same team that beat the Pac 12 champ Utes, right? So why should I be embarrassed about that? Spoken like a true Ducks fan

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If you watched that Florida vs Utah game (and I was there) you'd know that the final result was an anomaly that would take some doing for it to be repeated. Bottom line, the Gators played out of their minds and had A LOT of luck allowing them to win the game (they also had a full roster, unlike the Las Vegas Bowl). As an example of what I mean, the Utes got into the Red Zone six times and only got 13 points for their trouble. The Gators got into the Red Zone only three times and cashed in 22 points. It's pretty unusual for one team to take advantage of every single of their opportunities and for another to come away with nothing. I'm really looking forward to the repeat of that game in SLC next season.

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That was such a winnable game. Some really poor decision making by rising.

Fortunately, a very good chance for payback in SLC in 2023.

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A Ducks fan who respects the heck out of the Beavers.

My point. People far too often overreact to a bowl win and a bowl loss.

Many the UF fanatics are calling for Napier to be fired!

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Thanks...and I read your comments and see you are level headed. This was just a nice mid-level bowl win for the Beavs. Nothing monumental. It is a building block to the future. It will help recruiting and it validates Coach Smith's process to recruits, current players and boosters alike. As for national standing, I think where they are is about right, #14 or #15 (with 50th-70th ranked recruiting classes). They have played the Pac 12 Top 20 opponents well, except the Utah game. The Beavs have lost one home game in two years, the USC game, which was a last second loss. I like the direction of the program!

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Not possible for a Beavs fan? Not possible for a Beavs fan? Well perhaps you are not quite the Beavs fan you hold yourself up to be, because pally, here’s the definition of hubris: exaggerated pride or self confidence. If that doesn’t fit your behavior on this board I don’t know what does. You are an arrogant bully who contributes nothing if not your inflated ego.

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Dec 19, 2022·edited Dec 19, 2022

Pally? Old school for sure. Bully? That is a good one. Don't think I have ever been called that. I do like a little good natured sports trash talk. for you, apparently it is easy to be critical when you are anonymous

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Brian. Please read your threads on this latest topic. Consider the tone of how you interact with people. It seemed in some instances to be a bit aggressive but perhaps sports trash talk is not my thing. I am brand new to this website and perhaps am not familiar with the tone of things. If others think it is fine, then I’m the one who must adjust. You seem to be a knowledgeable football fan with good takes. I have been a huge PAC-12 guy from when it was the PAC-8. Lots of difficult things happening in the college game. NIL, Transfer Portal, Super Conferences are threatening to tear our sport apart. I am looking for a good venue to share thoughts and ideas with others who love the sport and the PAC in particular. That’s what attracted me to Canzano in the first place. If you disagree with my original criticism, I am perfectly willing to say I was too hasty in my remarks. I look forward to a lot of positive sharing. Jeff

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How else should I see it? You're talking about a team that hasn't won the PAC since LBJ's first full year in office and they're, somehow, to come up with some magical scheme to change that in 2023? Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. If I were you, I'd be over the moon if they're able to somehow replicate this year's 10-3 record.

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Ute fans can be a little arrogant I’m finding out the last couple of years. My own fans are guilty as well. You are making the mistake of basing current predictions on unrelated history. This Beaver squad may be the best coached team I have seen. When the conference chips fall where they may and the stadium is fully opened, I expect them to be perennial conference contenders. There are much worse places to go to school, the cultural bedrock is there, and I’m thinking it’s going to be hard to pry Mr. Smith away. This last point is powerful in recruiting and something my Ducks have been suffering from. If they can pickup/develop a QB the sky is the limit in an expanded playoff world.

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For a Duck, you are pretty smart! :-)

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Ha, I’m going to take that as a compliment. I just recognize game when it’s there as long as it’s not UW. There are certain scars you never forget. They will never hear a kind word as they will never deserve it ;)

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One of my best memories from college was going to Eugene to watch my Beavers with some friends who were Ducks. We snuck a pony keg in by covering it with a duck made out of plaster of Paris lol. By the time security figured it out we we're rolling... Good times

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Dec 18, 2022·edited Dec 18, 2022

"Haven't won the Pac"... actually, you are wrong. The Beavs TIED for the Pac 12 in 2000 when they went 12-1 with only the last second FG at Washington between them and a 13-0 season. Instead, OSU, UofO and UW tied for the championship and Huskies got the Rose Bowl where they beat Purdue by 10. That Beavs team would have smoked ANY Utah team in history just like they destroyed Notre Dame and ended up #5 in the country. What is the Utes' highest national ranking? Not 5 that is for sure. By the way....QB of that Championship team? Same guy that is leading the Beavers for the next 30 years.

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LOL....I was being nice...that 1964 PAC Championship was actually shared with USC. If you're talking about an undisputed PAC Championship, you have to go back all the way to 1956 and the Eisenhower Administration. What is Utah's highest national ranking? That would be #2 after finishing 13-0 and smoking Alabama in the January 2009 Sugar Bowl. The 2004 edition of the Utes also finished 13-0 and ended up ranked #4 after destroying Pittsburgh in the January 2005 Fiesta Bowl.

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LOL!! So you are hanging your hat on the last two years?! Good for you and good for Utah. Hardly dominance of a conference. Do you really imagine that Utah is the Ohio State or Alabama of the Pac 12? Get real! But I can see you are very concerned that Oregon State is building a powerhouse program. You should be.

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LOL...I'm hanging my hat on the fact that the Utes have been in the PAC-12 CCG four years in a row (not counting the Covid season of 2020 when they only played five games all year). When was the last time the Beavs made it to the CCG? How about never? Sound about right? Maybe that will change next year, more likely not, but you can always hope.

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Correction: in 2000 the Beavs were co-champions with Washington and Oregon.

So, not exactly LBJ’s time.

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LOL...I already went through this with Brian. You weren't co-champions...you, Oregon, and Washington had the same PAC-10 record but the PAC-12 Champs were the Huskies, who went to the Rose Bowl. And, to be truthful, that 1964 PAC-8 championship was "shared" with USC. I just used it because the faculty athletic representatives selected the Beavers instead of USC to go to the Rose Bowl. The reason for that? USC had been to the Rose Bowl in 1963, while the Beavers hadn't made an appearance there since 1957. The last time that the Beavers were the undisputed PAC football champions was in 1956. That was 66 years ago and is the longest period of time for any PAC team to not be the undisputed football champion.

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Great news from Damien Martinez. Great to see the players taking the 10th win seriously. They never let up.

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Big Ute fan and former player. I like John Smith a great deal and I truly believe as long as he is at the helm, OSU will be a contender. Smith has admitted publicly on numerous occasions that he is patterning his program in a style and manner similar to what Coach Whit has done at Utah. In the end though he will be doing his own thing and his mark on the program will be by his own creation. With UCLA and SC leaving the conference, an enormous mistake by both schools, it is great to see OSU likely finishing higher in the polls than both of those schools. Assuming SC doesn’t show up against Tulane. Anyway great job in whipping the Gators. Something Utah shoulda and coulda but didn’t do.

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I’m so excited about the future of the OSU program. Coach Smith has really built a solid and hardworking culture in Corvallis, and it’s going to be so much fun to watch over time.

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