Canzano: Oregon State win sets up Pac-2 clash
Beavers at Washington State next.
CORVALLIS — I popped my head into the Oregon State Beavers Store on Saturday shortly after a less-than-impressive outing by coach Jonathan Smith’s football team.
Across the street at Reser Stadium, OSU had just finished beating San Diego State, 26-9. Smith spoke with media on the ground floor of the Valley Football Center. After that, I closed my laptop, put away my notepad, walked down the block and peeked in the store.
The first customer I encountered was Nikki Chiles, the mother of back-up quarterback, Aidan. She was there to shop — not make a return. I spoke for a moment with Mrs. Chiles and her husband, Adrian. Then, I walked off to write this column.
“That was an ugly one,” said a customer who saw me on the way out.
“We have to be better,” added another.
It was like Ernest Hemingway once wrote: “The story was writing itself and I was having a hard time keeping up with it.”
Saturday was a subpar showing by the Beavers. No way around it, OSU sputtered on offense, struggled against its limitations, turned the ball over twice, and was shaky in victory.
Years ago, former OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis established the blueprint for athletic-department success. He determined that if the football team could just win six games and be bowl eligible every season that it would result in an adequate number of season-ticket renewals. Winning six games became the goal every season.
It’s why the AD installed a clause in Mike Riley’s contract, adding another year to his deal every time the football program reached that milestone. It’s also why a win — any win — was roundly celebrated. When you need to get bowl eligible that’s what you do. But what we had on Saturday was evidence of how far the program has advanced.
The Beavers took a sideways step — at best — on the field. Fans inside the OSU Beavers store recognized it. And they understood that any sports columnist worth his salt was going to take his shoe off and pound it on the table, demanding a better performance next week. So this is me, doing my impression of ‘shoeless and demanding.’
It used to be that we held the Beavers and Ducks football programs to different standards. Nobody ever said it out loud but the writers on press row knew it. Fans recognized it, too. It frustrated some. Two decades later we have a full-circle moment. Because anything shy of 10 victories isn’t good enough for Oregon State this season.
What happened at Reser Stadium was not satisfactory on Saturday. It just won’t do. Not if OSU wants to punch the world of college football in the mouth and reach the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas in December.
That’s the ultimate goal, isn’t it?
Pac-12 title game? Or bust?
DJ Uiagalelei threw two interceptions and misfired on a number of other throws against the Aztecs. He was 14 of 30 passing. His 284 passing yards were padded by a 75-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Gould that came on a “tunnel screen.” Without that TD throw, Uiagalelei was only 13 of 29 for 209 yards. Again — not good enough for a contender.
Smith said of his quarterback “there’s a couple of throws he can make (that he didn’t) and there were a couple of times we were not on the same page as far as route running.”
Those things must get cleaned up, ASAP. And the Beavers have only six days to do it. Because they’ll travel to Pullman next weekend where they’ll face the other left-behind football program eager to show the country it belongs in a Power-5 conference.
Smith said he hadn’t thought much about what it would mean for WSU and OSU to play each other in the very first week of conference play. “The schedule is what it is,” he said. Smith is immersed in his football season. But lots of people in his home stadium stopped this sports columnist to say how angry they are about how the conference imploded in early August.
Most of the typical “Pac-12” branding was not visible in the newly renovated OSU stadium. Anyone else notice that? There were no “Pac-12” signs or banners hanging from the stadium railings and walls. I know. I looked around the place and saw lots of other things where we used to see the conference shield.
The only Pac-12 logos I saw anywhere on Saturday were two made-for-TV “Pac-12” shields painted on the FieldTurf and a pair of tiny conference logos on the side of a couple of the end-zone pylons. All the other orange pylons in the stadium featured a Beavers’ logo by itself. If that was intentional, I can’t say I blame OSU.
Next Saturday’s game feels complicated and big. Oregon State hasn’t won in Pullman in a decade. In the last four trips there OSU is 0-for-4. None of the players on Smith’s roster have ever gone to WSU, suited up, and won. The last trip there in 2021, Oregon State lost 31-24 and was haunted by a fake-punt call that didn’t work out.
“I’d take that one back,” Smith told me after that loss.
There’s bound to be lots of emotion on both sides next week. But the Cougars and Beavers aren’t frustrated with each other. They’re like two guys in the same boat, rowing furiously side-by-side, trying to get up river to safety while the sound of a waterfall is coming from around the bend.
OSU and WSU have to play each other. It might as well come in the first week of conference games vs. the final one, where the implications could be bigger. But the topper is that one of these 3-0 teams is going to pin a conference loss on the other in Week 4 of the season and the losing program is going to be a solid step further away from Las Vegas.
Oregon State needs better play at QB from Uiagalelei to stay undefeated. It can’t have two interceptions vs. the Cougars. And while the defense did a nice job against the run vs. San Diego State (2.1 yards per rush), it surrendered 256 passing yards.
I sort of liked that nobody celebrated the victory and danced about the field after it was over. I stood on the field after the game watching the players on both teams shake hands and leave the field. Neither team appeared to have won.
OSU offensive lineman Joshua Gray said afterward that he knows “not everything is going to go your way.” Defender Akili Arnold added: “There’s always going to be adversity.” And Anthony Gould offered: “Flush it — and move on.”
They must play better.
WSU will demand it from them.
The crowd in that OSU Beavers Store isn’t wavering. Customers were trying on hats and looking for tank tops. They’re all-in. But they know the bar has been raised.
this column is why we paid the subscription. No histrionics, bad name calling or ." look st me" diatribes. Just a calm analysis.
We have seen the Beavers at their worst and their best and I hope this year is their absolute best. Johnathan Smith has created a culture at OSU that is inspiring, he has a well coached team and has done so much that few have done before him in Corvallis. We need to keep that momentum going because the chip on the shoulder isn't enough, yes we are essentially being relegated but the fight isn't over. We need to continue to hold them to this higher standard this year and every year because as the last two standing we need to overcome the adversity in evey single corner of the sport with the cards that have been dealt. They will need to take this opportunity to learn because it wasn't as clean as it should have been, we can't settle for a win is a win mentality because the moment we do, we have lost in the long run. Each game is a chance to improve.
The PAC may be disintegrating before our eyes, but it's not over, there is still time on the clock. We have an entire year left to prove that OSU shouldn't be counted out, shouldn't be the leftover, the forgotten, the abandoned. That OSU deserves a seat at the table. As an OSUMB alumni who has been there even at the lowest of times rooting and cheering, even when all hope was lost. Times long after the team has left the field, yet the band continues to plays, heads held high and ready for the next game. We as fans need to show up just as much and take this lesson from the band. No matter the out come, relegated to MW/group 5 status or rebuilding the PAC, we root for the Beavs! We show up, rain or shine. We hold the teams and coaches to this higher standard. I have high hopes for OSU and WSU. The fight song rings true in my heart this year more then ever "Beavers, Beavers fighters through and through..." and as always, Go Beavs!