Beavs Host Bears for Homecoming Saturday

IT’S ON US: Oregon State University in conjunction with the Pac-12 Conference is proud to be a part of the national “It’s On Us” campaign to create awareness of sexual violence. For more information go to itsonus.org or oregonstate.edu.

DIABETES AWARENESS DAY: The second annual Beavers Diabetes Awareness Day is this Saturday, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Parker Plaza (front of Reser Stadium). The American Diabetes Association, Legacy Health, Nova Nordisk, Moda Health, OSU College of Pharmacy, PacificSource Health Plans, Safeway, and Samaritan Health Services are providing free blood pressure screenings, blood glucose screenings, and education on Diabetes. Special guest will be former Oklahoma All-American running back and pro football player Marcus Dupree – diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes in 2009. Participants have the opportunity to win a framed autographed Beaver football jersey, four Club Level tickets to the Civil War or a signed football by head coach Mike Riley.

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 the game. That team, which finished the year No. 8 in the polls with an 8-3 record, will be honored Saturday night pregame and during a timeout.

THE SERIES
•   Saturday is the 67th meeting in the series that dates back to 1905.
•   Cal has a narrow 34-32 advantage; OSU has won two straight and three in a row at Reser Stadium.
•   Starting with the 1999 17-7 win at then Parker Stadium (Corvallis) The Beavers have a 12-3 advantage.
•   That 1999 win guaranteed an end of OSU’s regular season losing streak of 28 seasons.
•   OSU has won the last two games by a combined score of 111-31.
•   OSU scored 62 points (62-14) in 2012 win at Corvallis; the most points scored by the Beavers ever against Cal and the second most by OSU in a Pac-8/10/12 game (66 vs. WSU/2008).
•   Former OSU WR Brandin Cooks accounted for a career-high 232 yards receiving last season in Berkeley (second-most ever by a Beaver); 197 of that number at the half.
•   QB Sean Mannion had 481 yards passing (35-45) for four TDs last year. For his career vs. Cal (3 games) he is 84 of 117 (.726) for 1,049 yards with 8 TDs and 3 INTs.
•   OSU’s has a combined 1,129 yards of total offense vs. Cal the last two games.
•   Second consecutive game in the series in Corvallis that has kicked off at approximately 7:30 p.m.
•   Notable current records by Beavers set against Cal or in Reser Stadium history: most yards passing in back-to-back games (Sean Mannion vs. Cal and WSU, 2013, 974 yds – then Pac-12 record); co-longest field goal (Alexis Serna, 58 yds, Sept. 30, ’06); most yards rushing at Reser (Steven Jackson, 239, Oct. 26, ’02); co-longest run at Reser (Terry Baker, 83 yds, Oct. 29, 1960); Longest run vs. OSU (Bill Powell, Cal, 90 yds, Oct. 27, ’51); most receptions vs. OSU (Dameane Douglas, Cal, 15, Oct. 31, ’98).

CONVERTED BEAR TO A BEAVER: Saturday night will mark a farily rare situation in Pac-12 football when Beaver senior tight end Jacob Wark takes the field. Wark, who has been mainly a special teams contributor so far this season, is the Beavers’ “third” tight end with the injury-absence of Kellen Clute. He did catch a pass for four yards vs. Stanford. What is rare about Wark’s appearance is that he transferred to OSU from California last summer. Wark was a three-year letterman for the Bears, playing in 36 career games, making 10 receptions. He graduated from Cal last spring, making him eligible to transfer to another institution, and is taking master’s degree coursework at OSU. Wark made 10 catches at Cal for 87 yards and one touchdown during his career; the lone TD came against OSU last season at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. He also played four years of baseball for the Bears.

RILEY GOT HIS START AT CAL: Beaver head coach Mike Riley’s coaching career began at Cal in 1975 (this is his 40th season) under then Bear head coach Mike White. Riley served one season as a defensive graduate assistant for the 8-3/co-Pac-8 champion Bears – a team that finished No. 14 in the nation. His role with the Bears was coaching the defensive scout team and “video” breakdown.

THE HOME STRETCH: Oregon State plays four of its last five regular season games at home; Only Army in the FBS plays more with five home games and Connecticut equals the Beavers with four home dates. It’s the first time the Beavers have played three consecutive home games vs. league opponents, starting Saturday vs. Cal, since the end of the 1998 season (Cal, UCLA, Oregon).

INJURY SHELL GAME: Last week at Stanford, several Oregon State players were forced into bigger roles due to a recent spate of injuries. Four Beavers made their first collegiate starts: Brandon Bennett-Jackson (DE), Luke Hollingsworth (DE), Hunter Jarmon (WR) and Dustin Stanton (RT). In addition, nine players expected to start (or that have started this season) and made the season’s first road trip were unavailable against the Cardinal: Gavin Andrews (RT), Lavonte Barnett (DE), Jalen Grimble (DT), Jaswha James (DE), Richard Mullaney (WR), Isaac Seumalo (C) and Storm Woods (RB). In addition, rotation players Kellen Clute (TE) and Noke Tago (DT) are also out with injuries.

194: The number of yards quarterback Sean Mannion needs to break the Pac-12 record for career passing yards. Mannion currently has 12,134 and is chasing the all-time record of 12,327 yards by former USC standout Matt Barkley (2009-12).

MANNION’S CLIFFSNOTES: The following is a quick summary of quarterback Sean Mannion’s accomplishments to date (a more detailed biography is also available in these game facts):
•   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.
•   Manning Award Watch List for top QB.
•   Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award candidate.
•   Walter Camp Award Watch List (All-America teams).
•   Senior CLASS Award finalist (character, community service, academics, athletics).
•   Currently ranks second for Pac-12 career passing with 12,134 yards (see chart), needing only 194 to pass former USC Trojan Matt Barkley as the all-time leader.
•   Currently second on the active completions list for a FBS quarterbacks with 1,634 (Taylor Heinicke, ODU, 1,668). He also was the 24th quarterback to reach 1,000 completions for a career.
•   His 12,134 yards is third among active Division I quarterbacks. (Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion, 13,769; Rakeem Cato, Marshall, 12,306).
•   His .647 career completion percentage is on OSU record pace.
•   Needs 5 TD passes to become the all-time OSU leader – Derek Anderson (2001-04) had 79.
•   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 quarterbacks in league history to earn Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week accolades in four different seasons.
•   Set a then 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 Garrettin an August practice.
•   Check out Sean Mannion’s website at http://seanmanniontheqb.com/

40,484: The number of yards Oregon State quarterbacks have thrown for since Beaver head coachMike Riley returned to the sideline for his second tenure at the start of the 2003 season. That equates to 23 miles, the most in the league during the timeframe.

RARE BEAVER STAT: Oregon State is currently last in the Pac-12 for scoring offense averaging 25.4 points per game. However, the Beavers have played the three best teams in the league for scoring defense – 1. Stanford (12.5); 2. Utah (21.6); 3. USC (23.2). Cal is 12th allowing 41 points per game, but it also possesses the second best scoring offense at 41.5 points. No Beaver team under Mike Riley in the second era has finished last in the league for points production.

PASS EFFICIENCY; DEFENSIVELY: OSU is 11th in the country for pass efficiency defense (calculation – opponents pass completion percentage, total yards passing, yards per pass attempt, TD passing percentage, number of interceptions thrown and interception percentage) at 103.68. If that is a confusing stat just remember that the Beavers are tied for seventh for fewest touchdown passes allowed with six. Cal ranks 114th at 151.01 and has allowed the most touchdown passes of any team in the FBS with 31. Opponents are completing a league-low 54.7 percent of their pass attempts vs. OSU.

THIRD DOWN DEFENSE: OSU is second in the Pac-12 for third down defense allowing a conversation rate of 31.6 percent (31-98) – Stanford is at 31.3 percent. Third and long (10-plus yards) is especially problematic, even more so than normal, for OSU’s opponents – 4-30 (.133).

SCHOOL RECORD COACH: Mike Riley continues to build on his school record for victories, now with 92. He has 57 league wins, which is 11th in Pac-12 history. Riley’s overall league record is 57-59 (14 of those losses in his first era of 1997-98) – his second tenure (2003-present) league mark is 55-45. Riley is the longest tenured coach in the Pac-12 in 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). Riley finished second in an ESPN poll of FBS coaches the week of Sept. 15 2014 for being the most underrated coach (Rice’s David Bailiff was first).

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 coach 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 108: Oregon owns the most victories in the Pac-12 Conference this century with 141, followed by USC (139/115 with vacated wins), OSU (108), Arizona State (100), UCLA (99), Stanford (98), Cal (91), Washington (84), Arizona (82), WSU (74).  Non-traditional Pac-12 teams Utah has 121 victories this century and Colorado has 73. 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 StevenJackson, 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.

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 “Power 5 Conference” team that ends the season with four home games in the last five dates.
•   Oregon State is the only team that began 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.
•   Oregon State is one of four Power 5 teams that only plays three home games in the first full eight weeks of the season.

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.

YOUNG RECEIVERS: With the loss of junior receiver Richard Mullaney, the Beavers possess the youngest starting receiving corps in the Pac-12. OSU anticipates starting Victor Bolden (So.), Jordan Villamin (Fr-RS) and Hunter Jarmon (Fr-RS) Saturday. No other team in the league starts more than one freshman or sophomore per the latest depth charts made available by the schools.

RUNNING BACK U: Oregon State is the only program in the Pac-12 Conference with three running backs that rank in the top 10 for career rushing in the league; 3. Ken Simonton (1998-2001), 5,044 yards; 8. Jacquizz Rodgers (2008-10), 3,877; 9. Yvenson Bernard (2004-07), 3,862. Steven Jackson (2001-03) ranks 14th with 3,625 yards. Rodgers and Jackson both left OSU after three seasons to enter the NFL.

100-PLUS USUALLY A W: When a Beaver rushes for 100-plus yards it usually equals a victory.  OSU has won 29 of its last 35 games (83%) when a rusher gains 100 – the only six losses in that period — Oct. 2, 2008 at Utah (Jacquizz Rodgers 101 yds), Oct. 24, 2009 at USC (Jacquizz 113), Oct. 16, 2010 at Washington (Jacquizz 140), Sept. 3, 2011 vs. Sacramento State (Malcolm Agnew 223), Dec. 29, 2012 vs. Texas (Storm Woods 118) and Nov. 29 vs. Oregon (Terron Ward 145).

50/50 IS THE GOAL: Head coach Mike Riley often mentions to the media that his goal is to be balanced between the run and pass. Currently, the Beavers are as close to being that than in most recent years with 222 pass attempts and 208 rushes. Here is a closer look at what OSU has done for the season overall compared to last year:
    Year    Pass Pct.    Rush Pct.
2014    52%    48%
2013    64%    36%

542: That’s the number of combined tackles for the Beavers’ three starting linebackers – Michael Doctor (227), D.J. Alexander (176) and Jabral Johnson (139). OSU’s senior trio is one of the most experienced, if not the most experienced, linebacker corps in the Pac-12. For the first time since 2007 the Beavers started three senior linebackers in the season opener.

TURNOVERS: Over the last four seasons (45 games) OSU has forced 97 turnovers, third-most in the conference and 10th in the nation. Here is a closer look courtesy of ESPN: Oregon (113), Arizona State (106), Oregon State (97), Washington (95), UCLA (89), USC (85), Utah (83), Stanford (76), Arizona (73), Washington State (73), California (71), Colorado (59).

WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLE, WIN THE GAME: Over the last 132 games, Oregon State is 51-11 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent, 11-35 when committing more and 13-11 when even.

80-9: That’s the record of Oregon State when it leads after three quarters with Mike Riley as head coach.  Since the start of the 2004 season it is 60-5.

BOWL HISTORY: Starting with the 1999 season thru 2013, Oregon State has appeared in 11 bowl games – tied for the second-most in the league. Oregon has 14 appearances, followed by OSU (11), Utah (11), USC (11), UCLA (11), Arizona State (10), Cal (8), Washington (8), Stanford (7), Colorado (6), Arizona (5) and Washington State (4).

STINGY DEFENSE: Oregon State’s experienced defense has posted 17 quarters of allowing 100 yards or less this season.  The Beavers rank second in the Pac-12 for total defense allowing an average of 344.3 yards per game. Here is a closer look.
8 yds – Stanford (3rd qtr)
9 yds – Portland State (3rd qtr)
13 yds – San Diego State (4th qtr)
16 yds  — Utah (2nd qtr)
31 yds – Portland State 4th qtr)
32 yds – Hawai’i (1st qtr)
39 yds – Colorado (3rd qtr)
50 yds – USC (1st qtr)
56 yds – San Diego State (3rd qtr)
61 yds – Portland State (1st qtr)
65 yds – Utah (1st qtr)
71 yds – San Diego State (1st qtr)
75 yds – San Diego State (2nd qtr)
79 yds – Hawai’i (2nd qtr)
87 yds – Hawai’i (3rd qtr)
98 yds – Utah (4th qtr)
100 yds – Stanford (4th qtr)

LUCKY 9: OSU started nine seniors for the season opener; the most since modern day tracking/records for starters began in 1976.

BAD NEWS/GOOD NEWS; The bad news is that Oregon State is next to last for most penalties per game in the nation at 9.71 (Baylor is last at 10.86). Of the 20 most penalized teams in the nation, the Pac-12 has six of the 20. The Beavers are commiting a league-high 80.3 yards per game in penalites while Cal is 10th at 76 yards. OSU is third in the Pac-12 for first downs gained via penalty with 23.

SCHOLAR ATHLETES: Oregon State’s seniors are all on track to graduate this academic year. Quarterback Sean Mannion possesses his bachelor’s in liberal studies and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies. The following student-athletes will graduate in December; D.J. Alexander (human development/family studies), Tyler Anderson (new media), Bud Delva (communication), Michael Doctor (human development/family studies), Obum Gwacham(marketing), Connor Hamlett (management), Malcolm Marable (new media), Michael Morovick(management), Ryan Murphy (human development/family studies), Trevor Romaine (human development/family studies), Roman Sapolu (public health), Terron Ward (new media) and Dylan Wynn (human development/family studies). Steven Nelson (sociology) will graduate in March andKeith Kostol (electrical & computer engineering), Devon Filipe (exercise and sport science) andTyrequek Zimmerman (human development/family studies) and Siale Hautau (Spanish) will graduate in June.

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IMAGE © Courtesy: Karl Maasdam/Oregon State Athletics

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