Beavers Look to Spring a Trap
Oregon State Safety Greg Laybourn (No. 44) intercepts Trojan QB Mark Sanchez to help the Beavs seal the deal on that magical late September night in 2008, prompting Chris Fowler’s famous call ‘There will be a massive party in Corvallis tonight! The Beavers spring a trap!”
Image courtesy of Oregon State Athletics
This piece was originally published on the author’s personal website. It has been reprinted and edited here with the author’s permission.
The undefeated Oregon State Beavers welcome the undefeated USC Trojans to Reser Stadium tomorrow night for what should be another instant classic in Corvallis between these two teams.
Since the celebrations in Portland ended Saturday night and the sights for Beaver fans shifted to the familiar foe of USC, I have been rifling through any and all media coverage of the Beavers, Trojans, and the matchup to come. It is Tuesday of game week, and I have exhausted all pieces I could find from OSU media, USC media, and the gambling talk shows on YouTube, so I decided to take to the web and create some of my own.
After re-watching highlights of both teams in their games this season, and of course, re-watching the upsets of 2006 and 2008, I have come to very few concrete conclusions with the only one being that this is going to be one hell of a night in Corvallis.
The USC offense looks every bit as dangerous as advertised. Caleb Williams is a dynamic quarterback who will test the Beavers defense with his legs, which has not yet been a strength of the defense this season. The troubles do not stop there, if they can contain Williams's legs, they now have to contain his dynamic and explosive wide receivers including reigning Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison, and fellow Oklahoma transfer Mario Williams. Outside of their aerial attack, the dual-headed monster in their running back room includes Austin Jones and a familiar face to Beaver fans in Oregon transfer, Travis Dye. Both amassed over 100 yards in their win over Fresno State.
The defensive side of the ball for USC, while good is not nearly as strong as their offense. They know how to take the ball away and carry a +10 turnover margin on the season. They’re also giving up 380 yards a game, which I expect would be a slight bit higher had Fresno State QB Jake Haener been able to play the entire second half against the USC on Saturday.
Early on it seems the best way to score against this Trojans defense is running the ball, which factors in nicely with the way Oregon State is likely to approach this game. The key is going to be to keep Caleb Williams and that offense off the field for as long as they can. These efforts led to positive outcomes in '06 and '08 where again the Trojan offense was laden with NFL talent across the board. The Trojan defense has shown up as a bend but don’t break unit by allowing teams to enter the red zone but posting a wildly impressive 7-13 red zone efficiency for opposing offenses. That will be tested this weekend with the JackHammer package and this versatile Beavers ground attack.
Comparing these teams in the trenches is where I think one will be able to find some telling signs of what is to come. On the offensive line, the Oregon State squad measures up to a total of 1,535lbs. Compare that to the four-man defensive front of USC weighing in at 1,060lbs. That defensive front is bound to be quick but with the size advantage and good technique, the Beavers should be able to dictate where they move the ball and protect Chance Nolan against a 4-man or 5-man rush.
The game plan for defenses so far this season against the Beavers has been to load the box, stop the run, and force Chance Nolan and the Beaver receivers to beat you through the air. Since Week 1 the offense has been growing in that regard and making defenses respect the newfound ability for Nolan to accurately throw the deep ball, especially when working out of play action. After putting together their most complete game on offense last week scoring 10 touchdowns over Montana State, I am intrigued to see how Coach Lincoln Riley and Trojan DC Alex Grinch attack this Beaver offense.
The last aspect of the game I want to cover is going to be the atmosphere. School started on Wednesday for the Beavers, which means for the first time this season, students will be on campus. Student tickets were reportedly sold out by Tuesday. The University has released 500 additional standing-room-only tickets, which were reportedly sold out by Friday morning. It is going to be a raucous and vicious crowd, dawned in all orange come Saturday at 6:30 pm with what I can only imagine will be some creative signs wishing the Trojans a farewell from Corvallis on their way to the Big 10.
As far as predictions go, this USC team boasts some of the most athleticism seen in the country in college football but as Oregon State offensive lineman Jake Levengood put it, "They wear jerseys and helmets just like us".
Beaver run game and environment prove too much for the Trojans as Williams throws two interceptions and Dye has a costly fumble. OSU 48 USC 42.
Beavers spring another trap.
