Carry Me Back, Trent Bray
Image Courtesy of Oregon State Athletics
The first game of every Beaver football season always carries with it a hint of nostalgia. The reminder of games of years past, of life milestones anchored in our memories by certain teams or plays. I think we’ve all probably started a story at some point in our lives by saying “It must’ve been 2012, because the Beavs were playing Wisconsin that weekend…..” or something along those lines.
This year hit me with a healthy dose of nostalgia. It reminded me of the last time OSU played Boise State in Reser back in 2005. (Note: Boise State played at Reser in 2016, but they didn’t play the Beavers. They played Gary Andersen. That doesn’t count.)
That 2005 game was the second game post “Raising Reser,” and I couldn’t help but think about that as I looked at the construction on the west side of the stadium and imagined what it was going to be like when it’s complete. Over 42,000 people packed Reser that day, and, though the stadium capacity was significantly smaller this time around, that “packed house” atmosphere reminded me of a time when Beaver Nation made Reser a place opposing teams hated to come to. Our leading tackler that day in 2005 against Boise State? Trent “Kool Aid Man” Bray. Seventeen years later, he’s still out there causing headaches for the Bronco defense.
Seems like it’s been forever since we’ve seen a Beaver defense force five turnovers in a game. The last time the Beavs forced five or more turnovers vs. an FBS team at home was 2012 vs. Washington State. (Strangely enough, we have forced 5+ turnovers vs. FBS teams on the road twice since then - both against Washington State as well (2013, 2019). For reference, in Jonathan Smith’s first season as head coach, we forced eight turnovers all year.
But perhaps the biggest callback to the level of those mid-2000s teams for me was that we committed three turnovers ourselves, had 10 penalties for 100 yards, missed a field goal … and WON BY 17 OVER A GOOD TEAM. The Beavs don’t have to play their best to win games anymore. When we do start firing on all cylinders? Look the hell out, Pac-12.
Quick Hits
The new video board is incredible, and drew rave reviews from my mom, who exclaimed “I could pick up details on jerseys on the board that I never knew existed!” The reaction of the crowd during the replay of a play called a fumble on the field was so loud and decisive that I doubt the crowd will ever be wrong about a call again.
Speaking of scoreboards, OSU could really use a video board on the north side of the stadium. Doesn’t need to be massive, but just something that doesn’t require people on the south side to turn around to see what happened. Might be the single biggest thing that would improve the in game experience at Reser Stadium for me.
In other sports, what McKenna Martinez is doing for the women’s soccer team is ridiculous. She’s not just scoring goals, she’s hitting wonderstrikes every game. OSU’s single season scoring record is held by Val Williams, who found the net 19 times in 1994. At her current pace, Martinez is on pace to match Williams total. Something to keep an eye on.
The first caller into the Beaver Postgame Show on 1240 Joe Radio Saturday night started his call by talking about……Mitch Haniger and the Mariners. A good 50% of callers/texters focused on the Ducks’ 49-3 loss against Georgia. We need to be better than this, Beaver Nation. We can not derive more joy from an Oregon loss than an Oregon State win. Years of irrelevance and Duck dominance have done this to us, but we have to start changing the mindset.
