Tin Man
Loquacious Constituent
Every now and then, something of interest arises in DII.
The Fighting Okra - YouTube
The Fighting Okra - YouTube
North
1. Oregon Ducks 11-1(8-1)
2. Stanford Cardinal 10-2(7-2)
3. Washington Huskies 10-3(6-3)
4. Oregon State Beavers 7-5(4-5)
5. Washington State Cougars 6-6(3-6)
6. California Golden Bears 2-10(0-9)
South
1. UCLA Bruins 10-2(8-1)
2. USC Trojans 8-4(5-4)
3. Arizona State Sun Devils 8-4(5-4)
4. Arizona Wildcats 7-5(4-5)
5. Utah Utes 6-6(3-6)
6. Colorado Buffaloes 3-9(1-8)
Pac-12 Championship: Oregon over UCLA
Oregon State Beavers
Preview: Oregon State actually had a disappointing season last year relative to the rise they had in 2012. Oregon State's defense took a big drop off last season, it was evident in the opener when they were upset by Eastern Washington of FCS, where Oregon State just couldn't stop them. Oregon State needs to improve on defense and very likely will, one good thing from last year is how well the offense developed under Sean Mannion, but while he returns this year his number one receiver who put up a lot of stats, Brandin Cooks is now gone. Last two seasons Oregon State has been on a trend of starting the year strong and then losing games later in the year when the tougher portion of Pac-12 play takes place, they will look to reverse that trend, if they somehow do they'll be in the Rose bowl, I don't think that's very likely though.
Predictions: Oregon State opens the year against Portland State, they aren't near as good as Eastern Washington so no repeat of last year here, Oregon State wins a game at Hawai'i, and then at home over San Diego State. Oregon State suffers their first loss of the year at USC, but then wins at Colorado. Oregon State wins a Thursday night game over Utah, before going on the road against Stanford who Oregon State put a hard fought effort against last year but not scoring in Stanford territory led to a loss, expect Oregon State to lose to them again this year. Oregon State then wins home games over Cal and Washington State before the home game against Arizona State, where Oregon State will lose in a shootout. Oregon State then plays at Washington who they suffered an embarrassing 69-27 home loss against last year, I don't think Oregon State will have that kind of meltdown again, but still expect a loss there. Oregon State then hosts rival Oregon in the regular season finale, last year they nearly got that win over Oregon that they've been trying to get for a while now, but came up a point short, for this year unless Mariota isn't healthy again expect Oregon State's losing streak against Oregon to continue.
Predicted Record: 7-5(4-5)
Disappointed...waited all year for this "vanilla pudding" post?
Beavs really do play USC, Stanford and Oregon tough...yet we go 0-3 in all? ASU in a "shootout" @ our house? Perhaps, but we play them tough as well...0-4 now and yeah, we have to g up to BIG BAD HuskieLand after getting blown out last year, which is the one game that looks to be the toughest to win on the road to me. Again we lose in your senario, 0-5 now against these 5 teams. Well I see 3 wins in that grouping.
signed...
"Out on an island...AGAIN!"
You play USC early in the year while they're still healthy, play Stanford on the road, and you haven't beaten Oregon since 2007.
Arizona State is your best chance out of the 5 games, but both defenses aren't that good this year, but Oregon State's does have more promise, Arizona State has the better offense though, and that gave them the edge.
3 wins would only be possible if your defense can return to it's 2012 form, and with Scott Crichton the best player on the defense last year(believe me I know, he absolutely wrecked us in the bowl game) now gone to the NFL, I don't think it's very likely.
What is missing here in your predict is a "newly found" Beav run game, which IF effective this year will keep opposing teams on the bench longer. Yeah the YTD rush record for last year stunk, but NOT THE LAST 2 games of the year. O-line was riddled with injuries as was the D. Saw vast improvement in both by years end.
As for Stanford, we are close to this team...should have beaten em the last two times we played for as good as they were. I like our chances even IF we play down there. Oregon escape a wonderfully played game by us as well (see run stats here).
BTW...
I am glad we play USC early this year, they have a new QB, coaching staff and a ton of Qs across the board as well. Maybe we bite them in the azzler for the 1st time in about 20 years down there as well.
It would have been nice to see you give a "best case" 10-2 year as well as the worse case 7-5 predict you chose. But that's why the games are played.
Disappointed...waited all year for this "vanilla pudding" post?
Beavs really do play USC, Stanford and Oregon tough...yet we go 0-3 in all? ASU in a "shootout" @ our house? Perhaps, but we play them tough as well...0-4 now and yeah, we have to g up to BIG BAD HuskieLand after getting blown out last year, which is the one game that looks to be the toughest to win on the road to me. Again we lose in your senario, 0-5 now against these 5 teams. Well I see 3 wins in that grouping.
signed...
"Out on an island...AGAIN!"