Oregon State Beavers
Pac-12
Oregon State got off to a bad start, losing to FCS member Eastern Washington 49-46 on the opening weekend of the season. For a while after that, it appeared as though the Beavers were back on track. They won their next six contests, including pretty easy victories over Colorado, Washington State and California. But when the schedule got tougher, it became clear that OSU was not on par with the top teams in the Pac-12. Coach Mike Riley’s squad lost their final five regular season games of the year.
2013 Record: 6-6, 4-5
Coach: Mike Riley
Coach Bowl Record: 5-2
Big Wins: 10/12 at Washington State (52-24), 10/19 at California (49-17)
Bad Losses: 8/31 Eastern Washington (46-49), 11/23 Washington (27-69)
Strengths:
Oregon State has no problem getting into a shootout. Quarterback Sean Mannion has a great arm and completed 66.0 percent of his 570 pass attempts on the season. He threw for 4,403 yards and 36 touchdowns. That is a lot of yards. It seems like every pass goes to Brandin Cooks. The 5-10 junior caught 120 passes for 1,670 yards and 15 touchdowns. While Cooks rightfully garners most of the attention from the opposition, Richard Mullaney and tight end Connor Hamlett are more than capable of taking advantage of single coverage. This is the third best passing offense in the nation and the Beavers are going to look to the air first, but they do have a couple decent running backs who can mix things up. Terron Ward rushed for a team high 467 yards. Storm Woods added 370 yards and five touchdowns. Woods is especially dangerous as a pass catcher and was third on the team with 45 receptions.
Weaknesses:
The Beavers defense allows about 200 yards per game on the ground. Even with the explosive offense, it is hard to win many games when the other team can just run up the gut effectively. The pass defense is not particularly great either. This is a unit that will take risks and hope for the best. And often that does work. With help from the pressure provided by defensive end Scott Crichton, the Beavers have intercepted 19 passes. Cornerbacks Steven Nelson and Rashaad Reynolds have six apiece. Safety Ryan Murphy added three. The offense will commit quite a few turnovers of their own, but the turnover battle has made all of the difference. In their four conference wins, Oregon State committed fewer turnovers than their opponent. The 16-6 turnover ratio in those four contests was very impressive and they will need to get back creating turnovers if they hope to win a bowl game for the first time since 2008.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: Terron Ward, RB, 467 yards
Passing: Sean Mannion, QB, 4,403 yards
Receiving: Brandin Cooks, WR, 1,670 yards
Tackles: Tyrequek Zimmerman, S, 93
Sacks: Scott Crichton, DE, 6.5
Interceptions: Steven Nelson, CB, 6; Rashaad Reynolds, CB, 6
2013 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 86.0 (118th in nation, 11th in conference)
Passing Offense: 382.1 (3, 1)
Total Offense: 468.1 (25, 4)
Scoring Offense: 34.5 (31, 5)
Rushing Defense: 193.2 (91, 11)
Pass Defense: 235.0 (74, 6)
Total Defense: 428.2 (92, 9)
Scoring Defense: 32.1 (94, 10)
Turnover Margin: 0.2 (51, 7)
Sacks: 1.67 (85, 9)
Sacks Allowed: 2.08 (69, 6)
Recent Bowl Appearances:
2012 Alamo Bowl Texas (27-31)
2009 Las Vegas Bowl BYU (20-44)
2008 Sun Bowl Pittsburgh (3-0)
2007 Emerald Bowl Maryland (21-14)
2006 Sun Bowl Missouri (39-38)
2004 Insight Bowl Notre Dame (38-21)
*all team stats through 11/30
