OSU @ Utah

I expect this to be an entertaining football game.  Things seem like they are getting back to normal and Oregon State is now playing like a team that will be above .500 next year.  Utah won’t be a pushover at home and for the Beavers to win I believe they have to have the kind of balance they had last week agianst WSU and avoid turnovers at all costs.   The two biggest lessons the players are learning in my mind is the importance of the running game to establish balance with the passing game and that avoiding or creating turnovers is critical towards the final outcome.

OSU needs to again make it their goal to get Agnew 100 yards.  Utah is effective against the run but Agnew is a good runner and Oregon St. needs to remain patient and keep with it.  This will greatly help to keep down the likelihood of interceptions in the passing game because the defense feels they can cheat some.  Mannion needs to mix it up like they did last week and players have to be positive to the day’s goal from the start.  As long as multiple players look like they are providing leadership, I believe Oregon St. will end up with the ‘W’ even if it is a tight contest.  It will take Crichton stepping up again on D along with Poyer, Henry and whoever else can join the effort in strong fashion.  Hopefully our DBs all have pretty good games and don’t get many tacky calls against them.  Technique seems to be improving and they are playing as a unit with a purpose more so I am hopeful.

Wheaton, Rodgers and Halahuni all looked good last week and made key contributions.  Cooks also made some big plays so hopefully he and Jordan Bishop can also be active.  Gwacham looks like he will get in there for some routes and I expect he will get at least one reception in this game.  Keep looking for the tight end in certain situations where it can be a higher percentage throw.  3rd downs and the red zone are two examples.  Andrew Luck makes great use of the TE and Mannion looks like he also is getting good at finding the open targets on the field.  I expect a close halftime score.  I will go with OSU 17, Utah 14.

The second half also has some production from both teams.  I think this game ends 31-27 with OSU getting back to back wins and making their fans happy and continuing to see the potential of the team in future years with Mannion continuing to show progress.  There will be a few sloppy plays but OSU will do enough to come out of Salt Lake with another ‘W’.  As a final note I hope we get much better at not having so many dumb procedural penalties like false starts and that 5 men in the backfield thing that happened a couple times last week.  Stay focused Remmers.  We can’t afford movement to stall key scoring opportunities and we need to get TDs not field goals from the red zone.

OSU 31,  Utah 27