Sean does have his strengths.  He can throw almost any ball a QB needs too. However, he can’t be forcing it into the middle and needs the running game to add unpredictability to a balanced attack.  Recently someone posted a link that Riley has one of the most balanced attacks in college football.  Over his career it is true that balance has generally been good.  That report was almost exactly like one I had seen the year before where Hawaii actually was tops but was thrown out for too small of sample size or something.  It was not based off the last couple years where the running game has been less effective but rather off the backs of such dependable workhorses as Steven Jackson, Yvenson Bernard and Jacquizz Rodgers.  Time will tell how close Storm Woods or Downtown Brown can get to that kind of production, but last year we simply weren’t very good.

So who will be the key targets this year?  Most fans believe Markus Wheaton will be our #1 go to guy.  Both he and Cooks are almost locks to be starting every game.  Whether executing sweeps or reverses both have the needed speed burst.  I do think however we need to look at lining one of these speed demons in RB position every once in awhile to give the defense something else to worry about.  Pac-12 defenses have been preparing for our sweeps for so many years now that it just seems we need a new wrinkle to have the element of surprise.  Jordan Bishop is a high jumper who has made some athletic catches the past couple seasons but he is less than 100% after some prior ankle injuries.   Therefore, look for “Boom” Gwacham to get a lot of time at slot.  Fans may just get their wish for Obum to be thrown some jump ball fades in the endzones.

Last year Wheaton led OSU with 73 catches for 986 yards.  He averaged 13.5 yards per catch.  Sadly, and this killed OSU, he only scored one touchdown the entire season.  Riley’s and Langsdorf’s offense bogged down last year in the red zone.  Cooks had 31 catches for 391 yards (12.6 yds/catch) and had three touchdowns.  Cooks will need to get stronger and more physical this year to get more yardage after the catch and help find himself more space in getting open.  Part of me wonders if the Cooks and especially Wheaton yardage per catch average is too high and if this leads to more interceptions.  We may want to ideally be closer to 11 yards per catch this year.

Another question is if 6-4, true freshman Malik Gilmore will play in his first season or be redshirted.  He would present another big target but do you spend a year of elegibility on a season that looks to most likely have 5 or 6 wins?  Because of our depth I might lean to redshirting him.  It looked like Riley’s plan was to play freshman Richard Mullaney this year instead who had a strong spring.  However, just before the spring scrimmage he had a small tear in a thumb ligament that required surgery.  It remains to be seen if he will be 100% by the fall and a real factor for OSU this year.  Hopefully he can and will be.  Junior slotback Kevin Cummings also showed some signs of developing this spring and hopefully will be a consistent contributor as well.  Similarly, Geno Munoz has shown flashes in the past but looks to have more catches for OSU in 2012.  Our other flanker besides Cooks is Micah Hatfield.  He has shown a tad more than Cummings to this point but not yet shown much impact in winning games.

Below is the projected depth chart.

Flanker

13 Brandin Cooks 5-9 177 sophomore (Stockton, Calif.)

81 Micah Hatfield 6-1 174 junior (Lake Oswego)

Split end

2 Markus Wheaton 6-0 180 senior (Chandler, Ariz.)

18 Geno Munoz 6-0 190 senior (Tacoma, Wash.)

8 Richard Mullaney 6-1, 182 redshirt freshman (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)

Slotback

23 Jordan Bishop 6-3 205 senior (Salem)

86 Obum Gwacham 6-5 223 sophomore (Chini Hills, Calif.)

84 Kevin Cummings 6-1 178 junior (Culver City, Calif.)

21 Mitch Singler 6-2 202 junior (Medford)

Tight end/H-back

82 Colby Prince 6-5 260 senior (Albany)

89 Conner Hamlett 6-7 257 sophomore (Edmonds, Wash.)

88 Tyler Perry 6-4 241 sophomore (Ventura, Calif.)

83 Kellen Clute 6-4 220 redshirt freshman (Spokane, Wash.)

– Caleb Smith 6-6 250 freshman (Renton, Wash.)

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I have stated I think the time for the Mike Riley era to wind down is fast approaching. He just doesn’t fit the new Pac-12 mold of what the conference will be. He is not dynamic, very interesting and frankly furthers the image of OSU as stuck in a bygone era and reluctant to get with the times. Neither does he ever have a press conference, or BDC for that matter, that tries to raise the level of expectations. Truth is he and BDC are way too comfortable in their ways and to be frank prefer to keep expectations low. It just keeps things nice and calm and slow which is how they like it in Corvallis. All of this hurts Oregon State and its chances to ever be a nationally interesting program that is regularly ranked in the Top 25.

The icing on the cake came for me last night when I was listening to an Ashton Kutcher Bloomberg inteview on his new Youtube channel that has high hopes to compete with the national broadcasters. Ashton actually is respected in the tech world and stays up to date with and helps push new trends in social media and technology. His words on why they believe in their new channel were quite revealing on why OSU is destined to fail if it refuses to evolve. The quote was “If you don’t cannibalize yourself, somebody else will cannibalize you. I believe that if you’re not constantly trying to replace what you are currently working on with something that is the future of what people are going to be engaged in, eventually you’ll get replaced.” BINGO.

Riley trying to stick around as long as he can and the same with BDC goes directly against this. It only compounds itself and gets much worse when you are so sluggish to change or adapt. Cannabilizing yourself to make sure you don’t get caught in an ugly rut could easily have been replacing Langsdorf and/or Mark Banker. Not at OSU though where the “I’m OK, you’re OK” mentality between Riley and BDC has hunkered down. More OSU fans are realizing we are one of the most slow Athletic Departments in the Western US and rarely act decisively or boldy to enact needed change.

The thing is Ashton is dead on right. If OSU doesn’t do it themselves it will be done for them. Proof of this is the fact that even with one of the best schedules in the last decade with both Wisconsin and Oregon at home and 7 total home games, that season ticket sales are down more than 3000 overall. I predicted that almost exactly by the way when I said I saw around 42,000 as likely average attendance this year. Better for a couple games but perhaps barely topping 38K for Nicholls St. If we do only win 5 games this year, do you think next year will be better when the schedule takes a noticeable dip in the odd years? You might only get 40-41K if that is how it plays out.

Yes the 2013 rebranding can help a little and maybe bring next year to close to 42K but it isn’t the evolution Larry Scott or Ashton are talking about that really could allow OSU to adapt into a modern winner. First of all BDC and Riley will probably make it too conservative and second, to truly be effective rebranding, there needs to be new leadership so it is a new dawn for OSU Football. BDC said this about the new branding, “You can’t influence every single demographic group. Is it about recruiting, taking it to retail, to Beaver Nation – what is it? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be powerful. Those different uniforms and helmets, that stuff’s all slick. But if you don’t win in the field, it doesn’t do much good.”

While he is right that “powerful” is key for the new branding, he sabotages himself in the final sentence and reveals plenty of doubt in Riley. If you don’t win on the field then it doesn’t make the impact it could. How true and even more so if you are using all the same old coaches that have been downward trending for years now. We don’t have the time to wait and stay non-relevant for Riley to play around near the 5 or 6 win mark for several more years. Truth is after that, as he continues to become less interesting to recruits he is most likely to have a double bottom and hit just 3 wins again rather than 8 or more. If OSU wants to maximize its new branding it would get 300% more impact from bringing in the right successor to be the new head coach. Someone that will forge a tougher identity and can make OSU a destination Pac-12 program.

It was possible last year with Leach and they drew strong crowds for their Spring Game as the excitement of a new day for them has done wonders. They also negotiated their own ESPN radio contract all off the Leach hire. OSU should have atleast been looking at new coordinators last year but only the multiple progressive and serious schools like Washington, WSU and Arizona took action. Holt was a friend of Sarkisian but when Steve saw a solid upgrade possible with the likes of Justin Wilcox he made the phone calls and made it happen. OSU could one up the Huskies and make a statement that a once Duck and Dawg is going to go traiterous and usher in a new aggressive era for OSU. We have the ability to pursue Wilcox and strip UW of a rising commodity just before they open their new stadium and make OSU a serious player moving forward.

That won’t happen though if OSU sticks to its stale and slow ways. New branding will be minimized if the powerful imagery has the ‘sheriff of Mayberry’ behind it. With the right next hire we can generate new and exciting buzz in Corvallis just like they are doing in Pullman. Larry Scott could quit having to doubt if Riley is capable of keeping up with his plans. We could start selling out the stadium with the right branding and right leader and get to where Raising Reser Phase 3 can be done. With Riley we are going to be wandering in the desert for too long with no real mission or true agenda to rival the Ducks or the best of the Pac-12. Without changes the stagnation will soon enough overtake Riley and BDC. If they don’t evolve they will get replaced.  Very soon Oregon will have higher attendance at their Spring Game than we have for the Civil War.  How do you like them apples?

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My thoughts this morning while looking at the available targets for the PAC were that it is pretty sad we are talking about such teams.  Oklahoma, one of the premier blue blood programs in the nation, and Oklahoma St., a new perennial national program with T. Boone were casually written off by the Pac-12 presidents.  That is an example of presidents not always knowing best.   They were stuck in their slow pace of change thinking and thought, “Hey, we just became the Pac-12″.  The clued in people, were adamant that superconferences would be near and were without doubt inevitable.  Didn’t matter if it was in 2, 3, 6, or 12 more years.  You could bank on plenty more movement ahead.

As I wrote about last September if you have a chance at a PAC-14 you have to take it.  Once those two were in, not only were you much stronger and respected right there, but you also essentially guarantee the PAC-16 would be great as well.  Odds would have been 85% or higher Texas would have followed, but if the LHN was too big a deal we could wait a year or two at most and still have great options.  KU/MU was still possible at the time.  KU/KSU was the worst we could have done but logistically it would have worked pretty good.  It was just that two Texas schools would best capture markets.  TT/KU was a pretty good option since PAC basketball would become instantly among the most elite.  UCLA is doing great recruiting wise but you are looking for more premier content for the PAC Networks.  I even stated that TCU/TT should be considered and we should get over this Pac-12 president think.  One school like TCU does not have much impact on the overall culture and they have a nice campus and are doing great work right now on an expensive stadium improvement of a new side of their stadium.

The bottom line is with OU/OSU on board we would have had our beachhead and been in the cat bird’s seat.  The presidents for whatever reason were not most interested in being as strong a conference as they could and guaranteeing they would always be positioned as such.  Now, I think we have to look at UNLV and Nevada for the future.  Then maybe BYU and BSU or SDSU are the next best overall for the conference.   There wasn’t enough foresight by these presidents though.  The Pac-12 already has too much weight in the middle and not enough elite programs at the top.  That means too many games in between as you wait for those most exciting programs.  If I was USC I would start to get annoyed with how many average programs they have to go against.

In life you always have to strike while the iron is hot and we could have had both OU and OSU and had a league that never again would have had any jokes about it struggling somewhat against other premier conferences.  Even the before joked about Baylor actually has good potential now moving forward.  They are going to build a beautiful stadium by a river and they have a strong recruiting base.  They always seem to be in the NCAA basketball tournament in both men’s and women’s as well.

I still think the PAC would be wise to get into Texas.  In a few years UTSA will have enough potential.  They are improving pretty fast and San Antonio/Southern Texas is one of the best markets out there where future growth will be big.  Who to pair them with is the question?  Houston would probably be the smartest choice.  Houston is the biggest metropolis of South Texas.  You could have Nevada/UNLV join the North and those two Texas schools join the South.  USC, and the other South teams will get a boost from more Texas recruiting and overall even under a decade later and continually moving forward this grouping would provide the PAC its strongest recruiting base, exposure, markets, etc.  I don’t expect the Pac-12 presidents or ADs to get it immediately but when they move on to become Big 12 commishioners and become your serious competition, you just have to realize that the landscape will move with or without you.

The strong rumor is the Big 12 will expand this summer, with atleast 2 teams.  Possibly Florida St. and Clemson or Louisville.  They also are said to have started behind doors talks with Georgia Tech, Maryland and Notre Dame.  Notre Dame/BYU could even get a combined deal where ND remains independent for Football but joins for all other sports.  The other possibility mentioned in the past is a ND playing half their schedule against Big 12 opponents and the rest amongst traditionally scheduled foes.  I am not sold on the ND talk, and I think MD prefers the Big Ten but I would say that gap has the potential to narrow for them.  If the Big 12 raids two ACC schools many believe the SEC would follow by adding NC State and Virginia Tech to become the first 16 team league.  I personally have a strong belief that the SEC will be at 16 teams by 2014 at the latest.  They have a lot of money to make off a SEC Network and the balance of their divisions and scheduling would also be improved.

The talk is Oklahoma wants the Big 12 to be a 14 team league sooner rather than later.  Ironically, the West Virginia add and having 6 spots left gives them great flexibility.  Their new TV deal is expected to be 20 million per team but preserves all Tier 3 rights for schools.  That can be good for certain select schools, but overall the conference Network model as the Pac-12 has will without doubt prove to be the clear winner and most successful.  The Big 12 does have expansion clauses though where their deal can go up some and a Championship Game also will likely provide a few extra million per team.

I don’t know about you but if we were getting ready for Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. coming into all the Pac-12 stadiums this year I would feel amazing.  Every team those two play would be a premier event and only serve to bolster up the entire conference.  I have no doubt even ole OSU would have been forced to evolve into a tougher player.  The same can’t be said if we add UNLV, even though they are one of the few decent fits left.

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A couple astute Pure-Orange posters have commented that Riley will have a very short leash and should we not start quickly that fan rancor will quickly snowball. I believe these posters are spot on with the realities of the situation. Today while on Twitter I had to laugh at the comment from Lindsey Schnell. I think she takes the cake as apologist #1 right now. She is fine stating before the season starts that no matter how poorly Riley does she is hearing he should be okay. The FireMikeRiley blogger has it right that such statements are ridiculous. The trend has not only been going downhill, but going downhill fast and in large chunks. Riley is not #2 on the national college hot seat list for nothing. He is there because of the programs in major conferences he has one of the very worst declining performances over several seasons.

Tripbill from Pure-Orange said it best in his recent “Bowl or Bust” comment. His well stated words were “If OSU doesn’t make a bowl, any bowl, Riley should be gone. It shouldn’t even be a question.” Riley has all the opportunity in the world this year. It is up to him. We could have had a senior Ryan Katz who very likely would produce 6+ wins this season, but what we will get is Riley’s second year with Mannion in charge. It is Riley’s responsibility above anyone elses that his experiment be the right one this year. There is a strong case that Katz would have produced atleast one if not two more wins last year as Mannion’s interceptions and less elusive ability were costly. Mannion has some real strengths that I acknowledge but the bottom line is getting Wins and avoiding Losses. That is job #1 for every head coach.

I just was watching a replay of the Oregon Spring Game (they had a real game that drew about 44,200 fans) and I immediately took note of words Chip Kelly used while being interviewed. The main word I kept hearing again and again was Chip saying he was ‘confident.’ He was talking about his belief in his team to win every game they play and what their capabilities as a unit are. I have hardly ever heard Riley use that term and if he has it was not in regards to winning. No, I am sorry but Riley does not get a preseason pass with no importance placed on results. Rather, Riley has to put his big boy pants on and go out there and start winning some Pac-12 football games. Cliff from the GT is right about Riley games vs. new coaches being important and one reason is because it will quickly be apparent that a 1 year old Pac-12 coach can be just as effective as a 12 year excuse ridden old-timer who is stuck in his ways.

‘Fightingbeaver’ on angrybeavs also recently had many valid points. He talked about ‘beaverbeliver’ still being just as much of a beaver fan as any apologist. Truer words were never spoken. That is my case as well. I am a lifelong OSU fan regardless of who happens to be coach at the time. I will root for the players and team but should we have another lackluster year as I expect, I firmly will support what is best for Oregon State. Short of 7 wins, I believe that is without doubt to go in another direction and move on a hot upcomer like Justin Wilcox before another opportunity vanishes.  BDC already missed a legit shot at Leach because he was too lazy to pick up the phone.

If Riley truely thought OSU was worth its salt he would not ask its fans to accept mediocrity and worse. Riley is the guy who thought he deserved a near lifetime deal for scoring 3 points in a Sun Bowl and getting embarassed by BYU in a 5th place bowl. OSU fans need to think more highly of their potential then to act like 12 years for that has done anything for the program. Truth is, as of this moment we are in a lower place then we were back in 1998.  Today’s quote from former Big East commish John Marinatto is likely to be useful for OSU soon.  “I felt this was the right time to step aside and to let someone else lead us through the next chapter of our evolution.”

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I don’t think so. I like the fact that Woods is a great ball catcher and can be used for short passes and strikes from the backfield. It seems like the plan for Woods is the right one. I’m also sure it helps to have the receivers spreading the field to help Woods or “Downtown” Brown on delayed draws for example. But I do wonder if using Wheaton and Cooks only for fly sweeps is the only way to use those two in the running game. I think we may need more short crossing routes that are set up with good blocking or cut offs by refs or whatever to get the ball into our speediest players hands more often. Too often the attempted passes to Wheaton or Cooks are 15+ yards downfield. Sounds good, but the blocking doesn’t always hold up and the likelihood of interceptions climbs the longer you wait.

I’m not saying cut that out of the game, but be leary of fairly moderate to deep balls over the middle. I also would like to see OSU work on a hook and ladder play where we culd start off with a throw to Wheaton or Cooks and then as they cross each other the ball could be flipped to the other. It seems like OSU rarely gets too creative even when they have the speed to make it effective. When OSU does a reverse on kickoffs with the unexpected ditch off to a streaking Wheaton I have seen that play go for a lot of yards. Nothing says you can’t try something like that if it is there during normal play either. Maybe even line one of them in RB formation at times.

The main point is we have to get the ball into the hands of our skill players any way possible. Wheaton or Cooks either just getting one or two catches a game is not going to earn OSU any wins. So we have to find ways to get them the ball and then spring them loose. If De’Anthony is going to rush for 1300-1500 yards this year it just seems like Wheaton and Cooks, who have better speed, need to be nearly as impactful. That job is up to Mike Riley, Langsdorf and staff. Riley is most comfortable in his traditional sets but opposing teams have been preparing for them for 12 years now. He has to have a few more tricks up his sleeve and get the opponent off balance and caught on their heels.

OSU may not have speed everywhere but hardly anybody does. The speed is at the skill positions and the coaching must find the ways to maximize it. Chip Kelly does the best job in the nation at that. Mike Riley is still figuring it out. We should have a good tandem at RB this year, but Mannion has to sell some of his fake handoffs better and look off the intended receiver. Deception is a key part of the puzzle as Oregon has proven. The game isn’t about just running routes and trying to beat your man and then delivering the throw. It is about all the things you do before that to get that guy open and not often suspected as the intended recipient. Unpredictability is important. Remember that Langsdorf.

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So for this year, to not be Custer’s last stand, what will Riley have to do and what are the biggest 3 games that will define the 2012 season?  Since we exist in a strange realm where UCLA considered appearing in the Pac-12 Championship sub-mediocre and enough to fire Neuheisel but OSU thought 3 wins was “due to injuries and young players” and not all that bad, and Riley gets a Hitchcockian do-over, let’s take a look.  I think early on @UCLA will be very important.  Last time we were down in the Rose Bowl taking on the Bruins UCLA got the benefit of getting out of bounds with a second left and then hitting a field goal as time expired to beat the Beavers in a game OSU controlled most of the way.  That game played a big part in just a 5 win season in 2010 as did the @Washington loss.

OSU needs to win in LA to help future recruiting and improve our reputation down there that has taken a dent in the last 2 years.  Winning @UCLA will help prepare us mentally to try to be ready to to beat Arizona and Rich Rodriguez in Tuscon the following week.  That game won’t be easy and we will need the momentum carryover if at all possible.  After that is Washington St. at home and I guarantee Mike Leach wants to win that game and try to put OSU in the basement of the NW schools.  WSU lately is taking its games in all sports vs. OSU very seriously.

The second big game that will define the season is against Utah at home.  Like the earlier game vs. UCLA it is also quite winnable.  The theme this year is win games you can win that will make a big difference to the season.  If we lose this game the odds are the season will be 5-7 at best and we will not be going to any bowl, no matter how small, for the 3rd straight year.  This is a game that could impact the future of Mike Riley.  You have to win games like this where you are likely very small favorites.  We didn’t stack the box in Salt Lake but will we in Corvallis and can Riley show he can beat Whittingham in the comforting confines of Reser?  This is the Lake Trasimene battle for 2012 so Riley better have a trick up his sleeves.  He will need the ‘W’.

Following Utah is the game against Washington at CenturyLink field.  As tempting as it was to have this be one of the key battles I am trying to find games where Riley has better odds.  We can beat UW up there and it would be a big win for OSU but the history is we come up just short in Seattle and with a Justin Wilcox defense I believe the margin of victory will be more like 10-12 points for UW this year.  No doubt I would love to win that game though.

The final battle and the biggest for 2012, that will be this year’s Cannae, will be @Stanford.  There is no more Andrew Luck.  We can now better measure Harbaugh vs Shaw.  I do think Shaw is a pretty good coach that has a solid approach to the game and also teaches toughness to his players.  Stanford, like Oregon, will still have a strong offensive line.   Beating Stanford in Palo Alto is perhaps unlikely but this is a year a couple teams atleast should be able to do it.  If Riley wants to improve his image he needs a big road win.  @UCLA isn’t of the same level.  That is barely a mid-level road win.  @Stanford or Washington is another level up and especially with UW making strides into what looks like a rising program.  Riley seems like he will never beat Oregon, but less than 4 years ago if he could have gotten a touchdown in the final moments against Stanford we could have chiseled our way into a Rose Bowl despite the Civil War result.  That game shows how crucial it is to get early season victories.  If Riley wants some serious momentum for 2012 a stunning upset of Wisconsin would get all of Beaver Nation back in good spirits and provide a lift for the entire season.  Don’t see that happening, but all these opportunities are out there.  Beat Stanford on the road and I say we are going bowling.  Maybe New Mexico, maybe a Hunger Bowl but we should be playing in late December.

We finish the season with California and Oregon at home.  California is a pretty big game that Riley can’t afford to lose.  We have good trends against them for the most part and Riley needs to “Finish Them.”  Finally, the Civil War in Corvallis presents that huge carot that OSU must try to seize.  Kelly though seems to do his homework too much for that to happen.  Alot has to go right to beat the Ducks.  You have to cause atleast 2 if not 3 turnovers and score touchdowns and not field goals on many of your own possessions.  If you have a bad quarter it is pretty much over.  Oregon will likely be running wild with the Black Mamba and let’s just hope Oregon fans don’t bring their lighters this year.

In all, Riley will again get plenty of opportunities to prove he can coach in a dynamic and improving Pac-12 playing field.  For 2012 to be 6 wins Riley may need to win both @UCLA and Utah.  He certainly will need atleast one and some other minor upset.  Those games are perhaps his best bet for a better season though.  Winning @Stanford or @UW would lend Riley more credibility.  With no big wins last year, Riley needs to prove he can have more than a tiny upset atleast once in 2+ seasons.  Fans will be restless if Riley does not reach 6 wins this year.  He has more running talent and good passing options as well.  Leaders need to emerge.  Woods, Mannion, and a more vocal Wheaton would all be good.

Mannion can’t stare down receivers or his picks will remain high and OSU will come up short in too many games.  If we get behind we have to keep running.  Our percentages were all out of whack and Langsdorf got way too pass happy in those situations last year.  The odds prove that will almost never work.  You have to keep your balanced attack and get yourself in position to win the game in the late 3rd and then 4th quarter.  For Riley’s sake he better be ready to yank playcalling should he sense Langs wanting to be mostly air with little ground attack.  I am predicting 5 wins unless we beat both UCLA and Utah.  Then I see 6 wins and the New Mexico or Hunger Bowl.

At the end of the season BDC has an important decision to make.  We will be getting new branding and if you want an upcomer like Justin Wilcox you have to strike while the iron is hot or you never seize the limited good opportunities that make themselves available.  He is already being paid $800,000 and at the end of this year might be the only time he would seriously consider OSU.  He is very likely to be a head coach within 2 years and even if he somehow wasn’t he would be up to $1,000,000 a year at UW if they get stronger as is the trend they are on.  To get noticed and be relevant you have to take bold action and want to compete with the best.  BDC needs to see this not as anything against Riley, but a next logical step that will have OSU relevant and a destination program for the rest of the decade.

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BDC can’t afford the same mistake this year.  The only way his decision benefits OSU is if he is ready to spring into action and secure our next winning head coach that can take the torch from Riley.  Riley sticking around for 4 or 5 more years will be bad for the program and we will get nowhere so that is not an option.  Riley needs to accept he is in his final year most likely and that it is time for the handoff for the good of OSU.  Short of 7 wins this year there is no other choice.  Even then he should probably end on a modest note and allow the next stage for OSU to progress further and in a healthy manner.  He can go out with a New Mexico Bowl win if he can get there.

BDC needs to have his feelers out by midseason just to guage interest and be ready to strike the second the season ends.  One solid option is Gary Andersen of Utah State.  He uses spread elements with fast skill players and QBs that can also run.  He was defensive coordinator of the 2008 Sugar Bowl Utah team that finished #2 in the nation.  He probably is superior to Whittingham.  While his sexy factor is just a little above average he has the style that would get OSU some key wins many years and have us back to where we are in a bowl the vast majority of our seasons.  I figure he would average 7.3-7.45 wins a year at OSU.  He relishes big games and would never come close to being defeated by Stanford 38-0 as has become old hat for Riley.

Another possibility is Justin Wilcox, the new defensive coordinator at Washington.  He would be a sexy upcoming hire who could maximize the new branding coming next year for Oregon State.  He would sell tickets and have a Spring Game with 8,000 fans in his first year.  He just would.  He is not the excuses type.  I see him as producing 7-7.2 wins a year on average for Oregon State.  He might win a tad less than Andersen but the cool image factor would be bounds ahead of where it is with Riley.  I could see us getting more high profile recruits and becoming a much more destination program.

I personally see this year as most likely 5 or 6 wins.  In both cases Riley needs to step aside.  What I fear is the 7 win season that could save Riley’s job when it really is time to move on.  Then what, play this dance for a couple more years?  I also fear a 6 win situation where BDC gets gunshy.  6 wins won’t make a bowl in future years as Larry Scott will change that rule this offseason or the next.  Even if we do make a New Mexico or Hunger Bowl it isn’t enough.  We need to take our next evolutionary step.  Have some names in your head, make some phone calls around halfway through the season and start acting like a Pac-12 university with higher standards and expectations.  We aren’t even acting better than about half the MWC programs out there right now.

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With our new marketing guru hired it sure seems like just a repeat of last year. Having Truax open for an hour or so on Fan Fest day does not 1/1000th equal having the Moshofsky Center open 3 hours prior to kickoff on actual gamedays as fan fervor takes over and basically guarantees the Ducks will win. Will OSU step up to the rest of the Pac-12′s bold actions and atleast try to raise its game? One can only hope BDC and Riley will take on the challenge of being a true rival to the Ducks and not accept being seen as near Washington Generals in comparison on the football field.

What OSU needs is a Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens atmosphere of physical and fast play and rowdy fans. BDC and Riley almost seem to encourage something closer to English high noon teatime. How about handing out some Rowdy Rags at Fan Fest that can be our version of Terrible Towels? If OSU is going to win the vast majority of its home games the culture must change to a much more involved crowd that is spurring on the action throughout all 4 quarters. Then things like remaining quiet as Quizz is thrown 15 yards out of bounds would never happen because the crowd would be erupting and waving in frenzied unison. Instead we have too casual of coaches and the fans are mimicing the often passive attitude.

Watching Grimm last night on ABC they had an episode about a lodge of Beaver people. These people had some positive traits but their main fault was being too timid. Right now I think that applies to the OSU program and our current leadership. We never get a press conference from either Riley or BDC that states they intend to win more than 6 games. It doesn’t matter if we are expected to be better or not. The standard is never defined and appears like it really is 6 wins since that very definition of mediocrity earns an extension. Anything past that is sweetener but not to be expected. This approach has alot to do with why 8 wins seasons will be a rarity if we move forward past this season with Riley.

He never has once had a preseason statement that he likes this team and believes they can win the conference and are very confident in 8+ wins. You never hear it and the expectations are simply set too low. Very little will be different at today’s Fan Fest. If you have your 9 year old in Truax take a picture with your iPhone or Android device. As an adult interested in winning in the fall you may not have a chance to share a great Truax Gameday experience with fellow serious fans that also believe OSU Football could be much greater if it chose to be.

Oregon State Fan Fest - Beaver Byte - Beaver Byte - An Oregon State Beavers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

OSU’s Brandon Hardin: NFL Draft - Beaver Byte - Beaver Byte - An Oregon State Beavers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.