Mike Riley has done a pretty amazing job at Oregon St., and although I think USC will win Thursday night in Corvallis, the Beavers always seem to play the Trojans tough. Southern Cal racked up 3 2nd quarter touchdowns a year ago, then coasted through a scoreless 2nd half en route to a 24-3 win at the Coliseum. But in 2006, the Beavers stunned John David Booty and the then undefeated Trojans 33-31 in Corvallis, and in 2004, Oregon St. hung with the Matt Leinert/Reggie Bush/LenDale White Trojans for the whole game winning just 28-20.
On Friday, Ireland was arguing that he’d take USC –24.5 right now for the UCLA game in December. He’d probably lay 31 after UCLA got skunked by Arizona at the Rose Bowl Saturday, but in the last 2 years, USC has regularly played down to its Pac 10 competition. In fact, if you’d have bet USC and laid 24.5 in every Pac 10 game the last 2 seasons, you would have cashed only 3 winning tickets.
John and I have known Riley for years – through his assistant coaching days at USC and his head coaching days with the San Diego Chargers – and he is an engaging guy. In our conversation with him this week, he talks about his hands-on approach to recruiting and that he often crosses paths with Pete Carroll on the recruiting trail.
This is actually Mike Riley's 2nd go-round in Corvallis. He left USC's coaching staff in 1997, and spent 2 years transitioning from the wishbone to a pro-style offense. He was 3-8 his first year and 5-6 in year 2, but football people believe that he laid the foundation for future success. He went south, taking the San Diego Chargers head coaching job while Dennis Erickson took his players and went 7-5, the first time the program finished above .500 in 28 years. Meanwhile, Riley started out 1-15 with the Chargers ad was ousted after 3 years with a 14-34 record.
He returned to Corvallis in 2003, and he has done some remarkable things if you grade on a scale (after all the program did go 28 years without a winning record). Oregon St. has the longest active bowl game winning streak in the Pac 10 with 4 in a row. The Beavers have the 2nd best conference record over the last 2 years at 19-8. And, OSU joins USC as the only Pac 10 school to finish the last 2 seasons in the AP Top 25.
This is all a way of saying that USC should not take Riley and his Beavers lightly.
Oregon St. lost its opener on the road at Stanford 36-28 and then they got whacked at Penn St.. They rebounded in their home opener against Hawaii 45-7, and like USC, they have a "half bye" (about 10 days to prepare for the game on Thursday). Lyle Moevao is the starting quarterback, a junior from North Torrance before playing 1 season of JC at El Camino. After redshirting at Oregon St. in 2006, he began to contribute last year, and was actually 4-0 as the starter. He doesn't have great size (5'11"), but he will scramble and scored 2 TDs on the ground last year. He has thrown 6 TD passes vs. 4 picks so far this season, and he has accounted for over 900 passing yards.
Moevao's main weapons are senior Shane Morales (22 catches for 284 yards and 2 TDs) and senior Sammy Stroughter (21 catches for 255 yards and 3 TDs). But, this team has had trouble running the football with
freshman tailback Jacquizz Rodgers getting most of the carries (62 carries for 263 yards and 4 TDs). One of the Beavers' top offensive linemen Tavita Thompson is suspended because he tested postive for diet pills and another, Jeremy Perry, has been battling a knee injury. A rookie tailback with a shaky offensive line means that USC's secondary will probably get a workout Thursday night.
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