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The 24th-ranked Oregon State Beavers travel to
Seattle this weekend for a Pac-10 Conference matchup with the
Washington
Huskies.
Oregon State seeks its third consecutive victory, as the team
has beaten
Arizona State and Arizona by a total of five points the last
two times out.
The most recent victory over the Wildcats by a 29-27 final on
the road vaulted
the Beavers into the top-25.
Last weekend, Washington dropped a 24-14 home decision to the
same Arizona
State team that Oregon State recently defeated. The Huskies
are now 2-3
overall and clearly need a victory on Saturday to avoid being
rendered
insignificant in the Pac-10 title race.
"We have to get back on the horse and we have another tough
opponent a week
from tonight," said head coach Steve Sarkisian after the ASU
loss. "This is a
mentally tough
football team and we will be
back."
Washington owns a 57-33-4 series advantage over Oregon State,
but the Beavers
have won the last six matchups.
Ryan Katz earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors for
his play
against Arizona, as the Oregon State quarterback completed
30-of-42 passes for
393 yards with a pair of touchdowns and one interception.
Katz also ran for a
score, and tailback Jacquizz Rodgers had a rushing touchdown
as well.
"We knew what we had to do coming into the game and we went out
there and did
it," Katz said. "I felt a lot of confidence out there and we
got the job
done."
Markus Wheaton paced the receivers with seven catches for 113
yards and a
score, while James Rodgers made seven grabs as well for 102
yards and a
touchdown before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Clearly, he will be
sorely missed.
Overall this season, Oregon State is generating 28.0 ppg and
342.6 total ypg.
The Beavers were expected to be a dominant running team this
season, and while
Jacquizz Rodgers does have seven scores on the ground, he is
rushing for fewer
than 100 yards per game. The team is generating a modest 3.7
yards per rushing
attempt, a stat that must be improved. Katz has thrown for
1,113 yards with
nine touchdowns and one interception, as he has been a
pleasant surprise.
While Oregon State finished with an impressive total of 486
total yards
against Arizona, the Beavers permitted the Wildcats to rack
up 541 yards.
Arizona posted 440 yards through the air, making the most of
its 46 pass
attempts with three touchdowns through the air. All of that
damage was done
despite the fact that the Beaver defense spent fewer than 24
minutes on the
field. Clearly, there is room for improvement defensively for
Oregon State.
Opponents are averaging 30.0 ppg and 456.0 total ypg against the
Beavers, who
have surrendered 19 touchdowns to enemy offenses thus far.
Ten of those scores
have been of the passing variety, and OSU is allowing 13.0
yards per
completion. With 11 sacks and nine takeaways, there have been
some impact
plays made, but the overall performance has been lacking.
Keep an eye on James
Dockery, as he has three interceptions already.
Washington quarterback Jake Locker entered this season as a
Heisman candidate
and was considered one of the top players in all of
college
football by many
fans and analysts. Locker has been a bit inconsistent this
season, partly
because of his own play and partly because of a lack of
protection and play-
making ability from his teammates. Against Arizona State,
Locker threw a
touchdown and ran for a score, but the Huskies were just
5-of-14 on third down
conversion attempts and finished with a modest total of 354
yards.
Defensively, Washington did some good things against Arizona
State, limiting
the Sun Devils to 99 rushing yards on 37 attempts, an average
of 2.7 yards per
rush. ASU posted three sacks and came up with an
interception, and while the
pass defense could have been better, the coach of the Huskies
was proud of the
effort.
"All-in-all, I thought our defense gave us a chance to win the
game," said
Sarkisian. "ASU moved the ball between the 20's but when it's
all said and
done, our defense left a chance for us to win and we weren't
able to do that."
Washington is generating 25.0 ppg and 399.4 total ypg this
season, and of the
15 touchdowns scored by the offense to date, eight have come
from the arm of
Locker. The big signal caller has thrown for 1,145 yards with
only three
interceptions, but his 55.4 percent completion rating can
certainly stand some
improvement. Jermaine Kearse leads the receivers with 28
catches for 477 yards
and five touchdowns, while Chris Polk paces the ground attack
with 466 yards
and three scores.
Opponents are posting 30.8 ppg against Washington, which is
giving up 429.6
total ypg. The Huskies have only come up with five takeaways
through five
games, a major problem area, and they have struggled against
both the run and
the pass. In fact, foes are averaging 5.4 yards per rushing
attempt and 13.1
yards per pass completion.
