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Oregon State Beavers vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Week 3 Preview

When one Willamette Valley battle ends, another will begin on "Decision Day" for the Pac-10 Conference.

As Utah and Oregon conclude their collision in nearby Eugene, the Oregon State Beavers and Cincinnati Bearcats will commence their consequential contest at Reser Stadium in Corvallis. On a supremely important weekend for West Coast football, Mike Riley's crew faces a formidable foe from the state of Ohio.

No, the Bearcats and coach Brian Kelly--the hottest name in FBS coaching circles at the moment--are not the Ohio State Buckeyes. If anything, Cincinnati is playing as well as the Buckeyes, and is staking a claim to being the best team in Ohio at the moment. Not only did Cincinnati flatten Rutgers on the road in a Big East season-opener; the Bearcats--instead of taking a week-two siesta against a cupcake opponent--displayed fabulous focus by drilling Southeast Missouri State, 70-3. While some teams ( Florida State vs. Jacksonville State; Maryland vs. James Madison; UAB vs. Southern Methodist) snoozed through week two, Cincinnati experienced no such letdown. Kelly--no relation to Oregon coach Chip Kelly, by the way--is selling a formula for success, and his ravenous young recruits are buying. Quarterback Tony Pike has picked up where he left off last season, engineering UC's offense with poise, panache and potency. Touchdowns are freely flowing from the arm of a field general who exhibits complete command of Kelly's system, making Cincy the clear favorite in the Big East just two weeks into the 2009 campaign.

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For Oregon State, this game--surely circled on the calendar as the first really big showcase of the new season--almost tripped up the eager Beavers, who played distracted ball in the second half of last week's game against UNLV before staging a typical rally to win on a field goal just before the final gun. OSU must radically ramp up its effort (and pad) level against the sharp and surgical Bearcats. The Beavers have to punch Cincy in the mouth and disrupt the rhythm and timing of Pike's passing game, so that the home team can involve the Reser Stadium crowd while also gaining superior field position throughout the afternoon.

On the other side of the ball, Oregon State needs to control the ball so that Pike and Cincinnati can't dictate the tempo of this tilt. The Beavers--with the Rodgers brothers and a high-percentage, ball-possession-based passing attack--are well situated to play keep-away, so they'll need to bring their A-game to the ballpark on Saturday instead of the B-level brand they carried into Las Vegas the week before.

"Decision Day" in the Pac-10 requires an elevated sense of urgency. If OSU can't match the might of a surging squad from Cincinnati, the reputation of West Coast football will absorb a damaging blow.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer