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Oregon State Beavers vs. Stanford Cardinal Week 6 Recap

The Oregon State Beavers are doing the kinds of things that make a coach smile. They can only hope they'll see much more of Mike Riley's pearly whites as October continues.

In week five of their trek through 2009, the Beavers gave their coach a happy face by bolting to a 21-3 lead at Arizona State after just 20 minutes of game time, five minutes into the second quarter. OSU was able to coast home to a relatively easy victory that eased the strain on a ballclub that began to develop some confidence. A hard-pressed secondary was able to play defense in predictable passing situations and thereby gain a greater feel for the sport. Riley, the leader of these Beavers, had to love the way his club responded to a two-game home-field losing streak against Cincinnati and Arizona. The question was, "Could Oregon State keep the freight train rolling?"

As the Stanford Cardinal discovered in week six of this season, the answer was most definitely in the affirmative.

OSU had so much fun in the annihilation of Arizona State that the Corvallis kids doubled their pleasure this past Saturday at Reser Stadium. Pitted against the league-leading team from the San Francisco Bay Area, the Beavers once again zoomed in front and allowed the second half to turn into yet another drama-free experience. As a result, Stanford no longer leads the Pac-10; more importantly, Oregon State now stands just one game back of first-place Oregon, with games against the Ducks and USC still to come for the Beavers.

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How similar was this game to the Arizona State romp in Tempe on Oct. 3? OSU burst out of the gate and established a 21-0 bulge after the first 20 minutes. As was the case in the ASU ambush, Beaver signal caller Sean Canfield was razor sharp under center in the early stages of an A-game performance. Canfield exhibited complete command of Riley's offense in the first 20 minutes, completing six of his first seven passes and eight of his first 11. Because OSU could throw the ball, Stanford's defense was kept on a pendulum, frozen in a permanent state of uncertainty. The Beavers used this fact to then mix in the running game with star performer Jacquizz Rodgers, who ripped off a 61-yard scamper in the first quarter and scored each of OSU's first three touchdowns. The rest, as they say, was history, as the Cardinal never got closer than 14 points until adding a completely meaningless tack-on touchdown with only 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Oregon State simply dominated at the start, and had more than enough juice in the tank to fend off Stanford and its inconsistent redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck. Coach Jim Harbaugh's offensive field general misfired on each of his first six pass attempts, which contributed to the steamroller that prevented Stanford from gaining an early foothold in the Pacific Northwest. The Beavers snatched their early lead and ran away with the proceedings for a second straight week. If this keeps up, Mike Riley just might have another high-stakes November on his hands.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer