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Oregon State Week 2 Preview: UNLV

After feasting on Portland State in their season opener, the Oregon State Beavers have a dangerous little ambush game awaiting them this week.

Las Vegas is a seductive city where dreams go to die. No, this Saturday's confrontation isn't a Pac-10 tilt for Mike Riley's roster, but with the Pac-10 renegotiating its bowl contracts to get the attractive Alamo Bowl into its rotation, this game becomes an event that could significantly affect OSU's bowl destination. Safe to say, the Beavers would rather go to San Antonio than El Paso, San Francisco, or other bowl sites that exist at the bottom rungs of the Pac-10's postseason slate. Taking care of business in Sin City is imperative for the kids from Corvallis.

UNLV might have finished 2008 with a 5-7 mark, but coach Mike Sanford's club should be taken very seriously. UNLV stunned Arizona State on the road in Tempe last season, pulling out a 23-20 overtime win over a loaded Sun Devil team that was gearing up for a hyped contest the following week against Georgia. Later in '08, the Runnin' Rebels pushed BYU--yeah, the same program that just upended Oklahoma--on the road, traveling to Provo and posting 35 points against the highly-acclaimed Cougars. The Rebels lost, 42-35, but they acquitted themselves well in the Wasatch Mountains, as quarterback Omar Clayton posted a big showing against Brigham Young. The agile, scrambling signal caller threw for 321 yards, proving that his steely and poised performance against Arizona State was no fluke. UNLV has lived on the negative side of the .500 mark for some time now, but the Rebels--who pushed Wisconsin at home two years ago--regularly seem to put a scare into the soul of a better opponent in every college football season.

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Saturday, Oregon State becomes that team, so any letdown at Sam Boyd Stadium will put the Beavers up a creek without a paddle. OSU doesn't want UNLV to gain any ounce of confidence at the outset, so the Beavers will need to put their foot down on defense and contain Clayton's dual-threat arsenal. A strong pass rush, plus an attention to gaps and running lanes from the linebacking corps, would put the squeeze on Clayton and coerce turnovers from the Rebels' offense. OSU quarterback Sean Canfield doesn't beat himself, and the Beavers established a reputation last year for allowing their opponents to implode, so as long as the Beavers put the clamps down on defense, they should avoid the temptations of Vegas, and conquer the city where so many visions of the good life have turned into black-hole nightmares.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer