Oregon St Blog


September 6, 2010

Oregon State vs. TCU @ Cowboys Stadium
By Julie Traxler
www.jumponthefanwagon.com

A large percentage of the games played during week 1 of the college football season aren’t competitive enough to warrant watching.  The Oregon State vs. TCU (Texas Christian University) was NOT one of those games.  This game offered four quarters of excitement, and it was a great college football experience for all who attended.

Me and a couple of my very good friends decided sometime near the end of the 2009 college football season that we were going to embark on what we consider to be the “ultimate college football roadtrip” during the 2010 season, and we began planning shortly thereafter (you can follow our journey at www.jotfw.com  and find us on FaceBook by “liking” Jump on the FanWagon), the first game we decided on was Oregon State vs. TCU (well, technically the first game we decided on was “a TCU game week 1” - but we didn’t know until after our schedule was final that Oregon State would also be involved in the adventure).

We did know that the game would be played at Cowboys Stadium, and that was a big factor in swaying us towards 1this TCU game in particular. 

A large part of what makes college football so amazing is the history that is associated with it.  Fans love the traditions and the rivalries.  They love to hate certain teams as much as they love to cheer for their own teams.  There isn’t history between Oregon State and TCU, and their really isn’t any history at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX either.  The Stadium itself has only been open for a year, and this was only the 6th college football game played in this venue.

It is almost impossible to describe this stadium.  I know millions of words have been written to describe it, but I still find myself sitting in awe a full 24 hours later.  You cannot mention the stadium without addressing the video screen, which hangs from the 20 yard line to the 20 yard line.  It is amazing.  It’s not possible to have a bad seat in the stadium because of this video board.  We had amazing seats (lower level, TCU side, 25 yard line, 12th row) and we didn’t miss a second of the action.  One thing this video board provides is the ability to sit and stand as you please.  At most sports events, when the person in front of you stands to cheer, you have to stand to cheer.  This isn’t true in Cowboys Stadium.  You can sit and just shift your focus to the video board when everyone in front of you is standing.

The stadium is over the top in luxurious.  The seats are leather, the roof was open and the stadium has perfect acoustics for a sporting event.  The food was great and the beer was cold.  The prices for everything - well, that’s an entirely different story.  For more on the stadium experience check out the Venues section at www.jofw.com  2

The game itself was a fast-paced chess match.  Andy Dalton of TCU is going to be in the Heisman chatter all season long, and he should be.  He’s got a laser for an arm and he can run the ball when he can’t find an open receiver.  He has a lot of poise, and he’s fun to watch.  The Horned Frogs should be looking forward to a season ranked in the top 10.  They deserve it.

Oregon State looked impressive as well.  I liked the control they showed when on offense.  The Beavers surprised me a little, in that I hadn’t expected them to come out gunning like they did, and honestly didn’t think the game would be that close.  They made TCU work for every point they got (with the exception of the safety that occurred in the second half).  Oregon State could make some noise in the PAC 10 this season, and TCU is hoping that they do just that.  Oregon State winning helps TCU, because it gives more validity and weight to this win for the Frogs.

One thing that has to be noted about Oregon State fans i3s that they travel well. There was a lot of orange in that stadium.  I was impressed by the number of fans there for the Beavers when the game could almost be considered a ‘home’ game for for TCU.

I have to address the TCU uniforms.  I think we commented no less than 20 times during the game on the uniforms.  It seems unusual to reference them so often, but there were two things that played into this.  The first thing is that they were so easy to see thanks to the giant video board.  You could literally see every detail of the uniforms, and that aided the discussion a lot.  The second thing is, TCU’s uniforms were cool as hell.  I have friends who told me that the first thing they did when watching this game (or checking out highlights) was look at the uniforms.  That’s great marketing.

Monday we are heading to Landover, MD to check out the Boise State vs. Virginia Tech game at FedEx field.  I expect that game to be a nail-biter, given the BCS implications that are already in play.

Next weekend we will be in South Bend, Indiana for the Michigan @ Notre Dame game.  So, we will go from the most glamourous stadium with the worlds largest video board to a stadium (Notre Dame Stadium) that doesn’t even show replays in the stadium because they don’t have a video board, but they do have history, and lots of it.

Happy Tailgating!!!

October 23, 2009

Oregon State preview
By: Matt Deringer

 

The Trojans are about as healthy as can be at the halfway point - it was decided this week that tailback Marc Tyler (PS#1) will have surgery on his broken foot. Tyler joins tailback Stafon Johnson (neck), defensive tackle Hebron Fangupo (leg) and defensive back Marshall Jones as out for the year - as they prepare to face the only team that beat last season tomorrow at the Coliseum.

 

"We know we have a lot of home games in the second half of the season, and it would be great to get off on the good foot here against Oregon State," Pete Carroll said. 

 

The Beavers took a bite out of USC's No. 1-ranking last year in a made-for-ESPN Thursday night game in Corvallis. Two weeks removed from their Game of the Year defeat of No. 5 Ohio State, USC fell behind 21-0 and eventually lost 27-21 as diminutive freshman Jacquizz Rodgers rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns - his older brother, James, caught two more - against what was statistically the best defense in USC history.

 

So Mike Riley, the offensive coordinator under John Robinson (1993-97) who came thisclose to interviewing - and probably getting - the job Carroll landed in 2000, and the Beavers will have USC's full attention this time around.

 

"The Rodgers brothers are ridiculous," Carroll said. "They're both terrific football players. They can get you a number of different ways. They can both catch it, they both can run it if you don't look out there and you see something happening in the kicking game as well.

"That and the play of their offensive line has been really sharp so far. We take this with a lot of respect based on last year, knowing how they blocked us pretty well, and ran well against us."

The Trojans tackle Riley's beloved fly sweeps (a handoff to a receiver in motion) without Christian Tupou at the nose, an absence mitigated by the play of sophomore Jurrell Casey (PS#28), who took over against Notre Dame and earned Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week honors. Sophomore Armond Armstead (PS#19) will start at the other defensive tackle in his second game back from a broken foot. 

The Rodgers brothers also probably mean more Wes Horton (PS#20) at defensive end rather than team sack leader Nick Perry (PS#7), his redshirt freshman counterpart who is better in obvious passing situations, and an even greater onus on middle linebacker Chris Galippo. The redshirt sophomore (PS#2) isn't the physical force departed All-American Rey Maualuga was, but has shown superior instincts in so far leading the Trojans in tackles his first full season.

"I'm very impressed with their front, they don't give people many breaks," Riley said. "They're high energy and really hard to block."

Blocking might be USC's biggest concern on offense right now. Quarterback Matt Barkley (PS#5) comes off the biggest game of his freshman year - 19 of 29, 380 yards, two touchdowns, one interception - but does so without Stanley Havili. The fullback, also tied for second on the team (with tight end Anthony McCoy) in receptions, dislocated his shoulder at Notre Dame and is doubtful for Oregon State.

Sophomore D.J. Shoemate (PS#5WR) will start if Havili can't go.

"D.J. does everything Stanley does, and I'm eager to see him play," Carroll said. "We originally thought of him being a slot receiver. He's a really good receiver."

Ronald Johnson will start at receiver in his second game back from a broken collarbone. The move means fewer chances for David Ausberry (PS#2), who is said to have a sore calf, but in recent weeks has yielded time to redshirt freshman Brice Butler (PS#17) as he's continued to struggle with separating from defenders and holding onto the ball. Damian Williams, who has three games in a row with 100 or more yards receiving, remains the go-to.

"This is really the heart of the schedule for us, as we've got Pac-10 ballgames all the way through the end," Carroll said. "We need to start the second half on the right foot with the big win here with Oregon State coming in.

"It really does seem like we haven't been home much. We've been road warriors and out and about. We've had a great time on the trips, and we've grown from it. It's wonderful to be back and playing in front of our home crowd."

 

 

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