Following a heartbreaking loss to Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona last Saturday, the Beavers return home to Corvallis to face the UCLA Bruins, which will undoubtedly be Oregon State's toughest challenge thus far this season.
Returning to quarterback for the Bruins will be junior Ben Olsen, who sat out last week's victory against Washington. Olsen was forced to sit out due to recurring headaches, and was replaced by fellow junior Patrick Cowan, who almost tied the UCLA record for touchdown passes with five in a 44-31 thumping of the Huskies in Pasadena. Late in the fourth quarter, Cowan suffered a partial tear of his medial collateral ligament in his right knee, resulting in head coach Karl Dorrell bringing Olsen back into the starting lineup.
"We definitely need to see that from Ben from an improvement standpoint," Dorrell said Monday in a press conference. "I know he's disgusted with how he played in the Utah game and I know he's working hard already to trying to get himself ready to have a great game. He knows what he has to do."
Defensively, the Bruins are led by senior defensive lineman Bruce Davis, arguably one of the best run stoppers in the Pac-10. The Beavers offensive line will have to give quarterback Sean Canfield plenty of time to get his passes off to avoid a repeat of the five interception performance that he displayed against the Sun Devils last Saturday.
"Bruce Davis is a great athlete and a tremendous football player, but coach Cavanaugh trains us not to be scared of anyone," said Beavers center Kyle DeVan. "I'm more scared of Coach Cav than any defensive line that I'll face, even if it's going up against an NFL program. That's just the mentality coach Cav gives us."
Offensively, the Beavers have been clicking as of late, showcased by the blowout at home against Idaho State, and gaining over 500 yards on the ground and through the air against the Sun Devils. Sammie Stroughter has seemed to have regained his presence in the Oregon State offense, steadily becoming one of Canfield's key targets in the passing game. Even still, interceptions seem to be the killer of the Beavers offense, something that can't easily be cured, but is something the Beavers quarterback has been working on.
"That's the thing that bothers me and bothers the rest of the team," Canfield said. "We could have had a lot more productivity, and a lot more yards looking back on the film. It's just a shame to open with a 19-0 lead in the first quarter. Had I hit Sammie on the deep ball it would have been 26-0, and I missed him. Again it's just something to get better at. We're not far off. We're real close."
On the other side of the ball, the Beavers defense will be matched up against the one-two punch of Bruin running backs in Kahlil Bell and Chris Markey, who have combined for almost 800 yards on the ground, with 300 of those yards in an impressive performance against Washington last week. Heavy discipline is key for the Beavers defense in order to stop the UCLA running game this week, and not be a repeat of the Huskies lack of run stoppage.
"We are just going to do what we do every week and prep how we usually do," said Beavers safety Al Afalava. "We prepped really well last week for Arizona State. We just have to be disciplined. We did well, but those big plays on third down. This week we are going to make that a focus with the whole defense."
The Beavers will face the former Top 25 UCLA Bruins at 3:30 PM at Reser Stadium this Saturday.
Returning to quarterback for the Bruins will be junior Ben Olsen, who sat out last week's victory against Washington. Olsen was forced to sit out due to recurring headaches, and was replaced by fellow junior Patrick Cowan, who almost tied the UCLA record for touchdown passes with five in a 44-31 thumping of the Huskies in Pasadena. Late in the fourth quarter, Cowan suffered a partial tear of his medial collateral ligament in his right knee, resulting in head coach Karl Dorrell bringing Olsen back into the starting lineup.
"We definitely need to see that from Ben from an improvement standpoint," Dorrell said Monday in a press conference. "I know he's disgusted with how he played in the Utah game and I know he's working hard already to trying to get himself ready to have a great game. He knows what he has to do."
Defensively, the Bruins are led by senior defensive lineman Bruce Davis, arguably one of the best run stoppers in the Pac-10. The Beavers offensive line will have to give quarterback Sean Canfield plenty of time to get his passes off to avoid a repeat of the five interception performance that he displayed against the Sun Devils last Saturday.
"Bruce Davis is a great athlete and a tremendous football player, but coach Cavanaugh trains us not to be scared of anyone," said Beavers center Kyle DeVan. "I'm more scared of Coach Cav than any defensive line that I'll face, even if it's going up against an NFL program. That's just the mentality coach Cav gives us."
Offensively, the Beavers have been clicking as of late, showcased by the blowout at home against Idaho State, and gaining over 500 yards on the ground and through the air against the Sun Devils. Sammie Stroughter has seemed to have regained his presence in the Oregon State offense, steadily becoming one of Canfield's key targets in the passing game. Even still, interceptions seem to be the killer of the Beavers offense, something that can't easily be cured, but is something the Beavers quarterback has been working on.
"That's the thing that bothers me and bothers the rest of the team," Canfield said. "We could have had a lot more productivity, and a lot more yards looking back on the film. It's just a shame to open with a 19-0 lead in the first quarter. Had I hit Sammie on the deep ball it would have been 26-0, and I missed him. Again it's just something to get better at. We're not far off. We're real close."
On the other side of the ball, the Beavers defense will be matched up against the one-two punch of Bruin running backs in Kahlil Bell and Chris Markey, who have combined for almost 800 yards on the ground, with 300 of those yards in an impressive performance against Washington last week. Heavy discipline is key for the Beavers defense in order to stop the UCLA running game this week, and not be a repeat of the Huskies lack of run stoppage.
"We are just going to do what we do every week and prep how we usually do," said Beavers safety Al Afalava. "We prepped really well last week for Arizona State. We just have to be disciplined. We did well, but those big plays on third down. This week we are going to make that a focus with the whole defense."
The Beavers will face the former Top 25 UCLA Bruins at 3:30 PM at Reser Stadium this Saturday.
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