tlongII
11-16-2008, 12:26 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf?/base/sports/122680592362240.xml&coll=7
CORVALLIS M ichael Rodgers, age 12, played a Pop Warner football game in suburban Houston on Saturday. He plays running back and defensive back. This is why he missed seeing his two older brothers -- James and Jacquizz -- running around at Reser Stadium, slamming the door on another Oregon State victory.
I bring this up only because the Beavers should probably offer the sixth grader a scholarship today. As in right now, sight unseen. Don't care how tall he is. Don't care how fast he is. Just give the kid a full ride before the University of Texas shows up at the Rodgers family doorstep, apologizing for missing the first two times.
Only half-kidding here.
Oregon State beat California 34-21 on Saturday.
And the assistant coaches at Texas must be hiding beneath their desks today. Everyone knows the Longhorns didn't recruit either Rodgers brother. Didn't visit. Didn't call. Didn't bother to send them a single form letter. But what everyone doesn't know -- and I am not making this up -- is that Texas coach Mack Brown ran around the football office in Austin after Oregon State beat USC earlier this season, screaming into each of his assistants' offices, "Where the (bleep) were we on these Rodgers brothers?!?!"
It's become the thing to ask when you see the Beavers play. So I asked OSU defensive back Keenan Lewis and defensive lineman Victor Butler why the usual Bowl Championship Series participants missed on the Rodgers brothers and both leaned close, like they were sharing a secret, and whispered together, "We don't know. . . but we're sure glad they did."
Representatives from the Sun, Holiday and Emerald bowls were in the Reser Stadium press box observing as the Beavers (7-3, 6-1 Pacific-10 Conference) won again. And while that might normally cause a stir, and much orange and black back-slapping, the bowl honks were greeted as if they were neighbors ringing the doorbell, asking to borrow a hammer and make conversation, while there was a wonderful football game going on.
When Beavers coach Mike Riley shaves in the morning, he admitted, he looks in the mirror and thinks, "Gosh, we're getting close to a Rose Bowl." This only means that he's just like any regular Oregon State booster who is smelling a trip to Pasadena one Rodgers brothers carry at a time.
Let's see. On Saturday, Jacquizz had 144 rushing yards and one touchdown. James had 189 yards in total offense and two touchdowns, including an 86-yard kickoff return. Nobody at Reser Stadium knew what Michael did in his Pop Warner game, but you figure the opposition kicked the ball out of bounds every time he was the return man, just like they used to do for his older two brothers.
"We never really got to return a kickoff, even in high school," Jacquizz said.
See? College really is the best time of any young person's life. You get freedom. You get educated. You figure out who you really are. And those nutty opposing coaches, the ones who don't know any better, kick it to you.
What's left for Oregon State is a game at Arizona next Saturday and then the Civil War at Reser Stadium. But what's really left is for the Beavers to realize this is no time to start playing it safe.
They must finish this.
They must complete what they've set up.
Anything less would be a monumental failure.
There were moments against Cal where you could feel the tension in the stadium. You could feel Riley over-thinking the situations a bit. You could feel quarterback Lyle Moevao pressing a bit. In the fourth quarter, up by six points with five minutes to go, a worried Beavers fan in the lower level stood, cupped his hands and shouted, "Play to win!"
A couple of Beavers players on the sideline turned and nodded.
Riley punted just before halftime from Cal's 32-yard line instead of trying a long field goal or going for it. Moevao looked like he was guessing more than reading coverage on a couple of throws. And when the stakes increase, naturally, there is a swell of internal tension and pressure.
So yeah, play to win. Avoid playing not to lose. Because Oregon State has the personnel and the momentum, and if they can slam the door twice more, a Rose Bowl season for this bunch will go down as one of the marvelous sports stories in this state's history.
The Beavers feel like a team that is sensing its destiny. They're smelling it. They know they're close. They're playing ridiculously loose and free on defense. The Rodgers brothers and receiver Sammie Stroughter make the thrills look routine on offense.
Still, Riley said, "There's no magic here" -- just a team that has come together.
Someone wondered after the game if Jacquizz (1,233 yards and 13 touchdowns) might get a few Heisman votes if this continues. The question was greeted with giggles. The freshman is already a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation's best college running back. Jacquizz, you should know, had never heard of the Texas-born Walker before he was a finalist.
Go on, giggle.
But if there's a more effective college player anywhere in the country, I haven't seen him this season.
So yeah, play to win. Even sign his 12-year-old brother, maybe.
CORVALLIS M ichael Rodgers, age 12, played a Pop Warner football game in suburban Houston on Saturday. He plays running back and defensive back. This is why he missed seeing his two older brothers -- James and Jacquizz -- running around at Reser Stadium, slamming the door on another Oregon State victory.
I bring this up only because the Beavers should probably offer the sixth grader a scholarship today. As in right now, sight unseen. Don't care how tall he is. Don't care how fast he is. Just give the kid a full ride before the University of Texas shows up at the Rodgers family doorstep, apologizing for missing the first two times.
Only half-kidding here.
Oregon State beat California 34-21 on Saturday.
And the assistant coaches at Texas must be hiding beneath their desks today. Everyone knows the Longhorns didn't recruit either Rodgers brother. Didn't visit. Didn't call. Didn't bother to send them a single form letter. But what everyone doesn't know -- and I am not making this up -- is that Texas coach Mack Brown ran around the football office in Austin after Oregon State beat USC earlier this season, screaming into each of his assistants' offices, "Where the (bleep) were we on these Rodgers brothers?!?!"
It's become the thing to ask when you see the Beavers play. So I asked OSU defensive back Keenan Lewis and defensive lineman Victor Butler why the usual Bowl Championship Series participants missed on the Rodgers brothers and both leaned close, like they were sharing a secret, and whispered together, "We don't know. . . but we're sure glad they did."
Representatives from the Sun, Holiday and Emerald bowls were in the Reser Stadium press box observing as the Beavers (7-3, 6-1 Pacific-10 Conference) won again. And while that might normally cause a stir, and much orange and black back-slapping, the bowl honks were greeted as if they were neighbors ringing the doorbell, asking to borrow a hammer and make conversation, while there was a wonderful football game going on.
When Beavers coach Mike Riley shaves in the morning, he admitted, he looks in the mirror and thinks, "Gosh, we're getting close to a Rose Bowl." This only means that he's just like any regular Oregon State booster who is smelling a trip to Pasadena one Rodgers brothers carry at a time.
Let's see. On Saturday, Jacquizz had 144 rushing yards and one touchdown. James had 189 yards in total offense and two touchdowns, including an 86-yard kickoff return. Nobody at Reser Stadium knew what Michael did in his Pop Warner game, but you figure the opposition kicked the ball out of bounds every time he was the return man, just like they used to do for his older two brothers.
"We never really got to return a kickoff, even in high school," Jacquizz said.
See? College really is the best time of any young person's life. You get freedom. You get educated. You figure out who you really are. And those nutty opposing coaches, the ones who don't know any better, kick it to you.
What's left for Oregon State is a game at Arizona next Saturday and then the Civil War at Reser Stadium. But what's really left is for the Beavers to realize this is no time to start playing it safe.
They must finish this.
They must complete what they've set up.
Anything less would be a monumental failure.
There were moments against Cal where you could feel the tension in the stadium. You could feel Riley over-thinking the situations a bit. You could feel quarterback Lyle Moevao pressing a bit. In the fourth quarter, up by six points with five minutes to go, a worried Beavers fan in the lower level stood, cupped his hands and shouted, "Play to win!"
A couple of Beavers players on the sideline turned and nodded.
Riley punted just before halftime from Cal's 32-yard line instead of trying a long field goal or going for it. Moevao looked like he was guessing more than reading coverage on a couple of throws. And when the stakes increase, naturally, there is a swell of internal tension and pressure.
So yeah, play to win. Avoid playing not to lose. Because Oregon State has the personnel and the momentum, and if they can slam the door twice more, a Rose Bowl season for this bunch will go down as one of the marvelous sports stories in this state's history.
The Beavers feel like a team that is sensing its destiny. They're smelling it. They know they're close. They're playing ridiculously loose and free on defense. The Rodgers brothers and receiver Sammie Stroughter make the thrills look routine on offense.
Still, Riley said, "There's no magic here" -- just a team that has come together.
Someone wondered after the game if Jacquizz (1,233 yards and 13 touchdowns) might get a few Heisman votes if this continues. The question was greeted with giggles. The freshman is already a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation's best college running back. Jacquizz, you should know, had never heard of the Texas-born Walker before he was a finalist.
Go on, giggle.
But if there's a more effective college player anywhere in the country, I haven't seen him this season.
So yeah, play to win. Even sign his 12-year-old brother, maybe.