BEAVERS IN A MUST WIN SITUATION AT STANFORD THIS WEEK

It has been a very strange week. I think I am still in a funk from the disaster that was the Husky game. It was a fun experience in Seattle even if I did have to sit next to two Husky fans. To give them credit, they were very polite and did not rub it in after the game. I think it had something to do with the fact the I drove.

I was about to go to the Stanford game this week but backed out at the last minute as I have to attend a play tonight that my oldest daughter is in. I know the Beavers will come through without me there and the superstitious side of me says that they will do better since I am not going to be there.

Are any of the rest of you like that? I will be watching a game sometimes and have to leave the room because I get the feeling that if I don't watch that they will come back and win or some silly thing like that. It is funny the things people do to have their team win. After sitting through 28 years of losing seasons, that is a path that I never want to have to walk again. I think that is the driving force behind this newsletter and the website. I want to feel that I am in some small way helping them to win.

This week the Beavers have traveled to the bay area to take on the Stanford Cardinal. Cardinal, what kind of nickname is that. A color?? The Gazette times asked me if it should be "Cardinals" and not "Cardinal". I said it is a color not a thing. Do the Stanford cheerleaders run onto the field carrying a bucket of red paint? I can see it now; The Stanford players take the field, each player lovingly rubbing the fabled "Dutch Boy" mascot as they come out of the tunnel. Probably one of the only college teams in American that can literally wear their mascot on their uniforms.

And what is up with the Tree??? How does that tie into "Cardinal"??? For a university that prides itself on intellectual achievement, they did not think this one through very well.

As for the game, The Beavers are in desperate need of a win on Saturday to have any chance at a bowl game. I do not believe that if we have a losing record in conference that we will be invited to any bowl. We need to win two in a row to have any chance. With a win on Saturday the Beavers will have seven wins for the third time in four years. The Beavers are currently tied for seventh in the conference and are one game behind Oregon and CAL.

Stanford comes into the game 9th in conference with a record of 1-5, 2-7. Their only victory in conference was over Arizona. Stanford rankings last or near the bottom in most offensive and defensive categories, with their only bright spots coming in the rushing game. The "Cardinal" are 4th in rushing offense and 7th in rushing defense. Stanford is seventh or lower in 14 of the 17 statistical categories we review. Statistically this game should be a blowout for the Beavers.

However, The Cardinal defense continues to improve on its run defense. Over the past five games, Stanford has limited opponents to under 100 yards rushing per game and less than three yards per carry. Stanford's starting defensive unit in last week's game against USC had one redshirt freshman, five sophomores, two juniors and three seniors.

WHO TO WATCH FOR STANFORD

Redshirt sophomore running back Kenneth Tolon is second on the team with 351 yards rushing and is tops on the team with four rushing touchdowns. Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Teyo Johnson has earned the reputation as one of the top two sport athletes in the nation. Casey Moore in the list of the best fullbacks in Cardinal history ... Moore, who has started 42 consecutive games for Stanford, has rushed for 947 yards, caught 47 passes and scored 13 touchdowns in his career. Moore has spent the past four years quietly starting 42 straight games at fullback and making big plays.

FOR THE BEAVERS

Derek Anderson is day to day on his ankle injury but is expected to start on Saturday for the Beavers. Derek still continues to struggle and in watching the Husky show this week they talked to Husky DB's and they said they were watching his eyes during the game and could read where he was going to go with the pass before the snap. Derek needs to really work on this because if it is that obvious to the other team then he will have a hard time throwing the ball. Derek is currently 9th in passing efficiency and 7th in passing yardage in conference.

With another big rushing game under his belt, Steven Jackson has moved into 1st in the PAC-10 in rushing with a 127.3 average per game. He has 7.4 yard per game advantage over Onterrio Smith of Oregon. Jackson is also third in conference in all purpose yards and second in scoring.

Hopefully Richard Seigler learned his lesson last week and did not shoot his mouth off this week prior to the game. That was a big factor last week in motivating the Huskies.

THE SERIES

The Cardinal and Beavers will meet for the first time since the 2000 season. Stanford leads the all-time series with Oregon State 46-19-3.The last time they played the Beavers beat the Cardinal 38-6 in the most lopsided OSU victory in the series. The Beavers have won two of the last three and three of the last five against Stanford, but the Cardinal is 8-3 vs. OSU in the last 11 meetings (1990-2000). Stanford has won five of the last six games played at Stanford Stadium against the Beavers, which is not good since the Beavers have not won a conference road game of any kind since the Arizona game in 2000.

THE BOTTOM LINE

A MUST WIN GAME!! We have to win this game. We need it to stay alive for the postseason and we need the psychological momentum going into the Civil War game. We need the road win to snap the current streak of road conference losses. In short A MUST WIN GAME.

As I said before, statistically we should blow out Stanford. But statically we should have blown out Washington. Also our road record sucks and our road record against Stanford sucks. Derek Anderson has got to show up to play and not make the mental mistakes he made last week. The Beavers need to stick with the running game longer then they did last week and they need to work more quick, short routes into the passing game for Anderson. They need to run on first down and have second a 5 every time in order to open up the passing game.

The Beavers are a good team that is suffering from bad decisions on the field. With all this talent they should be much higher in the conference now already in a bowl. So let's all hold our collective breath on Saturday and see if we can get this one. If we can, then we can all let our hair down next week and let those Ducks have it.

FINAL SCORE

Beavers 31
Stanford 17

GO BEAVERS!