BFS Current Story OREGON STATE vs PITTSBURGH in the 75th Sun Bowl 12-29-2008 - It's Time! We are just two days away from the playing of the 75th Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX. and the Beavers are banged up in more ways then one. The latest word on Quizz is that he may play but is a game time decision and won't be 100%. James Rodgers is out. Francis has missed practices due to family issues in Florida and will be back in time to play. So basically that leaves us with one running back that has seen full practices, Ryan McCants. McCants was not effective vs the Ducks only rushing for 32 yards on 10 carries. Jeremy Francis has seen only limited action all season but I like the way he attacks the line better then McCants. So with no running game left the Beavers will be forces to the air again. With James Rodgers out with a broken collar bone the leaves us with Sammy and Shane at wide outs with Chris Johnson filling in for Rodgers. Needless to say the prospect of the bang up Beavers team beating a full strength Panthers team is slim at best. Most of the bloggers and so called experts have Pitt winning by 3 to 6 points. Most would give the Beavers the nod if we had the Rodgers brothers at full strength. But that is not going to happen so we are left with what we have. Hopefully someone will step up that we don't expect (because Pitt won't expect it either) and have a huge game. Perhaps Pitt will be over confident knowing we are banged up and overlook us. NOT LIKELY. Well at least all our fans will get a great vacation to sunny El Paso Texas. NOT LIKELY. El Paso is the arm pit of the southwest and I have not talked to anyone who has been to El Paso that has actually had a good time in the town. Hopefully the PAC-10 will drop this bowl for something in a more enjoyable area. As lame as the Emerald Bowl is I would prefer it to the Sun Bowl because it is easier to get to and there are things to do in San Francisco. How come Tucson does not host a bowl game? It may be a lame town but at least it is easier to get to then El Paso. I would rather go to a bowl game in Salt Lake City, get some skiing in and watch a game in the snow. Now that would be fun. Come on Utah, put in a bid. So with the Beavers picked to lose and our fans stuck getting their pockets picked by illegal aliens in sunny El Paso its no wonder that I am less then excited about the upcoming game. I believe this is the least excited I have been about any bowl game the Beavers have been in. First off, we lose the Rose Bowl to USC thanks to the Ducks. Then the Ducks get the nod over the Beavers for the Holiday Bowl. Sight!!! I guess we have to look at it that we were picked to finish 6th, we finished 2nd and had a great year. I hate consolation prizes. But lets get back to the game. Pittsburgh is pretty much us. If you go through the stats the Beavers will basically be playing themselves. They have a great running back in LeSean McCoy and a good defense that has better stats then the Beavers in all areas but passing defense and that is close. In fact the stats for both teams are so close that you could easily just call it a tie and flip a coin. This should be a close exciting game to watch on TV if the Beavers can come up with a solution to the missing running game and the rushing defense that vanished during Civil War.
You just cannot get past the fact that the Beavers are missing James Rodgers and that if Quizz plays he will not be 100%. Those two players account for 55% of the Beavers offense this season and without them they have to find some way to run the ball and cannot rely on the passing game like they did in the Civil War or they will suffer the same result. Granted, Pitt does not have the same kind of explosive offense that the Ducks do, but Pitt will put a lot of pressure on the Beavers offense by spreading the ball around. You can bet that they have taken notice of how the Ducks ran the ball and threw the ball against the Beavers and will come up with some wrinkles to take advantage of match ups. For the Beavers, who will start at quarterback? Lyle is the starter but will Riley change it up on Pitt in order to mess with their minds a little bit. Pitt has probably prepared for Moevao and his style of play. Is it possible that Riley will start Canfield to get the ball deep on the Panthers defense? I see Riley going with more tight end play so look for the tight ends to get a lot of touches during the game in make up for the loss of James Rodgers. Jeremy Francis is a good pass receiving running back and that is more his strength then running into the line so expect Francis to be involved in many pass plays including screens over the middle. THE BOTTOM LINE Beavers and Pittsburgh should have lots of options for these offenses and defenses to see since they basically play against them in practice every day. The Beavers need to have a great game on the offensive line to keep Pitts offense off the field. The line needs to get the running game and McCants moving to win this game. The Beavers defense needs to rebound after getting pounded on by the Ducks and embarrassed in the Civil War. Can Riley find the answers and the players he needs to win? Will Riley suffer his first ever bowl game loss to Pittsburgh? Can the Beavers avenge the 2002 loss to Pittsburgh in the Insight Bowl? Lots of questions to be answered and we only have two more days to wait to find out the answers. My gut says the Beavers will lose this game by 10 points. But my heart believes the Beavers will find a way to win this game. FINAL SCORE MY GUT FEELING XXXX MY BEAVER FAN PREDICTION GO BEAVERS! BFS |
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