Beavers to Travel to the Big House
September 08, 2015 | Football
9/7/15 - Beavers Gain Respect and Leadership Skills
8/29/15 - Leadership Training Camp: Part 1
8/29/15 - Leadership Training Camp: Part 2
8/29/15 - Leadership Training Camp: Part 3
8/28/15 - A Close Fraternity
8/19/15 - Student-Athlete Profile: Shane Wallen
8/17/15 - Student-Athlete Profile: Drew Clarkson
8/13/15 - Student-Athlete Profile: Bright Ugwoegbu
8/11/15 - Student-Athlete Profile: Datrin Guyton
THE SERIES/GAME FACTS
• Fifth meeting between the two programs.
• Michigan has won all four previous games, including the last time OSU played in the Rose Bowl – 34-7 UM win on Jan. 1, 1965. The other three games have been in Ann Arbor.
• Programs last played in 1986 in Ann Arbor, 31-12 Michigan victory. Michigan QB was Jim Harbaugh. OSU QB Erik Wilhelm attempted 64 passes in the then Beavers' “Air Express” days which stood as a school record until current St. Louis Rams' rookie QB Sean Mannion passed 66 times against Arizona State in 2011. Current BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall made nine tackles for OSU.
• Gary Andersen was the head coach at Wisconsin for the 2013 and '14 season, but the Badgers did not play the Wolverines.
• Michigan tight ends/special teams coach Jay Harbaugh is a graduate of Oregon State and was an undergraduate assistant coach (2008-11) for then Beavers head coach Mike Riley. Harbaugh signaled the plays from the sidelines to OSU's quarterbacks.
• This is OSU's first trip to the Eastern Time Zone since a 2008 venture to Penn State.
• OSU currently has Big Ten Conference foes on the schedule the next three seasons – 2016 at Minnesota, 2017 vs. Minnesota, and 2018 at Ohio State.
• Former Oregon State Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis (Aug. 2002-June 2015) serves in an athletics advisory role at Michigan. De Carolis' wife, Sandra, played softball at UM.
ANDERSEN 1-0 AT THE BIG HOUSE: Beaver head coach Gary Andersen was Utah's defensive coordinator when the Utes defeated Michigan in the season opener at Ann Arbor, 25-23, Aug. 28, 2008. OSU defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake was Utah's linebackers coach in that game and Beaver linebacker coach Ilaisa Tuiaki was a defensive graduate assistant coach for Utah. Secondary coach Derrick Odum held the same position at Houston when the Cougars traveled to Michigan in 2003. Offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin held the same position at Michigan State for games in Ann Arbor in 2004 and '06 – the 2004 game was won by UM in three overtimes 45-37.
BACK AT HOME: Oregon State returns to Reser Stadium for its next two games, Sept. 19 vs. San Jose State and Sept. 25 vs. Stanford. The 2015 season marks the first time since 2009 that the Beavers have played three of their first four games at home.
CAMP WILLIAMS: Earlier this summer 12 OSU football student-athletes spent a week at the National Guard Training Site in Bluffdale, Utah, for a crash course in leadership skills taught by the U. S. Army's 19th Special Forces Group. The participants learned leadership and teamwork skills and how to prioritize, sacrifice, brainstorm and trust, and how to synergize in small and large units for the good of the group, attributes that translate to the football field and to their professional and personal lives once they embark on a life beyond football after graduating from OSU. Players involved include: Lavonte Barnett, Victor Bolden, Devin Chappell, Kammy Delp, David Henry, Fred Lauina, Rommel Mageo, Josh Mitchell, Cyril Noland-Lewis, Ricky Ortiz, Kyle Peko and Caleb Saulo.
2x1: Senior tailback Storm Barrs-Woods is on the verge of becoming the second player in Oregon State history to achieve 2,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving during his career. Barrs-Woods, who has already rushed for 2,246 career yards, needs 43 yards through the air to reach that lofty accomplishment joining Jacquizz Rodgers (2008-10) as the only other 2,000 x 1,000 player in OSU history. Further, Barrs-Woods will become just the fourth player with 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards joining Pat Chaffey (1986, 88-89) and James Rodgers (2007-11).
3-4: During the spring practice session, head coach Gary Andersen, assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake and staff made the decision to shift to a primary defensive alignment with three down linemen and four linebackers. It marks the first time the Beavers have lined up in a primary 3-4 since the Jerry Pettibone era when Bronco Mendenhall, current BYU head coach, directed the defense in 1996.
QB ON THE MOVE: It didn't take freshman Seth Collins long to show his mobility and a very different skill set than Beaver fans are used to seeing. Collins dodged, dipped, ducked, dived and dodged his way to 152 rushing yards against Weber State. It is the most yards an OSU quarterback has ran for since Tim Alexander set the school-record of 205 rushing yards against Northern Illinois in 1996.
NEW LEGION OF LINEBACKERS: While it is widely known the Oregon State defense replaces nine starters from 2014, the entire starting linebacker corps underwent a wholesale replacement. The Beavers return two players with starting experience, Rommel Mageo and Caleb Saulo, who combined to start 10 games in 2013. According to a recent survey, those 10 returning starts ranks as the sixth-fewest in the nation. It can be noted that Jaswha James moved to linebacker this fall, but all seven of his career starts entering the season were at defensive end. The starting combination of Mageo, Saulo, James and Bright Ugwoegbu combined to record 17 tackles, two TFLs, a sack and a blocked field goal against Weber State. Meanwhile, reserve backers Jonathan Willis and Manase Hungalu added six tackles and an interception.
RETURNING O-LINEMEN: Oregon State returns all five starters on the offensive line for the first time since 2003 when Matt Brock, Brian Kilkenny, David Lose, Doug Nienhuis and Kanan Sanchez manned the trenches. This season, the Beavers have a group of linemen that started the final four games of 2014 together – Sean Harlow (LT), Fred Lauina (LG), Josh Mitchell (C), Gavin Andrews (RG) and Dustin Stanton (RT). In addition, Isaac Seumalo, who has started 25 games for the Beavers returns from injury after missing the entire 2014 season and will fill in at right guard while Andrews will redshirt this season due to injury.
FRESH FACES: Oregon State had 16 freshmen (true and redshirt combined) play in Friday night's win over Weber State, the 10th-most in the nation on opening weekend. Among those new guys were three true freshmen– QB Seth Collins, WR Paul Lucas and RB Deltron Sands. In addition, 15 others played for the first time with the Beavers including transfers CB Devin Chappell, CB Treston Decoud, LS Ryan Navarro, NT Kyle Peko, and P Nick Porebski as well as redshirt freshmen OL Drew Clarkson, OL Kammy Delp, WR Datrin Guyton, DE Sumner Houston, QB Marcus McMaryion, RB/TE Ryan Nall, S Gabe Ovgard, S Adam Soesman, LB Bright Ugwoegbu, NT Kalani Vakameilalo, CB Dwayne Williams, DE LaMone Williams and LB Jonathan Willis. Juniors K Ian Crist and TE Brent VanderVeen and sophomore LB Manase Hungalu also made their OSU debuts.
SENIOR CLASS: The Beavers are one of the most inexperienced teams in the country entering the season. OSU possesses 13 seniors on the active roster, which ranks as the youngest team in the Pac-12 and is tied as the ninth-youngest team in the nation.
TRUE STUDENT-ATHLETES: Twelve of the Beavers' 13 seniors are on track to graduate this academic year: Gavin Andrews (June/economics), Lavonte Barnett (March/sociology), Storm Barrs-Woods (December/human development & family sciences), Kellen Clute (March/digital communications), Jalen Grimble (December/economics), Jaswha James (December/sociology), Josh Mitchell (December/sociology), Naji Patrick (December/human development family studies/public health), Ali'i Robins (December/sociology), Larry Scott (December/human development & family studies), Caleb Smith (March/liberal studies), Shane Wallen (March/exercise & sport science).
FIELD GOAL STREAK: Oregon State kickers have made 10 straight field goals, dating back to last year. Garrett Owens is on a personal streak of five straight makes.
FRESHMEN QUARTERBACKS: Oregon State is the only team in the nation, per a recent survey, that has no quarterbacks with playing experience and has only eligible freshmen signal callers. Prior to Seth Collins starting last Friday's game against Weber State, the last Beaver freshman quarterback to start for the Beavers was David Moran in 1996. Moran started three games in then a wishbone system, switched to cornerback prior to 1997 and before that season transferred to Northern Arizona.
THE DRIVE: The Oregon State and Utah football programs will be featured in the Pac-12 Networks' The Drive: Pac-12 Football this fall. The series begins in time for the Beavers' conference slate to get underway. Episode 1 airs Sept. 23 and covers training camp through the San Jose State game. Other episodes are scheduled for initial air dates as Sept. 30, Oct. 14, Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Nov. 4, Nov. 11, Nov. 18, Nov. 25 and Dec. 2. There will not be a new episode on Oct. 7 due to OSU's bye week.
TENTH ANNIVERSARY: The 2015 season marks the 10th anniversary of Mike Hass and Alexis Serna winning national awards. Hass earned the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver after making a then school record 90 receptions for a then Pac-12 record 1,532 receiving yards. Hass also earned First Team All-America honors by several organizations, including the Associated Press and Walter Camp Foundation. Serna captured the Lou Groza Award as the nation's top kicker following a season where he made 23 of 28 field goal attempts and was perfect on 32 point-after-touchdown efforts. Both began their OSU careers as walkons.
15TH ANNIVERSARY OF FIESTA BOWL: The 2015 season also marks the 15th anniversary of the 2000 Beavers' football squad that won the Fiesta Bowl. After thrashing Notre Dame 41-9, Oregon State finished the season ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press poll. The 2000 team will be inducted into the State of Oregon Sports Hall of Fame this fall.
BEAVS AT 110: Oregon owns the most victories in the Pac-12 Conference this century with 147, followed by USC (144/120 with vacated wins), OSU (110), Arizona State (104), UCLA (104), Stanford (101), Cal (93), Arizona (88), Washington (87), WSU (75). Non-traditional Pac-12 teams Utah has 125 victories this century and Colorado has 73. The Beavers hit the 100-win plateau this century in the Sept, 21, 2013 win at San Diego State. The previous 100-win stretch started during the 1966 season, ending with 1999 – nearly 34 seasons (365 games). This century's 100 victories were achieved in just over 13 seasons (168 games).
WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLE, WIN THE GAME: Over the last 138 games, Oregon State is 51-11 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent, 11-36 when committing more and 15-14 when even.
ONE OF EIGHT: Fifth-year head football athletic trainer Ariko (uh-REE-ko) Iso (EE-so) is one of only eight females in the FBS in charge of the athletic training function of their football programs. Jennifer Brodeur (Massachusetts), Sally Nogle (Michigan State) and Kelli Pugh (Virginia) also head football athletic trainers while Jennifer Brown (Eastern Michigan), Brandy Clouse (Georgia Southern), Mary Vander Heiden (UCF) and Dawn Hearn (UTEP) are sports medicine department heads.
