The 1999 Season Part III -- The Going Gets Tough

Just over one-quarter of the way into its season, the 1999 Oregon State football team was already making history.

First-year head coach Dennis Erickson - he of those two national championships at Miami - had wasted no time in making his mark in Corvallis. After knocking off Nevada, Fresno State and Georgia Southern, the Beavers were off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1967. Throw in 1998's season-ending Civil War win and OSU had won four straight games, the first time it had managed that since 1968.

Those three wins guaranteed the Beavers a perfect September, as the last Saturday of the month gave them a bye before heading into Pacific-10 play.

"I think it comes at a good time," Oregon State quarterback Jonathan Smith said. "We're right where we want to be, but we've got to step up our game in two weeks down in Los Angeles."

That would be a visit to No. 16 Southern California. OSU had lost 25 straight games in the series, dating back to that 1967 season when the legendary Giant Killers squad knocked off the No. 1 Trojans 3-0 in Corvallis.

"We're a lot better than we were when we started the season, no question about that," head coach Dennis Erickson said. "And we'll be better in two weeks than we were (against Georgia Southern, a 48-41 nailbiter)."

The week off meant a chance offensive linemen Chris Gibson and Martin Maurer could be healthy for the next game. And, for the unbeaten Beavers, it was a rare opportunity to bask in the spotlight for a week before preparing for the Trojans.

Oregon State had just picked up its first Associated Press Top 25 vote; Corvallis Gazette-Times reporter Brooks Hatch wrote that it came from Ralph Paulk of the Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal newspaper. The Beavers had also received a vote in 1997, when they started 3-2, but that had come because a writer mistakenly thought they were 4-1, Hatch reported.

Erickson would be in Los Angeles early in the week to be on ESPN's Up Close program with Gary Miller. Running back Ken Simonton was leading the nation in rushing with 185.67 yards per game, well ahead of second-place Ladainian Tomlinson of Texas Christian; Simonton earned an invitation to ESPN.com's chat room to take questions from fans.

Simonton was asked by one about whether the difference in the Beavers' newly confident attitude was making a difference.

"It is," Simonton replied. "Last year there was no reason to end the season the way we did. We had a heck of a team last year. But we do this year too. But we have a different attitude because we know what it takes to be successful from what we learned last year. We just have to maintain a positive attitude the whole season."

Another fan asked about Simonton's and OSU's goals for the season.

"For the team – to win a bowl game," Simonton answered. "Not just to get there, but to win one. Personally – just to do whatever it takes to get that team goal. Whatever I have to do, whether it is carrying the ball 40 times a game or returning kicks, I will do it."

OCTOBER 2: AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

While Oregon State was coming off its bye, Southern California was smarting from a 33-30 triple-overtime loss at Oregon that dropped its record to 2-1 and bounced the Trojans from the national rankings. USC would be without starting quarterback Carson Palmer, who had broken his collarbone against the Ducks.

Still, OSU quarterbacks Coach Michael Johnson told the weekly Beaver Huddle gathering on Monday, if the Trojans hadn't been flagged for 21 penalties they might have won going away even with backup quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst playing most of the second half and the overtimes.

"We want to have supreme focus, and get ready emotionally to go out, fight and play hard," Johnson said. "We have to take care of what we do here, make sure we execute our game plan.

"If we can do that – if we can go in there and have poise, and be disciplined in what we do – we can win that game. I don't think there's a game on our schedule that we can't win if we just go out and execute what we do."

The visit to Los Angeles would be a homecoming for many of the Beavers, including Smith, who had grown up in Glendora, Calif., as a Trojan fan.

"I went to so many USC games," Smith said. "I can remember sitting outside the Coliseum, playing catch with the football, listing to that (public address announcer) say, 'No glass bottles' and all that" on the taped announcements playing at the stadium.
Now Smith would get a chance to knock off the favorite team of his boyhood in that same Coliseum.

"It's kind of a dream come true," Smith said. "It was exciting for me last year (in a 40-20 loss to USC in Corvallis), but this year is way different, knowing I'll be taking snaps there."

On a clear, 73-degree Saturday afternoon, a crowd of 43,795 eased into the Coliseum to see if OSU could get its first win there since 1960.

By day's end, the Beavers had outgained the Trojans 469-367 in total offense, Simonton rushed for 127 yards and a score, and OSU had passed for 340 yards and three touchdowns.

But Oregon State also turned the ball over four times, including having an interception and a fumble returned for touchdowns, allowed another score on a punt return and dropped a number of passes. Smith was sacked three times and picked off twice before giving way to backup Terrance Bryant after three quarters with the Beavers trailing 37-7.

Bryant, who had been suspended the first two games due to minor NCAA violations, rallied OSU to three touchdowns, including a 53-yard pass to Robert Prescott with 1:33 to play that got the Beavers within one score at 37-29.

"After our first touchdown, I knew we had a chance if the defense stopped them," Bryant said. "I was saying to myself, 'If we can score again we'll be right back in the game. We know we can move the ball – nobody can stop us."

Oregon State got the ball back with a chance to tie when Dennis Weathersby recovered a USC fumble, but the Beavers couldn't convert a fourth-and-8 at the Trojan 31-yard line to seal a 37-29 loss.

"I'm proud of how they came back," Erickson said of his team. "They could have folded pretty darn easily."

Still, delivering what the Beavers now saw as a sub-par performance stung.

"This leaves a sour taste in our mouth," split end Imani Percoats told reporters. "We knew we could have won, but we just shot ourselves in the foot in the first half, got behind and ran out of time."

OCTOBER 9: VS. WASHINGTON

Despite the loss at Southern California, excitement was high as Oregon State returned home to meet Washington. By Tuesday, only about 2,000 tickets remained for the game between the Beavers – still 3-1, despite the defeat - and the 2-2 Huskies, who were coming off a 34-20 home win over Oregon.

"It's a big game for us, no question about it," Erickson said. "We've got them coming in to our home, with a full house. This is what we want to get to at OSU, where we have really, really important games like this that we have a chance to win."
One thing that would have to be addressed: Who would start at quarterback for the Beavers?

"We can use them both," Erickson told reporters Monday. "If (Smith) is struggling a little bit, I'm not opposed to making that change and they both know that. Hopefully I'll start Jonathan and not have to worry about it."
The Beavers were also hoping Jared Cornell might return for limited action; he'd suffered a knee injury during spring practice. Another Beaver was hurting now, though: Simonton sported a cast protecting a left thumb he'd dislocated in the first half at USC.

"It's definitely something I can play with," Simonton said. "This isn't something I'm going to baby and pamper, or sit out of practice with."

Simonton also recalled his 1997 redshirt season, when it felt half the then-Parker Stadium crowd was wearing purple and gold.

"That didn't sit well with me," Simonton said. "This is our home field, to come out and see their colors equally represented as ours, if not more … It does bring a little more to the table when you know they have that fan base, and that's what we're trying to build here. It is a little more (meaningful) than Stanford or Cal."

The Beavers had just missed knocking off the Huskies in 1998, failing on a two-point conversion with no time on the clock to lose 35-34. OSU was looking for its first win over Washington since a monumental 1985 upset in Seattle, and for its first home victory over the Huskies since 1974.

"Every time we play somebody, we haven't beaten them since 1925 or something," Erickson joked. "I'm starting to think we never won any games."

A sellout crowd of 35,470 packed Reser Stadium eager to watch the Beavers resume their march toward a winning season, their hopes buoyed by the new head coach, the 3-0 start, the close call the previous year in Seattle.

The previous week, the Daily Barometer's Hinkelman had written a column advising students as to recommended rules for rushing the field: no going after the goalposts – "The goalposts can come down after the Arizona game, when the Beavers have secured themselves a trip to a bowl game"; take care of each other by not running over fellow Beavers and helping up any who may fall.

By halftime, the only rush anyone needed worry about was toward the exits.

"They saw an absolute disaster, a make-you-blanch first half that was reminiscent of the darkest, dreariest days of the lamentable Craig Fertig and Joe Avezzano eras," wrote the G-T's Hatch.

Washington took the opening kickoff and went 81 yards in four plays to score. OSU's first possession resulted in Smith being picked off and returned for a score; Washington led 14-0 just 2:19 into the game.

It got worse. The Beavers marched inside the Husky 5 only to fumble the ball away; most of the day they were able to move the ball but couldn't find ways to turn yards into points as they had six turnovers and 10 penalties in the first half. OSU trailed 21-0 after one quarter and 45-0 at halftime, then Washington finished its scoring with a third-quarter safety to make it 47-0.

"It was a terrible way to come out in front of a big crowd and play that badly," Smith said. Added Erickson: "Everything that could have happened, happened. This thing is not going to be done overnight, believe me."

Oregon State did manage three touchdowns, two on Simonton runs, the rest of the way in a 47-21 loss. The Beavers finished the game with a 434-347 edge in total yards, and Simonton extended his school record of consecutive 100-yard rushing games to six with 106 yards.

By the end, most of the fans remaining were in Husky gear, and Percoats noticed that.

"That really hurt," said Percoats, who had 11 catches for 104 yards. "If you're going to be an OSU faithful, then you've got to stick it out. We're gonna play the full 60 minutes, and it's on them to keep cheering us on. If that's the case, then we'll start playing for ourselves, not for the town or the program, trying to put it on the national scene."

Erickson was a little more understanding.

"If I had watched that first half, I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same thing," he said. "I don't think I've ever been around a first half like that first half. We played poorly in all aspects. We absolutely got our rear ends kicked."

OCTOBER 16: AT STANFORD

Oregon State's back-to-back implosions to start Pac-10 play had dampened enthusiasm from the 3-0 start a bit, but the Beavers still had a winning record at 3-2 to take to Stanford.

"Our goal is a winning season, which we can still have and some things can happen for us," Erickson said. "But we've got to start playing better. We're just not executing things offensively like we need to. I need to sit down and look at some of the things we're doing and what our priorities are offensively. We've got some things to work on. We've got to make some adjustments and get ready to play."

The Cardinal were also 3-2 overall but 3-0 in the conference. OSU fans could be encouraged, though, in looking at the Beavers winning two of the last three meetings with the Cardinal; that included a 30-23 win at Stanford the previous season that snapped a 15-game Pac-10 road losing streak as Simonton ran for 207 yards and two touchdowns.

Looking at the loss to Washington – the turnovers, dropped passes, blown assignments and penalties - Simonton felt the Beavers lacked focus going into the game.

"What else can you pin it on?" he told reporters. "The coaches are doing a good job of teaching and preparing us."

Part of the preparation for Stanford involved scaling back the offensive playbook and relying more on the run.

"We're going to scale down a little bit, put Jonathan in some good situations to throw, cut down a little bit more so we don't make the same errors we made," OSU offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said.

During the week, Oregon State found out its homecoming game the following week against UCLA would be televised by Fox Sports Net; it was also likely OSU's games against California and Oregon would be televised, giving the Beavers six TV games for the season. That would be worth a financial boost of about $1.3 million, as athletic director Mitch Barnhart said the department generally budgeted for just one or two TV appearances per season.

There was an early homecoming Tuesday night, though, as former Beaver men's basketball players Gary Payton and Brent Barry returned to Gill Coliseum as members of the Seattle SuperSonics for an exhibition game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Before the game, Barry took the microphone and told the sold-out crowd of 10,345, "It's pretty hard to wear green in this building."

The Blazers won 124-115, with Payton getting 11 points and seven assists and Barry six points and two assists. Afterward, Payton told reporters, "It's always good to come back here. You have to talk to everybody and show your appreciation for them … This program made me who I am and got me into the NBA. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't have come here."

Stanford was a tough team to figure. It had lost 69-17 to Texas, won three straight Pac-10 games to take the conference lead, and then lost at home to San Jose State 44-39 before having a bye the previous week.

"They've scored a lot of points against a lot of good teams," Erickson said. "They can score at any time, so we've got to do a good job defensively. The biggest thing we've got to do is not give up the big play – that's a real key to it."

Instead, before a crowd of 37,419, it was the Beavers who came up with big play after big play. Smith completed passes of 69 yards to Roddy Tompkins, 47 yards to Percoats, 35 yards to Maurer and 25 yards to Robert Prescott. Smith passed for 405 yards, the fourth-best single-game mark in school history, and OSU had 533 total yards, the ninth-best mark ever by the Beavers. Simonton added to his string of 100-yard games, going for 115.

It was scoring that was the problem. Twice in the first half, Oregon State drove inside the Stanford 10-yard line and fumbled the ball away; a 7-0 halftime lead could have been 21-0. In the third quarter, the Beavers reached the Stanford 1 and were denied on a fourth-down play; Stanford tied the game at 7-7 going into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, Oregon State reached the Stanford 1 again and had to settle for a Ryan Cesca field goal and a 10-7 lead. The Cardinal took its first lead at 14-10 with 6:33 to go; OSU finally broke through again on the first play after the kickoff with that 69-yard pass from Smith to Tompkins to go in front 17-14.

Stanford, though, bounced back with another big run to make it 21-17 with 3:45 to play. Oregon State moved to the Cardinal 26 but an interception ended the threat, saddling the Beavers with their third straight defeat.

"You get in there and you don't score, you get in there and you don't score," Smith said. "It wore on us. The defense kept us in it throughout. To hold Stanford to 21 points is outstanding, just outstanding. I can't say enough about how well they played. It's a disappointing deal."

Simonton shouldered the blame for the two fumbles as he played with the injured thumb. "In a big game, I've never had a performance like this, when it was on the line," he said after being held scoreless for the first time in eight games. "Man, I've got to put it on me. My line gave enough holes and creases to work with. The receivers came up with some big catches."

Passing the halfway mark of the season, the Beavers had gone three up and now three down. In the quest to end that streak of 28 straight losing seasons, it was now a five-game season in which Oregon State had to win three.

NEXT: Wow – just, wow.

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