2000: The Lead Up To The Season

This fall marks the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest football seasons in Oregon State history. The 2000 Beavers tied for the Pacific 10 conference championship and defeated Notre Dame in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl, finishing with an 11-1 record and ranked in the top five in the country. That OSU team is among the 2020 inductees into the Oregon State Sports Hall of Fame, and osubeavers.com is recapping that season with a series of stories this fall.

By Kip Carlson

As the New Year's Eve clock ticked closer to midnight in 1999, a segment of the world's population held its breath:

Would the arrival of the new millennium also mean a world of disruption from the Y2K bug? For over a year, there had been speculation that computer programs written to show years as two digits rather than four – 99 to represent 1999, for example – would malfunction when the four digits rolled over to 00 for the year 2000.

The programming corrections undertaken throughout 1999 were largely effective, though, and no major incidents arose. College football fans breathed a sigh of relief and began looking forward to a New Year's Day 2000 filled with the Rose, Orange and other bowl games.

Oregon State fans were looking further down the road, to autumn and the 2000 football season. Just over a month before, the Beavers had caused their own disruption of the world's routine, ending a 28-year streak of losing seasons and qualifying for a bowl game for the first time in 35 years in Dennis Erickson's first year as head coach. They clinched the winning season and bowl trip with back-to-back emotion-filled home wins over California and Arizona.

OSU's 1999 season had concluded on Christmas Day with a 23-17 loss to Hawaii in the Oahu Bowl. In mid-January, OSU athletic director Mitch Barnhart discussed the economics of going to the bowl and bemoaned the fact not all athletic staff could have been taken on the trip.

"There are a bunch of people who have worked their rears off to get Oregon State to this point, and I'd liked to have been able to take them," Barnhart told the Salem Statesman-Journal. "We'll have to wait until another time, and hopefully that won't be too long. Maybe next year."

Making those bowl trips a yearly thing would be how Erickson, who had won two national championships at Miami, would rate Oregon State's turnaround as successful; being a one-year wonder wouldn't do. Keeping the Beavers at their newfound level would take upgrades across the program, and a big step wasn't far away as excitement over the winning season paid dividends.

WINNERS IN WINTER

On February 1, Barnhart said funding for an indoor practice facility, to be located on the western side of Prothro Field along N.W. 30th Street, was almost completely in place. Construction on it and a new softball facility to replace the one displaced by the $8.5 million building would start in June or July; it would include a full-size football field and could also be used by other OSU teams for workouts in inclement weather.

"We have to have one, there's no question about it," Erickson said. "Everybody else in the country has one, and we need one worse than anyone because of the weather. There's just no place for us to run and do the things we need to do in the winter."

The next day was letter of intent day and Oregon State's recent winning paid off there, as well.

"Every single person we signed was recruited by two, three, four very good schools, whether they were Pac-10 or Big Ten or whatever," Erickson said. "We beat some awfully good teams on some good players. We think this is one of the better classes that's been at Oregon State in a long time."

One of those recruits was Chad Johnson, a fleet wide receiver from Santa Monica Junior College who had one year of eligibility remaining. Erikson was asked about an internet recruiting service that ranked OSU's class as ninth in the Pacific 10.

"Recruiting services are recruiting services," Erickson said. "They make money. But recruiting services on the internet are the worst thing that ever happened. They grade all these players, but these guys never coached, and half the time they don't know what they're talking about.

"It seems like Notre Dame is rated No. 1 in recruiting every year, and what do they end up?"

On February 12, OSU's men's basketball team lost at No. 2 Stanford; that same day, cartoonist Charles M. Schulz died. His final "Peanuts" comic strip had long been scheduled for publication the next day and that Sunday comic included Lucy yanking the football away as Charlie Brown tried to kick it. The previous month, Schulz told an interviewer that when he signed that final strip, "All of a sudden I thought, 'You know, that poor, poor kid, he never even got to kick the football. What a dirty trick - he never had a chance to kick the football.'"

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

Oregon State opened spring practice April 4 with 16 returning starters – eight each on offense and defense – and a new set of expectations.

"Isn't this what we want?" Erickson said. "Isn't that what this is all about? We can't be satisfied with what happened last year. We're trying to take this program to the next level, and hopefully success breeds success. I'd certainly rather have expectations higher than lower.

"Even in the spring, our goals remain the same … have a winning season and play in a bowl game."

Two of those returning Beavers had earned All-Pacific-10 second team honors in 1999: running back Ken Simonton had rushed for 1,486 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore while cornerback Dennis Weathersby had a team-high 17 pass breakups as a freshman. OSU also brought back four players who earned all-conference honorable mention: junior-to-be free safety Calvin Carlyle, senior-to-be strong safety Terrance Carroll, junior-to-be center Keith DiDomenico and senior-to-be outside linebacker Darnell Robinson.

The offensive line had graduated a pair of all-conference picks in first-teamer Aaron Koch and second-teamer Jason White and two of its leading receivers in Imani Percoats and Roddy Tompkins, but junior-to-be quarterback Jonathan Smith had a year-and-a-half as a starter under his belt, having completed 207 of 425 passes for 3,053 yards and 15 touchdowns in 1999. Seniors-to-be Robert Prescott and T.J. Houshmandzadeh were back at receiver spots; Prescott had 49 catches for 614 yards and two touchdowns and Houshmandzadeh 24 catches for 378 yards and two touchdowns the previous fall.

On defense, seniors-to-be DeLawrence Grant and LaDairis Jackson were returning starters at the end spots in front of a trio of returning starters at linebacker in seniors-to-be Darnell Robinson and Tevita Moala and junior-to-be James Allen. At the back of the defense were the trio of all-conference honorees in Weathersby, Carlyle and Carroll joined by another returning starter in senior-to-be cornerback Keith Heyward-Johnson.

New were two assistant coaches: running backs coach Dan Cozzetto and defensive coordinator Craig Bray. Cozzetto, offensive coordinator at Arizona State the past eight seasons, replaced quarterbacks coach Michael Johnson, who had taken a job with the San Diego Chargers. Bray, Washington State's secondary coach the past six seasons, took the spot of Willy Robinson, who had been hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"Coach (Bray) has been real careful about changing things up," Moala said after the first workout. "He hasn't had a chance to really change anything, but what he has done is brought more creativity to the system. What we did best last year is run to the ball and that's what he was focusing on."

The spring's first scrimmage on April 8 brought some bad news as Moala suffered a knee injury during warmups; Erickson said he expected him to be out the rest of the spring. The offense scored three touchdowns and a pair of field goals and got scoring passes from backup quarterbacks Shayne House and Nick Stremick.

A few days later, Eugene Register-Guard columnist Ron Bellamy weighed in with a work headlined "OSU abuzz with energy," outlining the good feelings in the athletic department stemming from finally having a winning football season and mentioning OSU President Paul Risser's interest in having a competitive athletic program.

In the column, Erickson noted the newfound confidence of his players and added, "And I think it's carried over to the other parts of our university, too, because of the success we've had in football. Everybody feels good about themselves – fundraising's gone up, I think enrollment will go up, and they can say what they want, but a lot of it has to do with the success we had on the football field."

April 15's scrimmage saw the offense limited to 17 points but featured some catches by an OSU receiving corps that had dropped a disappointing number of passes the previous season. As for the defense, "I think we're looking good right now," redshirt freshman linebacker Richard Seigler said. "We've got high hopes for our defense. We want to be No. 1-ranked in the Pac this year."

Smith remained OSU's No. 1 quarterback but repetitions at the position were being split more ways with a load of players at the position. House, a redshirt freshman, told the Gazette-Times about Smith's attributes that House wanted to develop himself: "His poise when he comes up to the huddle and just his demeanor on the field is something I can learn a lot from. He's been a big help and I really look up to him."

Oregon State wrapped up the workouts with its spring game April 29. A crowd estimated at 8,000 watched a contest that had the Beavers divided evenly into Black and White squads.

The Beaver defense dominated the passing game as four quarterbacks went a combined 25-for-61 with five interceptions, but the offense managed 204 yards rushing, including 64 yards by Hashim Hall and 61 by Simonton.

"It always hurts the offense more than the defense when you mix things up," Erickson told reporters afterward. "We'll be good on offense with Jonathan's experience, but we've got to catch the ball a little better than we did today.

"But the strength of our offense is going to be the running game and our offensive line blocks the run well, so we'll probably be a little more conservative offensively to establish the run.

"Our defense has as much speed as I've seen in a long time, but it's going to be important to stay healthy on that side of the ball."

In all, the head coach was pleased with how the spring had gone.

"This is all about finding out your team's strengths and weaknesses," Erickson said. "We have those answers, so I'm glad spring ball is over."

SPRING INTO SUMMER

In June, the Beavers selected their team captains for the upcoming campaign: Carroll, Grant, Robinson, Smith and Simonton. Simonton had also been selected to the Football News Preseason All-America team as a second-team pick.

When summer arrived, about 65 players were expected to remain in Corvallis for workouts with strength and conditioning coach Trent Greener, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reported. "For people who are driven and motivated, it's an opportunity," Greener told the newspaper. "Guys are trying to get an edge on their opponents. If they want to make the travel team to be a part-time starter, be All-Pac-10, go on to the next level and play on Sunday … everybody has different goals, and this is just a vehicle to help him get there."

Redshirt freshman offensive guard Matt Davis saw another benefit.

"It gives me a chance to become friends with the older guys, hang out with them and see what they're about," Davis told the G-T. "It's a good way to mix some of the younger guys with the older guys, and vice-versa."

Across the continent in Philadelphia, on August 3 the Republican National convention concluded with Texas Governor George W. Bush nominated for U.S. President and Dick Cheney for vice president.

GOING TO CAMP

Media day was August 10 and Erickson told the assembled sportswriters and sportscasters that the Beavers had a chance to be better than they had in their long-awaited winning season the autumn before.

"But we can't be satisfied with what happened last year," Erickson said. "There were a lot of positives from last year but we did not want to end the season like that (losing to Hawaii in the Oahu Bowl). We figured we could win and we didn't. That was disappointing. We're a long way from where we need to be.

"The thing we must do now is become a better football team than we were at the end of last year."

Erickson wasn't the only one disappointed with the finish to 1999.

"I thought we ended last season crappy," Smith said. "You're not going to surprise anyone. People are going to be more prepared for us." Added Simonton: "We're still the team that nobody wants to lose to. We've got to go out and improve and get to a major bowl."

The Beavers picked up one vote in the Associated Press preseason poll and seven in the USA Today / CNN coaches poll. The Pacific-10 coaches poll tabbed OSU for eighth in the conference and media members around the conference picked the Beavers for sixth place.

Oregon State fans were expecting greater things. Barnhart announced over 13,000 season tickets had been sold; that more than doubled the 6,000 sold just two years earlier. Fox Sports Net had already settled on a pair of OSU games for national telecasts, at Washington on October 7 and at Arizona on November 11.

Full-team workouts began August 12 and daily doubles would continue through August 24. After that, the Beavers would get into their game-week routine for the opener against Eastern Washington on September 2 at Reser Stadium. After the opening workout, Erickson said, "Typical first practice – a lot of mistakes. But the enthusiasm overcame that."

In a preseason publication, Pro Football Weekly listed OSU as "a mid-level program about to get really big," along with Arkansas and Minnesota. Opined PFW: "Dennis Erickson is a proven winner and has the Beavers on the verge of monstrous things on offense."

Contributing to that could be Johnson, the transfer wide receiver. Said Erickson early in fall drills: "From what I've seen so far, he's got tremendous speed … I really believe he'll have a tremendous impact on what we do offensively."

This would be the last stop on what had been a difficult road through college with stops at Langston University and Santa Monica College over the past four years. "I never thought I'd make it this far," Johnson said. "This will be my last chance. It's like a blessing being here. It's God letting me know that this is your last chance to straighten up and do what you need to do. My time clock, it keeps ticking. So now I have one (year) for one (season), and I'm going to do what I have to do."

The first week of practice included senior Mike Fessler showing off his new buzzcut – "I just wanted something different, a little change … I wanted to get out here on the field and feel the breeze, to wake up in the morning and just be thinking about football," Fessler said – and a scuffle among several defensive players that led to an after-practice, defense-only players meeting. Following that practice, asked about the dustup, Erickson said with a smile, "It's hot out there."

The 2000 presidential race became fully joined August 17 when the Democratic National Convention nominated its ticket of Al Gore for U.S. President and Joseph Lieberman for Vice President.

On August 18, it finally became official: Oregon State would get its new indoor practice center. The Corvallis city planning commission gave the go-ahead for construction. Sports information director Hal Cowan noted the difference it would make: "While Oregon was practicing indoors for the Sun Bowl we were out in the rain. You just don't get anything done. It's not a quality practice."

The first scrimmage came a day later and the defense had the best of it, limiting the offense to three field goals and a touchdown in 21 possessions in front of an estimated 2,000 fans on Prothro Field.

"The 100-play workout was a 90-minute exercise in futility for the offense, which was denied at every turn by a speedy black-shirted collection of trash-talking and enthusiastic whirlwinds," wrote Brooks Hatch of the Gazette-Times. The only thing marring the defensive day were a couple of 15-yard penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct and a late hit.

"We got a little excited," Carroll said. "We've got to know when to settle down and when to turn the juice on. But you have to keep that intensity. That's what makes us so aggressive and fast; we've got to play on the edge, that's how we make plays.

"It's going to be hard for any team to put points up on us in the air. We've been working on stopping the run, and it showed up today."

Three days later, the offense scored a reversal in the form of six touchdowns and 461 total yards in the next scrimmage.

Fessler and sophomore placekicker Ryan Cesca were reaping the benefits of having been instructors at kicking camps over the summer. The previous season, Cesca had finished 7-for-15 on field goals after missing six of his last seven.

"I think I'm going to be improved," Cesca told the G-T. "When you find yourself teaching someone, you're returning to the basics and that helps you a lot."

"The pass protection, run blocking and catching was vastly improved," Erickson said. "We executed much better, outside of some mistakes we made throwing."

By now, Oregon State was over 14,000 season tickets sold; with 10 days left before the season-opener, the Beavers still had a chance to reach their preseason goal of 15,000.

The fans weren't waiting for the Eastern Washington game to show up, as hundreds were lining Prothro Field for practices and scrimmages. Often among the fans was Andy Landforce of Corvallis, a member of the Beavers' 1941 team that played in the "transplanted" 1942 Rose Bowl.

Another was Larry McIntyre of Corvallis, who told the G-T: "There's just an overall sense of optimism in the town. I think the football team has lifted the spirits of the whole community. I mean, on an average day you get 35,000 people in the stands. You're looking at a big chunk of our population here following this team. People enjoy a winner and I think they've turned the corner and become a winner."

Fall camp wrapped up with a scrimmage on August 25, and the Beavers' No. 1 offense managed three touchdowns against the No. 1 defense. Houshmandzadeh figured that would mean a bit quieter defense afterward.

"The first two scrimmages we go into the locker room and we hear … trash talking," Houshmandzadeh said. "They're saying this, they're saying that. But it's just all in fun. (It helps) just to know that we can go out there and perform because our defense is one of the best in the Pac-10, just to know you can perform at the level they're playing at."

The beating up on each other was done. In a week, Oregon State would get its chance to play someone else when Eastern Washington paid a visit.

NEXT: The season begins.

Related News

Related Videos