Oregon State Football Release Part 1
September 7, 1998
Corvallis, Ore. -
GAME: Oregon State (1-0) vs. Baylor (0-0) SITE: Parker Stadium (35,362), Corvallis, Oregon DATE: Saturday, September 12 TIME: 1:00 p.m. PDT RADIO: Live over 22-station Beaver Sports Network, starting at 12:25 p.m. TV: Delayed over Fox Sports Northwest at 1:00 p.m. PDT on SundayRECORDS: OSU (1-0) BAYLOR (0-0) 48-6 NEVADA 27,426 Sept. 12 at OREGON STATE Sept. 12 BAYLOR, 1:00 PDT Sept. 19 NORTH CAROLINA STATE Sept. 19 *at USC, 7:00 PDT Sept. 26 at Colorado Sept. 26 *at Arizona State, 7:00 PDT Oct. 3 at Texas Tech Oct. 3 at Utah State, 7:05 PDT Oct. 10 KANSAS Oct. 10 *at Stanford, 2:00 PDT Oct. 17 TEXAS A&M Oct. 17 *ARIZONA, 1:00 PDT Oct. 24 at Texas Oct. 24 *at Washington, 12:30 PDT Oct. 31 at Notre Dame Oct. 31 *CALIFORNIA, 1:00 PST Nov. 7 KANSAS STATE Nov. 7 *UCLA, 1:00 PST Nov. 14 OKLAHOMA Nov. 14 Bye Nov. 21 at Oklahoma State Nov. 21 *OREGON, 1:00 PST *Indicates Pacific-10 Games CROWD: Oregon State is expecting a crowd of between 25,000 and 30,000 at Parker Stadium (35,362) on Saturday.
TICKETS: Reserve seat tickets are priced at $22.00. General admission tickets are priced at $15.00, and are located in the East grandstand and both end zones. The OSU Athletic Ticket Office, room 107 Gill Coliseum, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The phone number is 541-737-4455 or 1-800-GO BEAVS. Parker stadium ticket booths open at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. Parker Stadium gates open at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
TELEVISION: The OSU-Baylor game will be televised on a delayed basis on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. by Fox Sports Northwest with Scott Lynn (play-by-play) and Steve Preece (color) announcing.
RADIO: All Oregon State football games, home and away, will be carried live over the 22-station OSU radio network with Darrell Aune, Bob Grim and Michael Convery announcing, starting at 12:25 p.m. (For complete network listings, see Radio-TV information page in release)
STREAKS: The Beavers will go into the Baylor game with a five-game non-conference winning streak. Oregon State is on a one-game winning streak overall; a one-game winning streak at Parker Stadium; a 12-game Pacific-10 Conference losing streak and a 16-game road losing streak. The Beavers last Pac-10 victory was over Stanford, 26-12, at Corvallis on October 19,1996. OSUs last road victory was a 23-14 victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl, October 15, 1994. The Beavers are seeking their sixth straight non-conference victory and the last time that happened was back to 1937 through 1941 when OSU ran off a string of seven straight non-conference victories.
INJURY UPDATE: Oregon State came out of the Nevada game without picking up any injuries of note. OSU still has two players out of action. Cornerback Sam Gage (dislocated left elbow) and wide receiver Junior Adams (torn ligament in left thumb) remain out of action. Center Dustin Janz remains questionable with an ankle sprain.
MIKE RILEY: Mike Riley (Alabama, 75) is in his second year as the Beavers head coach and his second year as a collegiate head coach. Riley has a collegiate career record of 4-8. Riley was not a rookie head coach when he accepted the OSU position in 1996 for the 77 season. Riley had six previous seasons under his belt as a professional football head coach, four at Winnipeg in the Canadian Football League and two at San Antonio of the World League of American Football. As head coach of Winnipeg, he won two Grey Cup championships. Overall, he had a combined record of 51-41-0 as a professional head coach. Riley spent four years as offensive coordinator at USC prior to becoming head coach at OSU.
DAVE ROBERTS: Baylor head coach, Dave Roberts, is in his second year as the Bears head coach and 12th year as a collegiate head coach. Roberts led Baylor to a 2-9 record in 1997. In 11 seasons as a college head coach, Roberts has posted a record of 66-58-3. He served as head coach at Western Kentucky (1984-88) and had a 26-30 record in five years. Roberts was had coach at Northeast Louisiana University from 1989 through 1993 and had a combined record of 40-28-3. He was offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Notre Dame from 1994-96.
OSU-BAYLOR SERIES: Oregon State and Baylor have played three times previously, with the Beavers holding a 2-1 lead in the series. The Bears won the last meeting, 42-10 at Waco in 1996. OSU won 22-15 in 1963 at Portland and 13-6 at Waco in 1964. This will be the Beavers first contest against a Big 12 opponent.
NOTES FROM NEVADA VICTORY: Oregon State is 2-0 in season openers with Mike Riley as head coach. The Beavers are 4-5 in season openers in the 1990s. OSU has won five straight non-league football games. Other notes: *Oregon States 48 points vs. Nevada is the most scored by the Beavers in a season opener since downing Willamette 76-0 in 1931.
*OSUs 48 points is the most scored by the Beavers since downing Northern Illinois 67-28 on Nov. 16, 1996 (13 games ago).
*OSUs 42-point victory margin was the Beavers largest since a 59-0 win at Hawaii in the final game of the 1976 season (234 games ago).
*Nevadas 6 points were the least OSU has allowed since a 21-3 win over Washington State at Parker Stadium in 1994 (35 games ago).
*Nevadas 6 points were the least the Wolf Pack has scored since a 25-6 loss at Wyoming in 1992 (69 games ago). Nevadas fourth quarter touchdown kept alive the Wolf Packs streak of not having been shut out since a 10-0 loss at Weber State in 1980 (213 games ago).
*OSUs 48 points were the most allowed by Nevada since a 49-35 loss to Toledo in 1995 (33 games ago).
*Nevadas 42-point margin of defeat was the largest for the Wolf Pack since a 49-6 loss to Boise State in 1975 (264 games ago).
*OSU almost duplicated its record of blocking three different kicks (punt, field goal and PAT), by blocking a punt and field goal against Nevada. The Beavers blocked all three in one game against USC at Los Angeles in 1996.
*Ken Simonton rushed for 121 yards, the second 100-yard game in a row by an OSU back. Simontons 100-yard rushing game is the 131st by a Beaver Back.
*Simonton is the first OSU freshman to rush for 100 yards in his first collegiate game and start.
*Quarterback Terrance Bryant completed a 68-yard touchdown pass to James Battle on his first pass as a Beaver and his first collegiate pass. The 68-yarder was the 14th longest pass play in OSU history and the ninth-longest scoring pass in Beaver history.
*Armon Hatcher intercepted his ninth career pass in the Nevada game, tying him for 10th place on the OSU career list with Reggie Tongue (1992-95).
*Linebacker Bryan Jones produced 63 defensive points against Nevada, which is the ninth best single-game mark in OSU history.
QUOTING MIKE RILEY
ON OSUS PLAY AGAINST NEVADA: "I was real pleased with the way we approached the game. We seemed to play with confidence and with a lot of spirit. We also executed pretty well. For the most part, I thought it was a very good first game for us."
ON TERRANCE BRYANT: "I was worried about Terrance, and not about his ability or composure, but just the fact it is quite a burden for a new quarterback with a Pac-10 team. Most of the guys who play in this league have a lot more background with their team than Terrance has had. I was concerned about it, but it ended up being the type of game that was obviously a great one for Terrance to break into. He contributed to the team and I think the team responded very well to him. I think he will get better and better as we go."
ON JASON WHITES FIRST GAME: "I was excited for him. With Jason being healthy, we have added some good depth to our program, particularly we have added a very good starting left tackle.".
ON KEITH HEYWARD-JOHNSONS PLAY: "I thought Keith played with a lot of confidence on Saturday. One of the thing that gives defensive backs confidence is a good pass rush and we got that. It looked to be like he played very consistently and also he was very aggressive."
:ON TOP PERFORMANCES: "I would have to say that Bryan Jones was all over the field on Saturday, not only on defense, but in the kicking game as well. It was a great effort by Bryan on defense. Brian Rogers also played exceptionally well on defense. Brian is a leader and a play-maker. Toalei Talataina came into the game in circumstances that were a little unusual (suspension of Inoke Breckterfield) and was very visible and made some big plays. Sefa OReilly made some plays. Jamil Braithwaites speed around the end was evident once again. I though everyone in the secondary made plays against a team that had been very proficient in passing."
ON SPECIAL TEAMS: "I thought our special teams play was outstanding. We got the ball in good situations for the offense. We covered kickoffs tremendously well and Jose Cortez kicked the ball great and if they (Nevada) wanted to bring the ball out they had to start from their end zone. Our punt returning with Ken Simonton was good. He did great job of catching the ball and making some plays after that. Overall, I thought it was a great special teams day to build on."
ON BAYLOR: "Since they didnt play on Saturday we dont know very much about them. We have to go off last years stuff. I do know that Odell James, their quarterback, is a great athlete. For right now, all we know is what we saw from last year. I think we will see a team that wants to be balanced on offense. They may have a little more option in their offense now that James is the quarterback."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
25-YARD BIG PLAYS CHART: Oregon State had five plays in the Nevada game match or exceed 25 yards. The Beavers 25-yard big play chart follows:
Player/Players Yards Play Opponent TD Terrance Bryant to James Battle 68 pass Nevada Yes Toalei Talataina 60 fumble return Nevada Yes Ken Simonton 43 run Nevada No Terrance Bryant to Robert Prescott 32 pass Nevada No Tim Alexander 25 kickoff return Nevada No
OSU IN THE RED ZONE: Oregon State came out of the season opener against Nevada with a perfect performance in the red zone, converting all four attempts. The Beavers were also perfect on three attempts on first and goal situations. Meanwhile, the Beavers stopped Nevada twice inside the red zone and allowed only one score in the red zone.
BEAVERS PRODUCTIVE IN TURNOVERS: Oregon State, one of the most productive teams in the nation during the 1997 season when it comes to turnover margin, started the 1998 season in the same fashion. The Beavers are a plus 2.0 in turnover margin after the Nevada game, which ranks tied for first in the Pac-10 and tied for eighth in the nation. The season turnover chart follows:
SECONDARY THEFTS: Oregon States defensive unit, which picked off 16 passes in 1997 and had interceptions in 10 of 11 games, started 1998 with a bang by picking off four Nevada passes. Armon Hatcher intercepted his ninth career pick, while three linebackers each had an initial career interception. James Allen, Brandon Boice and Darnell Robinson were the linebackers on the picks.
CAREER DEFENSIVE NUMBERS: A look at career defensive numbers for OSU defenders: 0 0 0 0 0 6
TERRANCE BRYANT: Terrance Bryant, a junior college All-America quarterback last year at City College of San Francisco, got his OSU and Division I collegiate career off to a great start by connecting for a 68-yard touchdown pass on his first pass in a Beaver uniform. The 68-yard pass was the 14th longest pass play in OSU history and the ninth longest scoring pass. The pass went to James Battle. In his first start, Bryant finished with 209 yards passing, completing 15 of 29 attempts. He threw for one touchdown and was intercepted one time. He had 211 yards in total offense. His passing efficiency after one game is 116.74. Bryants chart follows:
TIM ALEXANDER--Tim entered his senior year in a new role as OSUs starting flanker after being the Beavers starting quarterback the past three seasons...Tim is now in a position to become the first Beaver player in history to record over 1,000 yards in rushing, passing, total offense and receiving if he has a big year as a wide receiver...Tim completed the 1997 season as OSUs leading passer (1,745) and rusher (288) and leader in total offense (2,033)...his passing totals ranks fourth on the Beavers all-time season list and his total offense figure ranks fifth in the all-time season list...Tim currently ranks third in career total offense (3,908), sixth in career passing (2,500) and 12th in career rushing (1,408)...he needs 1,072 yards in total offense to catch former Heisman Trophy winner Terry Baker (4,979)...he needs 13 more rushing yards to move into 11th place in career rushing...he needs 441 yards passing to catch Steve Endicott for fifth in career passing...Tim had 58 all-purpose yards against Nevada, including one pass reception for 11 yards, giving him 3 pass career receptions for 47 yards...(Career Notes)--Tim has started 23 games in his OSU career and played in a total of 29 games...he has rushed for 1,408 yards on 338 carries, averaging 4.3 yards per carry in his career and has scored 10 rushing touchdowns...injuries have limited his playing time in his previous two seasons while running the wishbone...he has completed 218 of 501 career passes for 2,500 yards (.435 percentage) and 8 touchdowns...thus far in his career, Tim has accomplished the following: He had an 83-yard TD run vs. Northern Illinois in 1996 to equal the third longest run in OSU history, and he tied Terry Baker for the longest run in Parker Stadium history...he rushed for a career high 205 yards, including 201 in the first half, against Northern Illinois in 1996 for a Parker Stadium record...he has rushed for over 100 yards four times in his career, 117 vs. USC in 1994; 182 against Washington in 1995; 153 vs. Arizona State and 205 against Northern Illinois in 1996...the 205 yards rushing vs. NIU is the fifth best single-game effort in Beaver history and the 182 vs. Washington is the seventh best single-game mark...his 322 yards in total offense vs. Washington in 1995 is the 10th best single-game mark in Beaver history...his 205 all-purpose yards vs. NIU is the 13th best single-game effort in OSU history...his 219 yards in total offense vs. NIU is 22nd on the single-game, all-time best list...Alexanders 17.1 yard average per carry vs. NIU is a Parker Stadium record...a look at Alexanders 29-game career to date:
