Football Release (Part I)
August 31, 1998
Corvallis, Ore. -
GAME: Oregon State (0-0) vs. Nevada (0-0) SITE: Parker Stadium (35,362), Corvallis, Oregon DATE: Saturday, September 5 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 11:00 a.m. PDT on SundayNEVADA Sept. 5 at OREGON STATE Sept. 12 COLORADO STATE Sept. 26 at Fresno State Oct. 3 at UNLV Oct. 10 NEW MEXICO STATE Oct. 17 at North Texas Oct. 24 at Idaho Oct. 31 BOISE STATE Nov. 7 at Utah State Nov. 14 CAL POLY-SLO Nov. 21 SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
RECORDS: OSU Sept. 5 NEVADA, 1:00 PDT Sept. 12 BAYLOR, 1:00 PDT Sept. 19 *at USC, 7:00 PDT Sept. 26 *at Arizona State, 7:00 PDT Oct. 3 at Utah State, 7:05 PDT Oct. 10 *at Stanford, 2:00 PDT Oct. 17 *ARIZONA, 1:00 PDT Oct. 24 *at Washington, 12:30 PDT Oct. 31 *CALIFORNIA, 1:00 PST Nov. 7 *UCLA, 1:00 PST Nov. 14 Bye Nov. 21 *OREGON, 1:00 PST *Indicates Pacific-10 Games
CROWD: Oregon State is expecting an opening day crowd of between 28,000 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-Nevada game will be televised on a delayed basis on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. by Fox Sports Northwest with Scott Lynn (play-by-play) and Steve Preece (color) announcing. Air time for the complete network is 12:25 p.m.
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.
STREAKS The Beavers will go into the Nevada game with a four-game non-conference winning streak. Oregon State completed the 1997 season on a six-game losing streak overall; a two-game losing 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 completed a three-game sweep of its non-conference schedule in 1997, giving OSU its first sweep over its non-conference opponents since 1957 when the Beavers defeated Kansas (34-6) and Northwestern (22-13) in the only two non-conference games of that season. OSUs last victory at Parker Stadium was over Utah State, 24-16.
INJURY UPDATE Oregon State has three players out of action. Cornerback Sam Gage (dislocated left elbow); wide receiver Junior Adams (torn ligament in left thumb); and defensive tackle Matt Morrow (low back) are out of action. Adams is due to have surgery on Tuesday to repair the ligament in his left thumb. Center Dustin Janz is doubtful with an ankle sprain. The following players are probable--defensive end Jamil Braithwaite (low back); wide receiver Tim Alexander (knee); wide receiver James Battle (shoulder); and defensive end Inoke Breckterfield (Achilles Tendon).
MIKE RILEY: Mike Riley (Alabama, 75) completed his first year as the Beavers head coach and his first year as a collegiate head coach in 1997. Riley has a collegiate career record of 3-8. However, Riley was not a rookie head coach. Riley had six 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.
JEFF TISDEL: Nevada head coach, Jeff Tisdel, is in his third year as the Wolf Packs head coach and fifth year with Nevada. Tisdel led Nevada to a 9-3 record in 1996 and 5-6 in 1997.
OSU-NEVADA SERIES: Oregon State and Nevada have played one time previously, with the Beavers winning 15-0 during the 1903 season in Corvallis. OSU is 10-12-0 vs. Big West teams, but has a two-game winning streak against Big West football teams.
OPENERS: Oregon State is 1-0 in season openers with Mike Riley as head coach. The Beavers are 3-5 in season openers in the 1990s.
PRESEASON HONORS: The Sporting News selected Armon Hatcher as a second-team All-Pac-10 pick in its preseason issue. Brian Rogers is a finalist for the Dick Butkus Award, which is awarded to the nations top linebacker. Inoke Breckterfield has been picked as a preseason All-Pac-10 selection by six preseason magazines, Lindys, Street & Smith, Athlon, Preview Sports, Bob Grieses College Football, The Football News and The Sporting News. The Sporting News also calls Breckterfield the most underrated player in the Pac-10.
STARTERS RETURNING: Oregon State returns a total of seven starters on offense who started six or more games in 1997 and a total of 13 players who started at least one game on offense in 1997. The Beavers return nine players who started six ore more games on defense and a total of 14 players who started at least one game on defense in 1997. OSU also returns its starting kicker and punter.
STADIUM IMPROVEMENTS: Oregon State continues to make improvements to Parker Stadium. The two biggest improvements from a fan standpoint for the 1998l season is a new sound system, including special sound effects, and totally revamped restrooms. The wire cyclone fence that circled the playing field has been removed and the inside walls of Parker Stadium have been painted black and new signage has been added. There is new signage on the back of the scoreboard and the concourse and concessions stands have all been repainted.
FOUR FRESHMEN MAKE TRAVEL SQUAD: Four of OSUs freshman class are currently listed on the Beavers 60-man travel roster and could play in the season opener against Nevada. Shawn Kintner, wide receiver from McNary High School in Keizer, OR, is one of the top six wide receivers and likely will play. Mike Kuykendall, offensive tackle from Bend High School in Bend, OR, is No. 2 at left tackle. Seneca Wallace, cornerback from Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, CA, and Dennis Weathersby, cornerback from Duarte High School in Duarte, CA, are backup cornerbacks.
QUOTING MIKE RILEY
ON FALL CAMP: "I was excited about the work our players did, and I think they were able because they came into camp in great shape. They were able to concentrate on football and basically we had very few injuries. I think that can be attributed to the work our players did in the off-season."
ON NAMING TERRANCE BRYANT STARTING QUARTERBACK: "We tried to get both guys ready (Tyler Tomich and Bryant). We gave them equal turns with the first team throughout almost all of training camp. Basically, through a day-to-day evaluation in what I considered a very close race, we decided to go with Terrance."
ON NEVADA: "Nevada is a scary team. They have played teams in our league and have had very close games. They have always been one of the most explosive offensive teams in the country. I would anticipate a high-powered offense coming in here, and a team that is very capable of putting points on the board fast."
ON LEFT SIDE OF OFFENSIVE LINE: "We have made a decision rather late, considering the injury to Jason White early in camp. After six practices with us in fall camp, we have decided to go with Jason White at left tackle and move Larry Ramirez to left guard. Jared Cornell will play a lot even though he will not start against Nevada. Cornell had a good camp and is a much improved football player."
ON PLAYING SEASON OPENER: "We came out of camp fairly healthy. One injury that hurt was Dustin Janz, center, suffering a sprained ankle early in camp which has forced him to miss all of fall camp thus far. Other than some bumps and bruises, I think we are ready to open the season."
ON RUNNING GAME: "I feel like our players know what we are going to run and what we want to run against and how we need to do it. Now it is a matter of being able to execute it and stay with it as we go from game to game."
COMPARE THIS TEAM TO LAST YEAR AT THIS SAME POINT: "We are way ahead from position to position. We are at least as good or better than we were a year ago. Our defense is ahead because they have been in the system for a year. There are a lot of veterans on our defense. Offensively, we have basically started over. But, with the people we have in place and a new style of quarterbacking, we have given ourselves a chance to be better on offense than we were a year ago. I think we proved in fall camp that we are much more versatile on offense."
ON SPECIAL TEAMS: "Jose Cortez is a quality kicker and has been impressive, even more impressive than he was a year ago when we thought he was real good. We anticipate Jose being a big weapon for our team this year. I think Mike Fessler has improved as a punter. We are looking to be more consistent than we were a year ago."
OSU IN THE RED ZONE: Oregon State scored on 21 of its 26 trips into the red zone (20 yards and in) during the 1997 season, a percentage of .808. The Beavers scored 13 touchdowns and eight field goals in their 26 trips into the red zone, giving OSU a .500 success rate on touchdowns inside the red zone. The Beavers were a perfect eight-for-eight scoring in first and goal situations, scoring six touchdowns and two field goals. OSU opponents scored on 26 of 33 trips into the red zone, a percentage of .788, including 19 touchdowns. Beaver opponents had a .567 success rate of scoring touchdowns in the red zone and a percentage of .800 on touchdowns in first and goal situations. INTERCEPTIONS: As a team, OSU picked off an interception in 10 of its 11 games in 1997, and a total of 16 for the year. Armon Hatcher head three interceptions to lead returning players, and enters this season with eight for his career. Hatcher is tied for 11th on the OSU career interceptions list. Terrence Carroll and Bo Marthaller had two interceptions apiece. Of the 16 OSU pass interceptions, 13 were by the secondary. Hatcher was tied for ninth in the Pac-10.
BEAVERS PRODUCTIVE IN TURNOVERS: Oregon State was one of the most productive teams in the nation during the 1997 season when it came to turnover margin. The Beavers finished fourth in the Pac-10 in the turnover department with a plus six for the season. That figure also ranked tied for 30th nationally.
TIM ALEXANDER: Tim enters his senior year in a new role...he will be 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...with one year remaining at OSU, Tim now ranks third in career total offense (3,905), sixth in career passing (2,500) and 13th in career rushing (1,405)...he needs 1,075 yards in total offense to catch former Heisman Trophy winner Terry Baker (4,979)...he needs 3 more rushing yards to move into 12th place in career rushing and 17 to move into 11th place...he needs 441 yards passing to catch Steve Endicott for fifth in career passing...the multi-talented Alexander added another dimension to his growing portfolio in the Utah State game as he also caught 2 passes for 36 yards in addition to rushing for 63 and passing for 80...he became the fourth quarterback/tailback in OSU history to run and pass for over 1,000 yards as a result of his performance against Stanford..(Season Notes)--Tim ranked 15th in Pac-10 in passing efficiency at 90.3, and sixth in total offense in the Pac-10 with a 184.81 yards per game average...(Career Notes)--Tim has started 22 games in his OSU career and played in a total of 28 games...he has rushed for 1,405 yards on 336 carries, averaging 4.2 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.
