What We Learned: Beavers Over Rainbow Warriors
Monday, September 08, 2014
Photo Credit: McD22, cc
Being undefeated still means outscoring the other team in every game, right?
Photo Credit: McD22, cc
Look, it’s not a pretty or emphatic 2-0, but ask Stanford or any number of teams how it feels to be 1-1. Heck, ask Mike Leach and Washington State about being 0-2.
That’s brutal, so in that light, the Beavers have nothing to apologize for.
Remember, traveling to Hawaii midweek and facing a hungry group of winless Rainbow Warriors sounds a lot easier than it actually is. It’s literally NOT a walk on the beach. It’s a business trip, but these are 18- to 22-year-olds we’re talking about. Distractions are understandably a part of the equation.
Want to fixate on something? Fixate on the facts - Mike Riley is an outstanding coach. Sean Mannion is one of the nation’s best quarterbacks. There’s a bye this week, so some of the issues - closing out games, special teams, offensive line play - will be worked out.
That said, it’s easy to question what the Beavers’ margin for error will be this season.
Mannion is fantastic, but he’s only as good as the guys catching his passes. He won’t beat you with his feet. So if the tight ends don’t separate, and if the wide receivers don’t progress, and if the running backs don’t pile up yards, and if the offensive line doesn’t evolve into a cohesive unit, Mannion will look ordinary.
He’s not, but it’s going to take everything he has just to guide Oregon State to seven or eight wins. Look at what he did late Saturday in Honolulu - 26 of 37 completions for 300 yards and three touchdowns. But the Beavers, thanks to a few gaffes that led to surrendering 23 unanswered points in the second half, only won by eight, 38-30.
Cause for panic? Of course not, especially when it was a breakout game for a few players, which suggests...
Maybe Victor Bolden really is the rightful heir to Cooks, Wheaton and Rodgers.
At first blush, Oregon State seemed to be lacking that explosive wideout, the featured offensive target that Mannion loves to exploit.
But then against Hawaii, Victor Bolden, the sophomore wide receiver from Rancho Cucamongo, Calif., emerged. He caught 11 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown, including a 40-yard reception in the first quarter.
Too be fair, Brandin Cooks, the man Bolden essentially said during fall camp he was replacing, was nearly that good in his NFL debut Sunday with the New Orleans Saints.
It’s going to be a process with Bolden, whom Riley and his staff like. He has the ability, and he’s trending in the right direction. The goal is to keep maturing.
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