Go Mighty Card

Stanford 27, Oregon State 23

In the early going on Saturday afternoon it looked like Kevin Hogan and the Stanford Cardinal would simply run Oregon State into the ground. Picking up right where they left off against Colorado, the Cardinal dominated both sides of the ball throughout the first quarter as they forged a 14-0 lead and threatened to turn what had been expected to be a close game into a blowout.

Blogging With the Enemy: Oregon State Beavers

This has been a long, strange season to say the least. After the peaks and valleys of September, the Cardinal settled into something of a malaise in October as fans lost faith in the quarterback and questioned the head coach. But November has brought a new quarterback and newfound optimism. 

This Saturday Kevin Hogan and the Stanford Cardinal will host the Oregon State Beavers in what is essentially a Rose Bowl elimination game. Assuming that Oregon finishes the season unbeaten (beating both Stanford and Oregon State along the way), the Ducks will likely head to the National Championship game, leaving the Rose Bowl short a team. There are dozens of variables that come into play, but it isn't a stretch to imagine the Rose Bowl committee choosing the next-best available Pac-12 team, and the winner of Saturday's game will have the inside track towards making that claim.

Oregon State boasts in impressive 7-1/5-1 record, but how good are they really? The Beavers made an early statement when they beat Wisconsin, a team that was much more highly regarded on September 8th than they are now, and two weeks later beat UCLA, a team that wasn't yet playing to its potential. Aside from that they have no real signature wins, nothing like Stanford's win over USC, for example.

If they're to get this win, it will start with their defense. As excited as Stanford fans were about Kevin Hogan's performance last week, his success came at the expense of perhaps the worst defense in the conference. The Beavers have a defense to rival Stanford's. The Cardinal may lead the nation in yards rushing allowed, but OSU is only four slots back in fifth place overall.

The similarities continue on the other side of the ball. Just like Stanford, the Beavers are breaking in a new quarterback. Sean Mannion had the reins early on, but injuries and poor performance opened up an opportunity for his back-up, and Cody Vaz has taken advantage. He threw for 332 yards in his season debut against BYU four weeks ago, and he totalled 267 yards and three touchdowns in the OSU win over Arizona State last week.

This game is coming at the perfect time for the Cardinal. After a week of practice as the #1 quarterback, Hogan will get to measure himself against one of the top defenses in the country as he attempts to lead Stanford to its second big win of the season. But enough from me. Cliff Kirkpatrick covers Oregon State for the Corvallis Gazette-Times, so he knows more about the Bears than I could ever hope to learn. He was nice enough to field a few questions from me. Take a read...

Forecasting Stanford Football in 2012, One Game at a Time

Remember in Back to the Future II when Biff stole Marty's copy of Grays Sports Almanac and used the DeLorean to give it to his 1955 self so that he could win every sports bet for the next fifty years? Well, here's the next best thing.

We here at Go Mighty Card have never condoned gambling, but we noticed something recently that caught our attention. Sure, it might be fun to put down some cash on an individual game, then bite your nails to the nubs for three hours before hopefully claiming your winnings, but we've always been more intrigued by the long-term bet, especially because it always looks so easy to make a fistful of money.

One of the earliest reports from Las Vegas has the over/under for the 2012 Stanford Cardinal set at 7.5 wins. On the surface, eight wins seems like a gimme, so I thought I'd take a look at things game by game, putting each match-up into one of three categories: Guaranteed Lock, Toss Up, or Likely Loss.

This is hardly scientific, and by no means a recommendation on how to spend your hard-earned money, but it gives us an excuse to analyze the schedule a bit. As always, feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section. Could it be possible that Stanford could win only seven games this fall? Let's take a look...

Blogging With the Enemy: Oregon State Beavers

Late in the fall of 2006, the USC Trojans were universally heralded as the best team in the land. Most expected them to cruise through the Pac-10 schedule and wind up in the BCS Championship game, but all of that changed when they travelled to Corvallis and were upset by the Beavers, 33-31. Two years later the same thing happened to the Trojans as they lost at Oregon State again and lost their #1 ranking. They were trapped.

This Saturday's game against Oregon State, coming as it does on the weekend in between the road trip to USC and the showdown with Oregon, has all the markings of a trap game. Might the Mighty Card be physically and emotionally exhausted after last weekend's triple overtime contest? Will they be caught looking ahead to the Oregon game?

It's possible, I suppose, but unlikely. I've said this several times about the Cardinal over the past two seasons, but I'm still impressed by the level of focus this team brings to each and every game, regardless of whom they're playing. I expect this to be true on Saturday. Look for the Andrew Luck to start out quickly and keep his foot firmly on the gas throughout the first half. The third quarter will belong to Stanford, and as the offensive line begins to impose its will on the OSU defensive line, the score will get a bit ugly. Prediction: Stanford 52, Oregon State 17.

If you're not as certain as I am, though, and you'd like to get a second opinion, allow me to introduce you to an angry young man named angry. Angry runs angrybeavs.com, a site dedicated to Oregon State athletics, and he took the time to answer a handful of questions for about the Beavers and this Saturday's game. Enjoy...

Pac-12 Summer Preview: Oregon State Beavers

Even though the season won't kick off until early September, I thought it would be fun to take a look around the conference for a quick preview of the other eleven teams -- in no particular order. We'll get more in depth during the week before the Cardinal plays each team, but for now we've got a quick overview of how the team looks at this point as seen through the eyes of a blogger who knows that team best. Enjoy.

Oregon State Beavers (Pac-12 North)
Head Coach: Mike Riley (69-54)
2010: (4-5, 5-7, T-5th)
Lost to Stanford, 38-0

Even though the Beavers suffered through a disappointing year in 2010, they could end up deciding the champion of the Pac-12 North. All analysts will agree that Stanford and Oregon will be the top two teams in the division, and it will likely be Oregon State that determines their order of finish. Stanford fans who are hopeful of seeing their Cardinal in the Rose Bowl -- or even the BCS Championship game -- are all pointing towards two critical games: October 29th at USC and November 12th at Oregon. Certainly those are two critical games, but in between lies a potential Beaver trap in Corvallis on November 5th. If the Cardinal come in down after a big win against the Trojans, or if they're looking ahead to their matchup the following week against the Ducks, they will lose. And don't forget that even if Oregon is able to play through their off-the-field issues and run the table, they'll still have to beat Oregon State in the Civil War. A fine gentleman named Angry, the proprietor of the Oregon State blog AngryBeavs.com, offers some answers to my preseason questions about the Beavers. Take a listen...

Stanford 38, Oregon State 0

There were lots of concerns entering Saturday night's game against the Oregon State Beavers, but looking back now it's hard to know what people were so worried about.

There was fear of a let down coming off the big win over Cal in Big Game.  There was concern about Stephen Paea and the OSU defensive line, one of the stronger units in the Pac-10.  There was talk about Beaver running back Jacquizz Rodgers, the speedy back who burned the Cardinal for 189 yards rushing in 2009.  Finally, there was lots of hand wringing about possible bowl destinations for the Cardinal.  Even if they were to win, an 11-1 Stanford team could still end up in a second-tier game like the Alamo or Holiday Bowl.

As it turned out, not a single one of those issues is worth discussing anymore.  Andrew Luck and company dismissed each one, checking them off one item at a time.

Live Blog: Stanford vs. Oregon State (First Half Only)

Good news for the Mighty Card already as #5 LSU lost to Arkansas today.  Coupled with #4 Boise State's loss on Friday night, the door is now open for Stanford to jump as high as #4 in the BCS standings.

That, of course, assumes a win tonight over Oregon State.  Enjoy the live blog...

 

Blogging With the Enemy: Oregon State Beavers, Part II

I have to admit that I'm starting to worry about Saturday's game.  Even though I wrote yesterday that it's time to move past Big Game, the game was replayed yesterday afternoon and I got sucked in to watching it again.

After watching the players celebrating on the sideline and cavorting with the Axe, it was immediately clear why these rivalry games should be the last game of the season.  How could this team be expected to regain its focus?  How could they be expected to put that Axe away and turn their attention to a team six hundred miles away?

I have faith in Jim Harbaugh, and I have faith in Andrew Luck, but even so I thought it might be a good idea to take another look at the Beavers.  I reached out to Cliff Kirkpatrick of the Corvallis Gazette-Times for his take on Oregon State football and some thoughts on the game.  Enjoy!

Blogging With the Enemy: Oregon State Beavers, Part I

I still don't think it's right that Big Game is not the last game on the Stanford schedule -- and I really hope that the Pac-12 can return that bit of tradition league-wide, if only to even the playing field for the conference championship game -- but there is still one game left to play.  So it's time to put the victory over Cal behind us and look towards this Saturday's game against Oregon State.  (I'll forgive you, though, if you choose to read this with your hands wrapped firmly around the handle of an Axe.)

So what are we to make of Oregon State?  For a while as they muddled through their season it looked like they might make the perfect opponent for Saturday's Senior Day, but then they had to go and crush USC last week, reminding us that this was a team most expected to contend for the Pac-10 title this season.

To get to the bottom of all this, I reached out to the angriest Oregon State blog out there, angrybeavs.com.  The proprietor, a mysterious gentleman named angry, was good enough to answer a few questions about the Beavers.  Here's our conversation, in all its glory.  (You can read my answers to his questions over at his site.)