Cardinal wary of trap against young Beavers
In 2009 Stanford traveled to Oregon State riding a three-game winning streak. But it couldn’t pass “The Quizz.”
Jacquizz Rodgers, a 5-foot-7 sophomore tailback, ran for 189 yards and four touchdowns, and the Beavers knocked the Cardinal out of first place in the Pac-10 with a 38-28 win.
Stanford has won the five meetings with Oregon State since then, but the No. 21 Cardinal know that Friday night’s game in Corvallis isn’t likely to be easy, even though they’re heavily favored.
“We haven’t earned the right to be overconfident,” head coach David Shaw said. “We’ve played one really good game from start to finish, one out of three.”
For one thing, the status of quarterback Kevin Hogan remains unclear. He sprained his left ankle against USC last Saturday, and though a Stanford spokesman said Hogan had an “encouraging” practice Thursday, he remains a game-time decision. If Hogan can’t go, Keller Chryst or Ryan Burns would start.
For another, Stanford (2-1, 1-0 Pac-12) will probably be without its second leading tackler, outside linebacker Kevin Anderson, because of an undisclosed injury.
Like the Cardinal, the Beavers (2-1, 0-0) have had to rebuild their defense under first-year head coach Gary Anderson, the former Wisconsin coach. The Beavers have 17 players who are true or redshirt freshmen, making them one of the youngest teams in the nation.
Instead of Rodgers, who now plays for the Chicago Bears, the key Oregon State threat is speedy freshman quarterback Seth Collins. In an opening win over Weber State, he rushed for 152 yards, the most by an OSU quarterback in nearly two decades. He shared snaps in that game with Marcus McMaryion but is now clearly the No. 1 man.
He also rushed for 114 yards in last week’s 35-21 win over San Jose State, and senior tailback Storm Barrs-Woods rushed for 151. Collins, who had committed to San Jose State before switching to Oregon State, is third among the nation’s quarterbacks in rushing.
He replaced Pleasanton native Sean Mannion, the Pac-12’s alltime career leading passer. Instead of the pro style attack employed by Mike Riley before he left for the Nebraska job, Anderson set up an up-tempo attack that uses multiple formations, including the spread, and makes ample use of Collins’ speed.
Collins has completed only 54 percent of his passes, four for touchdowns with one interception. He helped the Beavers score 21 points in four minutes of the third quarter against San Jose State. He threw a 31-yard touchdown strike to Jordan Villamin and scored on a 10-yard run.
He has quickly become the team’s leader. “This young man, he demands greatness,” Barrs-Woods said after last week’s game. “It’s a look in his eyes. It’s the tone of his voice. We were ready to go.”
Barrs-Woods has had a long list of injuries and ailments that have hampered his career in Corvallis. He sat out the first half of the Michigan game, a 35-7 thumping at the Big House, with a knee injury, but says he’s completely healthy now.
Oregon State offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin was head coach at San Jose State when the Spartans beat Stanford in 2000.
“Every game that we’ve had at Oregon State the last few years has been tough,” Shaw said. “It’s not going to be a cakewalk in there. It’s going to be a tough, physical game.”