War for the Roses

The Pac 10 could not have planned it any better with Oregon and Oregon State meeting in the 113th version of the Civil War on Thursday in prime time (without any other cfb competition) and the winner earning a Rose Bowl berth. For a conference without a championship game this contest will give the casual college football fan the opportunity to see a huge rivalry game with full BCS implications. Win the game and you go to the Rose Bowl. Any fan can follow that scenario.

For Oregon State the game marks a chance at redemption for last year's 65-38 loss. The Beavers also entered that game needing a win to go to the Rose Bowl. Instead they allowed 694y in getting creamed at home. Their reward for that failure? The Sun Bowl and New Year's in El Paso. Lesson learned. The Oregon State defense is saying the right things about that performance and how they will use it as motivation. Plus the OSU stop unit is ranked no. 1 in the conference in rush D, which is key in that the Ducks, with QB Jeremiah Masoli (1,865y passing, 619y rushing) and frosh RB LaMichael James (1,310y rushing) leading the way, are ranked no. 1 in rush O. Leading the Beavers on D is LB Keaton Kristick (80 tackles), one of only three returning starters from last year's unit. Another is DT Stephen Paea, who has been limited by a knee injury. His inside play is huge against the Ducks and their spread O.

On O, Oregon State is led by the three-headed monster that is the Rodgers brothers and QB Sean Canfield. RB Jacquizz Rodgers has rushed for 1,313y and 19 TDs and brother James has caught 77 passes for 865y and 8 TDs while continuing his terrific work as a returnman. Canfield really came into his own as senior, completing 70% of his passes for 2,797y and 19 TDs. He will need to stay sharp against an Oregon D that flies to the ball. The Ducks feature perhaps the best depth on D in the Pac 10 as they have had two games, versus Cal in September and Washington in October, that had 17 or more players record multiple tackles.

Oregon has not lost a conference home game in two years. That was to Oregon State, however, as the road team has won two straight in this hard-fought series. It should be a good one.