Oregon State football continues skid

Oregon State dropped their fourth straight game to the University of Washington on Saturday. With the 69-27 loss, the Beavers fall even deeper into turmoil heading into the annual Civil War game with Oregon. We all know that the season started on a sour note, with a loss to FCS Eastern Washington. But then it appeared that the Beavers woke up. They won their next six games, leaning on a potent and dangerous passing game. Quarterback Sean Mannion was growing play after play. Receiver Brandon Cooks turned into the most electrifying play maker in the country, high pointing passes in double coverage, making defenders miss in the open field. Then Stanford made a trip to Corvallis.

Both teams entered the game with one loss. Stanford had lost two weeks prior to a Utah team that the Beavs had beat earlier in the year. Confidence was high for the Beavers. But that was soon squashed. The 20-12 losing effort left many fans with a lot of questions. Where was that high octane offense? Why go for it on fourth down so many times in field goal position? What happened with the defensive collapse at the end of the first half? Can this team bounce back again? The answer was a simple no.

USC then made a trip to Corvallis, and came away with a 31-14 victory over the Beavs. The offense looked inept, the defense was lost giving up a huge touchdown pass on USC's first offensive play. USC asserted their dominance over the Beavers by having two rushers go over 100 rushing yards. There was no rhythm on either side of the ball for the Beavers. A trend that continued the next week at Arizona State. The Beavers dropped their third straight game by a score of 30-17. The score looks close but that is not indicative of what took place on the field.

The Beavs looked flat, while this could be a result of playing their fifth late night game in a row. But this is the game they signed up to play, so their should be no excuses. The defense forced some punts, but the offense was unable to take advantage. As a result the defense got tired and began giving up big plays. Arizona State running back Marion Grice put up 118 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. With the absence of a rushing game Mannion had to put the ball in the air 46 times. While he did go a respectable 31 for 46, he did throw four interceptions.

Now we have a quarterback who is struggling and losing confidence. This is around the time that the offensive coaches would start simplifying the passing game, to restore confidence in a quarterback going into the latter part of the season. But not Mike Riley and Co., nope the passing philosophy continues to be long developing routes deep down field. This puts not only tremendous pressure on Mannion, but also on a struggling and shuffled around offensive line.

This brings us to Saturday against the University of Washington. This was a gut-check game. A game that was going to tell us what team are we going to see close out the season. The team that battled back through adversity to win six in a row? Or the team that has faltered three weeks in a row? Four quarters later we got our answer in a 69-27 defeat. Fans of this program have to be left speechless after a performance like that. The schemes on both sides of the ball were head scratching, starting with the defense. Washington was starting true Freshman Cyler Miles at quarterback, in place of injured veteran Keith Price. This game marked Miles first start at quarterback in college, this should have been an absolute gift for the reeling Beavers. The defense failed to put pressure on the young Miles, by only rushing four defensive lineman. This allowed Miles to scan the field and take what was given to him. This also showed that the Beavers defensive staff must have failed to know that Washington has one of the nations best running backs in Bishop Sankey. The defense was not in position to make any play against the all-everything Sankey, who had two touchdowns and 158 rushing yards at halftime! Thats right at halftime! Once again no halftime adjustments were made, as three Washington running backs went over 100 yards rushing. The offensive play calling continued to put Mannion and Co. into horrendous positions. With long developing pass routes and still no running game, the Beavers failed to put up any points in the first half. Mannion's confidence continued to be chipped away at all night. The only relief came when the clock hit zero in the fourth quarter, signaling the game was finally over.

There were two devastating blows as a result of the Washington lose. One, it marked the teams fourth straight lose. Two, we witnessed the University of Washington's program ascend, while the Oregon State program fell further into their descent. Washington did what Oregon State had to do, over come adversity and right the ship. Drastic moves may need to be made, because what recruits are going to want to be a part of mediocrity? Who is going to want to play in a stadium that is half new, half relic? Who is going to want to play for the "little brother" of the state? Questions need answers. The program is on life support, and needs to be resuscitated fast.