Don't Jinx the Beavers

By Caleb Hawley
November 20, 2008




With five consecutive victories, and a self-controlled destiny to the Rose Bowl, Corvallis has turned into a giant jinx wagon.

Numerous fans have been spotted in Reser Stadium toting signage plastered with roses, text alluding to the scent of the thorny flowers or trips to sunny Pasadena after a pair of home W’s.

To counteract the habitual jinxing behavior of the Beaver faithful, ASOSU (The Associated Students of Oregon State University) has been issuing pocket size blocks of wood to the student body to knock on every time some variety of roses is uttered.

There is a small group on campus that hasn’t bought into the Rose Bowl buzz and isn’t getting ahead of the game at hand. Fortunately for Oregon State that group is about 130 Beaver players and coaches.

The mind-set and philosophy is said best through the words of Oregon State head coach Mike Riley:
“This is the way it’s going to be. You get one game a week. We put in countless hours during that week to get ready for that game. You will never hear us say ‘Well, we overlooked it’ or ‘We didn’t prepare as hard.’ That will never happen. The result of this game has major ramifications, we all know that, but we aren’t preparing any harder for it than we have for any game, because we try to do our best every week. If that is a philosophy the whole team and the coaching staff buys into, then you never have to worry about leaving something behind. That is why, from the very beginning, that is what we stress. The story never changes. It’s not any harder right now to tell you that we are getting ready for the next game than it was at the start of the season.”

Leading the Beavers’ potent offense into Tucson is Jacquizz Rodgers. The conference’s leading rusher has rounded up 1,477 all-purpose yards with 12 touchdowns. Oregon State will call Rodgers’ number frequently to exploit Arizona’s 59th ranked rush defense.

Oregon State’s defense has emerged as one of the nation’s best. After giving up 81 points in losses to Stanford and Penn State, the Beaver D is ranked 15th in the FBS. Some notable stats include 27 sacks, 75 tackles-for-loss and 20 forced turnovers. Expect OSU’s front seven to be breathing down Willie Tuitama’s neck all-day.

To say the least, Corvallis is busting at the seams with excitement. On Saturday afternoon that fervor will be taken to the local establishments of Clod’s, Tailgater’s, Murphy’s, Club 101 or any home or location with the Versus Network to root on the Rose Bowl-hopeful Beavers.

Caleb is an intern at with the Oregon State Sports Information Department