There wasn’t a lot for the Oregon State Beavers to cheer for last year.  They opened the season with probably the worst loss in school history, the endured a quarterback controversy that led to Ryan Katz getting benched for freshman Sean Mannion, and they finished the season with a losing record for the second consecutive year. 

Mike Parker, the voice of the Beavers joined The Morning Sports Page Thursday to talk about the tough 2011 season but he remains optimistic that 2012 will not bear much resemblance to the previous year.

Parker insists that the main reason for the down year last season was injuries.  All football teams experience injuries, but the amount of injuries suffered by the Beavers last season was incredible.  Both lines were completely decimated by injuries –forcing many players to play out of position and forcing young players to play before they were probably ready.
But as Parker implies, that experience for the young guys was invaluable.  Instead of going into a redshirt freshman season with no previous playing time, many players have 8-10 games of solid experience.

With all the experience the young guys have had and all the practice Sean Mannion has put in during the offseason, Parker implies that the Beavers could easily start out the season 2-0.  However, you can’t start out 2-0 if you don’t start out 1-0 first.  So do not underestimate Nicholls State.  They will be ready to play on September 1st.