Nick Aliotti Says Don’t Sleep On The Oregon State Beavers In the Pac-12 Race

By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME

Oregon State has a tough game down in the desert this week against Arizona. Even though the Beavers are No. 11 in the nation, there still seems to be some doubt about the Beavers making real noise on a national level.

Pac-12 analyst Nick Aliotti joined the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano and said the Beavers are a really good team and can compete for a Pac-12 championship.

“Don’t sleep on Oregon State,” Aliotti said on 750 The Game. “Love what they do offensively. Love it. Hard ball runs. Play action. Quick little receivers getting down the field. Good on special teams. Play tough. Play hard. They love the game. They’re into it for all the right reasons.”

The Beavers have given up 421 yards a game on the road this season compared to 285 at home. The Arizona offense has been really good as of late. Aliotti says the Beavers defense is still good. But they are missing some of the leadership they had a season ago.

“I don’t know and I don’t think that their defense is as good as it was last year,” said Aliotti. “It’s not bad, but I don’t think that it’s as good as the defense last year. Last year they had the two special corners (Alex Austin, Rejzohn Wright) that really helped them load the box and be able to play man. But they’re very good and could win the whole thing.”

In what could be the final Civil War for a while, Aliotti says this year’s game between Oregon and Oregon State will have more then just the rivalry on the line.

“I really think that whoever wins the Civil War will play in the championship game, probably against Washington.”

Listen to the full interview with Pac-12 analyst and former Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti by clicking the podcast below. Catch the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.

@steven_von