Why Oregon State Proved They Can Still Win The Pac-12
By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME
The Oregon State Beavers defeated Utah 21-7 on Friday night at Reser Stadium. Then the fans rushed the field. It was a great night for the orange and black. The Beavers got their first conference win.
But there were high expectations put on this Oregon State team before the season, especially with transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei coming into the fold. It’s been a rocky start for Uiagalelei who has had some great moments and some bad moments.
Host of the Bald Faced Truth John Canzano thinks that the Oregon State offense can still improved and it starts with Uiagalelei.
“Against a good Utah defense he (DJ Uiagalelei) played OK,” Canzano said on 750 The Game. “But I still thought it was a bit of a clunky performance offensively. Utah is really stout against the run and I thought Oregon State did alright in the run game. They had a couple of backs with 88 yards each. That’s solid by Oregon State’s standards. It’s was enough.”
The quarterback’s best friend can be a playmaking wide receiver. Canzano thinks that Silas Bolden won the game for the Beavers on Friday.
“Silas Bolden won the game. He made a couple of terrific plays. One on a catch. One on a run. He was the difference maker in the game. Save for him, this would have been a really ugly 10-7 game.”
Even though Canzano says the offense hasn’t been great this season, do the Beavers still have a shot to make it to Las Vegas and the Pac-12 Championship game? Beavers fans had high expectations at the start of the year to make it to Vegas. Canzano says there is still a chance.
“When you look at the bottleneck of teams in the middle of the Pac-12 conference, I put UCLA and Utah in there. Washington State is in there even thought they are undefeated and coming off of a bye week. I think there’s an outside chance that one of those teams can slip through and challenge Oregon, Washington, or USC for a spot in the conference title game. Can it be Oregon State? I think they’re in the conversation.”
Oregon State heads on the road next week to play Cal down in Berkeley. Oregon State is 4-1 while Cal is 3-2.
Catch the full segment at the 42:00 mark of the podcast below. Listen to the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.
