A Guest Column from Terry Horstman:
Only 84 days to go until Thursday, August 28th when Oregon State football travels to Palo Alto to take on Stanford to open the 2008 college football season. 84 days, leaving plenty of time to think, hope and speculate on whether or not the Beavers can make it three successful seasons in a row.
With the return of Sammie Stroughter, the addition of Simi Kuli and the experience of Lyle Moevao, breaking into the Pac-10 elite is a goal that seems very achievable from the outside looking in. However in the last couple years the Beavers have had to dig deep into the depth chart to put a winning team on the field, and while I believe strongly that this is a much improved Beaver team there should still be a lot of contribution from players you haven’t heard of yet. But don’t worry, I can shed some light on those names you’ll soon hear a lot.
In 2007 the Beavers were looking to build off of a tremendous 2006 campaign with the return of offensive studs Yvenson Bernard and Sammie Stroughter. The highly anticipated Sean Canfield would finally see the field and Beaver fans had all the reason in the world to expect great things out of 2007. By season’s end at Autzen Stadium Stroughter, Bernard and Canfield all witnessed an intense Beaver victory from the sidelines, a victory headlined by James Rodgers, Matt Sieverson and Lyle Moevao.
Had someone told me before the season started that Rodgers, Sieverson, and Moevao were going to be our biggest playmakers in the Civil War and beat the Ducks at Autzen for the first time since 1993 – I would have laughed in their face.
Now I have finally learned to expect the unexpected from Mike Riley and his recruiting classes, any player with a one star rating could end up having as much impact as a player with a five star. That’s just how the game goes and Riley certainly seems to have a knack for finding the diamond in the rough, here are some of this year’s potential diamonds:
James Rodgers may have a running mate next year, and no I’m not talking about his brother! I’m talking about Keynan Parker, a running back/wide-receiver tweener out of British Columbia could have a huge impact on this year’s team. For those that haven’t I recommend looking up Parker on youtube.com and you’ll start singing “Oh Canada” in the shower until football season. At 6-foot and 183 pounds Parker is a bit undersized, but what he lacks un bulk he makes up for in blinding speed with a timed 4.3 seconds in the 40 yard dash. Parker will most likely see time at wide-out as the Beaver offense is pretty stacked at the running back position, his speed also make him the top return man on special teams.
With most of last year’s defensive front seven graduating the dominant Beaver defense was left with a lot of holes to fill. Most of those holes are being filled by players who have already seen a lot of action, for example Victor Butler, Slade Norris and Bryant Cornell to name a few. But there are a few question marks primarily at defensive tackle. Right now Pernell Booth is the only player on the Beaver roster with any significant experience at the position, and there is a desperate need for someone to step up on the most feared rush defense in the Pac-10.
That someone by all means could be Stephen Paea out of Snow Junior College. At 6-foot-2 and 290 pounds Paea has the body to play tackle in the Pac-10. He also had three other division-1 scholarships to play for BYU, Texas A&M, and Utah. The best thing about Paea is that with only three years of organized football experience he plays extremely intelligent. Ever since he has arrived in Corvallis for spring camp the coaches have been raving about this kid and if anything I’ve been hearing about him comes true then Beaver fans can settle in for another year of dominating run defense, and even more goal line stands.
With a three star rating from both www.scout.com and www.rivals.com, California wide-receiver Kevan Walker isn’t exactly a sleeper. However at one time a commit to UCLA and then switching to the Beavs in February he earns a spot on my unexpected to expect list. Walker is a top 100 recruit for receivers and the son of UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, the family tie seemed to be what drew him to UCLA but during the recruiting process Kevan let the public in on a little secret.
“My dream was always to burn my pop’s defense for a touchdown, wherever I’m at.” Walker told Brandon Huffman of scout.com, and if all goes according to plan that dream should be accomplished by November 8th, 2008 when the Beavs visit the Bruins at the rose bowl in Pasadena.
These are just a few of the names in the “sleeper” studded 2008 recruiting class for the Beavers, and with the season three short months away there’s nothing wrong with jumping aboard the Stroughter and Rodgers Brothers express. However if Oregon State football has taught us anything in the past it’s that by as soon as tomorrow we could be chanting a player’s name we haven’t even heard of today.
Leave a Reply