Portland Tribune: OSU has its hands full with wounded Bears

Loss doesn’t diminish No. 16 Cal’s running game, offensive line

By KERRY EGGERS

The Tribune

Mike Riley didn’t feel all that great after watching California’s undefeated record and top-10 ranking washed away with a 47-40 loss at UCLA.

On Saturday, Oregon State (3-2) visits the Golden Bears, now 5-1 and ranked 16th in the USA Today coaches poll. The Beavers’ Pac-10 road opener wasn’t made any easier by the Bears’ excruciatingly difficult defeat.  “Cal’s an excellent team,” Riley says. “They run the ball really well, but the thing people don’t notice as much is their defense, which is one of the best in the Pac-10. Even though UCLA scored 47 points, (Cal’s defense) still looks pretty hard to play against. UCLA ran the ball against them, and that’s not necessarily our strength.”  Cal cornerback Daymeion Hughes, who has four interceptions, was Pac-10 defensive player of the week for his play in a 28-0 win over Arizona two weeks ago. Middle linebacker Desmond Bishop — a 6-2, 245-pound junior transfer from City College of San Francisco — leads the Bears with 43 tackles. And 6-3, 290-pound junior Brandon Mebane “is one of the premier defensive tackles in our conference, if not the country,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford says.

Oregon State’s biggest challenge, though, will come with Cal’s rushing attack, which ranks fifth in the nation at 271.2 yards per game. Sophomore tailback Justin Forsett — Tedford calls him a “diamond in the rough” — is ninth nationally with 783 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore Marshawn Lynch, who missed two games with a broken finger, has 435 yards on the ground.  Forsett runs behind a massive offensive line that features seniors Aaron Merz, a 6-4, 340-pound guard, and Ryan O’Callaghan, a 6-7, 360-pound tackle, on the right side.  “This will be the best offensive line we’ve seen and probably the best set of running backs, too,” OSU middle linebacker Trent Bray says. “Stopping the run will be a focus this week, for sure.”  “It doesn’t look like you can stop them,” Riley says. “Preventing the long gainers and rallying to the football will be big for us. We have to find a way to keep the ball on offense and not let them back on the field, where they can use up the clock (with their rushing game).”   Oregon State is coming off a bye week. Riley hopes the rest and two weeks to prepare for Cal will help. And he hopes the maturation process of a young, inexperienced team is ready for some acceleration.   “We’ve grown,” says Riley, whose Beavers won six of their final seven games a year ago. “We need to continue to grow. I like the work ethic of this team and how the players have battled. I like a lot of our play.

“This is a big time of the year in regard to getting better. Teams start to separate, both at the top and the bottom (of the conference). Last year, we started getting better at this time of the year. We need to do that again.”  Last year in Corvallis, California had its way in a 49-7 pounding of the Beavers.  “We remember,” Bray says. “We just played awful in all aspects of the game. We couldn’t seem to do anything right. The fact that they beat us pretty good might give us a little extra incentive, but really, every game is pretty much the same. You want to win every time out.”