Oregonian: Reactions differ to Reser Stadium

While Cal's Jeff Tedford recalls "a difficult time playing there," OSU's Curtis Coker requests a rowdier crowd

JIM BESEDA

CORVALLIS -- Some college football coaches motivate through revisionist history.   California coach Jeff Tedford, for example, looked ahead to today's Pacific-10 Conference game between the No. 20 Golden Bears and the Oregon State Beavers at Reser Stadium and said, apparently with a straight face: "We've always had a difficult time playing there."   If that were a response on an oral history exam, a professor would have given him an "F."

The last time California visited Corvallis, two years ago, the only thing that was "difficult" for Tedford was deciding when to pull his starters as the Bears beat the Beavers 49-7.  And though that game stands as Cal's only victory in the series in the past seven seasons, the Bears (3-1, 1-0 Pac-10) are a 91/2-point favorite today to extend their current winning streak to four games.  Still, there is the usual rhetoric.

"It's a tough environment there," Tedford said. "Their fans do a nice job. . . . It's not the loudest place in the conference, but it's a hostile environment, no question."  Yeah, and the Bears probably had chain-saw sound effects piped over the loudspeakers during practice this week as part of their preparation.  While Tedford, whose record at Reser as Cal's coach is 1-1, was trying to convince his players that they are about to walk into a hornet's nest, some of the Beavers were questioning just how much of a home-field advantage they have at Reser.  Not that the players don't think it's an advantage playing at home, but they're convinced it has the potential to be a bigger advantage than it has been recently.

Curtis Coker, the Beavers' junior defensive tackle who is back after serving a one-game suspension for breaking a team rule, said the fans who sat on their hands during last week's 38-0 victory over Idaho need to make more noise today.

"We need a 12th man on defense," Coker said. "It's disheartening as a player when I hear the student section (being) mediocre and the other side of Reser is just kind of quiet.   "It can get loud here, and that's what I want. Soon as you see that 'Make Noise' thing pop up on the screen, make some noise, because that means (the home team) needs it. . . . Oh yeah, you feed off it. It helps disrupt their offense. It helps a lot."  And for all of those in the OSU student section who have been calling for backup quarterback Sean Canfield and spewing insults at starter Matt Moore, some of the players have another suggestion: Direct some of that enthusiasm at the opposition.

Moore said the budding quarterback controversy isn't as bad as the soap opera he went through as a freshman at UCLA, where he and Drew Olson split time at the position.  "But still, I hear about it, you know?" Moore said. "They're fans . . . and I'm sure a lot of them are football-savvy.  "I mean, I'm a fan of a lot of other teams, and I'm harsh on guys. It's tough to talk about something like this, because you don't want to make it (a big deal). I don't even worry about it. People are going to say what they're going to say. It's not an issue with me at all."  Last season, Moore threw three interceptions against California, yet the Beavers rallied in the second half for a 23-20 victory over the then-No. 18 Bears in Berkeley.   Will last season's game factor into today's game?   "I'm going to remind our team about that and use that as a motivator," Beavers coach Mike Riley said. "I'm sure the Bears will bring it up, but each team is different, too. They've got a lot of new faces and a new team, and so do we.   "So, who knows exactly how that's going to play into it? We've got our own concerns about what they do and who they are and how good they are. That's our biggest deal."