No ESPN crew in Corvallis, so Beavers aim for their own game day vs. Huskies

Oregon State’s Damien Martinez cuts loose for a 59-ard TD scamper in the Beavers 62-17 romp over Stanford Saturday (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)

Updated 11/14/2023 9:55 PM

CORVALLIS — Beaver Nation, this one’s for you.

I feel your pain. I feel your indignation. I feel your anger.

We’ll get to Oregon State’s resounding 62-17 victory over Stanford Saturday at Reser Stadium in a moment. First, a digression to a decision that leaves me confounded and confused.

ESPN had a role in the ill-fated judgment that kicked Oregon State and Washington State to the curb in the conference realignments that left the Pac-12 with two schools for 2024-25.

Now the network is adding a solar plexus shot.

Analyst Kirk Herbstreit had apparently let the cat out of the bag last Tuesday when he said on a Seattle radio show, “I think our crew will be at Oregon State next week.”

The reference was to this Saturday’s titanic between the Beavers and Washington at Reser Stadium. The implication was, should OSU and U-Dub win their games on Saturday, the ensuing matchup would be the site of ESPN College GameDay on Nov. 18.

It made perfect sense. After the Beavers drubbed Stanford and Washington got by Utah, it makes even more sense. The Huskies are ranked fifth and the Beavers 10th in this week’s college football polls.

Beaver Nation was excited. College GameDay had visited Corvallis only once — for the Civil War game in 2010. The one would have been a memorable experience for a football program and fan base that deserve something good to happen.

Then during the second half of the OSU-Stanford game came official word that the GameDay crew would be instead heading to the campus of James Madison in Harrisburg, Va.

Oh, and by the way — for the third time.

The Dukes, 10-0 and now ranked 18th and 21st in the AP and Coaches polls, respectively, will play host to 6-4 Appalachian State in a Sun Belt Conference matchup.

James Madison football is a nice story. The program transitioned from FCS to Group of Five FBS status by joining the Sun Belt in 2022. The NCAA has a ridiculous rule stipulating that during a two-year “reclassifying” period a school cannot participate in a bowl — or even in their conference title game. James Madison has appealed for a waiver, but so far the NCAA is holding firm.

But let’s get real. Which matchup would more appeal to the majority of ESPN’s audience on Saturday — Appalachian State-James Madison or Washington-Oregon State?

And of course, Oregon State football is a good story, too. But not to ESPN, which in cahoots with Fox is culpable in the deplorable realignment snafu that has left the Pac-12’s two smallest markets holding the bag in the conference.

Why would ESPN choose James Madison over a matchup of top-10 teams?

“They’re afraid,” OSU athletic director Scott Barnes said on the sidelines at Reser as the Beavers were putting the finishing touches on their win over Stanford. “They don’t want to tell our story. I’m so mad. I can’t wrap my head around it.”

Barnes will be on hand Tuesday in Colfax, Wash., for the Pac-2 lawsuit in Whitman County Superior Court that will provide early evidence of the route Oregon State and Washington State must navigate to their next destination. Good that the AD was able to enjoy a truly successful weekend for the Beavers — the football victory, wins by the men’s and women’s basketball teams and a terrific Hall of Fame banquet honoring some true greats — before turning to a judge’s decision he hopes will be favorable.

Ex-Beaver basketball great Brent Barry, inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame Friday night, stayed around to get a hand from the Reser Stadium throng on Saturday (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)

While Beaver fans are understandably up in arms, the GameDay slight didn’t seem to much bother players and Coach Jonathan Smith when I asked about it in the post-game media conference.

“It’s disappointing, but at the end of the day … that’s just outside noise to us,” senior linebacker John McCartan said. “We have to focus on what we gotta do (against Washington). It’s a top-10 ranked team. We’re just going to go out and play our game.”

“Game Day here or not, we’re still trying to win the (Huskies) game,” senior safety Victor Oladapo said.

And from Smith on the news that the GameDay crew were going elsewhere: “That not huge on my end, I’ll be honest. … we have a great opponent coming in, so I hadn’t put a lot of thought into it.”

The Beavers (8-2 overall 5-2 in Pac-12 play) looked Saturday as if they are ready for the challenge posed by Washington (10-0, 7-0) in a 4:30 p.m. game at Reser that will be televised by ABC. The 62 points were the most they have scored since a 68-28 win over Montana State last season and the most against a Pac-12 opponent since a 62-14 dismantling of California in 2012. OSU’s defense came up with four sacks and four turnovers and held Stanford to 260 yards total offense.

“We haven’t had a really dominating win like that in a long time,” McCartan said.

Oregon State amassed 29 first downs and 598 yards total offense — 321 passing, 277 rushing. Damien Martinez had three carries in the Beavers’ initial third-quarter possession and then departed with 146 yards and four TDs on 15 totes, and OSU in front 41-10.

“The O-line was doing their thing, and that allowed me to do my thing,” said Martinez, who has 1,024 yards rushing this season and becomes the 13th Beaver to surpass the 2,000 career mark with 2,006.

As for the early exit? “These next two games (Washington and Oregon) are big,” Martinez said. “Let’s save it for them.”

The Beavers buried the Cardinal with a barrage of explosive plays — Martinez on a 59-yard TD run, a 61-yard Anthony Gould reception, a 39-yard Jack Velling reception, tight end TD catches by Jermaine Terry (40 yards) and Riley Sharp (28) and an unforgettable 37-yard TD scamper by Deshaun Fenwick in which the backup running back hurdled a defender on his way to the end zone. Stanford had more total plays in the first half (35-31) and trailed only 68-64 in that category for the game, but the Beavers produced 10 plays of 20 yards or more.

Something must have been said in the OSU locker room afterward, because McCartan and Oladapo used the same word in talking about the future.

“That’s our standard from here on out,” McCartan said.

“This is the standard we should do every week,” Oladapo said.

On Friday, Smith had four former Beaver greats speak to the team after practice — running back Steven Jackson, receiver Mike Hass, placekicker Alexis Serna and coach Mike Riley, who were all inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame that evening.

Former Oregon State coach Mike Riley, who was the Beavers’ honorary captain for the coin flip before Saturday’s Stanford game, waves to the Reser Stadium crowd (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)

“We just wanted to recognize them, to pay credit to those guys who laid a foundation around here,” said Smith, whose career record at OSU is now 34-33 — the first time he has been over .500. “And I got the opportunity to tell stories.”

“I looked up to Steven Jackson,” said senior defensive end Andrew Chatfield, who hails from Plantation, Fla., and curiously idolized Jackson growing up. “I knew he played here. Steven Jackson is the reason I wanted to play football. I thought I was going to be a running back, but that didn’t work out. Seeing those guys and understanding the legacy they left here made me proud to be playing as a Beav.”

OSU running back legend Steve Jackson, inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame Friday night, is introduced to the Reser Stadium crowd during Saturday’s game with Stanford (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)

The Beavers have done a good job this season playing the games one at a time, not looking ahead.

“Our biggest game is the next game,” Oladapo said. “Now our big game is Washington.”

A year ago, Washington beat Oregon State 24-21 in Seattle. The Beavers led 21-14 in the fourth quarter and lost it on a field goal with eight seconds remaining.

“We have a bad taste in our mouth from last year,” Oladapo said. “We want to play our best ball this coming Saturday.”

Smith and the OSU players were asked if it will be “some weight” off their shoulders to be facing teams the next two weeks that employ a single-quarterback system instead of using two, as did Stanford.

“I wish it were a little weight off our shoulders, but … those two guys (Washington’s Michael Penix and Oregon’s Bo Nix) are big-time players,” Smith said. “But if (UW coach) Kalen DeBoer wants to mix in a second quarterback and take Penix out of the game, I’m totally good with that.”

“It’s the top two quarterbacks in the conference — the best two quarterbacks we’re going to play all year,” Oladapo said with a smile. “So it’s not going to be too relaxing. We have to make them both uncomfortable. Both teams have great receivers and a good running game, too. It’s two great opponents ahead of us.”

Saturday’s game will be the biggest for the Beavers in more than a decade. If they can beat Washington and Oregon — no small feat — and get some help with an Arizona loss to either Utah or Arizona State, they can make it to the Pac-12 Championship game. They can also keep alive hopes for a second straight 10-win season.

“I know the atmosphere will be wild at Reser,” McCartan said. “Beaver Nation is going to be behind us. It’s going to be awesome.”

Smith was asked how he will keep his players loose in such a high-pressure environment.

“There’s so much hype … but you want to be normal in the way you prepare,” the sixth-year OSU coach said. “We always want to be loose on Fridays but focused, and then let it rip on Saturday. There is going to be a bunch of energy in the stadium, and we’re playing a big-time opponent. I think these guys will handle it well.”

It could turn out to be an instant classic. Herbstreit will be on the scene, working with Chris Fowler on ABC’s telecast, even with rest of the GameDay crew in Harrisburg for the Sun Belt showdown that will be seen live on ESPN-plus. Hmmm.

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