Are You Ready For A Big One?
Given the long layoff after the debacle that was the LA Bowl, its hard to imagine how Beaver Nation wouldn't be. At least your not Bronco Nation, who had their bowl game cancelled!
Despite the Reser reconstruction that will keep the attendance down to 27K, Saturday night is a genuine big one. Big enough to be the ESPN Saturday night prime time game (no ESPN2/ESPNU here), though admittedly, its at least as much about Boise State as it is Oregon State.
Nevertheless, this is one of the biggest games of the season, and maybe several seaons, for both the Broncos and Beavers, nevermind it isn't even a conference contest (and both teams will have some big time nights there this season).
Expectaions and predictions for Oregon State, from both inside and outside of Beaver Nation, are generally for another bowl season, and maybe even an improvement over 7-6. For many, that mark is the floor for the season, despite the significantly tougher schedule this fall. A win over the regional rival Broncos, who always have at least a good season in this century, will go a long ways toward realizing those lofty hopes. A loss makes those best case hopes a lot more difficult to attain, especially with 3 of the next 4 games away from Reser.
Over in Boise, expectations are even higher. The Broncos' schedule and experience gives them a shot at being this year's Cincinnatti, the Gang of 5 team that could crash the College Football Playoffs with a 13-0 record. Or at least, a trip to a NY6 Bowl.
If that seems lofty for a team coming off a 7-5 season, keep in mind, the Broncos should be thought of as a 9 win team last year would be. A clear officiating error (the Pac-12 insn't the only place those happen) altered the outcome of last year's opener (and upset the trajectory of the season). And the Broncos were significantly favored to win that bowl game that wasn't before the lingering effects of Covid struck again. None of that changed the talent from the Blue turf though.
Also, Boise St. has seniors in 18 of 22 starting spots. Plus a pair or 4th year juniors. That's a formula for a special season anywhere. But a loss Saturday night not only eliminates that shot at the CFP before Labor Day, it also eliminates the margin of error for a NY6 game. When your in the Mt. West, one game against a Power 5 team is literally the difference between the Fiesta Bowl and the LA Bowl. Experiential differences Beaver Nation can understand.
Oregon State Coach Jonathan Smith has never won a season opener as a head coach, and Oregon State hasn't since 2015. And that was against Weber State; the last win in the first game of the season against a FBS team was in Hawaii in 2014. The last such win in Corvallis against an FBS team capable of a winning season was all the way back in 2012, the upset shutout of Wisconsin that launched the Beavers on an Alamo Bowl run.
Wins last year in the LA Coliseum, over Washington to snap a very long losing steak, and against Utah, have Beaver Nation reintroduced to relevant football.
Most of the focus this week and weekend around the state, the conference, and the region, are and will be on the Oregon-Georgia and Utah-Florida games earlier Saturday. And despite any degree of orange-tint in the glasses worn around Beaver Nation and Bronco Nation, that's not unreasonable. What happens in Atlanta and Gainsville will sooner or later impact everyone involved with every program west of the Great Plains to one degree or another. That's reality in the media-rights and recruiting and ad revenue world that is college football.
But the stakes are very high for both the Beavers and the Broncos, and both teams warrant those stakes. It's why ESPN will be there. And its exciting for the start of the season to be a legitimate "Big One".
The Broncos, who took a 2 TD win out of Reser in 2016, the last time they met the Beavers, will show up in force, complete with their sledge hammer. The Beavers better have the chainsaw tuned up.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com
(Photo by Andy Wooldridge)