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In 2013, four quarters wasn't enough. In 2014, an overtime wasn't even enough. But in 2015, a No. 13 Utah team is expected to do to Oregon State what it did the last time Gary Andersen was on the opposite sidelines at Rice-Eccles Stadium, when Utah comfortably won its 15th in a row against a team in the earliest stage of an Andersen rebuild.
Oregon State is not, in terms of recent history, much like the Utah State team Andersen inherited in 2009. The Beavers have lost more than they've won four times in the past 14 seasons.
Recent history is deceptive, though.
With just 13 seniors, 2-5 OSU is the youngest team in the Pac-12. Thirty-two Beavers have played for the first time this year — 11th-most in the nation — and 18 have made their first career start — tied for seventh. Oregon State has gone from pro-style to spread, from a 4-3 front to a 3-4, and has changed everything from the players' routines to their tackling technique.
Andersen admitted on Tuesday's Pac-12 media conference call it's "probably a little bit more of a challenge than what I thought when I walked in."
But he still has a team full of Pac-12 athletes, hungry for its first conference victory. Crazier things have happened. It's Halloween. Etc.
Time, Place and [Radio Waves in] Space • Utah is on Pac-12 Networks for the first time all season, kicking off at 5 p.m. MT for an early-ish blackout game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Utes are 5-2 all-time in blackout affairs. Kevin Calabro, Yogi Roth and Lewis Johnson will have the call, while Bill Riley, Frank Dolce and Bo Nagahi do the honors for ESPN 700. Satellite listeners should tun in at Sirius 137 or XM 197. The forecast for Saturday calls for a high of 65 and a low of 48, with partly cloudy skies and a 9 mph southerly wind.
Line • Utah -26.5, over/under 53. Oregon State is 1-6 against the spread this season, while Utah is 4-3. The total has gone over in four of Utah's last five games after going under in 11 of 13 previously, according to OddsShark.com.
Opposing Coach • Andersen returns to his home town, where he played center for two years under then-U. offensive line coach Ron McBride and worked as a defensive line coach for a young defensive coordinator named Kyle Whittingham at Idaho State. He'd later join Utah again as an assistant in 1997, and then again after a one-year stint as head coach of Southern Utah, serving for four years as Whittingham's defensive coordinator. After accepting the Utah State job, Andersen shuttled between Salt Lake and Logan while coaching both teams in the buildup to the Sugar Bowl. He'd lead Utah State to its first bowl in 24 years in 2011 and an 11-2 season in 2012 before taking the reins at Wisconsin, where he went 19-7 but bolted for Corvallis after a 59-0 thrashing in last year's Big Ten Championship by former boss Urban Meyer and the eventual champion Buckeyes.
Utah Ties • A majority of OSU's coaching staff has ties to the U., and most coaches who don't are at least familiar with the state. Andersen, defensive backs coach Derrick Odum, defensive line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a and graduate assistant Kameron Yancy all both played and coached at Utah. Defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake and linebackers coach Ilaisa Tuiaki were Utah coaches as recently as December, while strength coach Evan Simon and director of player personnel Vince Guinta also previously worked on Utah's staff. Offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin, interim head coach of Colorado State in last year's Las Vegas Bowl loss to Utah, held the same role under Andersen in Logan. Quarterbacks coach Kevin McGiven coached at BYU, Southern Utah, Weber State and Utah State, while offensive line coach T.J. Woods was an offensive assistant at Utah State. Gary's son, Keegan, is an offensive graduate assistant. Utah co-offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was Andersen's offensive coordinator during his lone season as head coach of Southern Utah. Utah running backs coach Dennis Erickson coached the Beavers from 1999-2002, going 31-17 and leading OSU to three bowl games, including a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and a No. 4 finish in the AP poll in 2000. OSU freshman tight end Noah Togiai hails from Hunter High, freshman defensive tackle Thor Katoa from Pine View, sophomore defensive end Baker Pritchard from Bingham and later BYU, and junior defensive end Luke Hollingsworth from Fremont. Junior quarterback Darrell Garretson is sitting out this year after transferring from Utah State, and junior offensive lineman Brayden Kearsley is sitting out as a transfer from BYU. Left tackle Sean Harlow went to high school with Utah quarterback Travis Wilson in San Clemente, Calif. Freshman running back Deltron Sands was a high school classmate of redshirting Utah defensive end Chris Hart and safety Tyson Cisrow at St. Thomas Aquinas in South Florida. Freshman tight end Tuli Wily-Matagi originally committed to the U. before signing with the Beavers for personal reasons. Twelve of Oregon State's players participated in a special forces leadership development program at Camp Williams in Utah. Utah safety Evan Eggiman is the lone Ute from Oregon (Hillsboro). Utah punter Tom Hackett and OSU punter Nick Porebski are both Melbourne natives and trained together at ProKick Australia.
Pregame Quotable • Asked about the bear claw slippers he was shown wearing on Pac-12 Networks' "The Drive," Britain Covey: "I got them in West Yellowstone, and I mean, they're so comfortable. Before you criticize me, walk a mile in my shoes. Then when you do criticize me, you'll be a mile away, and you'll have my shoes. That's a quote from Jack Handey."
Media Guide Nugget • When Oregon State redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Mitchell made his college debut last week against Colorado, he received his first snap from his older brother, starting Beavers' center Josh Mitchell.
Telling Stat • Time of possession is no longer, usually, a very telling stat. But given that the Beavers run so often — with 1,325 rushing yards, they are 92 shy of last year's total and have 98 more than they totaled in 2013 — it is damning (damming?) that the Beavers rank 108th in the nation, at 27:04.
Beavers Offensive Outlook • No other team in the nation can say it entered this season only freshman quarterbacks who have never played to choose from.
Lucky Oregon State.
True freshman Seth Collins won the quarterback battle in camp and has shown grit and promise, throwing four interceptions in 156 attempts while on pace to smash the school record with 919 quarterback rushing yards. Jason Whittingham said this week that Utah linebackers coach Justin Ena compares Collins to a pre-injury Chuckie Keeton. But Collins' completion percentage is a paltry 52 percent, his 5.7 yards per attempt average is 11th-worst in the nation.
Mitchell entered the fold against the Buffaloes, rotating with Collins and going 9-of-24 for 122 yards and one game-ending interception as a more traditional pocket passer.
Andersen has said he plans to continue to use both quarterbacks.
The Beavers rank 110th in total offense, at 342 yards per game, but have at least been fairly successful in the ground game, where they've picked up 66 of 120 first downs.
They returned all five offensive line starters — although they lost left tackle Sean Harlow for the season against Colorado — and senior tailback Storm Barrs-Woods recently became the second player in OSU history with 2,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards. Redshirt freshman Ryan Nall — a 6-foot-2, 255 pounder — rushed 20 times for 122 yards against the Buffaloes.
And while they've had little luck downfield, OSU does have two dangerous targets in 6-foot-5 Jordan Villamin and speedy Victor Bolden, with 52 catches for 638 yards between them.
Beavers Defensive Outlook • "They're not really running Sitake's defense, like the Sitake we know," observed Utah wideout Kenneth Scott. And he's right, of course.
OSU plays a 3-4, not a 4-3, and predominantly zone coverage, not man. Not because Sitake is branching out for the sake of it, mind you, but because personnel dictates it.
The Beavers returned two starters on defense, and they've been gashed on the ground — allowing 197 yards per game — while posing little threat to opposing backfields — with the nation's second-worst average at 3.7 tackles for loss per game.
But, they have improved. Since allowing Logan native Luke Falk to pass for six yards in the first half of a loss to Washington State, OSU's defense has conceded just 17 points and 449 yards of total offense in six quarters. For perspective: In the previous six quarters, they'd allowed 1,043 yards.
Senior defensive tackle Kyle Peko has the thankless role of occupying double teams at the heart of the attack to free up linebackers Rommel Mageo (55 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries) and Caleb Saulo (46 tackles, one interception and a touchdown), while sophomore free safety Justin Strong cleans up in the back end (47 tackles).
The unknown factor is how much Sitake benefits from his familiarity with Utah's offense.
"It's going to be kind of awkward, because he knows all of our strengths and weaknesses," Scott said, adding later: "we don't know what we're going to get from him. It's going to be a challenge."
Beavers Special Teams Outlook • Porebski is one of Oregon State's bright spots, with 13 punts inside the 20 and five punts of 50 or more yards this season after playing last year at Snow. Like Hackett, he can punt conventionally or rugby style, or even with his off foot, if called upon. Sophomore kicker Garrett Owens has been solid, too, going 7-for-10 on field goals, with a career long of 50 yards. And Bolden is a threat in the return game, showing as much on a 100-yard kickoff return against Washington State — the second kickoff return touchdown of his career.
Required Reading
Injury Report • The status of senior linebacker Jared Norris, who appeared to injure his knee against Arizona State, is unknown. Whittingham announced this week that Utah wideout Tim Patrick will likely seek a medical redshirt. Senior cornerback Ahmad Christian has yet to make his return from an Achilles injury but had said he was nearing 100 percent. Junior tight end Siale Fakailoatonga (knee) joined senior tight end Evan Moeai (lower leg), sophomore running back Troy McCormick (knee) and sophomore nickelback Jordan Fogal (knee) on the list of players who are lost for the season. The statuses of freshman running back Marcel Brooks-Brown and sophomore guard Lo Falemaka (gunshot wounds) are unknown. Oregon State will have to replace Harlow (season-ending ankle injury), and the status of senior cornerback Larry Scott (ankle) is unknown after Scott was left off this week's two-deep.
Three Big Questions
1. Will Utah get back on track in the turnover tally? • With seven turnovers in seven games, Oregon State is hardly the ball-hawkingest defense Utah will face this season, but the OSU offense has only coughed it up six times. An 0-4 turnover deficit at USC was uncharacteristic of Utah this season, and the Utes learned what it's like to be on the other end of dramatic momentum swings. If it was more than a matter of their luck running out, they should be able to capitalize against an Oregon State team that may take a few more swings at the fence than usual, with Mitchell.
2. Will Devontae Booker carry a heavier load than he did against USC (14 carries)? • Hard to imagine he won't. Booker himself said the deficit against USC dictated a heavier reliance on the passing game, Whittingham reiterated that the goal is to give Booker 30 touches a game, Oregon State is prone to the run, and Booker ran over the Beavers for a career-high 229 yards and three touchdowns in last year's double-overtime win. So, yeah. He probably will, barring the unexpected or preservation tactics.
3. Is there a "hangover"? • In theory, Utah's first loss would motivate its players to do everything in their power to avoid feeling that sickening feeling again. That assumes, though, that they weren't already doing everything in their power. USC delivered a metaphorical punch to the mouth, Paul told reporters in the postgame at the Coliseum, and Whittingham said Monday that it had been an exceedingly physical battle, too. Utah's ability to rebound will be tested for the first time — by the Pac-12's last-place team, sure, but not a team that's totally devoid of talent.
— Matthew Piper
mpiper@sltrib.com
Twitter: @matthew_piper