BYU thrashed Oregon State last night 44-20 in a game that really wasn't as close as the score indicated. It was pretty obvious from the onset that the Beavers collective minds were still on the loss to Oregon and not the upcoming game with BYU. Ted Miller called it a Civil War hangover and I have to agree.
The Beaver's big three comprised of Canfield and the Rodger's brothers were never much of a factor in last nights game. All three were plauged by mistakes during the evening as the Beavers never got their offensive engine started. The weather was also a big factor in this game. A high wind and cool weather seemed to to take any fight out of OSU that they had left coming into the game which is unusual for a Northwest team.
Perhaps the biggest key was simply coaching. BYU had a better game plan and their veteran lineup showed up for the game on fire and ready to go out in style. Mike Riley on the other hand never seemed to be able to fire up his players or get them to play in sync which is a rare occurence in his program.
BYU is graduating a ton of starters this season including QB Max Hall. The team you saw last night will have little resemblance to the edition the Cougars put on the field next season in Provo when the Huskies are scheduled to visit.
Oregon state will return 19 starters next season and if they can find a suitable replacement for Canfield they will surely be ranked among the Pac 10 favorites next year which will include Oregon and USC.