Saturday, October 27, 2012

Beavers travel to hostile territory to face Huskies


Facing history, the Beavers take their passing offense (ranked 14th nationally) north to face a Husky pass defense that ranks 18th in the nation. If Oregon State can leave Seattle with a victory, a 7-0 record (first in school history) and a top five BCS ranking is within sight after a Florida loss earlier today.

With Sean Mannion missing the last two games after a knee procedure, the Beavers pass offense hasn't missed a beat in large part to the speedy duo of Markus Wheaton and Brandin Cooks. Wheaton, who leads the team with seven touchdowns (six rec, one rush), looks to extend his receptions streak to 30 games. Cooks leads the team in yards per receptions with 19 and is currently a top ten receiver in the nation with 111 yards per game.

Their counterparts this weekend, Desmond Trufant and Marcus Peters will be tested early and often as Mannion looks to shake of the rust of absence. Having given up 256 yards through the air in a loss to Arizona last week, the Husky corners will have a tough task at hand in attempting to shut down one of the more potent duo of wide receivers in the country.

The Beavers defensive line and linebacking core had to have been licking their chops this week, heading into a game where they face an offensive line that has given up three sacks a game and 21 on the season. While Huskies quarterback Keith Price is one of the more athletic signal callers in the conference, the duo of Dylan Wynn and Scott Crichton should have the junior quarterback on his toes for most of the game.

While history at the Clink has not treated Oregon State well (see: the 2-OT loss two years ago), this is not the Beavers of 2010. A tenacious defense should force Price (7 INT's the last four games) into a couple of mistakes, and if Mannion returns to form the offense will capitalize on said mistakes.

Predictions
Sean Mannion: 25-34, 290, 3 TDs
Storm Woods: 150+, TD
Markus Wheaton: 9 rec, 100+, TD
Scott Crichton: 2 sacks, 9 tackles
Jordan Poyer: 8 tackles, INT
Oregon State 35: Washington: 10

No comments:

Post a Comment